I’m Injured. Now what?
It was bound to happen. Everything, and I mean everything, has gone perfectly over the last eleven weeks. Just look at my Strava graph (which could be part of the problem 🫤).
It was bound to happen. Everything, and I mean everything, has gone perfectly over the last eleven weeks. Just look at my Strava graph (which could be part of the problem 🫤).
But first, a quick breakdown of my 10km race.
I nailed it.
Last week, I discussed how I’m using lactate testing to monitor my training and figured I could average around 400 Watts (running power) for my 10km race. Well, I average 410 W, my best 10km power.
However, I ‘only’ ran 34:16 min. I say ‘only’ because when I was running 405 W during my 1-mile intervals last Saturday, I averaged 3:16 min/km (5:15 min/mi), so I expected to run 33 min low and maybe sub 33 min if I had a good day. On Sunday, I hit my power target but averaged 3:22min/km (5:26min/mi) because the course was lumpy and twisty, and I got 10.2 km.
I’m stoked to have running power to show that I performed above my expectations despite a relatively slow finishing time. I also nailed my main process goal, pacing (see below)!
With the expectation of the first Km, I sat within a 4 sec/km range and reeled in a few guys over the last 10min to finish 4th overall.
Back to my injury…
I may be catastrophising here because I haven’t seen a specialist yet, so I’m jumping to the worst-case scenario. I mean, I’ve only had one day off running….🫣
My first mistake - being lazy
I felt a niggle pop up on the inside of my right calf on Thursday, but I didn’t think too much of it. It’s running, niggles come and go. Usually, I would get straight on top of any niggle with self-massage and trigger point, maybe some anit-flams, but I didn’t for this one because I was lazy. By Sunday, I felt some 4 out of 10 pain during the warm-up for my race. A clear sign my niggle was getting worse. After 10min, I didn’t notice any discomfort and completely forgot about the issue until the end of my cool down.
On Monday, I was hurting when I woke up. Maybe 6 out of 10 pain with stabbing pains when I loaded my right leg down the stairs. I used my standing desk to keep my legs activated and moving around. It was not a good idea. I fatigued whatever muscles had been compensating for my injury, and the pain worsened. I tried a little run on my new treadmill, mainly to test my Stryd with my phone (hot tip 🔥, you need to unpair your Stryd from your watch to get it to work in treadmill mode on your phone for better accuracy).
I only ran for 3 minutes when I knew I shouldn’t push through. My pain subsided after the first minute as the calf warmed up, but I knew I could be doing more harm than good, so I took the mature option to cut my losses and wait to get checked.
Today is Tuesday, and I can feel massive progress from the self-treatment I gave myself last night, so I’m hopeful I don’t have shin splints, which typically present as pain on the inside of the calf-shin area. I’ve got a physio appointment tomorrow (Wednesday), so I’ll take the smart option and not run until I get the all-clear.
It’s hard to take time off after such an incredible training block. I’ve talked about the consistency trap in week three of my training, and I’m guilty of falling into that trap once more, so this injury is an important reminder that nothing can go on forever!
My best piece of injury advice
Make a booking with a professional ASAP. As soon as you get a niggle that isn’t familiar, MAKE A BOOKING. Likely, a physio or whoever can’t see you for a week, by which time you would have realised if it was nothing or something.
Week Eleven - Strava Link
📊8:58 hrs total (TSS 610)
🏃7x Run = 8:58hrs (121km), 1302m 📈
Tues - Aerobic Run 1:30min (21km)
Thurs - Long run 1:50hrs (26km, 400m 📈)
Sun - Warm up - 10km Road Race - Cool Down
I’m working on a new Zone 2 video. In the meantime, check out my video on what it takes to run a sub-3-hour marathon.