I'm about 6-7 years post soleus tear at Du Nats in St. Paul. Re-injured it again last Dec. in XC Nats, this time out 2 full months. It s*cks--never did regain the strength I had before 2015 from that initial injury. Must be some scar tissue that was left over & always would feel it on long upper end efforts...it did also alter my run gait and still has an effect on GCT according to my Stryd power meter. Dunno what to tell you, I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV.... ;-)

I have never had an injury like this before. Or any real injury. My posterior chain is tight so I been working on stretching that out as well. I’ll try anything.
I don’t have scar tissue according to the physio and he says it’s mild but gosh darn, this blows.

Your reply confirms what a turd this muscle is

I am old and have seemingly had every injury in the book (not true, yet, but)...
Stuff always takes longer to heal than you'd think/hope. Think of a nasty case of Road rash, and how long it takes to really get that "solid."
Trying to be positive here from a guy who's had a few cases of calf heart attack...
1) it's the off season (maybe), great time to switch focus to swim and/or bike
2) that area DOES get good blood flow, unlike soft tissue in the knee for example.

Hard as it seems...
Enjoy the journey

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

No specific answer but I have a bad soleus on my left leg. I had an acute overuse injury about a year ago from ramping mileage too quickly with a shoe that had too much support. I had about 2 months where I got rid of that acute injury but I still have a chronic issue where it gets tight and sore easily. Since it’s not necessarily painful I’ve trained through it. Since multiple PT and multiple treatments but nothing has solved it yet.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

I’m in aus, I have a 70.3 in 10 weeks 😩

Are you sure it's the soleus?

I've had issues in what I thought was the soleus, but found out it was the shin bone. Slight bone stress. I thought it was my soleus because it likely got inflamed from compensating for the shin bone. My shin bone would get this mushy fluid and it was likely some shin splint+bone stress. I had to take a month off running last year. This year, I was able to heal it in about 2 weeks with dry needling and hard physio (no running, just cycle/swim).

Does it feel like you pulled the muscle/tore a muscle fiber (i.e. sudden sharp pain)? That's what it was like in my case. Out of the blue, first in one leg, rehabbed that, then in the other leg, seemingly without any good reason. On recommendation by an orthopedic/sports doc, I switched to cushioned shoes (Hoka) and, most importantly, compression socks. Haven't had problems with the calfs since (2+ years and counting; knock on wood!).
Getting old sucks.

If I understand your post correctly, you were off running for 4-5 weeks
(From a muscle strain...probably grade 2 by USA standards).
Then on your second or third run back, you ran for an hour continuously.
And you're wondering why, on the run after this hour run, you got injured.

If that's correct, you got injured because you came back to running far to aggressively. And overstressed an only partially healed muscle.
(Your soleus was still fatigued from the hour run when you ran again two days later, so it wasn't "Only 25 minutes into a run")

Going from no running and building up to an hour in a handful of runs is very quick, and almost always too quick.

Sounds like you don't have much of an injury history and this is your first rodeo.
Build back much slower next time. Good luck.

No, off running maybe a week then slow build. All treadmill saucony endorphin shift big thick clunky shoes. It’s only the past week I have tried outside.
I started at like 10 mins early on, then up to 20, then 30 then 40-45. Every now and again if there was a twinge I would shut it down. I finally got to an hour the other day, outside, without feeling any niggle. That’s the third time I have been able to do that distance but first outside. Day off after, then next day today was trying for 50 and made it to the 25mins. You may be correct though as I did do my usual strength training yesterday as well on my run day off, so maybe there was just enough fatigue there to say nope.

As for the other posts, the physio swears black and blue it’s the soleos, it def feels posterior. And yep I always wear a compression sock as dorky as it looks lol.
It’s funny as I did both of them within minutes of each other (my own fault, hill repeats at speed and was too much at the time), but my right has totally healed and feels good, the left is hanging on.

The introduction of running outside changes the stress overall stress of a 60 minute run (any length really).
And the strength training between the runs will also put more stress on the muscle. I assume it was not fresh enough heading into your most recent run.

They are not a massively strong muscle, and depending on your gait, they can have a lot of force going through them. Even on easy runs.

On your next round coming back into running, I'd suggest you do a bit more outside running and try to put more space between runs over 40ish minutes
.
Other than that, it sounds like you were following the program and you're in a tough situation.

