Team World Vision Training - 5 weeks to go

This week started out great and kept going well until Friday after my run. I'd been pretty injury-free since I'd taken those five days off for an ankle issue, but on Friday I had two issues crop up.

Part of why my week had been going well before Friday was that I'd been feeling healthy and strong on all my runs. I've had a bit of a sore right quad for a couple weeks, but it was really minor and I didn't notice it much if at all during my runs. The calf popped up on Wednesday, but I barely felt it, and on Thursday I had a strong interval workout where my calf and quad didn't bother me at all.

Then, on Friday, my right calf started aching during my run. It wasn't bad at first, but as the run went on it continued to get worse. Then, with about 3/4 of a mile left, my right ankle started bugging me. At the time I thought, Uh oh, this is a new pain, and it’s not good.

I don’t have a solid answer for why my calf and ankle started bugging me. I have a few guesses though: My volume was up the previous week, and though it wasn’t nearly as high as it’s been in the past, it was still up there. Then last week it wasn’t quite as high, but before Friday I was on my way to the two highest back-to-back weeks of mileage in over a year.

I also got a new pair of shoes with a zero drop that may have led to the calf soreness (and maybe ankle—who knows). Normally I run in shoes with between 5 and 10 mm drop, so I knew I needed to ease into my new Altra Escalantes, but when I was going to go for a short run with them, they were feeling so great I ended up going seven miles. I honestly don’t know if that made a difference on the injury front. I felt fine the rest of the day and the next day after the run, but it’s possible the run in the Escalantes contributed to my calf and ankle pain.

With the soreness I was a little worried, especially since my ankle felt similar to how the other ankle felt when I had peroneal tendinitis, and that injury took months to heal. Fortunately, I took Saturday and Sunday off, and by today (Monday), both my ankle and my calf are feeling much better. I’m taking today and tomorrow off of running too, and I’ve been cycling while taking a break from the running.

I’ll maybe give an update on my injuries mid-week. I hope it’ll be good news.

On a very positive note, I’ve achieved and surpassed my fundraising goal for Team World Vision. Thank you so much to all of you for your generosity in helping communities without access to clean water. Though I’ve reached my goal, you can still contribute. Your donation will make a big impact for those with water insecurity.

If you’re interested in donating to my Team World Vision fundraiser, you can donate through my Facebook fundraising page, or you can donate on my Team World Vision fundraising page.