2016 and time to log stuff again.

Recap of November, December and the first half of January: Mileage dipped to 20, got back up to 30, settled in the mid 20s where I am while now. Ran most days, nothing too far. Handful of strength sessions. More trail runs. Right calf pain came back in December, possibly worse than June's pain, so I made an appointment with an ortho and a massage therapist.

It took a while to get into the ortho so in the meantime I made an appointment with a massage therapist at a place with more of a clinical bent. He listened to me, worked with me on some stretches and worked the hell out of my calves ("Your left calf doesn't bother you? I'm surprised.). We didn't even get to my back or upper body. I immediately scheduled a second appointment, which I've already had. I see him again next week.

At the beginning of January, I had my appointment with the ortho. After much talking, prodding and X-Rays, it's probably not a stress fracture (fibula, the smaller calf bone), although it's possible I had one earlier. No MRI at this time as they are expensive and insurance is picky about covering them,

Upping the mileage with more trails is probably causing the inflammation (peroneal tendons). On that same leg, I also appear to have a minor patella alta, which means that the patella is riding high. For me, that's likely because my quad is tight and pulling it up. That also might be affecting my gait and my push-off and causing the pain in my calf. 

The ortho was not cheap and I am not rich. We are going with an "as-needed" relationship where I hopefully do not have to go back. If I wanted to be more aggressive, I would be in a boot, scheduling physical therapy and signing up for a new gym membership with a pool. Instead I am backing off running some, integrating more strength and stretching and cutting some of the trail running. And also seeing the massage therapist once every 3 to 4 weeks.

The therapist wants me to warm up my calves better before running and then to stretch them after, which I've been doing. The ortho wants me to focus on nutrition (but not lose weight!), stretching and strengthening. (She also mentioned some crazy stuff about the female athlete triad.)

Managing this body is going to take more time than actually running!