Day 26: Left Calf Issue
3 miles, 25:12 - 8:24 pace (8:08, 8:38, 8:26)
Bad news! Had to cut my run short today. From the beginning, my left calf experienced this occasional biting pain. I stopped after a mile to stretch it some more, but it still persisted.
If you remember an earlier post, I talked about the difference among having soreness, and being hurt or injured. Well, I'd categorize this as being hurt. I could have run on, but I think I only would have damaged myself worse. I also was afraid to push off of it harder in order to run my usual pace. Because of this, I felt like I was just running junk miles, and I'd be better off calling it a day early.
I figure I'll probably have to rest another day to be safe, and in the meantime, I will heat and ice it to maximize the recovery time. When I was younger, I would have run through something like this. Sometimes I would get away with it, other times I'd cause a bigger problem. With the marathon still far down the line, I know I can miss a few days without it really costing me. Still, it's frustrating.
So how did I get hurt? I think it's a combination of a couple things. First, as I mentioned on Saturday, that I run way harder than I was ready for. Though I did the right things by taking Sunday off and going easier yesteday, thinking back on yesterday, I played tag with my son at a Memorial Day barbeque causing me to run on my toes and to cut in various directions. Both of these put a lot of pressure on the calves. Last night I felt some aching in my calf, but didn't think much of it.
This is a problem I didn't have to worry about in my previous marathoning days. Now, I'm going to have to figure out a way to play the part of two roles that could come into conflict at times - Marathon Runner and Fun Dad. I'm not sure about the solution at this point, but I will have to start thinking about it.
