Cross training or dicing with injury?

[Lizcanrun]

Hello all, my half marathon training was going well, a couple of 10 mile runs under my belt, when boom! I was playing badminton this week and my calf suddenly cramped up. There happened to be a physio playing. She told me to stop straight away. Said it was my soleus muscle and not to exercise for at least 48 hours. That was on Weds and it still hurts if I walk on it too much.

Hubby reckons that at this stage in my training, playing badminton may not go very well with running and may lead to injury. Does anyone have any knowledge about this? I would be sad to stop playing, but would do so until the HM in order to avoid injury. (assuming my calf gets better!)

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom!

Liz

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

There’s always something isn’t there! I’m out of action atm because I sprained my back while doing too much gardening!

I wouldn’t say that badminton is a no-no but your feet tend to make fast on-the-spot turns which can cause injury as you’ve found out.

It’s up to you whether you should give it up while you’re in training. Personally I would because I wouldn’t want to risk further injury but then I’m the same person who avoids too much social contact during training because I don’t want to catch a cold or other virus from others!

Only you can decide which is more important to you. Good luck and I hope you’re not injured for long 🤞

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you - me too! 😡 1st HM in 7 weeks. THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN!!!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Lizcanrun]

The running gods love playing around with us 🙄

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

If I miss my HM it will be the second time. Maybe it's not meant to be...

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Lizcanrun]

That’s a very solid way of looking at life in general. But it is incredibly frustrating when we’re doing/have done the training ☹️

I’ve yet to do a certain HM for various reasons but if it happens in October it will be my seventh attempt at getting to the start line! (I think it’s the seventh. I’ve lost count 🙄)

Have faith, keep the faith and all will be well 🙂

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Wow! SEVEN! You poor thing! Fingers crossed for October!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I'm with IP on this one! I've been trying to juggle cycle training in between running and all my focus is on the HM and trying not create injury through cycling. It may be worth a temporary pause in the badminton, but ultimately it's your call. At the end of the day we can injure ourselves in so many ways, there is no guarantee. Hope the calf is on the mend quickly though.

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thank you.

[Frenc Half Marathon]

Ah what a shame. It’s such a tough call, and it’s so true, there’s always a sneaky gremlin out there just itching to put a spanner in the works grrrr 😖. Personally I would think about having a ‘rest’ from badminton, it will still be there later on! Because we use all of our planes of motion in any raquet sport, there’s much more likelihood of injury unfortunately 😟. I hope your calf feels better though, and you can get training again soon. All the best 😊😊😊.

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon in reply to Frenc]

Thanks for the advice. 😊