1. Simply Rest—This is the first thing that I did after the PIM Pasig River Marathon.  For one week, I ate foods rich in carbohydrates and protein, drink a lot of water, and had full-time 8-hour sleep during nighttime. I tried to walk slowly with a limp around the house. It was a painful experience walking for the first week after the race.

2. Massage—Coach Salazar’s deep-tissue massage was finally introduced to my affected muscle on the 2nd week. I think I had 2-3 sessions with him for the duration of 3 weeks. My stiff Peroneus muscles slowly loosened up but there was still some inflammation and pain to other muscle strands located in between the peroneus and calf muscle. Coach Salazar taught me how to stretch my Peroneus muscles.

3. “Water Treatment”—My regular weekly visits to the Laguna Hot Spring in Calamba, Laguna had greatly improved and maintained my endurance level of fitness without much pounding on my legs. During these visits and immersion in the hot sulphuric water for a maximum of 6-7 hours, I did “water jogging”, leg kicking, leg flipping, and then later, swimming. I’ve been to this place for four times already and my stay here were fruitful as I came to meet more people and get more “insights” from the different sectors of the society.

4. Pain Reliever, Ointment & More Protein Drinks—On the third week, I started to take Alaxan FR before going to bed. Charlie Chua, one of the BR Runners with the Professional Group, suggested an ointment, Fastum Gel (Ketoprofen), for inflammed muscles which I’ve been using for the past two weeks. I also maintained drinking milk, Ensure and MILO’s 3-in1 For Adults (2x a day). All of these contributed to my recovery.

5. Join Road Races as Photographer & Cheerer—Watching the runners at the Start and Finish Lines during Road Races and taking their pictures while cheering them gave me the feeling and urge to recover immediately. I believe that positive thinking has a lot to do when someone needs to recover at a faster rate from any setback.

6. “Brisk” Walking & “Slow” Jogging—Last Thursday, I forced myself to an 8.5-Km distance “brisk” walking and jogging even if I felt pain on my affected leg. I was able to finish the distance in almost 1 1/2 hours. My workout was done in the mountains, 70 kilometers east of Metro Manila!

7. Deep-Tissue Massage (More Deliberate)—Aside from Coach Salazar, I have another staff who had been trained as “masseur” by the members of my Elite Team. He gave me a 1 1/2-hour massage after my 8.5-Km workout and I was crying and shouting in pain. The inflammation of my Peroneus muscle had gone but there is a tiny strand of muscle beneath the Peroneus muscle which needs to be loosened and my staff just patiently did the right thing. After an overnight sleep, the pain on my left lower leg is entirely gone!

8. Rest Some More & Start With a Training Plan—My injury is a blessing in disguise as I was able to rest from the grinds of training and joining in the past marathon & half-marathon races. However, I need more time to rest and do strengthening exercises through Pilates, Yoga, and Weight Training before finally hitting the road, track and trails. I will start a training plan for a 100-Mile Run soon!