So...

I've come to the realisation that my achilles problem is probably a result of my neglected back and abdominal strengthening and stretching. I have been getting a lot of tightness through my hips, lower back and hamstings as well as my knees and calves. Basically the whole right-hand side from the lower back down feels tight and causes some pain while running. This is similar to what I used to get playing hockey and I overcame it by continual stretching and strengthening exercises. Since I retired from hockey and started running, I basically gave up these exercises thinking that they were unnecessary for this type of activity. How stupid! So I have started back with my old regime of stretching and I'll work to rebuild the strength and stability that I worked so hard to achieve to be able to play hockey. This may be a slow process, and running may be quite painful for a while, but I will get it fixed.

I ran home from uni on Sunday night, which is when I fully realised that the old problems were back. The time was OK - 50 min for 10.5km - but I was uncomfortable most of the way. I took Addi for a run this morning; more discomfort, but not as bad due to the fact that I had done about 30 min stretching for a 29 min run.

Anyway, feel free to drop me a reminder every now and then to keep up the exercises.

Oo oo, I nearly forgot. It was my birthday last week and I had a really nice dinner with the family and went to a housewarming at my cousin's (who shares the same birthday as me) new house . I think over the 2-3 days around my birthday, I had a grand total of 5, yes 5 cakes. All of them good, all of them very fatty, so hopefully I haven't put on any weight from this.