Matt Ogden, a club mate of mine in Linné, wrote a while ago
a blog update with a title “The calm before the storm”. He probably meant just the silent weeks before 10mila but I think there's more in it. They’ve been sailing calmly from
victory to victory so that you cannot expect less than a storm of success for them in
the next weekend. All signs refer to that. After all, they’ve been almost
unbeatable this spring. We girls on the other hand have been hiding our weapons
and keeping a relatively low profile. We started the season
with very stable performances from all four teams in Måsenstafetten a month ago
where Inga, me and Annika took a second place just half a minute behind Järla.
It was a good start but since then things have not gone that smoothly. At least
not for me personally.
For me it hasn't been calm at all. It’s been a real roller coaster and a horrible storm
behind the calmness. I haven’t really been able to run since Måsen and I have
found it very hard to cope with the injury while counting days at the same time,
first to Swedish Night Champs, then to Swedish League (both of which I couldn’t
run) and now to 10mila... Below are some extracts from my training diary from the
past month.
27.3. Woke up with a very sore right calf. Must have hurt it
in the intervals. Went for an easy jog but could barely run. Don't know what
has happened but it feels as if Sami's blood clot had hopped over to my calf!
1.4. Calf is really bad. Went to see a physio. He thinks
it's a calf muscle tear. Sounds plausible. Anyway I should avoid running until
it's better. Can take several weeks. Massage & ice should be fine and
gentle stretching. Only seated heel raises. No JK.
8.4. Easy jog testing the calf. Not totally painless but a
whole lot better. Maybe I can run in the weekend?
12.4. Ran Rånäs and back to square one. Suck. Made myself a
rehab-training plan and intend to stick to it for a while. Cycling, swimming,
aqua jogging, and gentle strength training. No running. Period.
18.4. A lovely long ride in the sun. Still a bit gutted that
I had to drop out from the Swedish night champs last night but definitively a right
decision. Could feel the calf a bit while cycling but not too much. Mostly pedaling
down with the left and up with right. Works ok.
21.4. Saw an orthopedist today and had an ultrasound of the
calf. It looked promising, no visible tear. At least the attachment of
gastrocnemius to Achilles looked intact (the usual spot of a tear). Good news
but it’s still hurting!
23.4. Baby steps. 15min walk to warm up, then 10x1min slow
jog with 1min walk in between. Worked ok. Progress but
still pretty far from running. No Swedish League.
28.4. Had my first ever acupuncture today. Very unpleasant
experience but nothing compared to the pain afterwards. Could barely walk out
from the clinic and had to walk with crutches rest of the day. Very painful. Should
be better in a few days. All I can do at the moment is to wait and see...
29.4. Very relieved to notice that I am able to walk again!
Started the day with some very gentle stretching exercises and a bit of
massage. Calf is much better than it was yesterday. Otherwise feeling like
shit, like a flu coming up... Can it be a systemic effect from the acupuncture?
Hard to tell... Anyway, talked with Heidi (a friend, an orthopedist, and the best sports doc I know) on the phone today and she mentioned flexor hallucis longus and its possible
involvement in my calf pain (a big toe flexor that goes deep inside the calf
and attaches to the fibula). Pain feels deep, so it sounds like a good guess. So in
addition to normal heel raises and stretching I will need to strengthen and stretch
my toe flexors as well. She also mentioned the compartment but we ruled out MTSS
(pain in the calf, not in the shin).. We also ruled out the blood clot.. After
all it should have been visible in ultra...shouldn't it?? Symptoms don’t’
really fit in with neural involvement either.
30.4. Meeting with an orthopedist at a sports clinic today.
Total waste of time and money. He just told me what I already knew (that ultra
didn't really reveal anything). I was kind of hoping to hear some possible
theories behind the pain but got nothing. He could have examined the calf but
no. He just told me that it's something he doesn't know. Great. At least he was
being honest. I tried to ask him about compartments and toe flexors but got
absolutely nothing. Phew... So glad that I called Heidi! At least I have
something to work on and some guidelines how to go on. Naprapathy guy is still
the best specialist I've met here. I just hate his needles... Also, started
with micro current therapy today.
2.5. A week to go. Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best...
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| Longing to run with these AWESOME girls soon again! (Mats Ferm) |
