For a few months now I’ve been signed up to race in this Sunday’s Detroit half marathon. The route is awesome in that it runs you into Canada and back (passport necessary for registration, so cool!). I was planning to be in Michigan for a girls weekend so the race was just a fun addition to an already fun weekend. I haven’t been running much and my “training” for this race is nonexistent. You know I work out constantly; I’m in shape and have run many half marathons without proper training and they all end up totally fine. Without training I’m extremely sore afterwards but always manage to finish the race sub two-hours.
[the site says I can do this…but can I?]
But this race, I’m not so sure about. A month ago I went for what I thought would be a six mile run and after exactly one mile my calf seized up into a crazy painful cramp. I couldn’t run, I could barely walk. I almost fell over when the cramp came and slowly limped the mile back home. My calf hurt for a couple of days and then the pain was mostly gone. Now every time I run, that pain comes back. It has not been as dramatic as it was after that mile, I’ve been able to keep running, although it doesn’t feel great and my pace is slow.
I thought the pain would go away and that this was just a minor muscle strain, and maybe it is. But it still hurts. This weekend I went on a 4.5 mile run, the pain was present, but not terrible. While I made it through the miles, it was very unpleasant and not enjoyable at all. After the run, my calf felt tight and sore and three days later, I can still feel the soreness and pain. Something is not right. I’m worried that I’ll start the race and a couple of miles in the cramping will happen and I’ll be stuck limping. If I just didn’t feel prepared I’d be fine doing the race at a slow pace but this calf cramp thing has left me limping at a VERY slow pace, as in I’d probably be pulled off the course. That sounds horrible.
This would be the first race that I signed up for and didn’t run and I don’t want to do that. At the same time, I don’t want to take what is likely a minor muscle issue and turn it into something bigger. If I have time this week I may try to get a massage and see if that helps. I’d love to see a physical therapist but I don’t have time before race day. I’ll rest up and try another short run later this week and evaluate how I’m feeling.
Has anyone had a similar cramp/pain to this? If you were in my position, what would you do?
