Well, last week we looked at how Gina was mightily successful in the inflatable 5k run and there was a nod towards the possibility that I may not have enjoyed quite the same experience 😞
However, as the photo shows I did get my medal for finishing 😃.
Unfortunately I had spent the week prior to the race a little concerned that my calf was still a little dodgy from the compensatory gait I had been using following my extremely well publicised and humiliating slip on the ice a month or so back 😳.
Of course I kept going on and on about it until it started to sound like an excuse! Then unbelievably, two days before the event I managed to actually re-pull the calf doing something rather silly. This was a disaster, Gina was definitely going to think I was trying to get out of the race all together 😂.
So I had to turn to one of the skill sets we use here at The Reinge Clinic if really needed....'Taping and strapping'.
I say "if really needed" as we tend to use this as a last resort or temporary application, addressing the back ground issue is always a more desirable way forward. Even more desirable and sensible would have been to abandon the event. I had two days to go and there was no way I would recover enough to run and bounce 5k without risking further damage, so as you can see in the photo I strapped my own leg up to provide support to the muscle and to limit my foot movement so I couldn't pull things any further. Underneath that Tubigrip bandage are a host of taping techniques to help me achieve my goal.
Once I was taped up my calf felt safe and well supported, but on the flip side I could scarcely move my ankle and as a result could also barely squat, which was clearly going to be a problem as that movement that was needed to navigate many of the inflatable obstacles 😖.
Once we set of running that same lack of movement meant I found that couldn't use my normal running gait, so using an unfamiliar technique I found myself tiring rather too quickly....in fact to the point that I couldn't keep pace with Gina (who was was passing people like crazy!).
Pride was swallowed and I said to Gina 'You go on, I'll see you at the end" and off she vanished into the distance 😐.
All those above reasons are why it's such a good idea to delay an event that will always be there again and sort out the background issues first. But push on I did, with my ridiculous looking gait.
I found my lack of ability to now squat meant when everyone else simply bent low I had to crawl on my stomach, when every body did a high step over something I sort of rolled (fell 🤣) over it and ended up on my backside and to complete my humiliation.......On the final obstacle, which was inflatable massive steps everybody sprung up on their toes, whilst I grovelled my way up on my hands and knees 😖.
The only saving grace was that I was not as far behind Gina as I had thought and by a bizarre accident of timing, the camera caught me coming off of the final obstacle looking incredibly strong and fresh 😃.....which was quite simply anything but the case 🤣.
The calf held up though 👍.....just!
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