Not much for it but getting this right and building up again. It would appear my right leg, particularly the lower section has a mind of its own . At this stage it is reluctant to heal. I have found the timing of this to be bloody annoying. No bridges which I was looking forward to and a very limited masters program.I have seen the physio a number of times to treat the Achilles and now the calf has become tender. Even more confusing by the fact that I have done nothing to make it sore. In fact I am climbing the walls. I have been doing some spinning and rowing as both these activities were given the nod by Cameron but once again nothing gets you fitter for running than running. Tried to go out on it Wednesday and managed 90seconds before the Achilles again became sore. I have now scheduled an ultrasound to see what damage, if any has occurred. By Friday the Achilles stiffness had gone but the calf remained a pain in the arse. again did not think that I could get around the track for the 10000m race so withdrew.... Settled for watching a true legend of WA distance running (6527) Jim L contest the 10000.I continued to stretch it and rest it and ice it and even applied for an Achilles transplant but you just can't get these on eBay.
This morning I woke and felt good apart from no training (running) for nearly two weeks . Calf was a little tight but sensed it was okay so I bit the bullet and went down to run the 5000m track. Decided even if ultimately I have to walk around I was going to finish the race. Mrs Wombat came down and sat in the stands while I went over and signed in... Found myself in a dilemma though. I wanted to warm up but was worried that by warming up I would load up the Achilles and calf and in doing so reduce my chances of running without incident. decided to test it and ran one lap of the perimeter path. Felt good but not confident. Spoke with Mrs wombat her words "Be CAREFUL"
Watched the 5000m before me and saw Clive Hicks in the felt. looked to be propping on his right leg but was getting around.
Lined up and was reminded by Marg to not go silly, my response " Just be happy to finish" Gun went and I gingerly moved off the line, felt good , okay settle in and relax. Slowly built up a steady rhythm and was running comfortably. This was good. Sitting in 6th and still feeling good okay 8 laps to go, lets do it now or never, moved up into 4th in the front straight and into no mans land but was confident of closing the gap to the leaders over the next few laps.......... TWINGE...CRAMP... GRAB... shit nightmare time today was not going to be a good day.. immediately dropped the pace and backed off. found a pace that allowed the calf to let go and just got on with it.. For the next 8 laps it was a game of run, twinge , shit and run again.... As I eventually crossed the line I was relieved to note that noting appeared to have torn and that I would need to start building up again but at least I had competed in one of the events that I entered into for the masters. Well done Paul Mitchell who won in a sprint for the line.... Go Mr Bean!!!
Up in the stands Mrs Wombat said she could not watch , she say me make a move then noticed my skip and prop. She watched this for the remainder of the race. Hoping I had not buggered it completely and hoping that I would at least finish. Well at least I still have my record in tact , no DNFs, .
What was disappointing was seeing Clive Hicks in a wheel chair with his left Achilles in a cast. This did not look good and on seeing the look on Clive's face when I asked " Achilles" I felt it was a worse case scenario for a tough bugga when it came to racing....
For me its back to stretching , an ultra sound, a visit to the doctors and then back to the physio and another visit to Mr magic to get the calf rubbed out. Hopefully there is no sustainable damage to the Achilles and I can get back into and move on....
To all our Eastern states visitors I hope you stay in Perth was a good one and to everyone who competed and completed their events " Bloody good job"
Barrel on wombats...
Well done! good to hear you made it through without any major new damage by the sounds. Brave effort. Especially hard when you cant run at the level you want to at the big races.
ReplyDeleteProbably no help but myself, Dave K and some others have found calf raises on a phonebook or step to be helpful with achilles issues. So maybe talk to your physio and medical people about calf raises, which maybe helpful either now or later on in ensuring the injury doesnt reoccur. Ive heard a lot of good things about sportsmed. Im sure you will be getting sick of every two bob runner like myself, recommending this medico or that treatment, but hope that might help. ACT bloke (bruce) who beat Mr Bean and the rest of us missed you in the 10,000m. I tried to help out Paul in the first 400m of that one, and glad to hear he nailed it and went one step better in the 5000m. My 10,000m was a disaster from about 4k and certainly from 6k onwards, partly due to working til 3am the night before. Had a much better race in the 1500m which totally felt like nthe good old days, even being 41 secs outside my highschool PB, I know I put it all out there, and had a good race. Look forward to the second, third, and fourth etc etc coming of the Wombat!
Sorry your body let you down, but relieved you got through the race intact. Hope to see you front up again soon. All the best.
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