Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Weekend fun


It's hard to do justice to the good times that Andrew and I had in upstate Maine visiting Marc and his family but I thought this picture captured some of the spirit of the weekend. We didn't get all that much running in, but the camaraderie, good food, funny stories and occasional jokes made it a very memorable few days. Marc has some terrific video clips from all the fun and games too.
Saturdays's run was a nice 8 mile run on very hilly terrain with the boys. Marc only went for 1 mile before his calf blew out but then we caught him later exercising the dog on his bicycle. It was a scene that needed to be seen to be believed. We spent the rest of the day scheming and planning for our long run on Sunday with Marc now accepting the role of support as his leg is in need of professional attention.
Sunday morning dawned very-very cold with extreme cold but luckily very little wind. This is what Andrew looked like after only about 1-2 miles. I was just starting to get feeling back in my feet at this point and then another problem cropped up out of the blue. My calves and lower legs suddenly became extremely tight and sore and got progessively worse as our run went along. We did a short pit stop at Marc's around 7 miles and then headed off to complete the run but only 1 mile down the road I came to a complete stop as both calves seized completely. Andrew and I then called it a day and we walked home.

It was a very disappointing run for me and this is definitely classed as an injury for me as it hurts to walk and even more to run (though getting better now). I had some physio on it Monday and we're calling it tendonitis and will give it a few days rest. It's slightly better today but I want to be safe rather than sorry and won't run if it's sore to even walk on it. No idea where this came from either. It's not catching is it Marc? But will take a break and hope for the best.

Take care and have a nice week!

8 comments:

Andrew said...

That was cold!

What a nice time we had - except for the injuries!

Garry said...

Looks like you boys had a blast. Too bad about the injuries. As painful as it may be, give the Trigger Point a try on the calves. I tweaked mine last week and after a few massages with the roller and I was back in the hunt!

Thomas said...

Wow! That beard tells you everything about the temperatures!

Ewen said...

My guess is you strained your calf carrying all those beers home from the store.

Our thermometer has been stuck in the orange-red zone lately, but I'm not jealous!

UMaine Cooperative Extension said...

Mike - We thoroughly enjoyed your visit! Maybe there's something in the water here causing the calf siezures...next year we'll stick entirely with beer).

I hope you heal well.

Marc

Unknown said...

Wow! Definitely looks cold. Sorry to hear about the injury. I hope all it takes is a bit of rest to heal up.

Grellan said...

It was swithcing to the Murphys that did it. You should never mix your drinks while running.

Bill Carter said...

Hi Mike

Thanks for stopping by and saying "Hi". I was looking at your marathons and PRs and you have had some really great races. Like you, I have Boston coming up and that is my favorite. Such a great experience and something I feel so fortunate to be able to do.

Best of luck with your training and try not to freeze.