I'm wondering if my persisting injury/troubles are linked to the make up of my muscle structure and other human body stuff I don't understand, versus the regular form, running schedule, stretching, footwear (or lack there of), etc...usual causes. I'll try and explain below and would love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience
I've been running for about three years. Cycling for 10+. In cycling, I've never been injured. And I ride a lot, but also go through times of up/down total distance cycled in a week. I may average long rides of 50-60k, and then jump to 100+...still no injury. Similarly, I may right flat roads for weeks, and then do lots of climbing in a week...no injury.
With running, I've almost always had a "niggle" on my right side, in the lower calf area. Sometimes the niggle is also felt in my achilles or bottom of my foot. After doing some intense physio, mentioned below, I started running again...started at 15 minutes 3 x a week and got the same old issues as I approached the 25-30 minute mark many weeks later (after gradual progress). I'm careful and don't ever run so much that the sensation (pain) becomes anything more than 3 out of 10 on the hurt cycle. I could almost say I keep it to 1 out of 10.
When I look at both of my calf muscles, I notice that my left one looks longer than the right, and that it protrudes a bit more. This has been the case for years, as I noticed it with cycling. Again, never bothered me during cycling. Today when I came back from a hard ride I noticed that my left calf looked bulked up from the effort. On my right side there is a long, thin muscle that runs along the inside of my right leg, just below the calf, this was also bulked up (though much smaller than a calf muscle)...this goes away a little time after, but I've always noticed this.
So with running, is this muscle difference between the legs perhaps the reason for my continued niggles on that right leg? Could it be that my right calf is slower to develop (or can't, much further)? I've been to physio and she did a test and noticed how weak this calf was. So she gave me exercises to strengthen it. I did them for months and I didn't necessarily get better at them, and I continued getting these niggles.
Thoughts?
I've been running for about three years. Cycling for 10+. In cycling, I've never been injured. And I ride a lot, but also go through times of up/down total distance cycled in a week. I may average long rides of 50-60k, and then jump to 100+...still no injury. Similarly, I may right flat roads for weeks, and then do lots of climbing in a week...no injury.
With running, I've almost always had a "niggle" on my right side, in the lower calf area. Sometimes the niggle is also felt in my achilles or bottom of my foot. After doing some intense physio, mentioned below, I started running again...started at 15 minutes 3 x a week and got the same old issues as I approached the 25-30 minute mark many weeks later (after gradual progress). I'm careful and don't ever run so much that the sensation (pain) becomes anything more than 3 out of 10 on the hurt cycle. I could almost say I keep it to 1 out of 10.
When I look at both of my calf muscles, I notice that my left one looks longer than the right, and that it protrudes a bit more. This has been the case for years, as I noticed it with cycling. Again, never bothered me during cycling. Today when I came back from a hard ride I noticed that my left calf looked bulked up from the effort. On my right side there is a long, thin muscle that runs along the inside of my right leg, just below the calf, this was also bulked up (though much smaller than a calf muscle)...this goes away a little time after, but I've always noticed this.
So with running, is this muscle difference between the legs perhaps the reason for my continued niggles on that right leg? Could it be that my right calf is slower to develop (or can't, much further)? I've been to physio and she did a test and noticed how weak this calf was. So she gave me exercises to strengthen it. I did them for months and I didn't necessarily get better at them, and I continued getting these niggles.
Thoughts?