you know when you're really looking forward to doing a race even though you know it's gonna hurt? Well the pain I have now is bloody different from the pain I was expecting.
On Monday night I ran with the BRAT's and after running to the session I covered about 13miles at a comfortable pace, chatting alll the way round about IMSA with Mark H. When i woke the next morning my right achilles was sore and my left shin. I put it down to running on tarmac and uneven surfaces.
I decided against the TT on Tuesday night as I had some bits to sort on the bikes as I was lending one to one of the novices for the mini tri the next day.
Wednesday was race day and I headed to BZN with a merry band of novice triathletes. I was still unsure about running but as the day went on and my achilles warmed up and I did some stretching I was hopeful but I would decide in T2.
The swim starts were altered so Brad, Westy, JC and myself could race together. Brad led the way in the pool followed by me, Westy and JC. I was pleased to be about 10m behind Brad and felt comfortable throughout the swim. Onto the bike I quickly overtook Brad and when on the main road got into a settled ride until a BMW overtook me then stopped by the parked car to allow an oncoming car to pass. With no room to get past I was halted in top gear. A heard a whoosh as Westy flew past. I quickly got back up to pace and chased Westy then overtook him only to be retaken about 5 mins later. He then started to pull away as I tried to limit the loss knowing my run was better than his. He probably had about 15-20 sec going into T2. This where the pain comes in..... as I got my feet out of the cycle shoes my left calf cramped with an intensity like I've never experienced. I racked the bike but could not bend my leg for fear of increasing the pain. And so my race ended in T2 trying to put on a run shoe with a straight leg. On the bright side I was saved from hurting my achilles any more. Well done to Westy who went on to post the fastest bike and win overall. And well done to my novice colleagues especially Amy who came 3rd.
A massage tonight did little to ease the pain. Anyone else ever had residual pain in the days following cramp?
4 comments:
Afraid so Mat, I've had pain after cramp for 2-3 days after. You know what you need to do, take it easy, etc, etc. Train smart fella.
The residual pain is the muscle damage caused by the cramp - can take 48-72 hours to go. Usual rest and recovery rules apply. Take it easy mate, rushing back will slow down your recovery.
tuff luck matt! looks like the long distance training camp did you and westy good; for sprints???
YES! About 21 years ago, my left calf cramped completely, out of the blue whilst lying in bed (was around 7 months pregnant!) I can still remember what it felt like and it was probably a week before it felt completely normal again.
Me thinks your body is asking for a bit of a rest mate!
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