Two streaks broken

So I had 2 running-related streaks broken this past week - one acceptable, one not-so good.

First off, after about 3 consecutive months of diligently following my half-marathon training plan down to specific days and specific mileage, I skipped a training run Tuesday morning. It was going to be a simple 3-mile run but my daughter stayed up late the night before, which in turn, kept both myself and my wife up. I just was in no condition to do any running at O-dark-hundred in the morning. I suppose it's okay since I'm in my taper period of the training schedule with the half-marathon happening this coming Sunday.

Second, after about 3 consecutive months of being injury-free, with only 4 days before my half-marathon, I suffered my first injury during my 4-mile training run this morning. It was pretty-darn cold this morning (-3 Celsius with wind chill) so I bundled up accordingly and headed up.

About a mile into the run, I felt this twinge in my right calf. Before I knew it, it felt like my calf had tightened up and felt like there was this huge knot in my leg. I stopped and tried to massage it out but it was SO sore. I was able to run but not put a whole lot of weight on it. I tried jogging it out and it was tolerable. After about another half-mile, it felt a bit better but at that point I was trying to put it out of my mind.

I finished the 4-mile run and tried to ice it down. It hasn't improved much since then. I do notice that just keeping it immobile makes it feel a bit better, so I may have to abandon my last taper run before the half-marathon so that my calf can recover in time for the big day on Sunday.

Holy Cramp!

Oh cramp.

Well, it was close to a leg cramp yesterday. My training using the Pose Method uses more of my calf muscles than I had used them before...so either I'm not using the Pose Method correctly or I just need to work out my calves more.

I was supposed to run 12 min intervals with 100 second breaks in between, which I did, but not without great difficulty. My calves were tight that morning and it was quite chilly but not cold enough to pull on the running tights. I did ample stretching and loosened up as much as I could and I started out on my run. By the time I had completed my 2nd interval, I had contemplated calling my wife to come pick me up because my left calf was just REALLY sore. It felt like a cantaloupe in my leg!

It became one of those moments where you either decide to call it quits for the day or you tough it out. I don't usually quote Lance Armstrong that often, and this may be a paraphrase, but it summed up what I was thinking: "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." I had stopped in the middle of runs before and regretted doing it.

This time I toughed it out the remaining intervals and I'm glad I did. By the time the 4th interval came around (albeit at a slower pace), the soreness had either worked itself out, or I couldn't feel it any longer.