I had another follow up with the sports doctor yesterday. I pretty much took a month off after the half marathon and I'm finally feeling back to normal. Most of the time I feel fine although I get a twinge now and then in my calf.
I did walk North Park (5 miles) with Colleen last week and felt perfectly fine afterwards, which the doctor said is a good sign. I am good to go, to start running and ramping up the miles again, slowly. He suggested avoiding running two days in a row.
We also talked just in general. He said when I first went in my leg was a "mess." In order to build muscle, you actually break down muscle and when it builds back it's bigger. Apparently, my muscle was breaking down but not growing back quickly enough and I had a lot of scar tissue from that. His therapy brings that scar tissue to the surface and allows it to be taken care of. I'm not really sure what that means (being taken care of), but he said he can tell a difference and my muscles are all in good shape now.
So the takeaways from this?
1. Stretching is a big deal. I already knew that, but he says to stretch even on off days. It varies from person to person but even if you aren't exercising, stretching is a good idea.
2. Ice is a good thing. Ice stops the muscle from swelling and allows it to start healing. If you don't use ice when you're sore, it takes longer before your muscle starts to heal and can make recovery time longer.
3. I have tendonitis, and it could affect me the rest of my life. If it flares up I'll need to stretch more often and I'm going to need to learn to just listen to my body and stretch as I need to.
I have another follow-up in 3 weeks, although we have a busy schedule so I probably won't get consistent running in between now and then. I don't think I'm even going to be able to run a 5k in the near future! The ones I've been eyeing up near term won't fit in my schedule.
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