17
Dec
No Boundaries
In September Nicole signed us up for No Boundaries, a running training program through Fleet Feet stores and New Balance. The goal at the end of the training was the 5K Turkey Trot. They set up a whole workout routine and twice a week there were runs with a coach. Previously when I’ve done running it was just go out and run X amount and I would do my best to run that amount. The coach introduced us to intervals and that definitely extended range for those of us not used to running. Even with the coaching and the training the speed that things were ramping up seemed kind of fast. A couple of weeks in we learned that the intended program was compressed from 12 weeks down to 7 weeks which explained the rapid increase in difficulty.
The morning of the Turkey Trot was cold but the free socks made decent gloves while waiting to start. We never got to the point of running the whole thing so it was intervals all the way, which was fine. Seven weeks ago it would have been walking the whole thing so it still feels good to complete it without having to give up on the running part.
About 2-3 weeks from the end of the program two days after the most recent run I woke up with my left calf feeling like it had been through the workout from hell. No cramping, just muscle soreness. I continued running on it until No Boundaries was done which was pretty dumb but it didn’t seem to be getting any worse so it didn’t seem so bad at the time. I’ve since learned it’s a calf strain and once the program ended I’ve been resting it and wrapping it and keeping it elevated and today I was able to go without the wrapping without discomfort. Now it just feels like the muscles are tight and need stretching. Tomorrow evening I’m going to try walking the dogs (they’ll appreciate it a lot) and see how that goes. I’m glad the end seems to be in sight for the healing. Now maybe I can consider a full length version fo the program this spring.