I’m back. Calf is feeling 95% – only a little tender at the end as fatigue set in. Glad I took those 4 days off. First 3km were 5:40, 5:42 and 5:47, but I had to walk for a bit in the 5th km due to calf fatigue and a stiff headwind while going up a hill. Just not worth reinjuring over it.
Did a lot of research into calves and figured out why I got injured. I’ve corrected my form accordingly, but it’ll be a while before it’s second nature.
The muscle I injured was the medial head of my gastrocnemius. The gastroc covers the ankle and knee joints, so it’s most at risk when you stretch your achilles while you’ve got a straight knee. I changed my form slightly to run with more bent/soft knees. As a byproduct I found a decent turn of pace as well, which is exciting.
During my couple of days off, I looked at my two target marathons (Perth Marathon and City 2 Surf Perth). I’ve decided to target the Perth Marathon for my sub-4 hour as it’s pretty flat the whole way.
I’ve decided to follow the Hanson’s training plan for this marathon cycle. That’s an 18 week program, which will start on 10 February (to finish on 15 June). There’s a perfectly placed 5K race on 9 February which I’ll train for starting now and will use to gauge my speed and starting point for the marathon program.
January will be about training for the 5K on 9 February. I’m training to run around a 25 minute 5K, which will be a new PR for me. Even going close will set me up for a great marathon cycle.
As a result of all that, I’m changing my running focus slightly from running 50km a week through January to following the latter half of the McMillan 5K training plan. It works out around 50km a week, but that’s not the focus.
Gonna be great to get back into racing.