It was all going so well and then boom, it wasn't

It had been over 48 hours since my last run and the soreness the minimalist shoes I ran it in wrought. Most of the soreness was gone, the calf that I felt not a cramp tweak in but a tweak tweak in felt pretty good and I wanted to run. Luckily, I was scheduled for an 30 minute run so that worked out.

I strapped on my Saucony Mirages, which after two runs in Hattoris felt like plush limos on my feet, and took off.

For the first quarter mile I felt great. I was moving at a nice and easy 8:00/mile or so pace and just enjoying the run.

Then, boom. That tweak tweak in my calf tweak tweaked again. It's curious the things that go through the mind when you have a flat tire, so to speak:

Can I deal with this for another 3+ miles?

Maybe if I slow it down it'll work itself out.

Is this really a problem or something I can ignore?

I have races the following two weekends. How many training runs will this cost me?

Will I be able to race?

Should I stop?

Should I shorten the run?

I'm in "cushiony" shoes. This should be something I can overcome.

But then, thankfully I guess, my better judgment kicked in and I stopped running. I walked home wondering what the heck I, the dean of injury-free running, am doing with a stupid injury. [Instant fun fact: when I was typing this I wrote "kicked me" instead of "kicked in" like I meant. Ha.]


Dr. WebMD tells me I probably have a very mild, non-tear form of tennis leg. Or maybe it's just a mild calf strain. Dr. WebMD isn't all that specific about things, really.
So I guess I'm on the shelf for a few days. And I guess I'm going to be woefully unprepared for next weekend's 7 miler and the following weekend's 10 miler. But I guess I have to keep my eyes on the prize and remember what my main running goal is this year.

Until then I'll be doing the light stretching, sticking, pain relieving tango on myself. Good thing I saved all those Biofreeze samples I've collected from race goodie bags over the years.