Has this ever happened to you?

So.. you’ve trained for an upcoming race and five days before, when out on a training run, you get a severe cramp in your leg which reduces you to walk with a limp!

The Incident

This happened to me! Twenty minutes into my training run, I suddenly squealed with pain as my left quadricep cramped causing me to stop in my tracks and the next moment I walked with a limp. “NO, THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!” was my first thoughts. I have a 10 kilometer race coming up.

Well.. I cut my distance and made a beeline to the bus terminal, as fast as my painful leg allowed me. Arriving at home, I rubbed my leg with Arnica Ice and did mobility stretches with the hope this would ease the muscle and loosen my hip joint.

Rest and Recovery

Years of experience has taught me it would be best to rest and not do any training the rest of the week. The most I did following the incident, was to continue with mobility exercises and a few pilates stretches, also rubbing my legs with recovery cream.

The evening prior to the race, my leg still had quite the niggle. I then relaxed in the bathtub filled with warm water adding Magnesium Salts and body wash.

Race day

The morning at the race venue ( I arrived 5 minutes before start time! ) I rubbed warming cream on my quads and hip joints. The race starts and I set off at a good pace, doing my best to not think about the possible pain. I decided to focus on a runner ahead of me. Everything was going well, 5 kilometers done, no pain. The weather was becoming humid, or was it my body changing temperature? The next 5 kilometers was also a breeze. I was able to pick up my pace in the last 2 kilometers, crossing the finish line in a time of 0:54:22s. I was amazed with the fact that the pain had disappeared! Not my best time, but very chuffed with myself for completing my first race of 2024.

Today’s experience brought to mind a well known saying within the running community “anything can happen on race day”