Help with calf muscle pain

Hi all

I'm a newbie and have been running for a couple of years. Last year I managed to run pretty much pain free running 5-7k three times a week. But this year has been a struggle. In March/April I had pain in my right calf muscle during a run of about 6k so walked the rest of the circuit. I tried to run again after a weeks rest but it still hurt so took a month off to rest.

Last Sunday at a gym I did about 5k on a treadmill with no issues. But during the following week, I think Thursday/Friday I could feel a bit of soreness in my right calf which I thought was odd as It was about 4 days later.

On Friday I did a short warm up on some steps, standing on the edge and raising up and down about 15 times and then started a run but only got about half a kilometre as my right calf was feeling sore and I was running awkwardly trying to take the weight off the leg. I decided to stop before I did anything else.

Does anybody have any advice/tips on how to get back to running without injury. Mapmyrun is telling me to change my trainers as I have run 644km in them. Could it be my footwear?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • GradgeGradge ✭✭✭
    New trainers will do no harm IMO but only if properly fitted. I tore a calf muscle in January and had 8 weeks off.I now use a pair of compression socks on most runs which seems to offer some support.There are plenty exercises can be done to help strengthen the calf.
  • Yogi XYogi X ✭✭
    > @Gradge said:
    > New trainers will do no harm IMO but only if properly fitted. I tore a calf muscle in January and had 8 weeks off.I now use a pair of compression socks on most runs which seems to offer some support.There are plenty exercises can be done to help strengthen the calf.

    Thanks. How long did you leave it before doing any stretches and calf strengthening exercises? At the moment it's aching so I have been wearing a compression sleeve during the day and resting/icing in the evening.
  • mharfmharf ✭✭
    Got virtually the same issue. I was totally injury free, 3 months ago I got tightness in my calf. Got new shoes, rested for 2 weeks. Since then I get about 2 runs in before it happens again, either calf pain during the run so I have to stop or at the end of the run. It's really hampering my progress. The last incident I rested for 2 weeks, foam rolled daily & did calf raises every other day. I got a sports massage 3 days ago & they got a knot out that I'd been struggling with. I set out on a run yesterday, a slow easy one, 1 mile in & it happened again. I'm currently lay with my leg being iced.  That's another 4 weeks out. I was up to 10 miles on my long runs, have a half marathon planned for Sep & I just can't see myself being fit/ready for it. It's so disheartening, been training since last Sep & feel it's been a waste of time. In the last 3 months I've probably managed a total of just 20 miles
  • PewpewpewPewpewpew ✭✭✭
    Calf strains can feel like they have healed but they haven't really.  Can take up to 4-6 weeks to fully heal.
  • > @mharf said:
    > Got virtually the same issue. I was totally injury free, 3 months ago I got tightness in my calf. Got new shoes, rested for 2 weeks. Since then I get about 2 runs in before it happens again, either calf pain during the run so I have to stop or at the end of the run. It's really hampering my progress. The last incident I rested for 2 weeks, foam rolled daily & did calf raises every other day. I got a sports massage 3 days ago & they got a knot out that I'd been struggling with. I set out on a run yesterday, a slow easy one, 1 mile in & it happened again. I'm currently lay with my leg being iced.  That's another 4 weeks out. I was up to 10 miles on my long runs, have a half marathon planned for Sep & I just can't see myself being fit/ready for it. It's so disheartening, been training since last Sep & feel it's been a waste of time. In the last 3 months I've probably managed a total of just 20 miles

    Ive got exactly the same issue as yourself. Had some horrible Nike running shoes which I did 250 miles in, last 50 miles with them I started to get horrific knee pain which had me out for 6 months, came back and straight away knee pain, had a gait test and it showed how bad the shoes were. Now ive got some Brooks Ravenna 8 and instantly no knee pain and shoes feel great. But now I'm getting this calf pain, it was like having concrete blocks attached to my legs! Had to peg leg home. Its probably due to me doing 4 5k's in a week after 7 months off (Eager) with new shoes and new mechanics of running using muscles in a different way, so I probably should have eased into it!
  • 90% of all calf tear strains are coming from a tight lower lumber region of the back. You must spend time loosening your back off before running, it is crucial and it works

    A runner of 35 years
  • Hello, all, I am in need of some desperate help, a runner of 30 years until two years ago, when I popped my calf, then one thing lead to another, which ended in surgery and the removal of 9 inches of Achilles (fibrosis) and some partial removal of calf muscle. Since then I have been unable to run and in constant pain and tenderness, I have had many hospital appointments all with differing results, one doctor says that I have to have two sacks which fill with fluid in my calf cut so they wont compress my artery, another one says neurological and nothing I can do, another one says have a stent fitted in my calf to allow blood flow, another doctor says the operation was done incorrectly and having poor post surgery treatment and not having blood thinners was also a cause :) , the list goes on, but what is the answer and I am at a total loss and would like to get back on m feet so to speak.


    thanks in advance

    David
  • I began running in November 1985 and virtually ran without injury until 2006 then I attempted to run too quickly and tore calf muscle. I rested for two months tried again, six weeks later it went again, I rested, bought new shoes but a few months later it went again. Until November 2016 I I tried to start about 20 times and each time I have sprained my calf within three months of starting. However, in 2017 at the grand old age of 56, I decided it wasn't about running quickly - It was about running to keep my sanity and my stress levels down - I discovered Jeff Galloway's run/walk programme. I now run all my training runs with 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. I have run injury free so far all this year and completed two marathons in 4 hrs 21 and 4 hrs 09 as well so I hope that I am cured (at the cost of no more sub 3 marathons though)
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