Lactic Acid, Calf Strain, or ???-- Advice please

joeykat16

I recently started C25K (I'm on W2D2) and I'm having a burning sensation/tightness in my lower calf area (not my Achilles and not my "true" calf area but right in between-- maybe the soleus?) I've tried everything I can think of and researched for hours the different possibilities. It never bothers me during the the warm ups or the running intervals, just the walking intervals between and is completely better by the end of the cool down. Its not a "pain" that I would consider to be associated with an injury and isn't enough to make me stop but it sure does get my attention! It is really starting to frustrate me. I'm not sore the next day, I've been fitted for proper shoes at my local running store, I jog not run the intervals, I drink 10-14 glasses of water a day (so I know I'm well hydrated), I warm up and then stretch for 5-10 mins before and after C25K but nothing seems to help.

Any ideas as to what I might be experiencing? Advice?

ChinUp4Life

Potentially a symptom of overtraining.

Other possibilities would be to strengthen the calves
-Get on a step with 1 foot on the step (use railing for support)
-Lower yourself and stretch the calf at the bottom, then bring yourself up with the calf
-Slow tempo: 2 second stretch at bottom, 2 seconds up, 2 second hold at top, repeat

Also google ankle dorsiflexion exercises. It will strengthen the front part of the calf and make you resistant to shin splints etc.