pulled calf muscle, any advice?

lazirlott

I am NEW at running. I have been training using the C25K program each day since May 3; I am on Week 6 Day 2. I had to repeat some days. In the beginning my calves were sore but I had gotten past that. On Monday I ran for the first time in Vibram Five Fingers, and my calves became sore again and have been so each run since. Tuesday I ran in the tennis shoes I had been using and today I tried the Five Fingers again. While running this morning I felt something pull in my calf and then could not roll down from my toes onto my flat foot without pain. Now at work still cannot walk completely normal. Any advice? I really don't want to stop the program if continuing will not do any damage. I assume it is a muscle tha pulled, but do not really know. Does anyone have any insight?

scottb81

I did the same thing last week. If you are still walking then it probably is only minor strain. Let it rest three or four days and when you can walk normally again you should be good to run. I found applying heat and stretching to be helpful also. Don't stretch it so far that it pulls again though.

I use five fingers also. Since they have no heel your calf is stretched about an inch longer than it is when wearing shoes. If you normally wear shoes then your calves will take time to stretch and adjust. For C25K it might be better to wear your normal shoes for a while so as not to overstress your calf again in the short term. Start walking in the five fingers and add some running a little bit at a time to give your calves time to lengthen and strengthen.

Also, your calf may feel a little sore when you start again. Monitor it closely and if it starts to feel worse during a workout then stop and stretch or cut the workout short if necessary. It should improve a bit day by day.

lazirlott

Thanks :happy: