Lunch Walk - 4km (plus physio update)

dannewton just finished a 4.06km walk, that lasted for 56 minutes.
This walk helped dannewton burn 286.0 calories.

---

Description from Strava: So I finally made it to the physio! It was located at the top of Lincoln, and my Dad gave me a lift so I didn't have to faff around with the buses.

After I had given a brief bit of background (the marathon, the recovery and the resulting injury) the Physiothrapist agreed that it was almost certainly a calf strain. He asked me to perform a couple of exercises, and agreed that the injury was pretty much healed. I then laid on the bench while he massaged my calf as it was feeling a little stiff.

Physio: Oh that feels really tight!

Turns out although I had kept active, I had over protected the calf muscle (by altering the way I walked). This had led to the formation of scar tissue, which in turn affected the flexibility of the muscle. If I tried exercising to soon then it would be this scar tissue that would be the weak point leading to a recurring injury.

We don't want that!

I was given some exercises to do: which were 2 different types of Calf Raise. He advised to do these every day, and that as I was hoping to return to running, that I should be aiming for high reps of 20-30 per set. He also said I should build up to using some weights as well to strengthen the calf too. Its not just a case of getting back to where I was before, I want to be back in a stronger position... hence me digging out the dumbbell set in the above photo.

The physio also advised regular stretching as well, and suggested that perhaps I should try more exercises/stretches as part of my weekly training to mitigate against potential injuries in the future. I am already working on this (see previous posts) but yep, point taken!

After a VERY thorough calf massage, it was time for the all important question

When can I run again?

I actually received some 'almost' good news.

I was hoping he'd say, you can go out this afternoon Dan!

That was a no. BUT he did say that if I can do a weeks worth of daily calf exercises and stretches, and there is none of the previous injury pain, then he doesn't see why I can't try a little run (literally a 10 minute run around the block). And if that goes ok, then I can very slowly begin to increase it again

There is actually light at the end of the tunnel

thank fuck for that!

I just need to be good and do my exercises. I was going to do them this afternoon, but the massage was so deep and thorough, that I'm actually struggling to walk on it now! So I guess I'll start tomorrow!

---

If you would like to check out this activity on strava you can see it here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/9080879819

About the Athlete: Living in the UK, I am an intermittent Runner, but always striving for more consistency. When I'm not training I can be found photographing insects or listening to really loud angry music (which is the best type of music obviously!)

This is an automated post by @strava2hive and is currently in BETA.