I picked up the oddest little “injury” this weekend during our trip to Florida. There’s a ligament on the back of my leg that lays flat on the Achilles and kind of wraps around that major tendon. It is sore, but only slightly tight. I can run with it, and cycle with it, so it’s hard to tell how much to push it.

The best thing to do in these situations is work incrementally with an injury of this nature. It emanated from either of two places. Either I tweaked something by twisting that leg during golf, or I inflamed it while pushing with my lower while kayaking.

But I’ve learned that you can’t mess around even with an ancillary injury. Typically traveling ‘owies’ such as this respond to rest. But active rest is a key indicator of the total picture. So you have to try short runs and then add a mile or two each day to see how it holds up.

A few years back I suddenly came down with really sore Achilles tendons on both legs. That turned out to be caused by the way the heel counter of my Saucony Glide shoes impinged on that tendon. As soon as I abandoned that model of shoe, the problems went away. Almost overnight. I raced that same weekend.

Life is full of mystery ailments and tweaks that cause us problems. But almost all of them have an identifiable cause and ultimately, a rational cure.

It’s all a question of tweaking your training so that you don’t make it worse. We’ll see how this goes. Until then, may the Tweaks Be With You, not against you.