Is it an Injury?

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably saw me mention that Tuesday was my first run in four days.

I purposely took some time off because I was questioning…Is it an injury?

Let’s back up. Two Saturday’s ago, I ran 16 miles. I felt pretty good through all of it. Mariette and I did stop a couple of times to stretch. I’m not sure if it was during one of those times or after Sunday’s easy run, I began to feel like I pulled or strained something in my right upper calf/inside of my knee. A downside of being super flexible – you can get way too deep into a stretch! It didn’t hurt to the touch. It never swelled. Never bruised. I didn’t even feel it all the time. I could run on it for the most part. It was at certain times when my heel dropped lower than my toes, I felt it. Marathon training leaves you sore and stiff but this was different.

Like the stubborn runner that I am, I ran Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday even though my calf was feeling like this. Part of me was thinking I shouldn’t run at all. It was a cut back week in training after all. But then my irrational fear of NOT running takes over. I’m going to lose everything I’ve gained! I knew I wouldn’t lose all of my running fitness in four days but when it comes to injuries, I have a tendency to exaggerate and think the worse. We have a history after all.

Plus I like to live in the land of Denial…if I don’t acknowledge it, it’s not there.

Since this pulled/strained feeling wasn’t any better by Saturday, I told myself I needed to take some time off from running in hopes that it would clear up. I reasoned that it’s better to do it now rather than have it exacerbate into something bigger later in training which might jeopardize marathon #1 entirely.

Even though I’ve had to take time off from running before and have not had to wake up early for a long run on the weekend, it was the strangest feeling. Even Ron commented on it. The day seemed so long! I felt restless all day. What do I do with myself?

I’m very proud to say I stuck with my plan of not running for four whole days. I did some yoga, rode my bike and iced like it was my job. No problems. Tuesday morning rolled around and I was ready to run. Ironically, just as I was stretching out my legs before getting out of bed, I got a wicked big cramp in my left calf. I jumped out of bed and worked it out but it left a knot for some time. Seriously? Is the universe trying to tell me something?

The run went well. I didn’t feel the same strain/pull as last week. I took it at an easy pace and just ran for fun. It felt wonderful to be back to doing what I love. I’m not sure if what I was feeling was really an injury but I’m glad I took the time off. Fingers crossed that this was just a fluke and I won’t be dealing with this issue anymore.

Oh and the knot in my right calf went away too.

Thank you universe!

Have you ever taken time off from a training plan because of fear of an injury?

Are you a stubborn runner?

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