Monday 27 April 2009

Slow Recovery

Not much to report except that my calf injury is taking longer than expected to heal. Last week was a very inactive week with a 2 mile treadmill walk/run on Friday in which I could still feel the tenderness in my left calf. I didn't even crosstrain on the bike as I just wanted to let the muscles rest. Despite the lack of activity I felt tired and lethargic all week.
.
Looking back on my last 2 marathon builds I notice that my claves have given me trouble during the sharpening phase preventing me from doing any moderate/hard workouts in the weeks leading up to the marathon - looks like my training will have to change fundamentally if I want to change this pattern. Looks like i'll also have to give next Sunday's Glengariff to Bantry half marathon a miss, although it pains me to do so as the web site states that there is no refund of the €50 entry fee and I cannot even transfer entry to next year. It'll certainly make me think twice about signing up again.
.
I went on another slow run over 3 miles this morning and could feel the pull in my calf from the off and although the feeling subsided somewhat as I warmed up I was very conscious of every footfall - no point in pushing as I'll only make it worse.
.
Marathon peak Week #4 (Run 2 miles, Bike NIL, Swim 1,500m)
.

8 comments:

  1. That's a tough break Grellan. I figured the calf would recover in a few days. Hang in there, hopefully it will come around sooner rather than later.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I look at yourself and brendan I didn't think I'd be the least injured of the three of us at this stage. Cork is a serious doubt for me as I haven't run over 10 miles since the marathon 3 weeks ago. Still, if I can chuck in a few long ones in the next 4 weeks I might run it as a fun run (say sub-3:30). Good luck with the recovery and if it doesn't work you can jog around with me!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's not good. I can see a pattern emerging from your training/injury cycles. My guess is that you need to take more recovery between workouts, especially speed workouts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a bugger about the calf.

    Although it would seem contrary, my advice would be to introduce (gradually) the short steep hill sprints (8-10sec). Find a hill with a flat start so you can jog for 20 metres or so before the sprint.

    With the speedwork, try tempo-run type stuff, or even intervals, but at 10k-half marathon race-pace.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If your not doing it already start some self massage on your calf muscles or better still visit a sports injury massage specialist, this will greatly speed up your recovery! All the best.
    RICK

    ReplyDelete
  6. P.S.
    i USE TO GET A LOT OF CALF INJURIES BEFORE i CHANGED MY RUNNING STYLE,
    Pose running is maybe the worst, making you run up on your forefoot and not letting the heel down!
    Many calf injuries are caused when runners try and push off from the toes!
    Through trial and error I would recommend landing forefoot heel [ almost flat footed keeping the calf muscles relaxed and try to avoid pushing off from the toes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I seemed to always have that problem before I took to regular massage with the rollers (Trigger Point massager). It seems to prevent them from getting too tight. Hopefully the rest will work!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi GRELLAN,
    Here is the video you might find useful, the technique IS CALLED d-flex AND IT SEEMS TO REDUCE THE LOAD ON YOUR CALF MUSCLE.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpebcJzLJHA

    ReplyDelete