30 minutes

Ran for 30 minutes this morning. No issues with the calf. This is the old injury from the March 15 half marathon. With only a couple of weeks out, I'm not optimistic that it will be strong enough to run the race, and I'm not up for reinjury. The plan is to try to get in a couple of moderately long runs over the next couple of weeks to see how they feel, then decide whether or not I have to defer the race to let the calf fully heal.

You'll see my progress here.

Back 2

5 miles, 43:41. No pain. Trying not to push it. I'll go for 3 - 5 on Tuesday. VCM is a slight possibility. (I had written it off last week, so I could just focus on getting healthy.)

Back

Ran pain free for the first time in 6 weeks today. 3 miles, 25:58 minutes. Forcing myself not to go out again tomorrow, fearing relapse on the calf.

Have to catch up on the blog, but kiddies need to go to bed first.

Eliptical

20 minutes on the eliptical today. Patience...patience.

PT and Yardwork

I did two sessions of PT last week, and I have another one tomorrow morning. Woo-hoo! Yes! Yes! Yes!

I also hit the gym twice last week for some weights and swimming. I'll go again tomorrow after PT. I'm hoping to get the green light to run a bit by the end of next week. I've had one week on the eliptical so far. With three heavy ultrasound and massage sessions on the calf in six days, I should see some healing. Man, would I like to get out there for even two to three miles.

In the absense of running, I took on two projects over the weekend. I'm working with my father in law to replace old sheetrock with beadboard at camp. And at home, we're gardening fools. With all of the good weather lately, things are sprouting early, so we're already behind. I built a cool tree limb fence around our garden today with help from the kids. I got to use the chain saw, which is always fun. I'm actually slightly sore from the work, but that's mainly from whacking my hand with a hammer multiple times while trying to drive in my home-made fence posts. Go figure.

Kudos to Agricola for kicking it into gear during the last push before the Marathon. I'm still bummed I can't run with him, but hoping to at least pull out a relay leg. Being injured is about the lamest thing ever (no pun intended, really).

Agricola, let's rethink this blog post-marathon. I'd like it to keep going. Maybe with some new blood?

Bobbing along

So, I'm on the conservative approach to healing what seems like a minor injury to the calf. I'm told that pushing that muscle too far could lead to a big tear or rupture with permanent damage. I'm not even into missing out on the summer, let alone long-term discomfort, so I've shut down the running for now.

Instead, I'm hitting the gym, doing stationary bike, some weights to work on my quirky shoulders (and the gun show), and swimming. It's a nice change of pace, although it's killing me not to run, especially with the Burlington Marathon coming up fast. Not only is Agricola running (and going to kill it, btw) I must know about six other folks in my town who are running. Plus, with work no longer an issue for the time being, I have more time to run. This experience has made me appreciate running more than ever, and it's made me realize that I am part of a running community, but beyond that injuries are no fun. Cape Cod Marathon anyone?