Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Blogging Paying Off

2 days shy of the mid point of my 6 week no running let the right calf muscle heal itself sentence and I'm looking forward to being able to run again before 2010 comes to an end.  So far I've resisted the temptation to sign up for every spring 2011 event in site as I am often guilty of doing when not able to run.

Call it a senior moment but I am glad that I was able to look back to my blog a year ago to determine that the left calf muscle that I pulled a year ago this week was just that and not the right.  Reading the post, I was reminded that I'd woken up with a cramp on the same muscle earlier in the week. That's good news as hopefully this 2nd tear of my right calf won't be a recurring issue. 

Looking at my Buckeye Outdoors log, I was able to determine that I probably initially strained my right calf a little over 10 weeks ago on an 8 mile run in the hills at Huntsville State Park.  It was my first run after the Disneyland 1/2 and I felt great so I really pushed myself on the hills.  2 days later around 2 miles into another hill run, this time on Flintridge, is when I first felt the strain.  I took it easy the rest of that run but never seemed to recover from that initial strain.  Compression socks got me through 10 for Texas and the Jazz Half before the  right calf finally tore not quite 2 miles into an easy paced mostly flat surface run.

Speaking of compression socks, they have been an important part of my 2010 running season, not to mention quite the fashion statement.  Prior to wearing them in my last 2 fall races, I wore them earlier in the year when my calves were feeling tight.  I've been wearing them on just my right leg for the past week and they seem to really help with my calf muscle.  Hopefully its helping the healing process as well.

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