Who needs a calf muscle anyway!

Running sucks! With the idea of training for cyclocross, I bought new running shoes a couple weeks ago. Start slow, go easy, avoid injury. Right. I got the correct shoes. I started by walking , then light jogging for 30 seconds, back to walking for a minute, and again jogging for 30 seconds. Repeat. Well I didn't make it past the third repeat when I felt a twinge of tightness in my left calf. Great, here we go again.

Last year I pulled my calf muscle running for the employee shuttle to get my cell phone I had left in my car. I thought someone hit me in the back of the leg with their rollerbag. Wow that hurt. I got some Bengay and went to work. That night I planned to race in SEA at the velodrome. Well, I limped to the track, got on my bike to warm up and to test the calf. After a lap, I completely forgot about my injured calf. I guess I just don't use that part of the calf muscle on a bicycle. Yay!

Fast forward to last night. My stressed left calf from last week is beginning to bother me early in the day. By the end of the day, I've got a full on limp going. And boy, does it hurt. So this time I get IcyHot. (always willing to try something different) Of course, I'm back in SEA and racing on the track again. This time when I get on the bike the pain doesn't go away like before. Oh crap. Do I continue to race or do I just call it a night and watch others race? You know I do love to watch bike races. But I also do love to race. Heck with it. My calf isn't going to fall off! Is it?

I raced strong all night. Chasing down breakaways (my favorite). Going with surges. Leading out sprints. And even being in the points for 4 points sprints in a row. I still don't have a good top end speed. Who really does need a calf muscle to ride a bicycle. It is over rated.