It strikes again...

The 10 x 400 m interval training and 13Km long tempo pace run in week 12 of the 16 weeks 'Run Less, Run Faster' training for the Bangalore marathon (16th October) went very well increasing my confidence of going sub 3:45 and even perhaps close to 3:40. And then it happened.  Ignoring the slight discomfort in the right calf towards the end of the tempo run I was hoping for a 5:20/Km,32Km to round off the week and start tapering for the race. Was terribly disappointed at having to abandon the run after about (Garmin having died around Km 3.5)  23Km (in 2:08) run due to increasing pain in the right calf.  In hindsight it was good that I 'listened to the body' and resisted the temptation to push on to 32Km. 

After complete rest of 4 days and frequent icing I barely managed a  painful 28 min/3.5Km run/walk clearly indicating that the damage was worse than what I had originally thought. And a visit to Dr. Yash Pandey confirmed that - he advised complete rest from running, cycling and lower body strengthening for another week. The Tier 1(low grade) calf muscle tear is likely to have been caused by overuse/fatigue and/or muscle imbalance. An injury like this builds up over a period of time and and can manifest itself a later time and in a muscle that may not be the weakest one. At the end of a week's rest a decision is to be made whether to attempt a 21-25Km run this weekend and this will help decide between DNS on 16th or an easy long training run or attempt a sub 3:45 ( this is unlikely as it could increase the recurrence of the injury and jeopardise the rest of the season).

While injuries are an integral part of a runners life , each occurrence often causes depression and frustration even for experienced runners who are well aware that it is a passing phase. The mental angst is compounded if it is at the beginning of a season when the training for the first event  has been going well after several seasons hampered by injury!

To minimise the chances of injury one must avoid getting carried away and running  too fast or logging much higher mileage than what the training plan recommends. I have  been guilty of both in this cycle. Strengthening the weaker muscles is extremely important specially so for older runners. When one does get struck with an injury it is important to not run through it , consider consulting a sports doctor sooner than later,  take adequate rest  while maintaining a certain fitness and weight level by cross-training and get back to running distance and pace gradually - all this will, of course, depend considerably on the nature and severity of the injury!!