Training Log Archive: elavallee

It feels soo good to be outside and going for a run today. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got out there. I am happy to report that while my calves were still a little tight, no major issues today. There was only the fact that my right foot became a little numb toward the end of the run. It started to feel like there was a lump in my sock, but after I stopped running I didn't perceive that anymore. Took my shoe off, and everything seemed fine.

I probably didn't need to take the whole week off. Oh well, I am just glad that my severe pain last week was nothing more serious.

I love Gay City. It is mostly easy trail riding with just enough technical sections to keep you interested and to enjoy the ride. I took a big loop around it and am just soaking up this day.

After the meet yesterday, someone had mentioned that it may be a torn muscle considering the pain I appeared to be in. I didn't think that to be the case as I had the condition in both calves. That was probably more wishful thinking than a reasonable consideration of their comment. As I continued to rehydrate yesterday, the severity of the pain did not change. And while at home I found that I could not only not stretch my calves, I could hardly walk. The best method of transport was for me to walk on my toes, keeping the muscles contracted. This morning, I am able to walk more flat footed, however I still have some acute pain in my calves. I am now taking the comment more seriously. I think in my stubbornness, I may have caused more damage to the muscles.

After some brief research (google can make one quite lax) and considering that I feel much better, I think I may have a more minor muscle strain rather than a full blown tear. I have confidence that I won't need to seek professional medical advice and can treat it on my own by resting and icing. I finally iced them this morning and then started walking around more and the pain is subsiding. I should have iced them yesterday, and again, that was mentioned to me. Sometimes I am a bit thick. I probably could have alleviated some pain sooner. I am not quite sure how long to stay away from running, but I any not going to try anything until this weekend. I have a bit of hope for a quick recovery. In terms of prevention, I guess this speaks to the need to properly warm up and stretch before going out, as well as proper hydration.

Event: NEOC: Houghton's Pond
 

I made a few mistakes out there, but my main problem occurred after control 9. My right calf started to lock up in what I thought to be more cramps. After 10 it felt really bad. I had actually considered not continuing and bailing out of the course. I stubbornly pressed on. The thought of a second consecutive DNF was weighing on me. The problem expanded to the left calf. It seemed strange to me that it was actually more tolerable when I ran then if I walked. So I took every chance on trail to lightly jog. I was glad that I finished, but then subsequently quite depressed that I could no longer fulfill my responsibilities for the day. I also started to question the hypothesis that it was due to a lack of electrolytes as I had consumed quite a bit before the start.

Green - Splits