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!!