Treadmill on the recovery can inhibit it’s strength by the sounds ?
Cheers for that I’ll keep at it

I had a calf injury that continued to hurt, years ago. Was really frustrating as I was doing everything you are doing…..strength training, compression socks, slow return to running, etc…. Finally saw a sports med doc and he did an ultrasound of the area and found I had a partial tear of my Achilles’ tendon right near the musculotendon border. Took me three months before I could run again

gordo byrne has been talking about this lately:

https://feelthebyrn.blog/...lves-and-hamstrings/


maybe that'll help?

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Did you change your shoes before you were first injured?

I would also like nominate the psoas as worst muscle to rehabilitate!

Only a few runs In the asics metaspeed, however I’m sure it was hill repeats , my third round of it in two weeks, with speed repeats on the way up.

And thanks Mike I’ll look at the link !

https://dumbrunner.com/...ry-has-healed-by-now

The injury is either plantar fasciitis or a stress fracture, Anish believes, or possibly both. The longtime runner has not visited a physician for a diagnosis and has been treating herself at home with a mix of ibuprofen, essential oils, and stretching.

“I can walk on it pretty much normally,” she reasoned as she put on her running shoes, “and it’s been a full day since I’ve felt that shooting pain.”

“It’s fine.”

Shortly afterward, sources said, Anish departed for a three-mile loop. At last report, she was spotted about a half-mile from her home, sitting on a bench and rubbing her foot.

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Welllllll not quite same same. Appreciate the humour tho.

Rest. Longer than 6 weeks.

And a piriformis is a worse muscle to rehab.

Have heard rest isn’t actually supposed to improve it ? As in total rest ? It needs movement and exercise and even some return to running ? I have a feeling a half Ironman in 10 weeks isn’t gonna look great if I don’t get healing though.

Also have heard the piriformis is nasty. Another one of those ‘hanger-on’ injuries

I would nonetheless ditch the metaspeed until fully recovered.

Hasn't been suggested yet: have you tried trigger point massage? Could be that the muscle needs to be released. No need to visit a pro, just get in there yourself. Judge your level of tolerance. If it's very tender, go with the blue foam roller to start. Work your way up to knobby rollers of increasing hardness. If you can tolerate a single, intense pressure point (like a lacrosse ball) you know you're getting there.

Keep up the stretching, the muscle will want to foreshorten as it heals. Exercise is important for strengthening, but running may be too intense. Settle for calf raises, seated and standing, but start easy.

For me acupuncture is costly and, worse, worthless.

Agreement here for the piriformis being the most stubborn to rehab, and once rehabed needs ongoing maintenance avoid being a repeat offender. (Well really, all muscles deserve and require ongoing preventative maintenance.)

Good luck.

Interesting you say stretching ! Wasn’t sure on that one, some say it tears the muscle more ?

I know my soleus injury is very likely different, but stretching I have not found to be helpful (although I had multiple pt tell me my ankle/calf flexibility was causing the issue). I have found trigger point to be very helpful. Usually if I get in there good with a trigger point ball and do the whole soleus (both where it's "injured" and not), I am usually able to get it where it feels freed up for a few days. I'm talking about finding the sensitive areas and holding pressure for about a minute, then moving onto other sensitive areas. That's really what has been keeping me going.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

DumbRunner is amazing

TriBiker suggested seated calf raises as a way to sort out the soleus. This works. Seated calf raise targets the soleus and standing calf raises target the gastroc. I used to experience serial soleus calf injuries and I hear your frustration. Once I started to do seated calf raises at the gym on the machine (40lb weights), the next season...problem gone and has never come back. I kept doing seated calf raises and I believe that was the key to resolving my issue. Good luck with it. Cheers.

I can say with a high level of confidence this is the correct answer Spartacus is looking for.

Been there done that plenty of times. Essentially the peak force production of the soleus is too low and it can’t take the impact like when you/we were younger, lighter and had better elasticity.

Only thing I’d say is that you don’t need to stop at a single 45lb plate.

My recommendation start with one set, controlled movement full range of motion, lightweight! Then add a bit with each workout.

When I take a break from running (happens often due to stress fractures) my soleus is alllllways the weak link when I come back. Always. But if i use the seated (only the seated) calf machine for about 2-3 weeks I’m good to go and then something else will be my weak link 🤣

When i come back to that machine i start with one 45lb plate and within 6 weeks I’m using about 5-6 45lb plates. Then at that point i just maintain by doing a few sets twice a week. Within six weeks peak force production is probably at least 2-3x as high as the untrained state.

