How to recover and run again ?

likemeinvisible

A little background: I started running about two month ago, doing walking with bouts of running. I did way too much, way too soon and strained my calf two weeks ago. My exercise diary is open and logs from Jul 28 till Aug 20. I haven't been running or walking since. I have a very tiny pain when I walk, should I ignore it or keep resting until there's no pain at all ? When can I start running and how much ?

likemeinvisible

Bump. Anyone had a calf strain ? How did it work out for you ?

fabfindz05

I had pretty severe shin splints. I took two weeks off and began running again. I had slight pain, but not enough to stop me from running. I trained for a 15K without incident.

I am training for a half and started to have some pain again. I bought a compression sleeve and made sure I stretch and use my foam roller. So far, so good.

I will say that my current shoes are at the end of their life. I am waiting for my new ones to see if there is a difference.

Chagama

I have had a couple of bad calf injuries, and you really just need to wait for it to get better. I had one doctor advise me to wait for it to feel 100% better and then wait one more week.

I agree with the comment about shoes, make sure yours don't need to be replaced. I replace mine every 500 miles, give or take, and if I push it too far I will start to feel the pain.

redfroggie

Don't rush and don't do too much, as this is what caused the injury in the first place. Do what you can but if it gets worse stop! Ibuprofen and ice would certainly help. Good luck.

cdprouty

As a new(er) runner, you should consider the advice to wait until the pain is 100% gone, then wait another week...then ease back into it...slowly. Very slowly.

Once you become a seasoned runner, you'll understand running with pain at an intimate level...but you need to get to that point with experience.

Agreed about considering new shoes as well...

dsjohndrow

Injuries stink. Make sure you take a break from the running. Then I suggest before you go back, you do some leg strength exercises like lunges, high knees, and squats. It might be good to toss in a few jumping jacks, push ups, crunches and planks. Be sure to warm up and stretch too. Always stretch warm muscles!

Then start back to walking. When you can do a mile, then do a walk/run mile. At about a tenth of so miles a week doing it three days. When you feel good, work something like C25K.

sz8soon

I had shin splints and calf pain for three months- I ran through it most of the time. Then I tore a muscle in my shin. Was out for 12 weeks.

Listen to your body! If you are still experiencing pain just while walking I would continue to take it easy. A good rule of thumb when starting to run again is to not run every day. Give your body a chance to heal in between runs! It's not worth injuring your self again!

There is a lot of information on running pains- do some research and find what works best for you.

secretlobster

That sounds like plantar fasciitis (shin splints). You should get checked out. My buddy currently has them and isn't going to be able to run for another month or two.

Recover first, then think about running again. Injury is really frustrating, but if you try to get back on an injured leg too quickly, you will increase your recovery time exponentially. Definitely see a doctor, get an answer, and then you'll at least have an idea of what kind of recovery period you're looking at

MamaWannaRun

Jumping on the bus...

I too had horrible calf pain... and decided to try compression socks.. went to the running store and ending up with the compression socks AND new shoes.. it made all the difference in the world...

Graceious1

Do not ignore the pain because it will only get worse and immobilise you. I had a problem with my Achilles many years ago and gave it a good rest. My mistake was not doing any exercise at all, which is why I ballooned to almost 200lb. When it was fully better I started running but always making sure I stretched, warmed up then cooled down. Now four years later, at 44 I am still running and started doing Tae Kwon Do again. If I do feel a twinge in any part of my body I try to make sure that I do some resistance training at home so that I am still getting a good burn. Feel free to add me as a friend.

wolfchild59

Also try picking up a handy little device called The Stick. It's like a plastic miracle. I wish I'd found it a year ago instead of only as recently as I did, but I'm considering buying a second to keep at work as well as having one at home.

It's core is a plastic rod with handles on each end, and over the plastic rod are a bunch of individual plastic sections, each about a inch or so long. You roll it over the muscles with increasing pressure as you work the muscle and it helps roll out knots, tightness, strains, and just general pain.

I used it on my calves, my IT band, my shoulders, and my neck. It's pretty amazing. I ran a 5-K on Saturday at way, way faster pace than I had planned since I had a half marathon on Sunday. My calves were so tight it hurt to stand and nothing was calming them down. Until I spent about four minutes total on them with The Stick. I rolled out one calf, then the other, and stood up - there was zero pain. None.

And after the half, I got almost immediately into a car and drove for five hours home. Around the four hour mark I stopped for a bathroom break and could barely walk from the car to the restroom. My IT band on my right side was screaming with pain and my hip and knee were barely mobile. I all but dragged my leg back and forth to the restroom. When I got home, I sat down with The Stick, spent about five minutes the first time and was already able to just stand and walk around without a limp, but there was still a fair amount of pain. Then I spent about another three minutes on it about an hour later and was ready to go out with my husband and walk around a local food market for dinner then head to my sister and brother-in-law's house and play with my four year old niece.

It's seriously a little piece of magical plastic that I can't recommend enough for runners. You can get it online but it can also be found in local running stores. The model I have is called Sprinter.

(and no, I don't work for the company, it's just really that amazing)

pikselinka

Run again when the pain is completely gone. I'd walk a lot though, to get muscles moving most the time, usually walking helps me to recover faster.

likemeinvisible

Thank you all for the advice. It's not shin splints, I had those and cured them with RICE and moving to new shoes. Then I started to get pain in my calves which I ignored until it was so stabbing that I couldn't walk without limping. It's like the pain has moved from the front of the leg (shin splints) to the back (calves). I will take proper rest between runs, once I can run again, I've learned my lesson.

My shoes are Nike Alvord and I am 48.3Kg/169cm male. I have high arches and neutral gait. Any recommendations for a shoe ? I have zero weekly mileage now, but hope to have a high mileage once I'm cured. I run on pavement and asphalt. Price is usually important but not now:) I'd pay anything for a good shoe:)

Zylahe

I have had a couple of bad calf injuries, and you really just need to wait for it to get better. I had one doctor advise me to wait for it to feel 100% better and then wait one more week.

I agree with the comment about shoes, make sure yours don't need to be replaced. I replace mine every 500 miles, give or take, and if I push it too far I will start to feel the pain.

^ this.
I haven't been able to walk ( let alone run) for nearly 18 months cos i didn't stop.

MamaWannaRun

so, if you have new shoes, try the compression socks... and for shoe recommendation, have your local running store do an evaluation and fit you.. really, for me, it was my shoes...

likemeinvisible

Any recommendation for running store in London then ?