Well, my 10K race in Michigan didn't go as planned. In fact, I dropped out of a race due to an injury for the first time ever. My Achilles had been bothering me ever so slightly over the last two weeks but nothing that I really noticed once I got warmed up. My right calf and quad have been a little tight too. Consistent tightness in my right leg (never the left) is why I get a sports massage every three to four weeks. Anyway, in the race about half way through I noticed the pain come fairly strong and I was forced to ease back to see if I could shake it off. It kept getting worse. I had a hard time pushing down on my right leg due to the pain. By mile 5 I was reduced to walking as my calf got so tight I could only limp. Luckily, I was only a mile or so from the finish so I didn't have far to limp. I was also lucky that my host, Stephen, is a nurse. He got me all iced up and over the rest of the weekend I had several ultrasound type treatments. Can't remember what his device is called but that helped significantly. Every day has been better post-race but I'm still a little gimpy. I have a sports massage on Friday and an Active Release session on Wednesday the 25th. I've never done ART but that may be the ticket to getting all the knots out of my calf. My massages only seem to go so far.
I probably won't try running until after the two sessions and only if I can walk completely normal with no pain whatsoever. An old friend once said that you have to ride the waves of life like the Silver Surfer so I'll just roll with this wave.