10 weeks is plenty of time, you got this!!!

I have been smashing the seated calf raise a fair bit.
Hope ur right Re: 10 weeks !

Seated calf raises and a looong run/walk program worked for me. I had soleus issues for about 2 years.

6x5min run/walk 3x's a week
1st week 4:30 walk/30 sec run.
Add 30 sec to the run each week.

It forced me to slow down and not go too hard, too soon.
It sucks, but it works. It takes a long time to build strength back

Good luck.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Rest as in no real running. Stretching and strengthening helps a lot but running, especially speed work, will aggravate it more. Compression sleeves/socks help a lot too. For a lack of better words compression "keep the muscle in place" while you run. I have had this problem before a compression sped up the healing processes a lot.

Piriformis really sucks because it effects you entire butt/hip are. Not just a calf. The worst, although not a muscle, is an Achilles injury. Those can take year or longer to get over.

x2 for the seated calf raises. My PT added them to my achilles treatment and it made a big difference. I didn't realize what I was missing by only doing standing calf raises. Good luck!

Well I got to 30 mins run today very easy and slow and it started to ‘clamp down’ and tighten so I stopped. Did some more seated calf raises this morn so could feel em. Will build on the 30 slowly I guess.

Whereabouts in these parts IamSpartacus? I can recommend an excellent phys who sorted out my repeat calf issues

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"Find a way, not an excuse". Goony, Kona, 2009

Something else I noticed with injuries in general: We tend to tighten up in those areas a bit to protect it from further trauma, but by taking away it's ability to relax-fire-relax normally it becomes more susceptible to an issue.

Point being, if you pay attention you'll prob notice you are a little tense around the affected area. When you breathe out do your best to make that area "breathe out" too in terms of letting go of unnecessary peripheral tension. Otherwise I've noticed the tension can gradually build until you hit that breaking point where it starts to "clamp down" and let you know you've entered the pre-tear/strain realm.

It's not pretty in my book, but can be extremely effective in this situation. If you are a typically a forefoot-midfoot runner (as i am), you may find that adopting an exaggerated heel landing may help save your soleus for a bit longer. Although your tibialis anterior might not be too amused.

Funny you mention. Today I made sure to relax all over and not run ‘tight’. Relaxed the breathing etc. I was running 5 min flat pace and my HR wasn’t passing 150 and was more low 140’s. As for the foot strike, yep I’m mid foot and to exaggerate a heel strike was one of the things that the physio mentioned. I have noticed shorter strides and adopting a heel strike slightly more does save it a little.

To the poster above I’m in Western Australia (hour south of perth).

Bugger, I'm in Melbourne. But good luck with the rehab.

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"Find a way, not an excuse". Goony, Kona, 2009

Just a general reply, but thanks for asking though, good physios and professionals in this area are worth their weight in gold.

Got again to 30 mins before it starts to twinge and get a little angry. That’s seems to be my limit, 30 mins easy road running. I’m supplementing with water running atm


As a general query, one poster said road running would help strengthen it…. Anyone use the treadmill to get back to fitness here ? Wouldn’t the extra five of the deck be more assistance at first?

Another vote for seated calf raises and doing hip, ankle mobility. Also stretch calves on slant board straight legged and bent knees.

Yup this is me too. It sucks and just keeps dragging on. I’m almost 3 months out.

Another vote for seat calf raises. I use a 60lbs dumbbell and for one leg and do 4x25. As the soleus gets stronger, I do a walk/jog routine. Walk for 3 min and jog slowly for 1min, gradually increasing the jog time every few days. Doing nothing does not help but don't overdo it either.

I’m on day 2 of rehab exercises. Admittedly I let things slide for a long time, thinking if it wasn’t ruptured (It’s not) that eventually I’d get by with it. Meh, not so much. And my strength is SAD.

That said, I’ve got a very good physio who does virtual appointments if you’re interested. Let me know, or PM me.

And when I say very good, I mean very good as in professional sports background (Vegas hockey), Cirque du Soleil and similar acrobatic shows, he’s exceptional.

I've had 1-2 soleus issues for the past 5+ years. Absolutely no rhyme or reason as to when/how mine flares up. I've been on a pretty good streak of late not having issues. All I can attest that to is 2x a week strength work (predominately legs) and lots of stretching/rolling every time I got to the gym.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.