The somewhat painful symptoms in my upper left calf continue. The pain is on the outside of my calf, originating just below by knee cap and at times radiating down the outside of my calf to my ankle. The pain is especially acute when I push off when walking or running and is very noticeable when climbing stairs (as I load my whole body weight on my left leg).
These symptons are consistent with Tendonitis of the Peroneal Longus--which is the skinny, relatively weak muscle behind my fibula (the small bone in the lower leg). As you probably know, my left leg is a long-running problem area for me given my perforated medial articular cartilage. Through the years my body has been forced to make all sorts of not particularly efficient compromises to deal with the chronic pain which radiates from there with every foot strike. I wouldn't be surprised if this latest injury is a result of this on-going structural issue.
When you push off the foot needs to roll through the lift-off phase and if either the ankle or the hip are not supple enough it can lead to a situation where the body compensates by having the weak Peroneals do more of the work (and absorb more of the stress) as opposed to the much larger and stronger gastroc muscles. I think this is what has led to my current predicament.
Unfortunately, my injury is probably of sufficient severity that I can't ignore it or train through it. The PRICE (Protect, Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) protocol seems to be called for. This is relatively easy to accomplish but could very well take some time (most Grade One (the least severe) injuries require 2-3 weeks to recover from).
I'm scheduled to head up to Canyon Ranch later this week for a week of healthy eating and heavy training (was looking for 25-30 hours). The later will obviously need to be re-evaluated at this point. The good news is they have some fine PT support available and I imagine I'll be spending quite a bit of time trying to quickly rehab my Peroneals. Further, I'll have to address the underlying cause--probably a tight left hip so this is not a recurring issue going forward.
It's still too soon to gauge the full impact on my 2014 season except to say that it will have some. My May plan is out the door at this point and my next two scheduled races (Genesis Sprint, Long Course Nationals) are certainly at risk. Longer term, I have plenty of time to fix this, resume training and be ready to start my Kona build in July. That is what I'll plan to do--if need be, I'll end up with a pretty limited 2014 racing season.
It is what it is!
These symptons are consistent with Tendonitis of the Peroneal Longus--which is the skinny, relatively weak muscle behind my fibula (the small bone in the lower leg). As you probably know, my left leg is a long-running problem area for me given my perforated medial articular cartilage. Through the years my body has been forced to make all sorts of not particularly efficient compromises to deal with the chronic pain which radiates from there with every foot strike. I wouldn't be surprised if this latest injury is a result of this on-going structural issue.
When you push off the foot needs to roll through the lift-off phase and if either the ankle or the hip are not supple enough it can lead to a situation where the body compensates by having the weak Peroneals do more of the work (and absorb more of the stress) as opposed to the much larger and stronger gastroc muscles. I think this is what has led to my current predicament.
Unfortunately, my injury is probably of sufficient severity that I can't ignore it or train through it. The PRICE (Protect, Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) protocol seems to be called for. This is relatively easy to accomplish but could very well take some time (most Grade One (the least severe) injuries require 2-3 weeks to recover from).
I'm scheduled to head up to Canyon Ranch later this week for a week of healthy eating and heavy training (was looking for 25-30 hours). The later will obviously need to be re-evaluated at this point. The good news is they have some fine PT support available and I imagine I'll be spending quite a bit of time trying to quickly rehab my Peroneals. Further, I'll have to address the underlying cause--probably a tight left hip so this is not a recurring issue going forward.
It's still too soon to gauge the full impact on my 2014 season except to say that it will have some. My May plan is out the door at this point and my next two scheduled races (Genesis Sprint, Long Course Nationals) are certainly at risk. Longer term, I have plenty of time to fix this, resume training and be ready to start my Kona build in July. That is what I'll plan to do--if need be, I'll end up with a pretty limited 2014 racing season.
It is what it is!
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