I remember doing this some years ago when I had an Achilles problem. Then it was quite bad: extremely tender, slightly swollen (adding to the pressure), highly audible crepitus when moving the foot or touching affected area.
Back then it was the fault of that pointless running shoe feature: the heel tab. I cut the tabs in all my shoes, even a pair that were fresh out of the box.
This time it’s more precautionary (I hope). Slight tenderness on my Achilles tendon is still evident, and the sore spot matches exactly where the top of the heel digs in under plantar flexion (pointing the toes). There’s not much of a heel tab on these shoes, and I’m surprised it’s causing a slight problem, nevertheless, the knife had to go to work.
The picture shows the incisions; I prefer to make 2 rather than one centrally to remove the tendency for the cut heel tab to pinch the tendon. I know some others prefer the horizontal chop-off method (actually removing the whole heel tab so nothing protrudes above the firm heel cup). But I like to keep the material there for sentimental reasons. This operation can expose the boney part of the heel to more pressure from the hard heel cup. If this is the case then it proves the Achilles tendon was taking too much pressure and also that the shoes do not fit very well in the first place; change the shoes or add some padding to even out the pressure points.
Aside from the surgery, the evening run was a hilly interval session on the road in modified Terrocs (7m). Again, I was hoping to get a mile or two barefoot, but was beaten by the light (or lack of it).
Calf muscles still sore and plantar fascitiis pain more evident this morning, hopefully just a slight reaction to that longer road run on Wednesday in shoes with minimal cushioning.
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