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Cranky Soleus

Date:
By JP

Still feeling a little bit limpy from my Jabulani fail I got into the physio as soon as I could.  With UTA only 6 weeks away I was feeling pretty shattered but hopeful things would still work out OK. 

My physio was quite confident that I hadn't torn anything, which is good.  She said my soleus is just super tight and ended up doing some deep needling and gave me some stretches to do.

I ended up resting for the week and when I tried to run again the next week I made it about 1km before the same pain started again.  Off to the physio again for another review.  Despite my increased concern she was still very confident it was just a super tight, cranky muscle.  So more needling but this time she plugged a power pack in and electrified the needles!  Without doubt the weirdest sensation I've felt.

The following week it felt like a miracle.  I ran 5km and while it felt tight I had no pain!  The next day I was able to run 10km with no pain - it really was a miracle!  That weekend I followed up with 30km in total.  This raised my confidence significantly that I might still make the start line of UTA.

Now with 3 weeks until UTA I needed one big week to prove to myself that I can trust this muscle again before a 2 week taper.  Thankfully I was able to run a normal load of 102km and I felt great.   I was so excited.  Not only will I make the start line I might actually make the finish!

Time to taper!!