Ibuprofen gel is strange magic

I bought some proper ibuprofen gel yesterday to give it a go rather than the other anti-inflammatory stuff I'd been using. I'm still doing strengthening and stretching on the calves and strengthening the hip every day if don't run. Still had soreness in the right calf yesterday after the run the day before and several reps of strengthening. Within 30 minutes the ibuprofen gel took all the soreness away. This was amazing but also odd - I know the muscle is sore and the soreness is a sign I shouldn't be doing too much on it, so to have that soreness removed feels odd and potentially dangerous as I could over-use the muscle. However, for the end of the day when all of the exercises / running is over, it is a nice way to reduce soreness and relax the muscle as well as presumably reduce any swelling. I have decided to rest an extra day today (although obviously continue the strengthening) and give it a bit more time before the next run, which in will definitely do slowly!

Pushing the muscle in second 10k

I ran 7 miles yesterday evening - this time a little faster, around 8:15 minutes per mile on average so a half-decent pace. It felt amazing to do one of the miles at sub 8-minute miling - for me, this is when I begin to feel like I am actually running; I feel my body just beginning to adjust to the additional effort, I feel my breathing slightly increasing its work to bring in more oxygen, I feel the natural chemicals releasing into my brain and body to deal with the new effort. Eight minute miling seems like some sort of threshold for me - I am much more in my element at that speed or faster. Sadly, my enthusiasm to be back at that level of running stupidly outweighed the more rational part of me which suggests I should keep going slow while the injury mends, and around the 5 mile mark I got an ache in the soleus, and a newer ache in a higher part of the same calf, both of which increased throughout the final 2 miles of the 7 mile run. Again, I slowed a bit but should have slowed more or even stopped as the ache was quite forceful. I iced the calf and used anti-inflammatory cream, and whilst the soleus seems fine this morning the higher part of the calf is still sore. This has told me that, at least for the moment, I should really be at 8:30 miles at fastest, and to be safe probably more like 9:00-9:30 minute miles, whilst the muscle continues to mend and strengthen, so at least I've learnt something. I suppose I nudged at the limits of what the muscle is capable of last night and hopefully haven't caused additional damage...will find out over the coming days.

First 10k post-injury!

Ran a steady 10k this evening - really pleased! Exactly 9 minute miling average on the watch, which is steady but enough to do the marathon sub 4 hours if I continued at that pace. Dull ache in the right soleus which I've iced and will apply anti-inflammatory cream in a bit. No referred tightness in the IT band or right hip flexor as I've experienced before. Although it is a very long way to go and the muscle is definitely far from 100%, getting to 10k feels like a great step forward as long as the injury doesn't flare up tomorrow. It's going to be a bit of a battle to be ready in 7 weeks time (especially with a holiday in the middle), but this feels like I've fought back a significant bit of territory (with some oil fields on it)...

Slowly slowly catchy marathony?

First run post-physio - four slow miles, around 9:30-10 minute miling. Some tightness in the soleus in the first mile, some ache in it by the end of the fourth, no pain. It's a small step but that's where all the giant leaps begin. I'll ice the muscle a bit and hope for the best it feels okay over the next 24 hours or so...

Further recovered

I almost daren't even think it, but following the physio exercises and stretches yesterday and several miles walking around Bristol, whilst the calf ached a whole lot it didn't hurt; and this morning following more exercises and stretches it feels mostly okay. I've also done strengthening exercises on the right hip again. I'm very much hoping this means I can start some short, slow running very soon - maybe even tomorrow if I'm willing to risk it...

Continuing Recovery

I've had a couple of days now of following the physio's advice regarding strengthening and stretching - calf raises, calf raises with knees bent to get to the soleus muscles; rolling out the tightness with a foam roller; stretching the upper calf and soleus. I have also been working on the right hip which is weak again (this follows a previous injury there about four years ago), and is almost certainly contributing to a twist in posture of the right leg and pressure on the soleus. It is always very tempting to overdo the exercises in an effort to get back running more quickly. As with other things, I suppose it is always a balance, in this case between doing too little and doing too much. At the moment, my right calf aches from the exercise whilst my left calf feels nothing at all and finds the whole thing incredibly easy. If my calves could talk to each other the left one would be heavily taking the piss out of the weakness of the right one at the moment. I can only hope that the ache is a good ache of continued work and recovery, and not a bad ache of further damage. It is an ache, and not a pain, and I am therefore hopeful...I still hope to begin some slow, low-mileage running in the near future...

Physio

A mostly positive trip to the physio this evening. He confirmed the calf strain, said it was on the way to recovery, gave me stretches and strengthening exercises to do, and said I could be back doing very short, easy runs in 4-5 days. I'm focussed doing everything I can over the next few days and weeks to aid recovery and improve strength for the longer runs...

Injured! :-(

Two months to go until the marathon and I have been injured for the last two weeks. Following a slightly unusual long training run with a few changes of pace, I felt fine but woke up with a minor calf strain. A few short runs during the next week just exacerbated the problem, so I've been resting and icing the calf.

Being an injured runner is incredibly frustrating, especially when training for a long distance (e.g., a marathon) for which miles in the legs seem more important than any other factor. After a lovely build up of training miles I can't help but feel I am falling behind and losing all of that hard work whilst I am unable to run. However, as with life more generally, I figure it is not the times when things are easy that really test us, but the times when things are hard. I have to take the long view, recover, and ease myself back into training....as long as that long view isn't so long I miss the marathon altogether...

So today I attempted an incredibly short, incredibly slow three-mile plod, following about ten days of rest. I felt a twinge in the calf after about half a mile, which gradually eased to the point I felt nothing between 1 and 2 miles. Then during mile 3 I felt a slight background soreness again. I'm currently icing it and hoping for the best...will see how it feels tomorrow.

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