Always A First

There is always a first time for everything and today it was mine for a leg cramp.

Now I have had leg cramps before but never while running. They have always been after the run or race, until today.

This morning I ran the 10k at the Franklin Classic. It was a great morning to run. I was hoping for a sub-50 and was on pace until just before mile 4 marker.

It started as just a tightness in my right calf. But all of a sudden I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg and had to stop.

I walked best I could and it slowly loosened up, at least enough to finely start running again.

I was able to finish. But I lost about 5 minutes, rats!

Now I am home with ice on my calf. I can hardly walk because my calf is so sore. This not how I planned to spend Labor Day.

Here are the splits…

Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart
Rate
Elev
Gain
actual +/- avg actual +/- avg
1 7′ 49 -0′ 59 7.7 +0.9 145 +13 ft
2 7′ 42 -1′ 06 7.8 +1.0 157 -20 ft
3 8′ 03 -0′ 45 7.4 +0.6 160 +56 ft
4 7′ 56 -0′ 52 7.5 +0.7 161 +6 ft
5 12′ 50 +4′ 02 4.7 -2.1 131 -26 ft
6 8′ 30 -0′ 18 7.0 +0.2 155 -33 ft
end 8′ 00 -0′ 48 7.5 +0.7 160 +3 ft
Average of 8′ 48 min/mile

5 Responses to “Always A First”

  1. Dusty Says:

    OUCH! I remember watching a guy in the US Marathon Olympic Trials stopping to stretch out a cramp in his calf. I can’t imagine.. hope I never experience it! Great job powering through.. many would not have a time 5 minutes slower.. they would have a DNF for results.

  2. Jill Says:

    You did TERRIFIC!!! I know a cramp is a horrible thing…but you did did TERRIFIC!!! WOW!!

  3. Joe Says:

    Yeow…sorry it happened in a race!! Who knows why…the fact that it is new says it is probably an “outlier”; just some random thing that happened that day, that way.

    Ice is good…

  4. darrell Says:

    Oh man, sorry about the cramp. Hope it has resolved itself over the last week.

  5. Bob Allen Says:

    Where are you, David? No post in about 6 weeks.

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