Back on my feet

Two weeks ago, during a tempo run I felt a slight twinge in my calf as I set out. It wasn't overly painful, just a little tight so I didn't think too much of it aside from mulling that I would probably miss the evening recovery run. Well, I missed a bit more than that. After the run, I felt a bit more stiff but not in too much pain or discomfort, but as the day wore on, I felt a bit more sore. Definitely wouldn't be doing that evening recovery, I decided.

The next day, I woke up quite sore. I'd arranged to run with Shan and since it was a gentle 8km, I thought it would be a good opportunity to test if it was a real issue. It was pretty sore for the first 5km, though not excruciating, and for the last few KMs it eased off. I was very hopeful that it might just require a few days off. The next day, off I went to Jacinta - who will leave for an exciting new life soon but leave us without her healing touch. She was optimistic, too. I still had decent range of motion. Her advice: three full days with no running and also a couple of days of real rest and then a short, easy run on Sunday. I therefore did nothing Thursday or Friday and just a gentle bike ride to keep David company on his long run on Saturday in Denmark (for just the first 20km). Sunday was D-day, and off I set on my 25 minute run. It felt a bit tight, but not horrendous, so I was hopeful I might manage another 20 minutes the next day. I made it less than two minutes down the road from our place in Denmark before turning around and walking back. Two days later, I tried another little run, again 25 minutes, and again the pain was there but not severe. However, I'd learned not to try two days in a row so decided to leave it at that as the next day, Thursday, we were heading back to Perth and I was due to see Jacinta again on the Friday.

By the time I got to see Jacinta I was way more sore than I'd been a week earlier and it seemed not from the run, but from 4 hours in the car! Turns out I'd developed some nerve spasms, most likely triggered by a combination of the injured calf and the glute exercises I'd been doing that had inflamed my piriformis. It was time for some nerve gliding exercises, plenty of treatment and a bit more rest. I was allowed another small run on Monday, 25 minutes on the flat - hence on a treadmill. I saw Jacinta again that day, and there'd been a fair bit of improvement, but still angry nerves, so the prognosis was another day of not running and then try again. Instead, I decided to spin on the Tuesday and water run on the Wednesday to allow two days off. Today, I tested it out again with a run around the river, just under 10km, in a very slow 59 minutes. And voila, I seem to be pain free - a little tight still, so no tempo or speed work for a bit, but hopefully fully on the road to recovery.

Thank you Jacinta, and please come back soon ...

Variety is the Spice of Life ...

It's certainly been a week of variety on the running front. Aside from a couple of recovery runs close to home on Tuesday and Thursday (and even there I managed to find something completely different to do, meeting David and Zoe at the park one day and doing the loop to home on another), no two runs were the same this week.

Wednesday I headed over to Shannon's place for a lovely 8km run from her house, down past Burswood and along the river, then back for an excellent coffee, chez Coates, before heading back for a busy working day. Thursday, I had the pleasure of Kate's company on my Mona's run around the river. She is amazing - she held on so well given the massive KMs she is running right now. I'll have to enjoy it while I can; in a couple of months when she's back speed training I'll be lucky to hang onto her! Thursday evening was one of my home recovery runs - a busy night at work meant no going out to play :(

After a recovery day on Friday, we got up super early on Saturday morning and headed down to Busselton to watch the half ironman (Sas, Jo, David and I on a caffeine boosted road trip). Jo and I were joining Shannon on part of her long run - she started earlier and did 14km then we joined her for the another 14km, parted ways with Jo and Shannon and I then finished off the final 6km to make it 34km for her and 20km for me. That was followed by a lovely day watching some great athletes complete the ironman. We saw many friends cross the line in fine form - I'm amazed at their stamina and great attitudes. It almost made me want to do one (almost - I still have to get over my fear and loathing of bicycles). We headed home about 3ish; not being able to stay for the after party meant there was little reason to hang around once all our friends had finished their race. So we said farewell to everyone, loaded up with more caffeine and began the long journey home. It was surprisingly quick on the way back - I suspect it was the good conversation that made the time fly.

Sunday, David and I joined the incredible distance runners in the Relay for Life. Francis had put together a team to do the 24 hour event. Most had camped over and Kate had done the toughest stint - 10pm to 4am! We rocked up at a civilized 7.45am and David did his hour at 8am. I followed, with plenty of company (funny, no one seemed to want to run with Sugar - was it the deodorant or the pace, we'll never know ...), then after a bit of fun and chats, David and I did another five laps with a bit of entertainment thrown in for good measure.

This morning's run took us back to King's Park and I have to say hills were very welcome after two days of flat running. Becks surged ahead and the rest of us - Jo, Gina, Joe, Kate, Shannon and I trotted along until the first hill, when we let Jo and Gina take off, with Joe just behind them. Kate, Shannon and I, weary from many KMs (well, Kate and Shannon weary from many KMs - my excuse is perhaps down something entirely different) dropped back a bit and trundled up the hill. But it was a gorgeous morning and a lovely run to do. As you come up the hill, the sun starts to rise and there is the most amazing view of the city through the trees. It's hard to beat that!