Man down!

I've suffered my first injury of the offseason. Yesterday at the gym, while running lap No. 44 around the track, I felt a sudden surge of pain in my right leg. I pulled up and hobbled around the final bend in time to finish up exactly three miles. Too bad I was shooting for five.

At first, I thought it was my hamstring, and it very well could be. But upon further poking and prodding, the main source of the pain is on the inside of my upper calf muscle. The tendon behind the left side of my knee is a little sore, but it's the calf muscle that's feeling worse. I tried resuming with a light jog after a short rest, but it was no use.

Heading out to dinner last night, it was sore while walking even and we took some stairs outside along our walk and I had to stop at one point because the pain shot up again. I iced my leg last night and it felt a little better today. It was sore while walking Barkley this morning, so running is out of the question for now.

I'm pretty frustrated about the injury, but had I not pulled up I might've blown a calf or hammy, so I guess that's the silver lining. I came two miles short of my weekly mileage goal, which I was bummed about. I did two easy miles on the bike before leaving the gym last night to make myself feel better about it.

I still made it to the gym today, but I stayed away from running. I lifted for an hour and did three miles on the bike. I planned on doing 10 at an easy pace, but after three miles my leg was singing. I did a very slow jog around the track -- more like shuffling my feet -- and could still feel the soreness. Looks like my normal Monday routine is about to be thrown out the window.

I guess it's possible (sarcasm) that I overexerted myself this week (28 miles) after logging exactly zero the week before. I also went from a gradual increase throughout the week to a five-mile mininum on my runs. Perhaps my body just finally said, "What the heck are you doing to me?!" I'm not going to let this minor strain slow me down too much, though.

I can still hit the gym and lift, do some light leg work or ride the bike. Maybe on Tuesday I'll try to do a light jog again on the treadmill, which is easier than running on the track. I'm not sure what caused the injury, though I read dehydration can lead to calf strains. I've got to suck it up and stop for water breaks more often. I have a bad habit of not wanting to stop once I get going.

That's all for today. I'm just happy that, for once, the issue wasn't with one of my ankles, which have been troublesome through the years. Stay tuned for more...