Can You Run with a Hematoma?

In just 2 short weeks my sister and I will be headed to Disney to participate in the Wine and Dine half marathon. This is the last race on my Run Disney bucket list!

If you've been reading our blog for long, you may remember me mentioning that EVERY Half Marathon I've ever run at Disney I have been injured for. No kidding! I was starting to think that maybe Disney was just not the place for me to be running. It didn't bother me that much though because Disney races are run for fun and entertainment anyway.

Even though I've had a few niggles here and there throughout 2016, there wasn't anything real serious that had me sitting on the sideline for long. I've been feeling pretty strong during my Wine and Dine training. Although I didn't get as many miles in as I wanted to this summer (because of the heat), I still felt good and was in good shape ( no injuries).  I thought FOR SURE Wine and Dine would be the ONE Disney half marathon that I could pull off without injury.

However, as you know I've been struggling with that bruise on my calf. I bought some Arnicare and started seeing the bruise start to fade so I thought perhaps I was on my way to recovery. I felt a knot in the back of my calf the other day and had my PT take a look at it. He confirmed that it was indeed a hematoma and it looked pretty bad.

This is how my PT used Rock Tape to tape my Hematoma to see if it would help during my running.  Take two pieces of tape, cut in the shape of a jelly fish and then criss cross them over the hematoma.

For those of you who don't know what a hematoma is, it is when a blood vessel breaks and blood seeps outside the vessel and pools in one area.  Generally a hematoma isn't cause for concern, but mine is in the worst place possible for a runners.

Of course every time I extend my leg to run, it is painful. What's even worse is that my PT said it could take over a month for it to heal.  SO, in an effort to prevent further damage and promote healing I am taking rest days until race day. I know this isn't ideal seeing that at I've only had 3 long-ish runs. I had one really awesome 8 mile run, a 12 mile walk-run, and most recently a pretty crappy 10 mile run.   Needless to say, I feel like I could just sit down and cry.   So, I'll be off my legs till race day and then I guess I'm just gonna wing it!  -M

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.