Saturday, December 1, 2012

PRE RACE PANIC

Well what a weird Taper week which began, as you know, with a calf strain last Friday. Super physio Helen came over on Sunday and got to grips with the problem. Not only did she find some very painful spots she even found some in my other leg.......which was a little strange as I hadn't injured that one! As Helen said "Don't worry I will always find some way of exacting torture."
      Now you may ask yourself why I put up with this hour of agony......well the  reason is; Helen is very good. The next day my legs  were so tired I felt like I'd been on a 3 hour run and this was due to her deep tissue massage....yeh it sounds nice......but it isn't.
        But, on the following day my legs felt fantastic, no pain, swelling nearly gone, etc, etc: so I did a couple of 20 minute high intensity workouts over the following two days with no pressure on the legs and all was well.....And then I did what all idiot athletes do........I went for a little jog.....and again felt fab.....and so I began some tabata sprints......and guess what?...I pulled the lower calf. When I told Helen this I think she wanted to throttle me, "I told you to rest and do nothing till the race!"
  "I know but I felt great and just wanted to stretch my legs".
    "Well that was stupid".
     "Guilty" I meekly replied. Unfortunately Helen was flying out to the UK that morning so it was 'therapy by phone' followed by ice, rest , elevation, compression, self massage, stretching and the ubiquitous TENS machine. This race was starting to look more impossible by the minute and I hadn't even started.
     The last few days I really have rested and done nothing and so feel quite sluggish but there's still a dull pain. 9 months with no injury's and now two strains in 4 days, the week before a race........is someone trying to tell me something?
      Needless to say I have no idea how tomorrow is going to go.......to be honest it doesn't look good as calf strains always seem to come one after another. If I get another 'pull', then c'est la vie, there's very little I can do about it. I hate the phrase "I'll do my best", as only losers say that, so all I'll say is, 'I'll give it everything'....Its bloody annoying though. I tried a 2k jog this morning and unfortunately the pain has not gone...and I had to walk the last 500 metres. My leg is now wrapped in ice and as Sue sagely pointed out, 'Aren't you supposed to 'ice' it after a race?.....that's not a good sign is it?'....Well quite. I've decided to split the race into bits, ie mini challenges. Its 8k to Pampelone beach, 4k across the beach, 8k to the aid station and 12k climbing up and down to the finish with more beach. It will all be dependant on the pain. You never no I might wake up tomorrow and feel great....gotta stay positive.
         The last bit of advice Helen gave before she left was, 'Whatever you do, don't run on the beach, its the worst thing for calves"......As 7k of this 32k race is run on beaches I guess I'll just have to walk on water!
        Wish me luck :)
 

4 comments:

  1. Good luck! Then rest!!!

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  2. Good luck Phil!
    Cx

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  3. Hummmmm.......I definitely agree that the sand will be the toughest part of the race. Hard or soft sand running?

    Sending you energy & words of wisdom - "Rest before the Race"

    Pamela in Seattle

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  4. Phil,
    Have you checked into any of these type of products? - kinesiology tape. Check out KT tape at http://www.kttape.com/

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