'The Boot'

I mentioned in a few posts back - about the Hot Dash 10 Mile - that I hurt my calf two days before that race, so I couldn't run....I did drive Sarah and Pam down and cheered them on though...

I hurt it while substitute teaching for a PE teacher.  His lesson plan was to play 'Line Soccer', which involved basically jogging.  I run 25-30 miles a week and the teams were uneven...so I played (I play every time I sub for PE)....

Near the end of the game, while jogging (I wasn't touched, sprinting, accelerating, etc.) my right calf felt like I was hit by a baseball.  I first thought my phone fell out of my pocket and hit my calf, but no....the next step hurt...big time.  Honestly, it scared me some...

Spring break came two days later and I took it easy for the first six days.  I hobbled around a bit for those days, but by Wednesday of break, I started running again.  It was slow going...at least a minute per mile slower than I'm used to, probably more.

But for the next two weeks I was back to running 25-30 miles per week, albeit, at a much slower pace...I'm running Grandmas Marathon again this summer so I have a goal, a schedule and a timeline I need to keep...

Which brings us to this past Saturday where I was running the Goldy's 10 mile run.  I made it 5.5 miles through the run (at a faster pace than I had been doing the last two weeks or so) and BOOM my calf seemed to be hit by a baseball again (right in the middle of a bridge over the Mississippi River).  I was done.  I hobbled another 3/4 mile to some buses that could take me to the start line.

I went to Twin Cities Orthopedic Urgent Care the next day.  They took a few X-rays...no stress fracture and the achilles seems to be intact.  It's probably a partially torn calf muscle...

Which means...I get this...

Until at least a followup appointment on April 19....

I've been pretty good at wearing it the last two days.  I don't wear it while driving (it's too wide) or while lifting weights in the morning (too sweaty), but I wear it during school all day (which brings a lot of questions) and most of the time while at home.

Basically the doctor said if I continued with what I was doing, I would completely tear the muscle long before the marathon....

I'm listening...I'll wear it until Tuesday...hopefully not longer....