Ironman Wisconsin Champ!

Ironman Wisconsin Champ!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Injury Bugs Bite

Unfortunately the calf pull I suffered at mile 4.5 of the run in the Westchester Triathlon ended up being worse than I had initially suspected.  Well, not so much worse, but much slower to heal than any muscle pull I've ever experienced.  Coming off of the Rev 3 Cedar Point 140.6 my muscles likely shortened as a result of the fatigue from the race and not training much the following week.  Then, two weeks after the race, I jumped in a sprint tri where the pace was much faster than I had been training for, add in my low profile racing flats which place more stress on the calves, and bam, muscle pull.  Lesson learned, be careful when racing on short rest following an Ironman, and don't forget to stretch when you can't train the week following an Ironman.
After about a week where things did not seem to be improving at all, the calf seems to have healed in just the last few days and I've been able to get in some short runs pain free.  Today I managed 3 x mile completely pain free.  Long way to go yet, but it's 3 miles more than I could run a week ago.
Unfortunately, as a result of the injury, I was unable to compete in either the Pocono 70.3 or Rev 3 South Carolina the past two weekends, my two biggest races for the end of the year.  I'm now trying to decide what to do with the rest of my season.  I had planned to finish off the year with Ironman Florida but having not run for 2 weeks and only being able to run 3 miles right now it's hard to believe that I can be ready for an Ironman in less than 4 weeks.  Ironman Arizona is another race I am considering, and would give me two additional weeks to prepare, but Arizona would also be a significantly more expensive trip and with the level of pro talent which traditionally assembles in Arizona it would probably take my best race of the year to come out ahead on the business side.  The other option is to call it a season which might be the most reasonable choice of all, but the emotional side of me just hates the idea of a good season ending on an injury.  I will continue to train as I can, see how things progress, and will likely decide in the next week or two where to go with the end of the season.