I woke up screaming...

I tried ever so hard to maintain my running cadence tonight but it wasn't easy. My right leg feels as if it's been put through a mangle. My calf muscle feels as if it's been shredded and my shins feel like they've taken a good kicking. It's been causing me quite some discomfort all day and continues to do so even now. I knew tonight's run was going to be a challenge and, despite a prolonged warm up, a challenge it certainly proved to be.

At about 3:00am this morning I woke screaming. I was beset by the most searing and fearful pain I've felt in a long time. It ripped deep into my calf muscle and scraped and gouged its way along my shin bone. My leg was bent back on itself and I couldn't straighten it. I breathed deeply and forcefully, blowing air out and gasping it back in short gulps. Lights flashed before my eyes as the acidic pain flared, quelled and surged again. I struggled to keep calm and remain still as the spasms of aftershocks sent me into renewed and repeated agony.

Cramps are unpleasant, often painful sensations caused by muscle contraction or over shortening... so says Wikipedia. Cramp, Wiki states, has a number of different causes: hyperflexion, hypoxia, exposure to large changes in temperature, dehydration, or low blood salt. Muscle cramps may also be a symptom or complication of pregnancy, kidney disease, thyroid disease, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia or hypocalcemia, restless-leg syndrome, varicose veins and multiple sclerosis.

I'm not sure of the reason I suffered with it last night but, judging by how sore it still feels, I'd say that the muscle has been damaged, hence today's discomfort and tonight's difficulty in running.

Anyone want to give me a massage?