Thanks to ART (Active Release Techniques) and Dr Seth Wagenblast, along with his awesome team (yo Daniel and Stacy!) at Active Sports and Rehabilitation in Round Rock, I am Hot to Trot tomorrow morning!
I am ready for my long run Saturday morning, but I decided tonight I just don't want to miss all the fun of Austin's Thundercloud Sub's Turkey Trot. They are using a new 5 mile course this year - which mirrors much of the Cap 10K course, so I'm going to get a good test of The Calf. I think it's ready, Dr W thinks it's ready, and although there is some tightness we're going to rock and roll at 9:30 am. Finally a race that does not start at the ass crack of dawn! Forecast is for a nice chilly start around 47 deg. with no wind. Perfect! I'm really excited tonight, and I have all my stuff with me so I can leave work in the morning and head to the starting line well rested....I slept well today and I will get a short nap in tonight before leaving for work.
I've decided to go with the Kayano 17's as they are more stable and have a cushier ride than my Cumulus 13's do. My 4 mile run Monday went really well with them, and of course tomorrow is all on pavement. Seems like the more prudent choice. I really hope I can bounce back fast enough to do my long run Saturday with Austin Fit....our group has two options....7 miles and 10 miles. I'm aiming for the 7!!!
My earlier doubts about the healing status of my calf have been very much assuaged. The very positive, terrific run I had Monday really helped me mentally. I am really discovering that injury recovery is very much a mental challenge as well as physical.
I have no plans for the rest of the day but to ice the leg well (maybe an ice bath!! yow!!!) and to rest for work again Thurs. night.
Thankful? You bet. I'm racing tomorrow! Albeit slowly of course!
[Update 11/26/11]
Recovery from above lunacy is going pretty well, all things considered. Warning - if. like me, you are sick and tired of hearing about The Calf, move on now. It's officially an obsession.
Let me start with some positives:
- I averaged right below my goal pace, very near dead on. Goal pace - 10:30. Official chip pace, 10:28. You don't get closer than that!
- I made all the hills, and had a great time, right up to approximately the 3.8 mile point.
- I finished strong and passed a lot of runners in the last mile.
- The race weather was PERFECT, 47 deg start, no wind. Very, very well organized race - the first year they had a dedicated start corral for timed runners. Only passed two walkers in the first 100 yards, either total morons or did not pay attention to the hundreds of signs that showed their dumb asses where they were supposed to line up. Still, better than dodging hundreds of walkers like I did in past years.
Now for the negative. The calf cramped (seized? tore? after all this time I'm still not 100% sure) at 3.8 miles into the run, on the beginning of the climb up Cesar Chavez. It was tight at the start - despite rolling it out with the Trigger Point kit - and got progressively worse. Although I really tried my best to start out at a slower pace...I was targeting a 11 min first mile, I was running very smoothly as far as my stride. Any time I tried to run slower it was just not possible due to the strain that a shorter stride seemed to have on my calf. Here is a short abbreviated mile by mile recap:
Mile 1 - Great National Anthem. Take your hats off you immature kids. Show some respect. One of the smoothest starts ever. Despite many people weaving all over the road (keep your line folks or at the very least LOOK before you cut into my path), I settled into a groove and was breathing deeply up this rolling uphill mile. Turned the corner onto 15th and the course leveled off as we hit mile one - pace was 10:10 Garmin.
Mile 2 - Attention getting hill on 15th, but I was on a good pace here. Climb up Enfield was a steady grind that dropped MANY runners. This is a challenging hill, but I was having fun and following Miss Pigtails, who was setting a perfect pace. At least as far as the view was concerned. Mile 2 reached and I was feeling great, although The Calf was already tighter and I was doing my best to ignore it. Mile two pace - 10:28
Mile 3 - This was a pretty flat to downhill stretch that borders Mopac. Not too scenic, but still motoring along at this point. The Calf is awake and I know things are going to go south soon at this point. Shit. Mile 3 pace - 10:05 with no pushing the pace - just rolling downhill sped me up.
Mile 4 - The wheels on the bus don't go round and round after the 3.8 mile or so point. I spend the last 2/10ths of this mile stopping by the road to stretch out the unbelievable cramp I had - this time on the outer Gastroc. Damn. I learn that if I did the "Runner's Stretch" and hold it, the cramp or whatever it was would ease up. Here is where I remember that I am tough, mentally and physically. Pace suffers, 11:25 for mile 4.
Mile 5 - Wherein I remember that not only am I tough, I can run through pain too. We finish the long, slow climb up Cesar Chavez (can't we just call it 1st street for fucks sake?) and level off across the South First street bridge, then dive down and make the final right turn onto Riverside along Auditorium Shores. I'm sprinting despite the pain, and passing a lot of people that passed me in the first mile. I remember asses people. Mile 5 pace - 9:59. I hit 7:38 pace on the last 150 ft stretch to the finish, and it felt better actually than running slower. I pass a woman in a banana outfit. I get more cheers than Banana Lady. Awesome.
Total Chip Time - 52:19, 10:29/mile pace for the 5.03 miles as measured by my Garmin. I'm 2577th runner in, out of over 3600 timed runners. There are over 20,000 total runners/walkers in what was a very cool race.
If not for the calf cramps, I felt I could have easily ran a 9:30-10 min/mile pace. I will get there some day.
Although I could barely walk Friday, I iced the calf and was able to do a 30 minute warm up on the elliptical this morning at the gym, followed by a 1 hr spin class. I'm hopeful that I can get this calf ready for the Decker Challenge (half marathon 13.1 miles) on Dec 11th, but I'm suspecting it will probably be my first ever DNF (did not finish), or at best I'm going to be very, very slow. All I want to do is get across the finish without doing any permanent damage to the calf....and rest for the next half, 3M on Jan 29th 2012.
Either way, I am going to be gentle with myself. The slowest runner that finishes a race is faster than the guy/gal that stays on the couch.
