Tonbridge Half Marathon Training.... A bit of physio...

So I've got a calf strain and I've reached home, done my cool down stretch exercises as normal, eaten a bowl of fruit and fibre, rested and then taken a nice relaxing warm radox bath and had a lovely long soak. (something I very seldom do these days, normally preferring a shower.) So what should I have done? From my knowledge and research on the subject of calf strains I should have not tried to run on it at all at the first sign of a strain, which in my case would have been less than a mile into my run, gone home, rested the muscle, put an ice pack on the injured area, compressed it, and then raised it up above heart level. What nurses and physios call the PRICE or RICE method of recovery. I do feel compelled at this point to point out that I'm no doctor or medical expert so don't go suing Tonbridge Blog if you're mad enough to end up following this advice. What I definitely should NOT have done is continue to run on the injury, massaged the area and also I shouldn't have had a warm bath. However lovely it was at the time it was only ever going to aid the blood flow to the injured area and cause more swelling to the muscle, thus having the opposite effect of putting an ice pack on. Of course those soothing glasses of wine later in the evening would also have been a complete no no as they would have also aided blood flow and possibly increased the swelling (But how was I to know!) The other thing I've discovered along the way is that there are at least two decent web sites on the subject of sports injuries. There's the Physio Room, which does try to sell you equipment from ads and recommended partners but, along the way, seems to offer some impartial advice. Similarly the Bupa web site has a good section about coping with running injuries and how to prevent them. I was impressed anyway. I'm now going to nip down to the new look Christopher Hull Sports shop in Tonbridge to check out what sort of compression calf supports they have in stock. Or I might go for that professional looking one on the Physio Room's online shop. One way or the other I will get some training in so that I can take part in the Tonbridge Half Marathon and, what's more, put in a half decent time. You see I have what it takes: a positive mental attitude. If only it would tell my legs that!....