I'm back on the DL.
In my last blog post I talked about an inconsistent summer of training. In 3rd week of August, I went on vacation for a week at the Beach in Connecticut with Dana's family. I had plenty of time to stretch, exercise the weak area of my legs, and go for some good runs. By the end of the week I was running pain free, and logged nearly 60 miles. The following week back in San Francisco, I was feeling tired from the training, but just tried to keep the volume up with mostly easy running.
Last Thursday, I did my first hill sprint workout of the summer. Hill sprints are a good way to maintain speed & power during the base phase of training. The workout was simple - a 6 mile easy run, then 10 x 10 uphill sprints in the Presidio (walking back down the hill in between). I felt good lifting my knees up, and didn't have any soreness the rest of the evening.
I woke up in the middle of the night, and felt a throbbing pain in my leg. I managed to fall back asleep, but when I got up in the morning, my calf hurt so bad I could barely walk. The whole thing was swollen and it felt like it was on fire. I felt pretty miserable through the weekend, and an appointment with a sports doctor Monday confirmed a strained calf. There's no real way to treat it, other than letting it rest and heal.
The West Valley Track Club ran it's first cross country race of the PA season this past weekend with a great showing by the team (including Jonathan Charlesworth winning his first PA open race, and Chris Knorzer winning his first master's race). I'm bummed that I won't be able to contribute until maybe toward the end of the season.
For now I'm letting things rest. Right now I still have a bit of a limp, but finally walking fairly normally. I'll be doing some cycling, and really try to focus on straingthening my legs, feet, and core. Last time I was hurt, I really rushed to get back in shape for the Dipsea. This time, while I might do some races early in the cycle, my plan is to comeback with a slow, steady, patient build up.
