Injuries/medical

Not intended as medical advice, this is just what I do... bearing in mind that I trained in nutritional therapy and herbal medicine in the UK and have kitchen cupboards that hold more bottles of nutritional supplements and herbal remedies than they do food...

with that said, here's the list of stuff I do and take that usually sees off colds and flus quite quickly; in this case a highly successful 3-4 days instead of the 2-3 weeks that seems to be the norm for the latest Colorado virus.

I'm feeling like a real whimp. I hit a mighty 40 miles a week and then fell over with a cold.

Extenuating circumstances: Abby has been battling with this flu thing that's going round. For the last three weeks she's progressed through stuffed nose and sinuses with a sore throat, to a cough and perpetual running nose, then to being totally wiped out and then experiencing a lovely final stage of nausea and vertigo. I took all my supplements like a good boy and didn't get it... until I woke up on Monday with the beginnings of it.

"About 85% of air travel thrombosis victims are athletic, usually endurance-type athletes like marathoners. People with slower resting blood flow are at greater risk of stasis, stagnant blood subject to clotting. Also, they are more likely to have bruises and sore muscles that can trigger clotting. No other risk factor comes close to this. Age over 60 is supposed to be a risk factor, but these victims are younger, 82% of them under 60".

My weekly mileage is down from 25 – 30 miles a week, to 15 -20 miles per week. I could blame it on the “cooler” weather (this is LA). Or I could blame it on how dark it is at 5:30am. But what it all boils down to is that I really do love my pillow. So last Friday, my pillow talked me into running at lunch instead of at 5:30 am. I have an hour and a half for lunch on Fridays so why not?

That same left ankle again...twisted it last Saturday on a trial run.  With the Grand Rapids Marathon coming up in a week and a half, this was not good timing.  This was the first time running on a trail since last May when I sprained my ankle at Ice Age in Wisconsin.  This trail is no where near as rocky as Ice Age, but the trail was covered with leaves so I couldn't really see where I was stepping.  I rolled my ankle on a rock or pine cone.  My ankle must really be weak because I didn't roll it that bad, but it really hurts!  I've taken time off since it happened and will re-evaluate

I guess you could say I got caught out by my own chauvanism.

Following world champion physical therapist Mark Plaatjes into the room of pain, er.. sorry, treatment room...for my third dose of deep tissue ("no Mark, that's the table, you've gone straight through the muscle") treatment, I was delighted to be introduced to his new intern.

...but my weekly " running " mileage this week will be 2 miles ( in 24+ minutes - very carefully on a treadmill ) and 200 meters ( at a crawl ). Next week will be zero. I am injured , and need a brief season away from running. I'll be back.
Happy trails !
Chase

p.s. The reason for my calf strain was insufficient rest between hard runs. I also didn't take the time to build a solid base. The lesson is being learned , and I should come back a wiser ( << could certainly use a dose of that ) and healthier man.

I can't remember feeling better about a simple treadmill run than I did today. It was my third light run after taking three days completely off. My left calf muscle has been very tight and on the threshold of a real strain of late. It probably resulted from running hard two days in a row last weekend.