I got up this morning with one goal in mind, to run 10km in under 50 minutes. At the Old Eds race, running with babbalas and a very upset stomach, I came in just under 60 minutes. Best ever is 37 minutes, and I did around 51 minutes in triathlons last year. But I want to get back to the roaring 40's, and so the next milestone is 50 minutes.
Beautiful weather and the venue, the Johannesburg Zoo, is really quite whimsical. A pair of sandstone brown rhinoceroses stared at literally thousands of people and their expressions clearly said: "These humans are crazy!"
The route has plenty ups and downs and lots of turns. I prefer it I think to the Old Eds route, which has some long straight drags. I was looking for the 6km marker and started feeling lousy and the next thing I saw the 7km marker. I upped the pace a lot over the last 3 kilometres, and then, in the final kilometre, going downhill, felt my right calf go. I had to slow up quite a lot, and even walked a few metres. I damaged my right leg in a car accident [at the knee] in 1990, and so a lot of work gets rerouted to my left leg. It was weird running with a sort of limp, with the left leg now doing at least 80% of all the work. It gave me a sense that generally the left leg is doing a lot more work any way.
I crossed the line in 52:45, and I think even if my calf had been fine I probably wouldn't have gone under 51:30. Still, it's a 7 minute improvement on the Old Eds run.
After the race I went to gym, just for a swim and to relax in the jacuzzi. Swimming I felt how weak my calf was, as I struggled to kick off the wall [when I dived in my right leg sort of slipped under me].
I glanced at a Runner's World after my stint in the jacuzzi. There was an article about making a comeback from common running injuries. Guess what the most common is?
Achilles Tendinitis
This is an area where the calf muscle narrows and joins the foot muscle. If you stand on your toes you immediately feel it.
The article said those most likely to suffer from AT are those with a Body Mass Index [BMI] of over 25. So a 1.78 metre tall man who weighs 80kg or more and runs faster than 6 minutes per kilometre is going to be susceptible. Guess what, I am 1.77 metres tall and weigh 81.85kg. So I need to shake off at least 2 more kilograms, preferably about 7 or 8.
Then towards recovery one can stand with toes on the edge of a step and do calf raises.
Usually you get AT from suddenly increasing your mileage. I've been running 5-8km in the gym, 10km is more than 10% further, and the steep uphills in Johannesburg don't help.
I think in 2-3 weeks I'll try again for a sub 50 minute 10km.
Once again was great to be out there with so many people on a beautiful spring day.
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