Since we've moved house and I've changed jobs, it has become more difficult to squeeze in Massage appointments. In my old job I worked from home 2 days a week and my local masseur (Burkey, AKA Elbows of Pain) was only 3km away. Now I have no days working from home and the masseur is no longer local, being about 20km from home and similar distance from work. As a result I did not have my usual pre-race massage before the last Duathlon, no doubt a contributing factor to the foot problem I suffered in the race.
With my foot still sore and most of my leg muscles very stiff and sore, I made an appointment with a different masseur walking distance from my work. She managed to inflict more pain than Burkey, something I didn't think was possible, although maybe this was more a result of the state my muscles were in. I think I felt more bruised and sore after the massage than I did after the race. But 4 days after the massage and my muscles felt 100 times better for the experience (the mental scarring may take longer to recover).
The new masseur's diagnosis of my foot pain was extremely tight plantar fascia. She does not believe I have the dreaded planter fasciitis, but will have if I don't take steps to keep the plantar fascia loose. This means lots of rolling the feet over golf balls - a little painful when the plantar fascia is very tight, but nothing compared to the massage.
My original plan was to race a 5km Fun Run this Sunday. The masseur suggested it would be OK, but I decided to err on the side of safety and took a week off from running. Instead I did 4 swim sessions during the week and a velodrome session on Saturday.
Elaine wanted to race the Knox Duathlon. Being situated at the foot of the Dandenongs, I decided to ride in the Dandenongs whilst she raced. Wanting to be back before she finished the Duathlon, I wasn't able to do all the climbs I would have liked. But just as well, because I felt pretty wrecked after climbing 'The Devil's Elbow', 'Sky High' and 'The 1 in 20' (most of the climbs in the Dandenongs have nicknames). In total the ride ended up being 57km long and I made it back in plenty of time to see Elaine win her age group yet again. You can see more details of the ride in the Strava plug-in below.
You may remember that I posted a photo taken at Sky High 2 weeks ago during thick cloud cover. Today the skies were clear and below is a photo of the view (unfortunately the camera on my phone doesn't do it justice)
I also went out for a 10km run this afternoon. Unfortunately I only made it 9km before my knee started hurting (walked the last kilometre home). The hilly ride would have slightly inflamed my knee, so I shouldn't be surprised that my run was cut short. At least my feet were OK on the run.
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