Rachel vs Calf Strain

Maybe it was the time I had to quickly pick up my pace to avoid being run over by another crazy driver while crossing the street. Or maybe it was just the fatigue setting in after running so long. Or maybe it had everything to do with that fricken fibula of mine. Someone was kind enough to break that and my tibia a few years back in a soccer game, and I had to have a titanium rod (or “nail”) put into my tibia to hold it together. That made my fibula never join together. No big deal, since that bone doesn’t support my bodyweight – just the muscles of my lower leg.

Whatever the cause, two weeks ago my calf got some serious ache going at about mile 12 of my 17 mile run. It got worse and worse. By the final two miles I was digging deep to push through the insane tightness and stabbing pain. Probably a bad idea, but my bull-headed stubborness and pride pushed aside all clear-thinking.

Like any good citizen of the Internet Age, I jumped online, learned everything I could and self-diagnosed myself as having a Grade 1 Calf Strain (possibly a Grade 2, but who’s quibbling). I was a nervous that it could be a bit worse than I thought, and it might throw me off my Marathon Training Schedule. I did everything I knew to get that leg back into shape and ready to run. Here’s what I did –

1. Foam Roller Massage. You can buy a fancy-schmancy foam roller or you can buy a fat pool noodle for 1/5 the price, cut it in half and have 2. Got mine at K-Mart. Put your aching and sore body part on the roller and roll back and forth slowly. Really let it work on the part that is the most sore. This thing works wonders.
   
2. Stretch. There are so many ways to stretch the calf. These are the two I happen to have done about a million of over the last week. Keep it gentle and steady.
3. Rest. This was the hard one. I took some easy walks after the strain, but that was about it. No running, no working out, nothing that would put that muscle under any real load. A great time to catch up on some reading.
4. Ease Up. I decided to give my runs for the week a try, but I was fully prepared to leave every ounce of pride at home. I purposefully ran slowly, listening to my body all the way. I was even mentally ready to walk my mileage, if running was too painful. I didn’t push at all and I tell you I ran the slowest 5 miles the Monday after the injury. I even took one day of running off. If you know me, that’s a miracle in itself. I am so determined to be strong and tough and do the workouts as scheduled (some might say I’m “stubborn” about this). It took more toughness and strength to make myself NOT do the run on Thursday. The schedule called for 5 miles of running with one mile of that being hill sprints. My calf was starting to feel pretty good, so there was no way I was going to sprint hills that day. I didn’t want to take a chance of aggravating it and not be able to run my 18 miles on the weekend. Instead I did the hills workout from my Weekly Online Workouts, and substituted walking sprints for regular sprints. That was tough on the pride, but great for the legs. I still got in a great workout without risking re-injury.
5. Tape. I tried regular athletic tape with pre-wrap underneath, but it sweated off in about 20 minutes. Then I bought some KT tape and  . . . . loved it. I used it as directed on Saturday’s run and felt damn good.
   
6. Mineral Ice. I’ve been singing the praises of this stuff for years now. I slathered the stuff all over my calves and hamstrings before every run and workout all week, and I even used it when not working out. Love this stuff.
   
7. Compression Sleeve. I decided to buy a calf compression sleeve to give some extra warmth and support to my left calf. If this injury had anything to do with my faulty, disconnected fibula, I figured those muscles could use a little more help. Only Cho-Pat carried one small enough to fit my skinny legs, but that meant I had to wait until after the weekend for it to arrive. What was I going to do about Saturday’s 17 mile run? Get creative, of course. I figured my lower leg was about the size of most men’s arms, so  . . . . I bought a Shooter Sleeve. You know, the kind that Kobe and other basketball players use? It fit pretty well (just a bit long) and did the job just fine. I’ll give you a full review of the Cho-Pat Calf Compression Sleeve at the end of the week, after I’ve taken it out for a spin a few times.

I know that the standard recommendation is to take days and days off from running. And sometimes I actually think it’s totally necessary. Being the determined person that I am, I just had to see if I could avoid missing days in my training. All in all, worked out pretty well for me.