Training Log Archive: iansmith

I sustained a minor leg injury at the North American Championships on 26 September 2008, as a consequence of an excessive weight training the previous Tuesday, insufficient running training the week before, and running especially hard on Friday, the day of the sprints. The footing on the long did not improve the situation.

My right calf aches when I apply power through my leg. It slightly affects me as I walk, but significantly affects my speed, mechanics, and confidence as I run. I'm not sure what I will do about it yet, apart from being gentle with my leg. At the same time, I think I can still run on it as long as I do not push too hard - it is my hope that stressing it gently will help the healing process. At present, I don't consider the injury severe enough to record a new attackpoint injury.

My only notable leg injury was in December, where I slipped on some ice while walking and landed hard on my ankle. I limped for the next few days, and did not run on it for about a month.

We'll see how this affects me; I ran the Green course at this weekend's NEOC meet without too much difficulty, though I was aware of the discomfort in my leg throughout the course.

Event: Prospect Hill
 

Picking up controls on the white course. A straightforward run, including some time untying the controls. Uneventuful.

Picking up controls on the green and orange courses.

The NEOC Prospect Hill Green course. I started navigating well, but made a rather costly error (~ 8-10 minutes) at control 6. I was in good contact and had a reasonable attack, but I was confused by the vegetation boundaries in the vicinity of 6 and just didn't recover very well from my error. Apart from that control, I was generally pleased with my run. I could have chosen a better route to control 5, and I didn't run as fast as I should have, but I did fairly well.

My right calf has been hurting since the North Americans; I ran lightly today to stress my muscle a bit. I'm insufficiently experienced to gauge what the nature of the damage, but the pain is localized - perhaps a single muscle, tendon, or God forbid, a ligament. I have the full range of motion, but my leg buckles a bit when I put weight on it in certain ways.

I still can run passably, though I feel the pain when I apply power down through my leg, e.g. after my right foot strikes the ground during a running stride. If I were to conjecture, I would guess I may have bruised a muscle somehow while sprinting last week, which was perhaps compounded by my extensively leg workout last Tuesday. I still plan to run the NEOC meet this Saturday.