Back in late September, when I had just started running again after almost a year of pregnancy-induced layoff, I wrote:
Once I’m back at work, I’ll reassess based on how much free time I’ve got but I hope to still manage 3 days a week. Maybe that’s optimistic. We’ll see.
Ha. HA! Hahahahaha. Yeah, so 3 days a week turns out to have been a VERY optimistic goal. Since returning to work a month ago, I have run a whopping 5 times. FIVE. And every single one of those has been on the weekend, since the weekdays basically pass in a complete blur right now.
This morning I went out for my first run in 2 weeks, and was mentally mapping out what I need to do in the next 6 weeks to get myself in good enough shape to finish the half marathon on January 13. I accepted from the start that this will be my slowest half marathon ever, and I will definitely be doing a run/walk, but I still need to build some mileage. So I plotted out a plan of attack and by the time I was almost home, I was feeling somewhat confident about the next 6 weeks. And then…?
Then I pulled a calf muscle.
And then I cursed a lot.
About 3/4 of the way through my run, I’d noticed that the back of my left leg had started to feel tight but I didn’t really think anything of it. It got a little worse as I continued, so I planned to stretch really well when I finished. But with about 0.2 miles left to go, I suddenly felt a little “pop!” And as everyone knows, a pop is never a good thing.
I instantly came to a stop and had to slowly limp the rest of the way home. I can put my weight on it without issue, so standing isn’t a problem, but I have trouble with the walking motion, and specifically the push-off part. Dr. Google recommended treating it with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and says recovery time is about 2 weeks, so I pulled out a compression sock and am hoping for the best.
I limped around pretty pathetically all of yesterday, but it already feels better today. Don’t get me wrong — I’m still limping — but it’s not as pronounced. So I’m optimistic! Still, if I can’t even walk correctly, I certainly can’t run. If it takes more than a week to heal, my chances of even making it to the START line in January are seriously in doubt.
So we’ll see, I guess.
Erin S. says
I saw your fb post over the weekend and forgot to ask you about this today! This makes me sad! I need you there since we were in the same boat! Get better calf!
katie says
I think you need to skip the half-marathon. I know it was a great goal to aim for, but you don’t want to hurt yourself trying to get there. You need to take time for your calf to fully recover now, not push back into training and aggravate it again. Even doing 13 miles as a walk/run is a lot. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!
(advice over)
Love you!