A co worker of mine has developed severe pain in his leg subsequent to a training run and then a few hour cramped car drive to 7,000 ft (mountains). This person is not prone to injury, did not over do it and has a high tolerance for pain yet he says the pain is overwhemling.
Question: Didn’t one of the women pros (Jenny Tobin or Carol Montgomery?) experience a similar situation after a race on a plane flight? If yes, can you recommend a web site with info on phenomenon?
Hard to say for sure - it may be a simple electrolyte imbalance which would resolve by itself, but a more serious possibility could be a deep vein thrombosis (when a blot clot obstructs a major vein). I’ve never heard of exercise bringing these on but prolonged immobility (such as a long plane/car rise) is a risk factor as is smoking and birth control use (in females). In addition to pain, other symptoms of DVTs are: swelling in the calf, ankle, foot, or thigh, and increased warmth and/or redness of the leg
If it doesn’t spontaneously get better, a call to the doctor would be a good idea.
I’d say get to the doctor right now. A clubmate of mine ended up in the hospital after running the NYC Marathon, then flying home. A cyclist friend did a multi-day tour, then flew home from Alaska and developed a DVT. Very dangerous if you don’t take care of it and better to be safe than sorry.
Maybe one other problem to consider is Compartment Syndrome. Is the pain in the calf muscles? Are those muscles rock-hard? (I think this is a quick test for CS.) At any rate, I agree with the other psoters - a visit to a doctor REAL soon is probably a good idea!