After the cramping in my calf last week, Cody gave me a Muscle Activation Therapy session on my calves and feet last Monday. I was really sore and although I had planned to go to spin class that afternoon, my calves were cramping at the slightest stress. So I decided it would be best to skip that session.
Tuesday, my calves were cramping all day long on their own with little or no stress being applied, so I skipped the scheduled run for the day and took Tuesday off.
Wednesday, I was back in the pool for my regular workout, which went great. Wednesday evening, I went on a group bike with about a dozen bikers for 23 miles. Although those guys were taking it easy that evening, it was quite a stretch for me. But I managed to keep with them over all and felt great afterwards.
Thursday, I was nervous about starting to run again but I got my 45 minute run in and felt great. Cody did weights with me and check out my calves and they seemed to be doing very well.
Friday, I kept my day off. I considered using Friday to try to catch up for missing Tuesday but in the end, I decided it best to keep that time off in preparation for the weekend activities.
Saturday, I did a 46 mile bike through St Matthews, the Highlands and Seneca and Cherokee Parks. At the end of that ride, I felt great. I knew that I was having some fatigue because my thighs would burn when I was riding up hill but I felt good overall and felt like I could have kept going if I wanted to.
After the bike on Saturday, I decided to wait until Sunday to do my run. Actually, this is how it has been scheduled all along. I have been doing both on Saturday primarily because I just have more time available on Saturdays than Sundays. Part of the reasoning here was that I have been wondering if some of my calf problems are due to too much demand too soon on one day. With a 46 mile bike, I am pushing a little more than 3 hours on a bike. A ten mile run is another hour and a half to two hours.
This morning I got up and did my swim before church (1800 m / with a 800 m time trial (18 minutes 20 seconds)). Again I felt great.
This afternoon, I went out to do my run. I had 10 miles scheduled for today and my calves felt better than they have in weeks. It was about 84 degrees and my main concern once I got running was dealing with the heat. With the heat considerations and the calf considerations, I was going at a very nice albeit fairly slow and steady pace. I felt really good too. Parking in the Park was kind of goofy today which led me to choose a spot where I could do 3 three mile loops. Then I could finish out with a 1 mile run around the soccer fields.
A couple of miles into the run, I could feel something in my left calf heat up a little but it did not feel like a major deal. I slowed a little to see if I could comfortably run through it and I did. Although there was a warm sensation in the calf, it was not really painful and I thought that as long as I was not overtaxing it, that would be good for it.
At about 2.5 miles I stopped for water and walked for about 5 minutes again to deal with the heat and to allow that calf to stretch out a little before resuming the run. I started the run again and felt very comfortable in the run. About 3 miles later following a hill, my calf was feeling hot again and I again slowed down. About that time, I was crossing a street and a car stopped to let me cross and I tried to speed up to cross and when I did, my calf cramped up big time and I had to stop.
Again I tried to walk through it. I walked about about a half mile and drank some gatorade and had some food. When I tried to start up again, I was having pain even with a walk. I still had 4 miles to complete my run. I started off to walk that last 4 miles but the cramping was severe enough with just a walk that I was concerned that I would really injure myself. So at 6 miles, I aborted the rest of the run.
I think that was the right decision. My concern now is that I am 14 weeks out and I have been having this recur for about 4 or 5 weeks now. If I don't get things under control, I am concerned that 14 weeks will not be enough time to build up to marathon distances for the run.
There is so much to learn. Right now, I am thinking that I need to add an Olympic distance triathlon and a Half Iron Man to my program to prepare. I am also trying to decide if the best thing I can do to get back on track is to skip the next 2 or 3 days of training. And at this point, I have no idea how to do all of this at the same time.
Guess I'll have to let you know what I decide. Wish me luck.
David
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