Every single time I start out on a run, my calves are very tight. It is my whole lower leg truthfully, all around my ankles but mostly my calves. They eventually loosen up after around 4 miles, but that first part is brutal. And then, on the last couple of long runs (16 and 18 miles), I've gotten a few calf cramps towards the end. Nothing that lasts, but it's enough to scare me. I'd forgotten just how bad they are. So I've adjusted my eating. I always eat a banana before a run and then Gatorade and gels during a run. Before my 18 miler I drank milk, ate a banana and did the gels and gatorade religiously even though I felt like I was pretty sugared out by the end. And I took an electrolyte pill before the run and at mile 12 as suggested by my uncle. I had felt a cramp before the pill and then again right towards the end. What more can I do? I started doing a little more research on the web and discovered what might just be the problem. Lack of circulation. I have those IT band straps cranked down pretty tight so that they don't slip and I'm not messing with them the whole run. I think that may be the problem. So for my first 20 miler this weekend I'm going to experiment with those a little. I will probably still keep all the other stuff in my routine, but hopefully that will fix the problem. Other than that, the training's going really well. It's been fun, for the most part and I've even surprised myself. I think I mentioned that Heather and I did a magic mile together to determine how fast we should be doing our speed work and tempo runs. We're really at about the same pace, which makes it convenient for training. But when I looked at how fast we had to do our mile speed work, I didn't think there was any possible way that I could do it. But to my surprise, I was able to do it and though it was really hard at the end, I was pretty excited that I made it through. I guess no matter what level you are at, you can surprise yourself.
Here's what I've been up to. My goals are to make my weight training more consistent and use my new bike to cross train. My first bike with gears. I need some heavily padded shorts for sure!
Friday July 10th- 4 miles easy
Saturday July 11th- 6 miles with hills
Monday July 13th- 5.5 miles with hills
Tuesday July 14th- 20 minutes of stair running YUCK!
Wednesday July 15th- 6 miles with 4 miles tempo 9:20 pace
Thursday July 16th- 3 miles easy
Saturday July 18th- 16 miles down the canyon and around the Reservoir average pace of 10 minute miles. I was pretty sore after the run, mostly in my hamstrings for about 2 days.
Monday July 20th- 3 miles easy, upper body weights, stretching
Tuesday July 21st- 7 miles speed workout
Thursday July 23rd- 18.6 miles- Peach Days 10k route x 3. I didn't time this workout, but it was slower than the past weeks due to a hilly course and a good break around each loop. But we made it through.
Friday July 24th- 4 mile bike ride
Saturday July 25th- 5 miles with hills followed by 8 mile bike ride
1 comment:
Have you tried a foam roller? That might help loosen your calves up prior to the run. I hear it hurts like a mofo, but that it's very worth it.
Go luck with that upcoming 20 miler! AND great job with the speed work.
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