Saw the doctor about my calf pain and he pretty quickly said it will likely keep me from racing next week.
He said I have to use heat and gentle stretching and do nothing (GAH!!!) "until the pain goes away"... and he said he had no idea how long it would take. Oh, and I have to wear either heel cups or heeled shoes to shorten the calf muscle while it's healing. And he said to get in with a sports massage therapist as soon as possible; he put in me in touch with one, said she's been to the Olympics, so I'm optimistic this one knows what she's doing.
The hardest part is not knowing a timeline. But, seeing as how I've been nursing this for over a year and it just blew up on me 3 days ago, I think it's safe to assume it won't be miraculously healed by next weekend.
For the future, he suggested a new way to tie my shoes that might help prevent flare-ups.
At this point I have two options.
1) Do the race anyway, swimming it super slow to baby my shoulder and then walking, potentially limping in excruciating pain, the run leg.
2) Apply for a medical rollover for the race entry. If Swim Coach Marcy doesn't want to go it alone I can still head down to volunteer for the race. My only concern is if I can be on my feet all day without affecting the injury.
I'm pretty sad about it, and keep thinking 'if it doesn't hurt by next Friday then maybe...' but I know I have to do the right thing. It is just a sport and it is just a hobby and it would inexcusably stupid of me to further aggravate a partially healed injury over something that, even though it was my goal for the summer, is ultimately just for fun.
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