These often occur through compensatory movements which may have become habitual during the injured period. Everyone else: glad to find you all here because I had my first experience in a marathon this past Sunday. And anyone else reading this who thinks I’m a: “Dick Head”. Muscle imbalances in areas besides the hips might be causing your body to overcompensate by placing more stress on your calves when running. After continuous, slow, steady progress throughout the whole of 2014, in January 2015 I ran a 3:20 marathon. I was wondering if you have figured out anything that works for you? Weak or inactive muscles can increase the strain on the calf muscles, as they have to overcompensate for the muscles that lie dormant during a run. Dynamic Calf & Achilles Warm-Up For Running. Start standing with the heels hanging off a step, with your body weight supported on the balls of the feet. While there is no singular cause for running calf soreness, these common issues provide a helpful starting point when hoping to address the root of your pain. I still battle the inflammation, but it’s improved. Marc, today I goggled Running calf injuries and ran across your story. Further progression entails adding multidirectional jumps in all planes of motion. You can increase the effectiveness of this exercise by standing on the edge of a stair or step, so your heels are elevated and range of motion is increased. With every stride we take when running, the calf gets loaded, firstly to absorb the shock of our body weight landing, then to help propel us forward into the next stride. It may be frustrating, ... Then I start running and after 4x 10ks it's back and I need to stop immediately again . https://therunexperience.com/calf-injury-runners-assess-fix-prevent Total rupture. Hi runnit, I'm currently training for my first half-marathon. Stretching is good after running only. I try not to run 2 consecutive days, and take at least 2 days off per week. Good luck to everyone here, and thanks Mr. Dunne for the forum!! Got back to a normal walk in about a week or so. It’s really appreciated! The golden rule for injury applies to sore calf muscles as well: RICE. Once improvements have been made in single leg strength and balance, low-level plyometric exercises may be re-introduced as a precursor to running. This is sometimes referred to as a partial calf tear. The stabbing pain and especially the knot sound like symptoms of grade 3 strain from what I read. Hope that helps. Most minor strains benefit from immediate rest, as well as an ice pack on the area of soreness three times daily for about 20 minutes. I still have to watch it closely but did Ironman WI and made it through. Hi I am a mountain runner who is now 56 years old I also cross country ski and bike ride to keep in shape. Look forward to you reply thanks Tom Kirchgessner old washed up endurance athlete. Stretch your calves after exercise, ... at a time, continuing massage, and gradually incorporating stretching into my routine. I mention because I was stationary for the unload and was walking a few steps to load up at the water line when SNAP. Any advice on helping get my calves more able to handle the training. One of the more common injuries resulting in calf pain after running is a calf strain or a tear. When I got back to the UK I went to see the doc. Even slight variations in shoes can lead to lasting differences in foot strike, stride and overall form. When I got home I could hardly walk from the car to the house because of the pain in my calves. Slowly allow the heels to drop towards the ground, coming below the height of the toes, then rise up using the calves so that the heels come higher than the toes. I hated warming up, but was forced to when coaches were around, but ran exceptionally well during my “peak”. Stretching after you run. I began to alternate running and swimming before this. I went twice a week for about 6 months for approximately 3 months. I wear stability shoes with a little more support on the inside of the shoe. I hope these accounts come as a benefit to someone. I usually get up to maybe 4 or 5 mile runs several times a week then it seems I began to have problems. Is it best to see a physio or sports masseur first ? It has to be part of your regimen. Running downhill may feel easy — especially after climbing the incline portion — but many runners are surprised at how sore their quads are the next day. Stand on the round side of a Bosu ball, or flip to the flat side if you’re advanced, and complete a regular squat while maintaining balance. The stretching should last 10-15 minutes, focusing on the major muscle groups (quads, hamstrings, calves, and hips) as well as anything that is nagging or felt sore on the run. Soreness after a challenging activity like stair climbing is normal, although pain in your muscles can signal a strain. I think it gave me a lot of control to accelerate as needed and demanded the least energy to keep me going. Looking at my toes and knee cap being 12 o’clock on my left leg a nail seemed to be stabbed into my calf at 4 or 5 o’clock any time I tried to load my toes during a step. I went through the recommended period of rest, 6 weeks, and then began some stretching and strengthening for a few weeks, before I started doing some walking with interspersed light jogging. I have stopped running for the last month and 3 times a week I have been performing squats, lunges and a series of other stretches and exercises to help loosen my gluteus up too. 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