So I'm just done with a sprained ankle... but just as it was healing, I'm struck with what I believe is muscle tear. Or muscle strain? I don't know. It could even be something totally different, for all I know. Achilles tendinitis? Unlikely, but the pain is sort of between the calf muscles and the tendon though. But it's not that bad, I can walk 100% normally, with little pain. And I can run 100% normally too, my stride remains unaffected, but with more acute pain.
I just wanted to write this here for the record. So it'll be a short article. It started with the big training session of October the 4th and it further developed with every session that followed. In the left lower leg, I've now got multiple spots where it hurts (one on the inner side, in the soleus muscle I think; another in the lower part of the gastrocnemius muscle, close to the tendon). It hurts quite a lot when going down stairs, jumping on one leg only - single leg hope - and at the beginning of any run (the first 5kms), averaging 5 pain-wise on a scale from 0 to 10 in the beginning. Then, as I pick up the pace and go faster than 5 mins/km, the pain fades a bit down to 2 or 3/10. And it varies across the different spots. In the right lower leg, it seems like my medial tibial stress syndrome (périostite) is midly back, only when running.
I'm not worried about the right leg, I feel nothing while walking/sitting, and barely feels it while running. It's the left leg that worries me a little, but it all seems to be muscle-related, nothing to do with bones or tendons (I think!). Possible reasons? The 11 days off running I took to allow my ankle to recover... then I basically went all-in again to catch up on my training plan. Also, that session on the 4th of October was truly hard and intense, probably the hardest I ever did. And with still fairly new shoes (the Asics METASPEED SKY PARIS). So you know... nothing new really.
I have not lost hope regarding the marathon in 10 days. Two Sundays ago I ran 31 kms with that pain, it remained constant throughout the run and was bearable. And again last Sunday, 25 kms, constant and bearable, not increasing. It should work the same over 42 kms. Then I'll take all of November completely off, hoping to start fresh again in December, injury free for good this time.