WE ARE RUNNERS: IGNORE THE PAIN?--NOT!!!!

In the summer of 2008, I was training for the Philadelphia Marathon. It was sometime around the middle of August. Philly was in Novemeber. I was doing a long run in the Rockies (Rockefeller State Park in Tarrytown NY). I was running with the Galloway Group that I trained with. Around mile 7 Rosy yelled out...how's everyone doing. I answered, fine, except for this pain in my right calf. I ignored the pain, thinking it was just a cramp that would go away. It didnt. We hit somewher about mile 9 or so; there's a huge hill. Many people barely crawl up this hill. Its right at a spot along the Hudson River, where the trail we run on turns back towards home. Near one of the outter boundaries of the park. I slowly trudged up the hill; at the top is an awesome view of the river. It was a gorgeous sunny, blue skied day. You would think you were in St Thomas on top of a cliff overlooking beautiful Megan's Bay. Then the trail heads down; a rather ominous, steep, uneven trail; where the once regal trail had been over the years turned into a mine field of small pot holes and broken pavers. I ran down the hill; as I did so, near the bottom of the hill, I felt the calf more or less pop; I blew it out; the muscle tore and I was toast. I could barely walk much less run. In our group, no one goes alone; as the group started ahead, it wasnt long before they realized I had a problem and a few doubled back to see what the story was. Realizing I couldnt run, Rosy, our group leader, stayed with me as I slowly trudged, dragging my right foot behind me, the 4 miles back to the parking lot. I was laid up for a few weeks. Painful cramped up, torn muscle. Dr. Daniels, my chiropractor was my saviour. I went to him 3 x per week and the muscle slowly healed. I recovered fully and was able to run the marathon. Since then I have learned that you need to strenthen your calf muscles; make sure that you have plenty of electrolytes in your stystem and stay hydrated; and dont ignore pain thinking it will go away. I also take salt tablets now when I go on long runs. AND I often wear a compression sleeve on my calf.

So here is a video of some exercisses to strenthen your calf muscles.