On to week 6...but not sure I will complete it.
rduhlir
Posts: 3,550 Member
I am/was so excited to begin week 6...only to come to a crashing realization...
I might have compartment syndrome in my leg.
I was doing great up until last night, W5D3. Was great the first 15 minutes...then the reason why I have hated running all these years showed its ugly little face. A pressure in my leg that felt like an artery was going to burst, a nasty quarter sized bump on the front of my right leg, and tingling in my foot. For the longest time I though it was because I heel strike...but it can't be, because I focused all my energy on how I landed on my feet last night making sure to land mid-foot or on my toes and the pain still showed its ugly little head.
I didn't get it any other time in the program, only last night and only when I got to about the 15 minute mark.
I am sick of this...I want to run darnit! I want to like running.
So did research, and everything I am feeling points to Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome:
http://www.theacc.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/061005aab.html
It all makes since now. Why running in "A" school hurt so bad! Why it has only just started happening last night again when I lengthened my run! And the draw back, in order to fix it I have to have surgery....or so that seems to be the only relief! Which means a lengthy recovery (from what I have read). I want to run...I mean really want to run. Like Eric Thomas says, I want this as bad as I want to breathe. I am posting this for two reasons. One....does anyone else have this? How was the recovery? Are you able to run now?
And two...for others out there like me who keep getting told it is only shin splints. I haven't been to a doctor yet...scheduling the appointment Monday (darn Tricare!), but I am almost possitive it is this....it would explain everything!
I might have compartment syndrome in my leg.
I was doing great up until last night, W5D3. Was great the first 15 minutes...then the reason why I have hated running all these years showed its ugly little face. A pressure in my leg that felt like an artery was going to burst, a nasty quarter sized bump on the front of my right leg, and tingling in my foot. For the longest time I though it was because I heel strike...but it can't be, because I focused all my energy on how I landed on my feet last night making sure to land mid-foot or on my toes and the pain still showed its ugly little head.
I didn't get it any other time in the program, only last night and only when I got to about the 15 minute mark.
I am sick of this...I want to run darnit! I want to like running.
So did research, and everything I am feeling points to Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome:
http://www.theacc.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/061005aab.html
It all makes since now. Why running in "A" school hurt so bad! Why it has only just started happening last night again when I lengthened my run! And the draw back, in order to fix it I have to have surgery....or so that seems to be the only relief! Which means a lengthy recovery (from what I have read). I want to run...I mean really want to run. Like Eric Thomas says, I want this as bad as I want to breathe. I am posting this for two reasons. One....does anyone else have this? How was the recovery? Are you able to run now?
And two...for others out there like me who keep getting told it is only shin splints. I haven't been to a doctor yet...scheduling the appointment Monday (darn Tricare!), but I am almost possitive it is this....it would explain everything!
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Haven't heard of this before...Feel so bad for you. But I am sure you will overcome it. :flowerforyou:
See what the doc says and go from there. Also, not sure if PT might help. Like doing leg strengthening exercises etc.
But we are here to support you. Best wishes and hugs...
Let us know what the doc said...0 -
I will keep everyone informed. It is often mis-diagnosed, according to many medical websites and sports medicine websites, as shin splints. Since it seems like running in short bursts is okay I might end up having to stick to that and do a modified walk/run so that I can try and stay on target. It is only when I get to that 15 minute or so mark where my leg starts to hurt. I know calf muscles should be tight after running...but not so tight that they feel they are going to explode from your body. The tightness from my left compared to my right (the one affected by this) is 100% different.
I am currently doing New Rules of Lifting for Women along side this, and squats and stuff like that don't seem to bother me...it is just prolonged running. I haven't tried an ellipitcal...I wanna run darnit lol...but if that is what it is...I may end up shifting to that instead...but that will all depend on what the doctor's say.
But, I have been researching diagnosis, treatment, and recovery and looks like surgery has a really high success rate...contemporary treatment not so much (physical theropy, etc). And with me stretching and stuff before and after running I am weery about how well it will work with me.0 -
I used to have my right side little tighter than my left. But I have been doing a lot of stretching and yoga (1 day is just concentrated yoga/stretch) and now it seems like right side have evened out.
Maybe strengthening the leg/knees and yoga/stretch might help. Currently, I am doing Strong Knees DVD and some Rodney Yee DVDs(yoga for athletes), Deep Stretch (Mimi Solaire), Cathe's Stretch Max etc. And also some good stretches for runners from internet. Try that maybe every other day and see if it helps...0 -
I find that if the ground is realy uneven my right calf hardens up to the point that I am in tears
Hills with uneven ground is even worse.
Alot of roads are slanted so one side is always comensating so now I am carefull were I run if its realy uneven I slow down so my calf doesnt go into rigamotis mode ( tis what hubby calls it lol)0 -
This is happening on a treadmill at 0% incline. When I was in "A" school and this happened, we were running outside and the same thing happened. And the only time we ran hills was when we went on "Texas Hill", big hill....BIG BIG hill lol. So I don't think it is the surface or the conditions in which I run.
I really hope this is just my muscles developing at a high rate, but with the noticeable bump on the front of my leg it is hard to rule out the syndrome. But, I am going to do what I have to so that I can keep running. I enjoy it a lot, and want to keep doing it.0 -
Have you tried increasing the incline to say 1 or 2 to mimic real road conditions? 0% incline on treadmill is sometimes similar to going downhill which some people can have issues with.0
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I actually started it out with 0% for the exact reason as above, and am going to increase the incline gradually. With all the problems I have had with my right calf muscle I have decided to take it very, very, very slow. Was going to start introducing a gradual incline of .5 a week this week.
