Injury Update
It has been several weeks now since my recent injury so I thought I would update as to where I am.
The bad news I suppose is that impatience got the better of me. So much for claiming that I am getting better at this aspect!
After the initial recovery, I had been moving without any discomfort or sensation for about a week and had been doing some stairclimbing and lower body strength training to keep me going. In the absence of any negative feedback from the calf itself, I decided that it seemed time to test it and headed out for a controlled run. I warmed up and settled into a moderate running pace. All seemed fine until the injury effectively recurred after about two and a half miles, again without warning.
Yes, I should have given it longer. Yes, maybe I should have introduced running and distance more gradually. Yes, I was lured out by the excellent weather. Yes, I was curious if I had made the right decision about my USA trip. Yes, I was f*$&*!g impatient. You can be assured that I have been over it all. After all, hindsight is a marvellous platform for self-reproach!
However wrongly, I did genuinely assess that it was such a minor injury that it had recovered, based on previous experience. That said, the outcome most certainly vindicates my decision not to go to the USA. Even with no prior running, my calf would have failed in the Grand Canyon which would have been a total catastrophe. At least I know that now.
The downside is that I have reversed the clock by a couple of weeks so I now need to put my most sensible head on (will need to find it and dust it off first!) and accept that I won’t be running again for a good number of weeks. If you are a runner or any other kind of sportsperson, you don’t need me to elaborate on the frustrations and mental challenges that go with that.
These are the times when you realise exactly how important running actually is to you. Although the physical act of running only occupies a relatively small percentage of time per week, it occupies other time and thinking in many other ways. There is also the element of wanting to do something even more because you can’t.
I am going to Devon for two weeks in mid-May and it would be great to do some running there. That at least was always my intention although it was not per se a running trip. Maybe I can start back slowly whilst there. We’ll see. I still want to do the Full Tilt Ultra on 31 May and I will be happy to do that with a minimum of running/training in the interim if I am confident the calf is OK. Again, we’ll see. I have a couple of massage appointments over the next couple of weeks before that and I will hold off meantime on any other lower body work.
Right now, I just need to do all of the things required to maximise recovery and think longer term in respect of the things I have planned from June onwards. Happy days!
