A few days ago I was out on a run cruising along at 7:57 minutes/mile pace when all of a sudden I felt a tightness and pulling in my left calf. I didn’t realize I was running that fast -way too fast for me. I thought all the huffing and puffing was because of the heat! 80 degree temps here in Alaska. My legs felt great and besides the heavy breathing, I felt great. But, this is the same leg with an already existing achilles injury, so I knew that what I was feeling meant that it was time to quit. Of course, I had to walk all the way back to my truck. I did test my leg a couple of times on the way back but I wasn’t able to finish the run. I ended up taking 5 days off!
So, I decided to run today, very slowly, about 10:30-11:00 minute pace. Things seemed okay until about 2.5 miles into the run (going uphill) and I could feel my calf tightening up so I stopped again and walked the half mile home. I will just give it a little more time. Being that I have a tight and somewhat tender calf, maybe I shouldn’t have attempted 3 miles. Live and learn!
It does stress me a little because Monday is the first day of my 18 week training program for the NYC Marathon. Given where I am in training right now, this looks a little intimidating but I am going to do this!
I am not going to let this calf problem get me down. It is just a little bit of a set back but it could be worse, right! I will continue with calf strengthening exercises and foam rolling. I will be back on the road in no time. 🙂
Plus, it was a beautiful day to be out.
And the Fireweed are blooming already! It seems a bit early for them, but it has been an unusually warm spring/summer. The Fireweed blooms from the bottom up and when it reaches the top, most of us here in Alaska believe that there are only 6 weeks left until the first snowfall.
Kind of hard to get down when I am surrounded by all this Alaskan outdoor beauty.
