I ventured out for a trail run earlier this week to take in the fall foliage.

The crisp autumn air made for a serene after-work micro-adventure. I ended the run strong, logging a decent amount of elevation and mileage while squeezing out the forest's last remaining daylight.

Two days later, when setting out for another training session, disaster struck.

Within a few minutes, my left foot's Achilles tendon started a nagging soreness. I had noted some slight stiffness in the Achilles while walking my dog (name: Otto) earlier in the day, but the Achilles' soreness still managed to take me by surprise.

👉 Check out my 1-Week Post-Achilles-Injury Update to learn more about my recovery timeline.

Problem: Sore Achilles While Running

If your Achilles is sore while running, stop immediately.

Stop running.

That's it. That's all.

Achilles soreness is a precursor to Achilles pain. It often starts as a minor injury caused by overuse. If the excessive use continues, it can turn into a long-term, debilitating problem. Full recovery from serious Achilles tendon injuries takes time and frequently involves physical therapy.

When your Achilles starts to nag - listen. Continuing to push through can worsen the injury.

Then, once you stop, ask yourself a new question:

What can I do to prevent my Achilles from hurting while running

If you have a sore Achilles while running, it's a "too-little-too-late" situation.

Shift your focus to prevention.

Solution: Preventing Achilles Soreness and Pain After Running

To prevent Achilles soreness, sometimes the first step is to take fewer steps. Avoiding Achilles soreness and pain starts with ensuring that you're not doing too much too-much-too-soon.

1. Avoid doing too much too soon

Increasing your running volume too quickly is an often-cited recipe for injury in the lower half of the body. If you're fresh off of the couch, walk before you run. Then, build up your running slowly over a period of weeks and months instead of days.

If you're new to running, make sure to rest between sessions. That might mean running every other day instead of every day.

For what it's worth, I'm active nearly every day of the week, but I rarely run more than three days in a row. Dedicated rest days and cross-training provide time for the body to heal.

2. Wear the right shoes

Rockin' old running shoes without the proper support can lead to all sorts of leg, ankle, and foot-related running injuries. So can wearing shoes that your feet aren't ready to rock, like zero-drop shoes when you've been running with a thick stack height.

Tomes can be authored on how to find the right running shoe. That's a complex topic.

But it's worth taking the time to research and figure out what fits your feet. That's especially true if you're experiencing Achilles soreness and you're already taking steps to avoid increasing your running volume too quickly.

3. Pump those calves

Eccentric calf raises can help prevent Achilles soreness while running. It's a simple exercise, and easy to work into your regular strength routine. With that said, avoid exercise if it's still causing pain, and give your Achilles more time to heal.

Check out this video for more info:

Post-Run: Fixing Achilles Soreness After Running

I made a huge mistake. I didn't listen to my body - I kept going.

I know that the best remedy for a sore Achilles while running is to stop running, immediately. Most days I would do just that - stop running. But most days, I run straight out of my house.

For this session, I hopped into the car, heading to a hilly trail to slip more elevation into my training for the week. The weather was great and I was looking forward to the run.

Had I stepped out the door to start my run, I would have stepped right back inside the moment that I started running and noticed my nagging Achilles tendon.

Driving to the trail created internal pressure to continue. I invested effort, time, fossil fuel, and carbon emissions into this run. I decided to keep going. I hoped that it would loosen up.

It didn't.

My Achilles' soreness seemed to dissipate a bit after I started running. I eased into the run with an easy, low-intensity mile. Then, I started climbing the first hill. By the top, my Achilles started nagging again.

The Achilles' soreness while running was low, maybe 2/10. Unfortunately, that soreness transitioned to pain with the next hill repeat, gaining intensity alongside the rise in elevation.

I planned a 50-minute run with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Instead, I called the run after 20 minutes.

Now, I'm sidelined for at least a few days. Maybe longer.

I'm in the process of training for a marathon. Making it across the finish line starts with making it to the starting line, and that takes effective training. It's hard to make training effective if you're sitting on the sidelines.

With only 8 weeks left until the marathon, I need to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Here's what I'm doing:

1. Taking it easy

I had to ride a bike alongside my dog to get his walk in this afternoon. I'm paying the price for yesterday's running bravado. I'm going to take it easy this weekend, and I may not run at all.

Instead, I'm going to do some low-intensity bike rides. Injuries like this are a great excuse to eat food, watch movies, and dig into a deep hangout.

2. Stop running in zero-drop trail shoes

The marathon course that I'm training for features 2,000+ feet of elevation gain on single-track hiking trails. I've been incorporating trail running into my weekly training sessions to get prepped for the course.

I kicked off this week with a long trail run in zero-drop shoes, and a pair of Altra Lone Peaks. I've been running in Altra shoes for years on trails, and I know firsthand that the zero-drop requires a transition. In fact, Altra recommends transitioning to the zero-drop over several weeks to avoid injury.

Transitioning to Altra shoes is easy and will depend mostly on the cushion level you purchase. The more cushioning, the shorter the transition period. We recommend you wear your Altra shoes on easy efforts for week 1, moderate efforts on week 2, and go to long or hard efforts on week 3 unless you feel more adaptation time is needed.

From Altra's FAQ Page

In my experience, the required transition time isn't cut and dry. Their statement, "unless you feel more adaptation time is needed" creates a lot of wiggle room.

I followed their guidance during this training build-up, initially only using them for short recovery runs. This week's run was a natural progression in training volume. I didn't radically increase my running volume in the zero-drop Lone Peaks.

After this experience, I'm left searching for new trail shoes. I have a hunch that my Altra's zero-drop put too much load on my calves earlier in the week, which is in turn responsible for my Achilles soreness. Running in a shoe with a small amount of drop might help me increase my weekly mileage while remaining injury-free.

3. Adding dedicated calf workouts into my strength sessions

As I previously mentioned, eccentric calf raises can help prevent Achilles soreness while running. I'm working out the kinks in my marathon training strength sessions. I'll be including these in all of my mid-week sessions going forward, and I encourage you to give them a try if you're battling Achilles soreness.

Happy Trails!