Hello,
I have been taking swim lessons for about two months now. After twenty-one years of beating up my body running, I decided to give it a break by learning to swim. Well......
I now have pain in both achilles tendons. It is down low, on the back of my heels. I am still running, but only a fraction of the mileage I was doing before. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how my limited amount of running has caused this heel pain. It all started about two months ago. So, I have put 2 and 2 together ... it must be the swimming, but how?
I am using flippers. Could that be it?
Please help. I'm tired of aching all the time!
Thanks,
Cheryl
Welcome to swimming:applaud: I'm also a runner and started swimming for crosstraining several days a week. Now i'm hooked cause after running for 20 years, my times aren't coming down. But with a new sport, there is always room for improvement.
I think fins can cause some achilles pain because runners have extremely inflexible ankles. Fins can help help improve flexibility but it needs to be done in small doses and in fins designed for inflexible feet. Others on the board will know alot more about fins than i do. I just know zoomers come in two varieties, blue ones and red ones. the blue ones are supposed to be for people with less flexible ankles.
i think that the best thing to do is to not do a ton of yardage in them and work up to increasing yardage in them. after being addicted to my fins for every kick set since i first joined masters(cause my kicking is worse than pathetic), i have been reading the thread about how to improve a slow flutter kick and i'm trying to wean myself off of fins. I've been doing sets of 25's kicking without fins. It's hard, but an uexpected benefit is that my hip flexors are getting stronger and i think it's improving my running stride.
A great use of fins is when you want a good ab workout. Doing dolphin kick on your back and stomach for a few hundred yards and you will feel the burn! The other thing i like them for is doing 50s all out. It's a great anaerobic workout.
But, other than that, i would cut back on the fins and just stick with kicking flutter kick without them no matter how slow you feel. Apparently bill rodgers would kick in the pool with a board when he had any inkling of achilles pain. he thought that this help loosen it up.
Welcome to swimming:applaud: I'm also a runner and started swimming for crosstraining several days a week. Now i'm hooked cause after running for 20 years, my times aren't coming down. But with a new sport, there is always room for improvement.
I think fins can cause some achilles pain because runners have extremely inflexible ankles. Fins can help help improve flexibility but it needs to be done in small doses and in fins designed for inflexible feet. Others on the board will know alot more about fins than i do. I just know zoomers come in two varieties, blue ones and red ones. the blue ones are supposed to be for people with less flexible ankles.
i think that the best thing to do is to not do a ton of yardage in them and work up to increasing yardage in them. after being addicted to my fins for every kick set since i first joined masters(cause my kicking is worse than pathetic), i have been reading the thread about how to improve a slow flutter kick and i'm trying to wean myself off of fins. I've been doing sets of 25's kicking without fins. It's hard, but an uexpected benefit is that my hip flexors are getting stronger and i think it's improving my running stride.
A great use of fins is when you want a good ab workout. Doing dolphin kick on your back and stomach for a few hundred yards and you will feel the burn! The other thing i like them for is doing 50s all out. It's a great anaerobic workout.
But, other than that, i would cut back on the fins and just stick with kicking flutter kick without them no matter how slow you feel. Apparently bill rodgers would kick in the pool with a board when he had any inkling of achilles pain. he thought that this help loosen it up.
