Calf Strain

NickW

Guest
#1
About a month ago, on a barefoot trail run my calf started hurting about two miles in. I was running with a buddy for the first time and didn't want to be a party pooper so I kept going instead of stopping and walking back. Stupid idea. I ran the rest of the six mile run on this injury. The next day I was pretty tender and had a heck of a time walking down the stairs to my condo. After about a week of not running or excercising at all the pain had gone away. I decided to try a short run and see how it was. I made it exactly .52 miles when I felt a lot of pain. I immediately stopped this time and walked back home. I waited about a week and a half this next time and the pain was completely gone and ran a couple of short tester runs, half mile and quarter mile. Did fine both runs but was still nervous about reinjuring it so decided to give it some extra days to be on the safe side. Went out for what was going to be a short two miler, this time making it .7 miles before I felt the same pain in my muscle.

I have been resting it for a week now but still feel pain this time. I felt pretty good the other day, so I just went out for a barefoot walk of about a mile and a half and the pain got worse. I don't walk heel first, more almost flat footed but slightly forefoot first, like when I run. Any ideas about what to do to rehab this calf injury so I can start enjoying some runs again? I have tried a compression sleeve, but I think the sales person did not give me the right size, feels about as tight as a tube sock. I also rest the calf quite a bit. Whdn I first injured it I used ice on it, but it never really swelled up, was just was painful. I am afraid of stretching it very much while there is pain because of risk of further damage, or slowing the healing process. I can walk on flat ground and around my home just fine. Stairs and hills give me more problems, but oddly its more the downhills or down the stairs that gets me. Oh and I am relatively new to running again. Last 5 months or so barefoot. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
#2
    Gosh, hard to say, but

Gosh, hard to say, but I'd start with leaving the calf at home next time. Do you have a goat or even a rooster you could take?
 
#3
Ram!  Ssssh!  Nick, Ram's

Ram! Ssssh! Nick, Ram's just teasing you. Hopefully, you'll grow to love that about him...too. A REAL doctor will be by soon.
 
#5
I went through a phase with

I went through a phase with calf pain bugging me. Sounds a lot like yours, but I'm not sure about the distances - I don't have a Garmin or any such tech stuff.

I relied a lot on R.I.C.E. , but I don't remember what all the letters stand for...one was Advil, I think. Frequent massage with a tennis ball before, during and after helped, too. Try standing next to a couch and laying your shin on the arm rest while you work your tennis ball or even just your fist into your calf.

I chalked it up to growing pains, hitting about 6 or 7 months after I started BFR.
 
#6
This isn't just a normal

This isn't just a normal muscle soreness from use. I wish it was because I would be running still. This is an actual injury from TMTS and not listening to my body because this was my first run with a partner and I didn't want to let them down and stop. Completely my fault and I am very upset with myself because I normally listen to my body very well because I am very afraid of the dreaded TMTS. This was my first trail run since getting out of the military 6 years ago and I was really enjoying myself which didn't help me stop myself either.
 
#7
Nick, you are doing the right

Nick, you are doing the right thing by resting. I use a regular wood rolling pin to massage the calf muscles and I would suggest that to you. It is easy to vary the pressure and to hit all of the calf muscle with it. Rest until you have no pain, then start back slowly. If a quarter mile feels good, stick at that distance for a week, then increase a bit the next week. You did TMTS and now you get to pay for your sins. We all do it though, so don't worry. A little run feels good, so then we want to double it the next time. Look at barefoot running as a pastime for the rest of your life, rather than a goal to achieve.

It is not likely necessary to ice anymore. Icing is the thing to do early on, but I have my patients stop after about 72 hours. Then switch to moist heat for 15 mins or so at a time to increase blood flow to the area. Massage after the heat. Remember to rest/massage until the pain is gone, then start back slowly.

If it helps at all, I'm a constant victim of trying to increase too quickly. My last run was Wednesday of last week because I'm not good at following my own advice until after I do too much. C'est la vie!
 
#8
I noticed in your post you

I noticed in your post you hadn't been stretching your calf much out of fear of reinjury. I'm not saying this is positively true in your case, but it's possible that not fully stretching the Achilles after injury could set you up for a more chronic issue since the tissue can become a little scarred/shortened from the healing post-injury. I wouldn't suggest stretching into any significant pain, but make your best effort to get that full range back when you stretch (both muscles, Gastroc with knee straight and Soleus with knee bent) and hold the stretch for around 30 seconds to account for natural unkinking of the muscle fibers. Hope that helps. I'm still trying to fully rehab my artificially shortened calves after years of wearing thick heeled running shoes.
 
#9
Thank you for all the

Thank you for all the responses! I do have a stick for massaging my calf that I have been using. I was able to do a couple of short 200 feet runs today and had no pain, so I think I may give it a couple more days and then try an actual short run and see how it goes from there. Oh and DanielH, I was stretching for a while there at first, but it seemed to make it worse so I stopped that too. I am sure that now I would probably be ok, as long as I listened to my body and didn't over stretch. Thanks again for all the advice!
 
