Is it normal for my calves and Achilles tendons to STILL hurt?

[C. Beth Run.]

I've been running BF (now sometimes minimalist too) for 2 1/2 months, and my calves and Achilles tendons are STILL sore!! Am I doing something wrong? I'm up to 11.75 miles a week (last week). Keeping my mileage increases reasonable (generally well under 10% a week.) Running 4 days a week. Very hesitant to decrease mileage, since I'm trying to work up to my first half marathon at the beginning of December.

Sometimes I'm achy during a run, but not usually bad, and it USUALLY gets better as I run. Lately it seems like I'm almost always at least a little sore during everyday activities. Everything is pretty mild at this point, just annoying.

Any thoughts? Will this eventually work itself out? I do use my foam roller regularly and for my Achilles sometimes I use a golf ball to massage it.

 

[BrunoRuns]

Hey C Beth,Well since I

Hey C Beth,

Well since I started transitioning in January, every time I was sore in my calves I would make sure to take an extra day off and do plenty of stretching and rolling. Then again, I only ran 3 days a week till about month 4. I started Jan 8th and worked up to a half on June 13th, with only about 4 weeks of running 4 times a week. I feel that the extra day of rest in a week really helped my body recover better.

As I run now (training for a full) I have been doing 4 days a week mostly but sometimes only 3 if I need an extra day after my long run. I then try to make up a few miles from my other runs.

How many miles are you up to for a long run? I'm no expert but I would suggest taking an extra day off in the week for a bit till you are not always sore. I believe it is more important to stay healthy (as I am not currently) than to hit millage goals in your first year of transitioning. I have some mysterious issue under my pinky toe that might just kick me out of my Marathon in October, but I'd rather be healed to run another day then to further injure myself.

You sound like you need a few down weeks. It's never bad to cut back a bit for a week or 2. Your body needs rest weeks, just like it needs tapering before longer distances.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Bruno--thanks for the input!

Bruno--thanks for the input! I hate thinking about cutting back...but it's worth considering. I'll definitely think about it.

My "long run" was 3.75 miles last week, so not very long yet. It'll be increasing in distance faster than my shorter weekday runs increase in distance.

 

[Abide]

I'm in the same boat as you.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm always achy in my feet, ankles and calves. Not sure if it ever goes away. I attribute it to my sedentary lifestyle here at work. On the weekends when I am on my feet more they feel great. At work they hurt.

 

[saypay45]

+1 Abide.  I'm now over the

+1 Abide. I'm now over the year mark for BFR, and I have achy feet and calves every morning, as well as every time I move around after a period of inactivity (work, sitting on my ass, etc.). It has been that way the entire time I've been BFR. It also goes away after a couple of seconds of movement, and I've never been worried about it.

Now if the aching didn't go away after some movement, or started up during my run, I would be more concerned about taking an extra rest day. I would say that, and any sort of TOFP, is what should worry you more than anything C.Beth.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Thanks, all.I have been

Thanks, all.

I have been having MILD aching throughout the day. Not enough to make me limp or anything. More often than not, it gets better after I've been running for a few minutes. Top of foot still doing well!

I'll be honest--I'm probably not going to decrease my training unless the pain becomes more acute. I thought about it, and I just am not ready to take that step even though I know it's probably the safest course of action. But I figure since the ache is generally mild and usually either gets better or stays the same DURING the run, it's probably not terribly dangerous.

But I think I will add more post-run icing to my routine and see if that can help. I wonder if I just have a bit of inflammation that I'm having trouble getting past.

 

[jschwab]

I think for the mileage you

I think for the mileage you are doing, you might drop back to 3 days a week. I ran 20 last week and I will not consider adding a 4th day for awhile, at least not until my long run is in the half marathon range and I have a midweek 8-10 mile run. My body needs that extra day rest.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Thank you all for the

Thank you all for the feedback. I am considering going down to 3 days and have mixed feelings about it.

Right now I have Run #4 scheduled as a Sunday "recovery run" the day after my Saturday "long run." It's currently 2 miles, but I'm transitioning down to 1.5 miles for that run in a few weeks, as my "long run" gets longer. So if I do away with it, I wouldn't be losing a lot of mileage, and I could even make up some or all of that mileage on my weekday runs if I want to.

So here's the plan: Today I've really been focusing on doing heel drops (or whatever they're called) on the edge of the stairs. I get a great dynamic stretch doing that, feels really good. I'll continue with the foam roller and icing the troubled areas (mostly left Achilles & right calf right now.) This weekend I'll determine whether I should drop that 4th run or not. That gives me 4-5 days to see if this improves.

I think I feel pretty comfortable with that "wait and see" approach since the issues are so mild at this point. But I won't wait very long; if I'm not feeling better by the weekend, I think it makes sense to cut things back. Probably.

