Wednesday
Today, without a care in the world, I set off on a sunny seafront jog that would lengthen my runs further. Yesterday it was 2 x 10 minutes. Today I was pushing that to 12 and 8-minutes. The 12 went well. I walked for three minutes and set off on the 8. Just over halfway through, it happened. The ping.A sudden sharp pain in my right calf. I pulled up immediately and sat on a bench dedicated to someone who liked to sit there gazing at the view. I too felt all at sea. How can this have happened without warning? But then I recalled what I wrote just seven days ago:
“The final 2-minute stretch was supposed to be 3 minutes but I started to feel the faintest twinge in my calf as I approached the end of the second, so decided to leave it there. And that’s the danger. Even at these modest distances, an old gimmer who hasn’t run any distance for more than ten years has to be cautious. The guideline was always not to increase mileage by more than 10% each week but although I ran only 62 minutes last week, it was more than double the previous one. I doubt if this pushes me into some red zone but the faint spasm today was my body’s polite reminder not to stick my head too far above the parapet.”
Did I take any notice? Did I start those daily calf raises that I went on to remind myself I should do? Nope. When I learn anything, it’s usually the hard way. So there it is. I’m injured, and out of running for at least a couple of weeks. The calves were a source of distress when I ran years ago but oddly, I’d forgotten this, or at least crushed all those recollections into a small cube of vague awareness and gleefully booted it into the receding tide on an early outing.
Eventually, I got up and wandered the kilometre or so back to the car. On the way I passed the unmanned first aid post, and a bit further on, an ambulance, parked outside the RNLI Museum. I tried to catch the eye of the driver in the hope of eliciting some sympathy, and possibly a quick bit of “let’s ‘ave a look at it then” discourse but I failed. He continued munching on his Cornish pasty and scrolling through his phone, quite oblivious to the terrible suffering of the population around him.
Thursday
Within a few hours yesterday I’d moved into solution mode. There’s nothing wrong with a spot of hand-wringing in the immediate aftermath of bad news but I don’t like to spend too long luxuriating in self-pity. It’s a setback but better to be positive about these things, and turn problem into opportunity. Forgive me for using that desperate old cliché, but you can’t easily remove every trace of corporate-mindset programming from an escapee.
The calf is still sore today but it’s not crippling. I can almost walk in a straight line and the limp, even when no one’s looking, isn’t overly theatrical. I’d say it’s at the lower end of the calf-snap scale though I can’t see myself running for at least a couple of weeks. Maybe longer. One problem with calf issues is that the pain will cease before the injury is healed so one needs to be cautious about a premature return. I won’t say there’s anything good about the injury but the least bad thing is that it’s a useful reminder that I was dogged by calf trouble last time around, and never really dealt with it properly. Although I’m ten years older, I’m probably a month or two wiser, and I also have more free time to devote to fixing it. I invested a couple of hours’ research yesterday, starting in the obvious place.
What would I have done before YouTube? Limped along to the local library? YouTube has allowed me to become a leading expert in a wide range of topics without lifting a finger or even having to vacate my armchair. A quick glance at my viewing history confirms my prowess in topics like bread and kefir making, blues guitar riffs, cooking classic dishes from most of Europe and Asia, home fitness routines, photography, the highs and lows of Britain’s long distance footpaths, bowls techniques, growing vegetables, financial planning, devastating chess openings… and plenty more I’m too modest to list. One more item I can now add though is lower leg biomechanics, and optimal exercise routines to manage a full recovery. I’m already on it.
More generally, I’m fortunate to have my rowing and ski-ing erg machines to continue moving me towards peak cardiovascular condition. And after a day or two I’m hopeful I can get back to some brisk walking while patrolling the neighbourhood. So things could be worse. It may even turn out to be a good thing. Apart from the reminder, it allows me to rethink my training plan, and to add a key missing ingredient — patience.
