Twss I know I know. Got out a bit late this morning with running partner
Suzanne. We had a front yard conference to discuss distance, pace, and future plans for races. We are pretty well committed to completing our long runs on Saturday mornings, and we are in agreement to keep the pace on the slower side: aerobic, conversational, train your body to burn fat, blah blah blah. So the long run pace for "Break 4:30" is 11:00ish, and we wanted to stay between 10:30 and 11:00. We finished at an overall 10:32 for 8 miles. Nice target shooting. The miles went by pretty effortlessly until about mile 6 when my calf started to really bother me. It tends to cramp in one particular spot deep in the outside gastroc. muscle. I've been wearing
calf compression sleeves and running low mileages. The pain site was giving me warning signs at about mile 5, but I decided to see what 'running through it' would do. Is it not possible that not ALL Sports medicine doctors are right??
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| This jackass has two right legs. |
I got to mile 6 and thought I would have to stop, but kept going and amazingly, I ran through the pain and the muscle relaxed again. Love my
CEP compression sleeves! So at this point, Suzanne was giving me subtle reminders to keep the pace 'on pace' through the last mile, because I was starting to speed up. Part of our plan for long slow runs is to keep the pace steady throughout the run. Not happening. Not with this ego. Healthy finish and a couple of cold
Coconut waters later, the workout was complete and another happy longish run is in the books.
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| That's us toward the back on the left. Love Changs!! |
We got together with Adam and his wife and baby and
Lauren last night for an almost free dinner at PF Chang's in Scottsdale. We had been trying to arrange a blogger meet-up for a few weeks, and even though some of us had to cancel, we still were able to make it and had a great time catching up and nerding our heads off about running. Sorry Tiffany! And Hayden unabashedly crunched his cyanide molar and slept through the whole thing. It looks a lot like I will be trying some trail running this spring. There are several good locations around town and I'm looking forward to the scenery, getting my dog Norman some exercise, and adding variety to my runs.
Suzanne brought me a
Choc/Mint Gu to try and I may have a new favorite. Outstanding flavor, and no crappy aftertaste. I'm a big fan of Gu, and I can easily live with 4 of their flavors, unlike some of the other brands where I'm limited to one or maybe two flavors. Go Gu, you are the best!
Anyone got ideas about what the F is going on with my calf(s)? I'd sure like to know. Thanks for reading!
7 comments:
be sure to stretch out that calf as much as you can - when mine really bothered me, it turned into planter faciitis. Not to scare you or anything... but stretch it out.
Great dinner last night! Can't wait for some trails!
I don't know what's going on with your calf. Maybe she misses the teat.
I'm so funny.
Glad you went longer today.
Wish I had been invited to dinner.
Along the lines of Beth's comment ... maybe you should tell your calf that it won't be made into veal ... but will be allowed to live out its life to a natural death.
(Beth should stick to toilet humor and leave the puns to experts)
Screw getting the calf figured out. I think you nailed it in your post. Things I'd want to figure out first:
Why you have 2 right legs
Where did your skin go?
Figure those out then we can worry about cramping
are you hydrating with only water, or do you have some sort of electrolyte replacement (NUUN!) involved. e-lyte imbalances are a source of cramps. do you get them only while running, or at night while asleep, too? try some Tonic water, too. the Quinine can help with cramps.
honest. if the Tonic is hard to get down, soften it with some Tangueray and lime....
I've been wanting a pair of compression sleeves. Glad to know you love yours. Not sure what to tell you on your calves, I just started reading you blog, and don't know your habits. IMHO, usually calves get that way from overdoing too many workouts. Also if your calf starts hurting at mile 5 or 6, stop, don't go to mile 8. It will only make it worse. Now, the best advise might be not to run on it for 1 to 2 weeks. My weak spot is my knee. I have to be careful and listen to my body. Hope your calf gets better soon!
Hold you calf up close to the monitor so I can get a better look.
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