Took years off and started back about three years ago. Older but faster now. Squeezed in a 5k with intervals on my usual rest day Wednesday and something between the calf and the heal was sore. Having suffered Achilles tendon problems in the past it didn’t feel the same. Felt more muscular. Rested three days with the exception of some floor yoga. Felt great just a little stiff until I had to cross a road so sprinted across. Sharp sudden pain but eased. I’ve run with worse. Did 9 miles at a good pace. Now it effing hurts. Above the Achilles tendon and below the gastrocnemius. Swollen to, but not too bad. Have an Olympic at 7000 feet in 6 weeks so really need as much heat exposure as I can get to offset that (I’m in Phoenix).
I’m going to rest completely a couple days. But looking for advice to maintain fitness. Now that I’m in my mid 40’s taking a full week or two off kills my fitness metrics. Was hoping to rest the couple days and stick to swimming and easy biking the next few days. I COULD probably still run in discomfort so doesn’t feel like a total tear.
Sounds like a calf tear (strain). I’ve had those and it sometimes takes me a week to get back running again, and other times it has taken six weeks. Not a whole lot you can do except rest it. I could always bike when I had a calf strain but I couldn’t run.
Yeah. That’s what I worried about (potential 6 weeks). Should have just said to myself yesterday “yeah, it isn’t hurting wait a few more daysâ€. I have a compression sleeve and ankle brace around it just to limit motion and seems to be fine for walking. The pain I felt in the morning has lessened. See how it feels in a week. Turns out I have 8 weeks till race day so if I can just get through this without losing too much fitness, I’ll be good. Was gearing up to be a good season. Placed in an actual Age group vs Clydesdale for the first time in years. And was aiming for another age group podium. As probablt not going to happen but just want to have a good finish.
Pool running is your friend. Calves are the worst for repeating on you, so don’t be afraid of a walk jog routine to maintain and keep pool running going for the ‘more difficult’ run sessions
Once all said and done you will need to strength train at some point
Area-wise sounds like soleus?
There is water running too if you get tired of swim
Hope it heals quickly!
I seemed to have torn my calf muscle after a trail marathon, and it was so painful I had to hitchhike a ride home after a subsequent training run. My marathoner girlfriend recommended I take 4 weeks off running, w/ cycle/swim only. Sure enough that worked for me and I came back running pain free.
“Took years off and started back about three years ago.”
This was me just before I turned 50. Then for a few years I suffered with very regular calf strains. No amount of preventative work helped it eventually just seemed to stop happening.
If it is swollen It’s probably at least a grade 2 and I would say will require a few weeks without running, even if it feels OK in a few days I’d wager it will pop again if you try running too soon. I would seek alternatives such as an elliptical (being careful not to put too much strain on the calf) or pool running etc. If your race is 6 or 7 weeks off, I’d not run for at least three of those and build back in very gradually. If you have kept swimming and biking with a bit of XT you won’t have lost half as much conditioning as you think you will. I’m NOT a physio but I speak from lots of personal experience. Hope things work out for you.
Thanks. I’m feeling better about the possibility of not running. This morning the pain is very mild and swelling all but gone. But I’m not going to risk it.
I highly recommend a night splint like the Straussberg sock.
The muscles need to heal at night already stretched, it’s just logical. The sooner, the better.
As luck would have it, I have two. I have two boots too. I was dealing with PF last season which yoga larger mitigated. So sticking with yoga has really helped with injury prevention. That’s what makes this so weird. Maybe the combination of allergy meds, Sudafed, naproxen and my normal meds dehydrated me or otherwise weakened the tissue. I believe I once read that NSAIDs can make muscles more susceptible to injury.
Ahh mad calf disease.
I used to scoff at all the old timers who talked about this, heck even when I was in my early 40s. Even in my mid 40s to age 46 I was still winning money here and there
Then the next season rolled around. I was laughing no more, multiple calf tears, some with audible pops. Had to stop racing at age 51 due to a tear on the medial side from origination to insertion and then another 4cm tear done at the same time in the soleus.
From 47 on I didn’t have a season where I got more than 40 weeks of running in and two seasons where I ran only about 24-26 weeks of the year.
As my physician friend himself also a former collegiate runner said, “you’re at the age where that stuff happens.”
Couple of preventive things you can do. In hindsight I wish I had done them starting about age 40.
- Seated calf raises which target the soleus more than the gastroc. IDK if you can do too many of these.
- Standing heel drops, start with both legs then progress to single leg.
On both of these exercises you need to go slow on the negative or lowering the weight portion.
The other thing you can do during this time is swim and ride more, assuming riding doesn’t bother your calf.
Long term you might need to think about modifying your training to focus more on the S/B if you’re running a lot in your normal training.
Hope you heal up quickly
(oddly I had registered for the oly you mention a few times and had to miss them both due to calf injuries)
Yep done the sprint and half distance. Wanted to finish the trifecta. It’s a fun race.
Virtually no pain today, not even the first step out of bed so decided to swim. There was a sensation I wouldn’t call pain until I warmed up but no pain with fins. The swelling remains but it’s so minor I noticed it and a doctor would, but the casual observer wouldn’t. So I’ll do some east bike tomorrow with an ankle split and more swimming Thursday. But at least it’s looking like a smaller tear that will heal fast if I don’t screw it up.