I got a nice 6 miles on the treadmill in yesterday before an upper body and core strength training workout. This morning felt good when I woke up. I slept really well and the weather was just about perfect – maybe a little windy, but not too bad.
During my warmup mile, things just didn’t feel right. My legs felt heavy and it was like I was dragging myself along even at my easy pace. The plan was 1 mile warmup, 6 miles at 7:27 and 1 mile cool down. I hit the park and started the tempo run. About halfway through the first mile, my right calf started to tighten up. At first it was just soreness, but then it felt like someone was slowly grinding the back of a pencil into my calf. I continued into the second mile and it steadily got worse. I finally cut it off just before the 2 mile mark of the tempo run. I walked for a while, but the pain wasn’t going away. So, I sat on a stone wall and massaged the calf for a while.
The massage helped a little bit and I started to walk home. The slow pace started to become annoying, so I decided to test a jog and that went well. I passed a man who nodded a “hello” to me and looked at my Garmin. I was running at 7:25 pace. I reached the edge of the park and instead of crossing the street to go home, I hung a right and started my second lap of the 3 mile tempo circuit. The calf was sore, but not too bad. I finished up the 6 tempo miles without a further break, then made it back home at my easy pace for the total 8 miles. Here’s the full workout:
1 mile warmup
1.95 miles in 14:18 (7:19/mile)
0.29 miles in 5:29 (walking, sitting, massaging)
3.76 miles in 27:28 (7:18/mile)
1 mile cooldown
So, not a perfect tempo run by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nice to be able to get the full workout in. The calf is definately hurting now. I’m icing it as I write and I may have to give it the day off tomorrow. I’ve got 5 easy miles planned and that may change to 15 miles on the bike. There’s nothing fast left this week, but there is a 10.5 mile run this weekend. So, I’m keen to give the calf some rest.
My calves are been really sore after my long runs on Saturdays. Usually by the following Tuesday I am dying trying to get in my low mileage day. Just don’t overdue it.
Keep up the good work!
I understand your frustration, you know in your mind you can do it, yet your body does not respond. Have you ever tried compression socks to see if that gives your calves some relief?
I’ve never thought about it because I’ve never had calf pain before this week. The calf is feeling much better today, but I went ahead and did 15 on the bike instead of 5 on the treadmill…..I will say that from the looks of things, compression socks are readily available down here in St. Pete ;).
glad your brain won out and you xt’d today. weird about the calf pain. the only thing i know about those are related to the cramps/charley horses so i don’t think i can help. hope it’s feeling better and you are able to get your longer run in this weekend. don’t get too frustrated at the pace!
Yikes, take care of that calf. Ice, rest, and messages!