I made it through W6D1. I could feel the tightness in my calf muscle towards the end of the middle run and was scared that I was going to have to grit through the pain again (I will do that lol...that is how bad I want it lol). But it eased off when I would walk, I slowed the walk down to allow the pressure in my leg to release fully (just made sure to keep my heart rate in the 120s because didn't want to cool down too much). We will see how D2 goes on Wednesday. Still going to make the appointment so that I can figure out what is going on with my leg, because if it ends up damaging a nerve in the leg then I will want the money the military will pay me when I get out lol.0 -
W6D1 is your last walk. Take care of yourself, though I admire your dedication.0
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I actually started it out with 0% for the exact reason as above, and am going to increase the incline gradually. With all the problems I have had with my right calf muscle I have decided to take it very, very, very slow. Was going to start introducing a gradual incline of .5 a week this week.
I made it through W6D1. I could feel the tightness in my calf muscle towards the end of the middle run and was scared that I was going to have to grit through the pain again (I will do that lol...that is how bad I want it lol). But it eased off when I would walk, I slowed the walk down to allow the pressure in my leg to release fully (just made sure to keep my heart rate in the 120s because didn't want to cool down too much). We will see how D2 goes on Wednesday. Still going to make the appointment so that I can figure out what is going on with my leg, because if it ends up damaging a nerve in the leg then I will want the money the military will pay me when I get out lol.
I am sure you have heard it before, but how did you get fitted for your shoes? How old is your shoes? We usually need a size higher and good running socks. If you haven't done already, go to a good running store to get gait analysis done and also mention your current issues. I have a local store which is run by runners(no pun intended, haha). Not sure if you have any good stores like that in your area...0 -
I actually started it out with 0% for the exact reason as above, and am going to increase the incline gradually. With all the problems I have had with my right calf muscle I have decided to take it very, very, very slow. Was going to start introducing a gradual incline of .5 a week this week.
I made it through W6D1. I could feel the tightness in my calf muscle towards the end of the middle run and was scared that I was going to have to grit through the pain again (I will do that lol...that is how bad I want it lol). But it eased off when I would walk, I slowed the walk down to allow the pressure in my leg to release fully (just made sure to keep my heart rate in the 120s because didn't want to cool down too much). We will see how D2 goes on Wednesday. Still going to make the appointment so that I can figure out what is going on with my leg, because if it ends up damaging a nerve in the leg then I will want the money the military will pay me when I get out lol.
I am sure you have heard it before, but how did you get fitted for your shoes? How old is your shoes? We usually need a size higher and good running socks. If you haven't done already, go to a good running store to get gait analysis done and also mention your current issues. I have a local store which is run by runners(no pun intended, haha). Not sure if you have any good stores like that in your area...
Already did. Still have the problem. Both pairs of shoes I run in I have been fitted for. I changed shoes first to see if that was the problem but same thing. Both pair have less than 100 miles on them. So, isn't them. That was the first thing I did when I started this.
But I do have an update, was able to get squeezed in at the doctor's office, which for military is amazing to get seen that day unless you go to sick call. She said that she is going to send me to for an ultra-sound of the calf muscle because she said while I should get tightness in it, there shouldn't be so much pressure which she thinks might be vascular. Of course that freaked my husband out more than me when I told him. I was thinking, "Yay, I don't have to do the pressure test in my leg", he was saying, "What! Is it a blood clot? Are you going to die? Oh my god, do you need to go to the ER?" Yeah....great huh? HAHA.
Doctor said to stay on W6D1 and to stay at 0% incline, at least until we figure out what is going on with my leg. So, woot for being able to keep running. Boo for not getting an answer today. But, at least I am feeling a lot better than 2 days ago. I was so depressed when I started this thread lol.0 -
Great news that doc said you can still run!! Waiting for the ultrasound results...
I also did W6 D1 today. went well.0 -
Doctor said to stay on W6D1 and to stay at 0% incline, at least until we figure out what is going on with my leg. So, woot for being able to keep running. Boo for not getting an answer today. But, at least I am feeling a lot better than 2 days ago. I was so depressed when I started this thread lol.
Yay!! I know how it feels to have dr tell you can keep going with the program.0 -
Well, that's pretty good news. Let us know about the test.0
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Update:
So...was able to complete a modified W6D3.....I broke the 25 minute run up with a 3 minute walk when the pain and tingling crept in. Let it ease and then was able to complete the run. Had a lot more tightness in my calf muscle. Just on a whim decided to ask one of the trainers at the gym what his thought would be about it...and of course his first answer was shin splints till I showed him the bump. He also said vascular or a possible cyst that is pressing on one of my veins....so when it expands to get more blood it is compressed, causing the pain and tight calf muscle.
But his conclusion....definately not shin splints lol....but either way...sort of getting the run done. Going to start adding short intervals of incline to see how my leg does. I don't want to aggervate it too much because if it is something vascular...would be bad if a vein exploded lol....modified week 7 here I come lol.....0 -
I have just started week 6 as well. Day one was good, especially after Day 3 of Wk 5. And somehow, I messed up and did Week 8 day 1.....I did that without realizing it one day, and it has made the rest a lot easier....0
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rduhlir - I am so impressed by your commitment. I don't think I'd be able to overcome something like that. You must really want this.
wkile76 - LOL. Isn't it amazing what we can do and don't even realize it?0
