Now that the Christmas break is over, the New Year festivities long passed and hopefully the Christmas chocolates all eaten it's time to crack on with 2015!
One of my last posts about running in 2014 mentioned that I feared I would be 'limping' into 2015 as I had been struggling with my calves (lower legs not cattle) and that has unfortunately been the case. My last proper run was an 8K run on 30th December, I attempted another run on the 1st January but had to abort after 1.25K as I was struggling with a bad back and my calves.
The problem with my calves is compartment syndrome which was diagnosed by a sports therapist a few years back when I though I had shin splints.
From what I understand it's basically lactic acid and waste products not exiting muscle tissue because of poor blood flow which then cause cramp like pain when the muscle is used for exercise.
From what I have read it can often come on after a period of intensive training followed by a period of low or no exercise. Athletes can suffer with it in the off season when their training stops after intense periods of competition. That has certainly been the situation with me as I completed my 30 day run streak before doing next to no training and very little walking around while away over Christmas.
So the last week I haven't done any running or any impact training that have affect my calves, really scaled back my walking and just tried to rest my legs as much as possible. I have stretched my calves everyday and used the foam roller as well as icing my calves as much as I could.
I still did plenty of training during the week, sessions on my stationary bike at home along with plenty or circuit work including upper body and core stability exercises.
One of my regular circuits to do at home is squats, pressups, crunches and dips, my normal circuit is 25 squats, 25 pressups, 15 crunches, 15 dips x 3or4.
I have also been working on core strengths through mountain climbers and other plank exercises. Through in some leg strengthening exercises and it has been a busy training week!
Today was time to get back out and run, and I was so thankful to be able to get out and run successfully. I covered a very leisurely gentle 4.5km where I just tried to enjoy running again and focused on my technique.
So after feeling no ill effects I am ready to crack on with my 2015 running aims, first up on the agenda the Hampton Court half marathon definitely booked for March and the Tunbridge Wells half marathon pencilled in for the end of February.
Watch out 2015 here I come!
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