Time to get back up to speed. Though I haven't updated on here in almost a year, I haven't been just twiddling my thumbs this whole time. I've been running, sporadically, and I even managed to finally run a 5K race, after a number of failed attempts. I'm just going to post stats mainly. Too much time has passed to go back and comment on individual runs, though a couple moments stand out, one good, one bad. I'll post in more detail about the 5K I ran in October 2017. But, first, earlier in the year, April 2017 to be exact, disaster struck. I suffered one of the worst running injuries I've experienced when my right calf muscle popped on me mid-run. I was about four weeks into a training schedule getting ready for a 5K race in June. I'll first list the runs that led up to that unfortunate night.
Monday, March 27, 2017:
Distance: 1.19 miles
Time: 11:57
Location: Rio Vista-Yucca Loma-Cochise
Tuesday, March 28, 2017:
Distance: 1.53 miles
Time: 15:26
Location: Yucca Loma-Apple Valley-Ottawa-Cuyamaca
Friday, March 31, 2017:
Distance: 1.52 miles
Time: 16:41
Location: Yucca Loma-Apple Valley-Ottawa-Cuyamaca
Monday, April 3, 2017:
Distance: 1.53 miles
Time: 15:06
Location: Yucca Loma-Apple Valley-Ottawa-Cuyamaca
Tuesday, April 4, 2017:
Distance: 1.53 miles
Time: 15:12
Location: Yucca Loma-Apple Valley-Ottawa-Cuyamaca
Friday, April 7, 2017:
Distance: 1.79 miles
Time: 17:55
Location: Top of Cochise to Powhatan to Apple Valley-Yucca Loma intersection and back via Cuyamaca
Monday, April 10, 2017:
Distance: 1.88 miles
Time: 18:58
Location: Top of Cochise to Powhatan to Apple Valley-Yucca Loma intersection down to Ottawa to Cuyamaca
I ran as well on April 11, but I have no stats for that run because that's when I got injured and so I basically scratched the whole run, even though I was maybe half a mile into it. These runs all took place back when Yucca Loma Road was shut down. Though I did still run along that road a few times, they had it all barricaded, so for the most part I avoided it. That was why I had started to run up Cochise Road to where it meets Yucca Loma at which point I'd do an about-face and run down to Powhatan and out to Apple Valley. It was a route I began running only a few days before on April 7. I ran it again on April 10. But on April 11, little did I know that that abrupt turnaround at the top of Cochise would do me in. My April 11 run started out pretty ordinary. I ran up my street, hung a right at Cronese, then a left on Cochise. When I got to where the roadblock was I quickly stopped, turned around, and used my right leg to propel me in the opposite direction. And then, pop! It felt like a rubber band in my right calf had extended too far and snapped. I let out an audible groan and grabbed my leg. It was pretty intense pain initially. I crumpled down and tried to massage my leg. After the worst pain subsided, I tried to walk it off. But I could barely put any pressure at all on my right leg. I even (stupidly) thought about trying a light jog. Even after this injury I didn't want to admit defeat. But after a few feet of trying I had to quickly give up. There was just no way I could put that right foot down, even lightly. So I shut my watch off and dejectedly walked home. It was a painful, half mile walk back home. A lot of thoughts raced through my head. I was smack in the middle of training for a 5K that was going to take place in June. I wondered if I'd be able to bounce back from this in time for that race. I also wondered if I had ruptured a muscle! The pain and the feeling of that pop were so intense that I was worried it was indeed worse than just a pulled muscle. This was definitely one of my worst running injuries, right up there with my bad ankle sprain in Lake Arrowhead almost five years before. But ankle sprains had happened before; this was an injury unknown to me. The feeling of that muscle stretching and snapping was actually frightening. I finally made it home and quickly got to icing my leg. I could see some swelling around my calf area. I knew I'd be out of commission for a while. Optimistically, I thought I might still be able to make the race in June. I had actually already built in a week off into my training schedule because we were about to make a trip to Florida during my Easter break. I thought maybe a week of rest would be sufficient and upon our return from Florida I could resume my running. But the pessimistic side of me still had doubts. In fact, the next day, still unable to put pressure on my right leg, I felt that I should see a doctor. One regret I have after that bad ankle sprain in 2012 was not seeing a doctor about it -- to this day I have a feeling it never 100% healed. I still have stiffness in that ankle and I'm pretty sure I did some damage to it that may have been fixed had I seen a doctor. So this time I didn't want to take any chances. I went to the urgent care after work. And luckily they didn't think it was a tear, probably just a really bad pull. So I continued to rest and ice and elevate that leg. To fast forward a little, things did improve after a few days, but I knew my leg wasn't ready for running. It didn't bother me too bad while we were in Florida, except for a couple times after long days of walking -- then it would stiffen up on me. But mainly I was just too worried about re-aggravating it out on a run. That feeling of snapping my muscle was almost scarring. I absolutely did not want to feel that again. So in the weeks after Florida I continued to lay low. Suddenly it was May and the race was only a month away. As June approached I finally had to concede; another 5K down the drain. But it was for the best. Even as late as June I would still have periodic pain in my calf, usually after a lot of walking. And so it was. No 5K and no running for most of the summer. Until August. I came across another 5K race, this one also in San Diego (as the June race had been). It was to be October 7 and I felt enough time had passed and my calf seemed to be fully healed. So I gave it a go. I set out for my first run since the injury on August 24. And thankfully it went well. I'll save the next segment of runs, though, for next time. Luckily, 2017 ended well, as I was able to actually complete my training regimen and run the October 5K successfully. But the year started rough. The aborted 5K in June was the last of a long line of canceled races going back to 2015. It seemed like every time I'd set my sights on a race, something would happen to change those plans. Sometimes it was something good, like when we adopted our daughter Lucy and I had to cancel a Hollywood 5K in late 2015. But usually it was because of illness or injury. So it was a giant relief to accomplish the October 5K. More on that next time...
