The tightness in my calf was there for the last 3 miles of a recovery paced 5 miler on Monday. Certainly speedwork was off the agenda for the week so I planned on 20 easy laps of the track on Tuesday evening so as to keep myself intact for the hilly club run scheduled for the Nagle Mountains on Sunday.....................and I couldn't even manage that, after 6 laps I had to pull up as the pain came on - no problem for the first 5 laps and suddenly the pain comes out of no where WTF - not a good omen.
Joe advised that I inflict some of my own pain on the affected muscle together with hot and cold therapy but for some reason while I can tolerate a reasonable amount of pain inflicted by others my central governor refuses to sent the correct signal to my hands to inflict anything resembling the same pain intensity. So it is "gentle" massaging with alternating hot water bottle and ice cubes in front of the telly for a few nights - I could get used to this sort of training.
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While I could hypothesise on the cause (insufficient training/recovery from a 45 mile day, a long hilly run both before and after the Bandon 5 miler, most likely a combination of all of the above) it couldn't have happened at a better time - i'm still 3 months out from Connemara (which, in any event, I may use as a stepping stone for something longer!) and the Dungarvan (2.5 weeks) and Ballycotton (7.5 weeks) 10 milers are only fitness gauges along the way with the enjoyment of taking part being the main attraction.
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I have used the downtime to get back in the pool for a few short swim sessions for the first time in months. Glad to have the choice as I have neglected the "other" disciplines for too long - looking forward to the weekend bike ride already!
Mon 10th Jan
5.27 m @8:26 pace & 130HR
Tue 11th Jan
1.34 m @ 7:50 Pace & 130HR
Wed 12th
Swim 1k with 10 x 50m off 70 second starts.
Thur 13th Jan
Swim 1k with 5 x 100m off 135 second starts.
Grellan I've had that pain before too. Maybe you can use the hot brick that or mate Bob "Tokyo racer" used! It seemed to help in his case and it's a lot manlier than a hot water bottle!
ReplyDelete"A combination of all of the above" sounds right to me! Ah, the soleus... I know it well. Tore my left at the end of the City to Surf a few years back. Hopefully it'll come good with treatment or failing that, drop one of Scott's hot bricks on it ;)
ReplyDeleteGrellan, I really recommend the Trigger point workouts.
ReplyDeleteI use a rolling pin and a dogs rubber ball for the massage.
Believe me it really works a treat!
http://runwitharthurlydiard.blogspot.com/p/trigger-point-performance-self-massage.html
Often the original sourse of your problem is not the site of pain, but is due to muscle imbalances in the rest of your body.
TPF workouts will give you back muscle balance and range of movement, but above all will improve your posture and quality of life!
http://www.tptherapy.com/unlock-your-body-awareness.php
ReplyDelete