Triage

A strange week coming off last weekend's sprint triathlon. I feel like an ER doctor doing triage. First, I appear to have injured myself in running after cramping up during last Saturday's sprint tri. At the time, I felt fine. I started running slow and increased my speed as I felt the calves loosen up. I felt fine after the race. I was more concerned about taking care of Salome. It was the first time I actually looked for the medical tent. We couldn't find one, but I felt like I needed to observe the patient while she recovered. Later that day, my right knee was a little sore, but not too big of a deal.

Sunday morning, I awoke feeling tired, but not sore. About what I would expect from giving a hard effort during the race. I started to feel my calves a bit as we had a few people over watching the Tour de France. It was after cutting the lawn in the evening and sitting down for a while that I notice a tightening of my calves. By Monday morning, they were very sore. Sore as in "Muscle Repair Mode: Do Not Stretch!" Triage time! What is hurt and how do I treat it? I realize I probably tore micro-muscle fibers on Saturday. Its amazes me that it can be two days out from an injury before the body lets you know you are injured and starts repair work. I decided to go into recovery mode and canceled my next few day's workouts.

After resting the calves for several days, I was able to do an easy 10 miler on my bike this morning. Tomorrow evening, I"ll try an easy paced run. I hope to do a bike/run brick on Sunday morning to get ready for next weekend's Olympic tri. Yes, my limbs are intact and functioning. I'm not bleeding. Triage can also be a check just to make sure nothing is wrong.