Berating Brendan

Water drips down lower leg, small rivers casually cascade through wispy hairs spread curly over calf and ink blot like marks appear on the wooden porch. Below a small beauty mark massaged by melting ice cup, on the inside of my right calf, is a wretched companion of the last two weeks. A nagging friend, invited through sheer stupidity and carelessness. One too many drinks on a night after a big workout but before a day with some quick 200’s, neglecting my stretching routine and then not icing have brought on this injury. It fully peaked my attention when, for the second time in the last few weeks, my workout was ended before the last rep in the name of my calling calf. If any of the athletes I have worked with had been so absent with preventative measures I would thoroughly let them know that culpability and prevention was always in their hands. so here goes,
“Brendan, you only train about five hours a week, with one day off each week, are you really telling me that you didn’t have time to do your stretch and ice routine?”… “Well I was doing my full body stretches, and it didn’t really hurt, and yeah I dropped the ball.”…. “It is really important at this point to avoid a setback at all costs, so ice, rest, massage and be positive. Take the lesson from this that you can’t take advantage of the cooperation you need from your body. If you want to perform at a certain level, then you need to allow you body the tools to perform and for right now that means, no heavy drinking the night before workouts & races, ice every day and no new stretching limits but stretch each day within your already established stretching limits. I know you care about something deeply and I want to give you the tools to accomplish that.” …. “Thanks coach.”