Down and Out for 2009

My calf is still giving me fits, unfortunately. I took six weeks off of running, but my first mile after that was pretty much as bad as my last mile six weeks ago. And so have all the 2 and 3 mile runs since then.

It's been 6 months since I first had the "weird pain in my calf" (that's what I wrote in my training log). I haven't been quite right since, but I kept feeling like I was a week or two away from being healthy.

Today I saw an orthopedic/sports medicine doctor, finally. She was really cool - she's a runner (marathoner), biker, and mountaineer, and even had a Ukranian name, so I figured she'd be the right person. She told me that calf strains are notorious for taking longer to heal than one expects, and need to be carefully nursed back into health, and that what I'm going through is pretty normal for distance runners, and understandably frustrating.

My calf isn't terrible, but in the process of healing, I've developed a big, nasty, tight knot in my calf, and I've lost quite a bit of range of motion in my achilles/ calf, making me a poster child for recurrent calf injury. Rest alone hasn't really worked. So my new doc prescribed a rehab regimen guided by a local clinic, and I start that tomorrow. It should include some deep tissue massage, stretching, and strengthening, along with core work and other stuff. She also suggested improving my balance (she did a 10 second balance test, and said I wasn't that good... and as an ultramarathoner I had zero margin for error). Hopefully after all of this I'll be better than ever. That'd make a "lost year" of running worth it, I guess.

The bad news: no running or serious hiking for at least two months. On top of six months already of lousy running. And then a really slow return to running. So like I said, basically a lost year as far as serious running / racing goes. But I can bike, use the elliptical trainer, and water jog (good cross training but the most mind-numbingly dull activity on earth, according to my doc), in the meantime. She also suggested Yoga, which I may give a try. And sitting on the couch drinking beer. (my doc didn't specifically recommend that, but I inferred it).

I was pretty bummed about it, but my friend Linda (runner extrodonaire and mother of two) told me to think of it like a time out for a pregnancy. She got faster both times after giving birth, so hopefully I'll get faster, eventually, too. That's a good thought, though I don't think (but can't say for sure) that my calf strain had the same root cause as her pregnancies. :-)