A Minor Hiccup

Throughout my training over the past year and a half I have been fortunate to stay pretty healthy.  That’s not to say I am immune to the typical soreness or fatigue from training, but when I think about it I’ve really only had a couple of minor injuries.  While it seems like only a minor bump in the road, this has been my hardest week of serious training yet as I fought my way through a balky calf.  The damage was done last weekend and could have happened during any of the following:

• Saturday’s 5+ mile jaunt through NYC (complete with dodging and weaving pedestrian traffic, hopping up and down curbs, and a few too many quick direction changes)
• Sunday morning’s super early bike ride to the site of the NYC Triathlon (ridden on my old bike with toe clips and an improper seat height)
• Test running a couple of pairs of kicks on the running store’s treadmill (without so much as even a minor stretch) at pretty high speed

Monday's schedule called for a long run in addition to my swim and after my first step out of bed I knew it wasn't going to happen.  I quickly began a rigorous schedule of ice, compression, Arnica, and just about any other treatment method I could think to try.  I even pulled out the Aztec Secret - Indian Healing Clay which I was skeptical of at first but has helped me a number of times.  The basic premise of the clay is that it increases blood flow and circulation to the area which aids in healing.

My healing efforts paid off and I was able to push through my speed burst run on Tuesday and moved my long run to Friday.  The calf seems to be feeling a lot better now but tomorrow's brick workout will put it to the test.