I'm almost sure that the air temp today was the coldest that it's been in London. It was ICY cold and the frosty pavements didn't exactly say "Come and run on me!". But once I'd donned my new long sleeved fluorescent yellow top Mrs Dan had bought me for Christmas, I was off.
I have to say it was tense work. I concentrated fiercely on planting my feet firmly on the ground and tried to anticipate how I'd fall, if in fact I did actually fall! By the time I'd reached the Thames path from Richmond to Twickenham I was in good shape. Quite a lot of the route along the Thames had tree cover so Jack Frost must've had difficulty sticking to the pavements there. I was feeling good, and tanking along at a fair old pace.....
Two unexpected events happened. Firstly, an incredible wave of nausea came over me at 4.5K. It was so powerful I had to stop and walk myself back to normality. So weird that was. It wasn't long before I'd recovered and I was on my way again.
Event #2 happened about a kilometre further down the track. A sharp "Oooo! What was that?" pain zipped through my right calf. I carried on, using the rule that if the pain was manageable I could carry on. If it hurt, then I would immediately stop.
Pazzzziiiiingggggg!!!!! Another sharp jolt of pain zapped it's way through my right calf and I thought "OK Dan. This is it. STOP RUNNING NOW!" The odd thing is that it didn't really hurt at all whilst walking. Only when I ran. I stopped and had a good long slow stretch and that seemed to fix it.
Or so I thought.....
I started running again but within 200m I was back walking, and I threw in the "running towel" at this point. I truly believe that running all tensed up, right from the beginning, has contributed to this injury. I was so nervous of the frosty path, I think my muscles must've done the equivalent of a mans jaw whilst shaving! You know - all pulled to one side and tense!!!
Have been out to the shops with Mrs Dan and very slowly I've begun to "feel" the presence of some pain there. I've iced it with my ice pack and am wearing a compression sock for the rest of the day to hopefully fix it up. It doesn't feel too bad but I'm gonna give it two days rest and see how it is Friday. I really was hoping to run New Years Eve and then clock off the year with a blindingly successful run - but I'm gonna have to let that dream pass in favour of my calf!
Beware of the slippery roads and paths folks. Take care out there. It's a jungle!
More posts soon, but in the meantime have a brilliant New Years Eve and I hope 2015 brings you wealth, health and a penis.
Oops! Sorry! I meant "HAPPINESS"!!!
YER PAL
DAN!
Written by
danzargo
Graduate
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Ooh Dan that's a bummer, I reckon the cold weather doesn't help, everythings all tensed up before we start if we're not careful. Take it easy and I hope you get back to run on Friday with no twings and twangs! 'wealth, health and a penis' LOL, just spat my tea out at that one. What are you like! Have a good NYE yourself and a happy injury free 2015 x
Sorry to hear of your calf pain; sounds like it could well be caused by running tensed-up. If it's not how you usually run, the over-thinking to avoid a calamitous fall could have put something out. You're doing the right thing in icing and resting it, see how it goes and you will hopefully be out running again very soon.
The nausea sounds odd; perhaps a premonition of what was to come! Being taken ill while running isn't what anyone wants; glad it passed quickly.
Happy New Year, sir; hope you're back to your running best soon.
Feeling any better now, Dan? May I, sir, recommend these: amazon.co.uk/YakTrax-08161-... not much help in the frost, but when there's snow and ice, they're just brilliant. I've been running in compacted snow in mine and they're a great bit of kit. Should help you to keep running when you feel better and the snow hits down your way.
Not a problem, Dan. As I say, for frost they don't really add much as there's nothing for them to grip into, but for snow and ice they're great. Just, for goodness sake, don't attempt walking on any hard indoor surface with them on, especially when they're wet, as on tiles and lino, there's nooooo traction on them whatsoever; that's the voice of experience talking!
Glad you're feeling better; you'll be out running again soon. Happy New Year!
A haha hahaha hahahahaaaaa! Sorry not laughing at your calf misfortune but the penis bit. As a student years ago I worked in the Sheaffer Pen factory in Hemel, an order came in from Radio 1 for publicity pens with "this pen is magic, put it down and it disappears" on the side. There wasn't space for big gaps between the words. We had to change it to "this is a magic pen"
As for your calf: you've pulled your gastrocnemius! The best word for a muscle ever. I tore mine years ago and it still causes problems mostly with flat shoes: RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation I think) is the way to go, and you can buy sort of squishy heel wedge things to shove in your shoes, I found that they really helped. So far running it seems to be okay (good shoes maybe? Dunno) but I still put the wedge things in my clogs for work (theatre nurse). Mr G is a very keen runner who also gets probs with his calf muscles, I spend quite a lot of time with a pot of Tiger Balm and my thumbs, kneading out the knots. He makes a few interesting noises (snigger).
AllieG! Great name by the way....thank you for your most wise medical observations. I do actually have insoles in my Asics 2000GT's already, on advice from a podiatrist a year ago. So I'm sure with rest and stuff it'll fix itself. Not sure I'd go for the "thumbs massage".....sounds painful!
Hi m'dear, sorry to hear you've got a dodgy calf. Similar thing happened to OH yesterday whilst we were out walking. No problems to start off with, then suddenly a grippy stabby pain attacked his leg. He put it down to the icy conditions and needing to tread gingerly to avoid going flying. Hope all's tickerty boo after a good helping of RICE and the tender ministrations of Mrs Dan. Happy resting
Thanks UIOLI. A quiet evening in is planned for NYE. Then might pop outside and shout and yell "Happy New Year" to everyone whilst ringing their doorbells and running away, followed by getting arrested for mooning at a policeman. Like I say, a quiet night in....
I'm planning much the same myself. We have friends coming to stay, and we are cooking up a storm, but I'm not much for throwing parties. Our neighbours across the road are totally opposite and will no doubt have a houseful, so if I gatecrash at midnight to check out their booze and nibbles under the pretext of shouting HNY and kissing any handsome men who may be lurking they probably won't notice!!! (I'm not usually interested in any men, handsome or not - even the husb most of the time - but I seem to morph into a kissing machine at New Years if I've imbibed enough!).
Very witty!!! Sorry about your injury. It was truly icy this morning. I am in Carshalton and waited til midday to go out but still had a a lot of trouble finding an ice free route and it was very unnerving. I wish you a speedy recovery and all you wish others for the new year. Linda
Cheers Linda. It's funny how, since learning how to run, we all of us treat out legs and joints with a little bit of EXTRA respect! I love that. Foam roller is being lined up for my next line of treatment.....
Sounds like you did everythign by the text book, and stopped when it was clear that you had to. Far better to take a few days off now than to injure yourself. And according to clever folks, Jack Frost is going to take a hike, so when you get back to it, you should have clear paths to run on. Hope you heal quickly
I don't like that nausea you experienced -- if it were me , I would be talking to my GP about that. Sudden attacks of nausea are sometimes associated with heart events.
I hope you weren't planning on having a knees up on New Years Eve Dan. That might have to be sacrificed. Sorry to hear about your calf but you're doing all the right things andIm sure it'll be
Get well soon Dan, cant have our top comic running journalist out of action, ! Loving the innuendo, you are a funny one! HAPPY NEW YEAR! to you and Mrs Dan
Hope your feeling better Dan xxxx i used to get tense too but then I figured if I'm gonna go arse over tit im gonna go tense or not.....lol xxxx which 5 seconds after I thought this tripped over the pavement and ended up in someone's hedge.....so someone had a human shaped dent in their hedge.....but when it's frosty I tend to stick to the roads as for some wierd reason they tend to be a bit less so xxxx hope you're better xxxxx
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