Hey all. I’m literally at my wit’s end with the never-ending calf injuries. I began my triathlon journey early last year. I am 56 and have never been a serious runner. I started getting sharp “pops” in my calves early on in my training. I had to stop and slowly work my way into being able to do 3K. I strained my right calf (Soleus region) sometime in the summer. Eased off and ran lightly through the summer. Also went from Hoka Arahis to Nike Frees, which seemed to help. Did a couple of sprints without problems. I also started running on a treadmill quite a bit, per Lionel Sanders’s advice. This helped, and I had no calf problems for about three months. I began training for my first Oly, logging 6-10 miles a week in preparation with no issues. On the morning of my Oly as I began to warm up, I felt my left calf strain. I was practically doing nothing! Just very light calf raises to start! But I ran through it and finished the 6 miles. Didn’t feel too bad. In a couple of days, I didn’t have pain. But preparing for IW this past weekend, I could barely run 1-2 miles without re-straining the left calf! I didn’t participate and haven’t run for 2.5 weeks. Tonight, I planned a short 1-2 mile run to “feel” it out. I warmed up for 25 freaking minutes, and my calves were very warm. I felt great and began. Within ten strides, my RIGHT calf simply blew out. Big strain across the entire calf. I’m limping right now. I’m totally bewildered. I’m in great shape, and am not carrying extra weight. I did change up my running style to more of a “pose” running, which seemed to take pressure off my calves a bit. And you’re gonna kill me for this, but I also started running in sandals (Shamma Sandals.) So maybe that’s it. I’ve only been using the sandals for about 2.5-3 months. But I’m wondering, am I just not meant for running? Any advice to give? 'Cause I’m essentially done at this point if I can’t fix this. I’ll stick to Aquabike or something. It’s very defeating to take 10 steps and get a strain in the un-injured calf, after all this time. Thanks all!
See a physio with a treadmill
Thanks. Someone else gave me the exact same advice last night.
What’s your run cadence? I suffered from nagging calf strains early on, typically in the left calf. My run cadence was in the 150 to 160 range, and my physio recommended that i increase it to around 180. The Garmin foot pod really helped to train the new running style. I feel that it helped. I still get the odd strain, but not nearly as often.
I also strap the hell out of my left calf. Compression socks with an extra calf strap also helps.
Advice stands. Someone needs to see you run
Don’t run in sanders? Cmon
Has anyone used RecoveryPulse Calf?
No, but I just checked it out. Looks interesting. My concern is that it might be gimmicky. I’ve tried so many things out over the years that worse worthless.
I was experiencing the calf issues well before I switched to sandals. I found that “minimalist” shoes worked better for me. I live in the desert and the sandals seemed like a good option. Lots of people run in them. Check out Barefoot Ted and the Shamma Sandals YT videos.
You’ve made a bunch of rookie errors. As someone who is 56 (same age as me), who has NEVER run seriously, you need to take a much more conservative approach to your run training…and dealing with your injury.
- Running with an injury. NEVER RUN WITH AN INJURY, and NEVER RUN WITH PAIN. EVER. PERIOD… SERRIOUSLY.
- Trying to make a conscious change to running form, and cadence. Other than standing up straight, and relaxing…never TRY to change your form. If there is something wrong with your form, its due to a muscle weakness/imbalance. Fix the underlying cause (weakness/imbalance), and your form will naturally adjust.
- Switching to a “minimalist” technique and footwear. IF this is of value (very questionable), its an action for a healthy runner—NOT someone who is already having issues.
- Trying to complete races without enough run training for the race. 6-10 miles per week is not enough volume for a single 10KM run-race (OLY).
I’m also guessing that you try to run pretty quick in training. Do you do “speed work”? DON’T—You don’t have the run fitness for it. Come back when you’ve done all the actions below, and are over 35 mpw. Until then…just run, SLOWLY.
Actions:
- Stop running until…
- See a doctor about your injury. The symptoms you have described are severe enough that you may have a partial tear, or severe strain.
- Get some physical therapy, and have someone look at your running. Fix any tightness/imbalances/weaknesses to correct major flaws. PT should guide stretches and exercises.
- Switch back to a normal running shoe, and a natural running technique. You can revisit this when you are healthy and able to run in a normal shoe for normal distances. Minimalist style forces MORE load into the calves.
When you are cleared back to running, start VERY slowly.
- Run slowly----NO SPEED WORK.
- Run VERY short durations. PT should guide returning to running. But, it should start with 10 minutes or less, and run/walk. Build rate should be 1-2 minutes per day (week over week). Something like that is what you should expect.
- Run more often. 4-6 days per week.
- Build to 30+ miles per week. Over a period of months.
- DO NOT DO ANY SPEED WORK, until you can reliably train at 30+ mpw, for several months. Think…a year from now.
You’re likely going to need 2-3 (could be up to 6) months of rehab. Then you will need months of very slow build up to 20 mpw before you can consider yourself “cleared” to a normal run-program. Only then, can you start to think about the 10% build rule.
For some light reading, I highly recommend reviewing these posts below from BarryP, as an excellent treatise on triathlon run training. Note these are from the old forum and all the internal links are broken. I’ve linked the top level main threads. But, there are other links that will have to be searched and linked.
Its still a BAD plan. And, frankly, mostly garbage.
As a training recovery aid, worthless. Actually worse than worthless–its of negative value. Compression boots work by reducing the inflammation caused by working out. However, it turns out that this inflammation is integral to adaptation and improvement. By reducing the inflammation, you effectively reduce the “training stimulus”, and resultant adaptations.
So, sure you might recover faster, but at the expense of actual improvement. If y our goal is to train more, but not get faster…then, they are perfect for that goal. If your goal is actual improvement in pace…train at intensities that you can recover from, naturally.
As a injury recovery device? Unsure…haven’t seen any studies regarding any effectiveness for that.
Mr. Tom Hampton…Thank you. And I mean THANK YOU! I am going to print your replies and paste them to my wall. I will note that I never do any speed work. In fact, I run almost exclusively in “Zone 2”. I’ll ditch the minimalist shoes. I have a pair of Hoka Arahis. They seemed to give me some soreness in other areas, but I can try them once I’m back. I’ll look into a good PT today. Thank you again!
The Hokas are pretty low drop (5mm). The Nike Frees are a little more (6-8). If the Frees feel better, then I’d go with those; as the more moderate drop may relieve some stress from your calves.
I’m guessing your ankle flexibility isn’t great.
The Nike Frees feel a lot better. I have excellent ankle flexibility. Excellent flexibility overall, if I may say so.
As someone who has battled calf strains, I can confirm the timeline and patience that recovery and building back up will take. My worst tear was sneaking in an extra speed session in the run up to my main race of the year. What could go wrong? I was in the best shape I’d been in and felt like I was flying…. I ended up entering the race (not local) knowing I would drop out after the bike and suffered repeat strains on and off until I resigned myself to following the BarryP plan on a treadmill. That was the only way I could control a) myself b) keep the speed low and c) get off the moment I felt a twinge.
The treadmill might be boring but for controlling over exuberance, it was crucial for me. YMMV.
Thanks Tom.
Thanks Jersey. I think it’s simply a process of allowing myself lots of time to heal, rehab, train up slowly, and be mindful. This is probably a 8-12 month time frame. Two questions: 1) what’s the “BarryP” plan? 2) what part of Jersey are you from? I’m a Cali transplant from the Garden State. Thanks again!
See my links above, or my reconstitution here:
In short: run a little bit slowly, and frequently. Increase slowly.
Pleasure. The name’s a reference to the original Jersey, the country my wife is from and my ‘adopted’ home country - or as close as I have to one. 