#10
So I wanted to give you all

So I wanted to give you all an update. I ran about a mile on Monday and had no problem what so ever. I ran really slow, 13m/m pace, and had no pain and felt really good. Then I ran Wednesday, and was only able to do about 0.9 miles before I stopped because the pain was back. I walked the last little bit home and did rice every 3-4 hours after that. Thursday I felt great again, but maybe just a little tight in the calf muscles. Today I felt really good so I decided to try a short slow run again. For the first couple hundred yards or so my calf felt tight and sore, but then it worked itself out. As I was nearing the one mile mark it started hurting again, which I was almost home anyway so I was ok with that. I am doing rice as I write this.

I did some research on calf muscles so I could explain where the pain is exactly. It appears to be on the soleus muscle just below the gastro muscle. It kind of goes under the gastro as well and around the inside of the leg to almost the shin, although not quite that far. Is it possible that having been shod my whole life that my calf muscles are too short and I am causing a lot of stress on these muscles by barefoot running? If so, should I start stretching several times a day to help elongate these muscles so I can avoid injuring myself?

As a sidenote, I used to be really athletic until about 4 years ago when I had hurt my back and had to have back surgery twice within a year and a half of each other. I have not done much of anything the last 4 years due to back pain until about 5 months ago when I found barefoot running. Thanks and any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
#11
I was also just thinking

I was also just thinking about my running form and I had just made a slight adjustment to form just before this injury occured. I had been running too far up on the ball of my foot and not letting my heels really hit the ground so, after reading bfkb's book I started letting the heel come down and lightly touch the ground. Could this contribute to my problems???
 
#12
Nick, yes. when people

Nick,



yes. when people complain about calf pain that is always my first question. are you letting your heels touch the ground? that is the biggest culprit. next would be doing too much. then for sure your achilles tendons are shortened from a life time of wearing shoes. this pain is constant and takes a few months to go away. i don't think that pain is enough to stop anyone from running but everyone is different.



Mike
 
#13
So should I not let heels

So should I not let heels touch? I do the 1-2-3 as bfkb's book describes, not sure if toes come down before heels or vice versa. The only reason I had stopped running was because I was afraid of doing some real damage. Yes I can run through the pain for short distances, but I am trying to listen to my body and am new so I really don't want to make things worse. Running with this slightly altered form sure has made a difference in my being able to handle rocks and twigs underfoot as well.
 
#14
sorry, yes your heels must

sorry, yes your heels must touch the ground. it's the only way to fully load the spring. but touch or kiss the ground, not pound.
 
#15
Oh ok, I don't pound the

Oh ok, I don't pound the ground with my heels, just barely touch. It really seems to make sense the more I think about it that maybe, while my soles are good and ready for longer distances, with my slight form change maybe I need to go back to the beginning as if I was just starting to run barefoot until my calf muscles catch up. Running where my heels never touched or barely touched I was able to run 5 or so miles with no pain, but I may have just as well just been in Nikes with that much of a difference in heel position. I think I am going to start doing half a mile with lots of stretching and see if that helps and build up from there. If anyone has any better ideas, let me know. Thanks!
 
#16
I was just going to say,

I was just going to say, regardless of your level of barefoot or zero-drop running experience, one mile is way too much for you right now. Apparently, from your life-long relationship with heeled shoes, your connective tissues have shrunk. (If your typical shoe has a 1" or 1-1/2" elevation, then your tissues, calves, Achilles, plantar fascia, have shrunk by 1" or 1-1/2".) I would suggest you only run 1/4 of a mile for a week (or two) every other day, resting every other day. The next week run only 1/2 of a mile for a week (or two) every other day, resting every other day. Then progress to a mile... Also, be sure to walk around barefoot as much as is possible and wear zero-drop footwear for when you have to wear shoes. Good luck and let us know how you're doing.
 
#17
Thanks for the feedback TJ. 

Thanks for the feedback TJ. I do almost everything barefoot. I haven't worn regular shoes in five months, and I barely were minimalist shoes. My wife hates it. ;-) She wants me to be normal! I am a full time college student and stay at home father so I am able to be barefoot nearly all the time.
 
#18
It seems to be taking you

It seems to be taking you extra long to acclimate for whatever reason, so please go with the slow and gradual plan. ;-)
 
#19
I think, because I had no one

I think, because I had no one here that I knew to help teach me proper form, that I bypassed this part all together because I had bad form. Plus when I run it's while pushing my son in a jogging stroller most days. I'm pretty proud that I had gotten to where I could push it over 4-5 miles, even uphill without wearing holes in my soles. It took me quite a while to figure out how to do that. Hard not to push with your feet while pushing a stroller uphill. Now I just have to start all over again. Sucks, but at least I am still running and learning.
 
#20
Nick, don't do lots of

Nick,



don't do lots of stretching. that is unless you have already finished your run and have lots of blood flowing to the parts you stretch. stretching can cause damage if done when your body is cold. walk to warm up and cool down for your run. when your done do some stretching then.



Mike
 
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