Sydney Striders Internal Half Marathon
21.1km | Race | DNF
It was a disruptive night with a power line down in the street and sparks flying everywhere. Then the blackout that followed meant that I couldn't have my usual pre-race shot of coffee and toast (!). Grrr, not a good start.
I arrived at Lane Cove a little early and found Kit and Ellie setting up munchies and chatted to CRs Plu, Wriggler, Lastish, Gnome, FTP and Johnny Dark until our start time ticked over.
The pesky calf was feeling OK last night but admittedly I did need to give it the usual attention with a massage and then ice . Still I gave it a test this morning and it felt pretty much like it has for the last few weeks - not painful, just that "pulling" feeling deep in the upper calf.
JD and I set off by our Pat Malone at the 6:51am allotted start time and we headed up the hill for the first lap. We made good progress for the first bunch of Ks and were on target for our 1:39 handicap.
It was at about the 7km mark that my pesky calf started to tighten and remind me that I still have a problem that won't go away without either time off, intense treatment or both. From there it was when things started to get a little bothersome and the tightness began to effect the efficiency of my stride. I said to JD that things were a bit crook and that I was going to bail out at 10km or there abouts.
We hit the 10km marker at 46:35 which was right on the money for the handicap and I pulled up from there. JD was looking his usual solid self and I am sure that he would have finished on or about the goal time.
I am not all that disappointed on the DNF as I did manage a 10km run which was way faster than I would normally train. So I'm OK with what happened.
Now to the pesky calf. I will take the week off from running and concentrate on massage and ice with spinning to keep fit. I'll also spend some time with Larry the Physio for some of his magic. Let's see if that helps.
Mood: ---> 
It was a disruptive night with a power line down in the street and sparks flying everywhere. Then the blackout that followed meant that I couldn't have my usual pre-race shot of coffee and toast (!). Grrr, not a good start.
I arrived at Lane Cove a little early and found Kit and Ellie setting up munchies and chatted to CRs Plu, Wriggler, Lastish, Gnome, FTP and Johnny Dark until our start time ticked over.
The pesky calf was feeling OK last night but admittedly I did need to give it the usual attention with a massage and then ice . Still I gave it a test this morning and it felt pretty much like it has for the last few weeks - not painful, just that "pulling" feeling deep in the upper calf.
JD and I set off by our Pat Malone at the 6:51am allotted start time and we headed up the hill for the first lap. We made good progress for the first bunch of Ks and were on target for our 1:39 handicap.
It was at about the 7km mark that my pesky calf started to tighten and remind me that I still have a problem that won't go away without either time off, intense treatment or both. From there it was when things started to get a little bothersome and the tightness began to effect the efficiency of my stride. I said to JD that things were a bit crook and that I was going to bail out at 10km or there abouts.
We hit the 10km marker at 46:35 which was right on the money for the handicap and I pulled up from there. JD was looking his usual solid self and I am sure that he would have finished on or about the goal time.
I am not all that disappointed on the DNF as I did manage a 10km run which was way faster than I would normally train. So I'm OK with what happened.
Now to the pesky calf. I will take the week off from running and concentrate on massage and ice with spinning to keep fit. I'll also spend some time with Larry the Physio for some of his magic. Let's see if that helps.
Mood: --->
This entry was posted
on Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 5:12 PM.
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Well done for doing the right thing.
Looked like a good reason to supersize pre-race up to hash-browns and McLatte.
Sorry to hear about the calf again mate. Hope you can get it right for the 10k in 2 weeks.
Smart moving pulling out when you did Gronk, its never an easy decision to make. Fingers crossed the recovery plan works.
And you can borrow my old mantra "I will not be cowed by my calves" - although you will have to pick it up from Ewen - he has it at the moment ;-)
Mate good decision - hehe I was thinking you could of gone the maccas route too - scary if I'm thinking like DJ.....
Nice 10k time as well - must give you heaps of confidence for CC.
shame about the calf mate. Hope you get it good for the first Sunday in December :)
Sorry to hear the calf messed you around again. Good decision not to push it. Hope it responds well to the rest and treatment.
Yes, you can borrow that mantra for a while Gronk. Mine hasn't been mooing (touch wood) for a few days.
Good choice to stop. Hope the recovery is successful and doesn't take too long.
Wise move - on both counts - Gronk. Sort it out now & you'll be flying in plenty of time for the CC!
Sounds like a good decision and let's hope you can get it sorted once and for all. V. exciting to hear you're on for Canberra marathon. I'll have to dust off the pom-poms for that one.
You done good, gronkman.
Frankly, getting to the starting line and doing 10k is above and beyond the call of duty considering there was no coffee.
I wondered what had happened. I was following you for ages, nad then all of a sudden, you weren't there any more... :-( JD did you proud, though.
Gnome
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