 

[jschwab]

Ya know, when I bump up my

Ya know, when I bump up my long run (Sunday for me), I start taking 2 days' recovery afterwards, stop running Tuesdays and pick up on Wednesday. I think you'd be better off running a leg-stretcher of 1.5-2 miles the day BEFORE your long run to prime you for the distance, not the other way around.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

just think in terms of going

just think in terms of going to the gym and working the same muscles four days a week. it will usually take more than that to recover so you'll be in a constant state of soreness. with running you can develop the ability to run every day if you want but it will take some time. the aches and soreness are fine as long as they dont start to be an actual pain.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Jimmy--That definitely makes

Jimmy--That definitely makes sense. Running just fits so well into my lifestyle, and I love it...so while I know how great cross-training is, I just don't have the desire to be doing other stuff except the strength training I do a couple of times a week on days I'm not running.

I am glad you said some soreness is okay as long as it's not real pain. I feel like that's where I am right now. Not injured, just sore. Maybe I need to just adjust my expectations of how my body is going to handle this much running. I guess it doesn't necessarily mean I'm doing something WRONG (in terms of form); just that I'm doing what you said--working the same muscles so much that they're always a little "hot."

I'd prefer to run often with some aches and soreness than to cut way down on frequency and get rid of the soreness. But I may end up deciding that cutting down a LITTLE on training is a good trade-off. We'll see.

 

[barefoot.zumba.runner]

Try relaxing your feet/lower

Try relaxing your feet/lower legs more, allowing your heels to kiss the ground if you want. It's ok I had very sore calves when I first transitioned, because I was overly avoiding heel touching. Once I got over that and relaxed a little, it greatly reduced the aches. I'm looking into testing out some compression socks to help ease calf soreness, I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Yeah, let me know about the

Yeah, let me know about the socks, Zumba! Thanks.

I was a lot more relaxed for most of my run tonight...could really feel the difference.

 

[saypay45]

Don't cover up the tat Zum! 

Don't cover up the tat Zum! Actually, compression stuff works really well. I use compression shorts for my long runs, and it does a lot of good for my IT band. Never tried compression stuff for calves because I don't have calf soreness. Then again, I am a lunker when I run, so I do plenty of heel touching.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

A little update--I ran 3

A little update--I ran 3 miles last night. Afterward I used the foam roller and iced. I have been doing the heel drops/raises on the stairs, and sometimes rolling after that. I woke up this morning and once my legs got a little warmed up I realized I feel SO much better than I did yesterday. I'll keep seeing how things go the rest of this week!

 

[sloutre]

My two cents:Since I started

My two cents:

Since I started running (barefoot) I always had some kind of pain after my run, ranging from not being able to walk the next day to my calves and achilles calling for a light stretch. My runs were generally in the 3 miles range and I ran 3 times a weeks. [I haven't run in 2 weeks due to colon infection with 4 days in hospital and I'm now recovering but on a crappy diet and I don't have any energy. I should be able to start running again this week-end.]

Before being sick I had the 2 best runs of my life. Both were 5k in my neighborhood, on concrete sidewalk, 2 days appart. After the runs I felt better than before (except for the blisters after the 2nd run, my soles were not ready), and even the day after I had absolutely no pain at all, it was amazing. How did I do that? I decided to forget about form and focused exclusively in keeping my spine straigh and aligned and relaxing every single muscle in my body. I did not care about how I lifted my foot, how I bent my legs, didn't try to not push or anything, didn't wear my heart rate monitor, I just relaxed and enjoyed the run. Those 2 runs turned out to be much faster than my usual pace and I was not even tired.



After those 2 runs I realised that maybe I was overdoing it before, trying to lift my foot too straight, unecesseraly putting tension on my legs by curling my toes up. Sometimes you just need to let your body show you the right way to do things. Try a short run focusing on relaxing all your muscles and having fun. I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.

 

[The Ramzev]

 Beth, as others have said, a

Beth, as others have said, a bit of aching could be ok, only you can know the difference between an ache and a pain for yourself. I don't concern myself too much with aches, when they are pains I get concerned.

As far as reducing your running days and training for a 1/2, I trained for my first 1/2 with only 3 days a week. Important thing is that the 2 weekday runs need to be speed work and should get almost to the point of being uncomfortable, then the long run on the weekend. It worked well for me and I surpassed my goal time.

 

[migangelo]

I'm with BF Zumba. You need

I'm with BF Zumba. You need to relax and allow your heel to touch the ground. At least that's what happened with me. I didn't ever allow my heels to touch untill i hurt my AT really bad. It forced me to research and i figured out it was that. Allowing your heel to touch lets your leg act like a spring. I'm doing much better now and have noticed increased flexibility. Only bad thing is i bought some bikilas and i've regained pain in my AT. I think they don't allow my feet to get the same movement they would bf so i get pain in my AT. i can run on the streets just fine but have been unable to run the trails for more than 20mins. Now that is frustrating. I can't wait for the rain to start so the trails will soften and i can fly over the gravel like i was at first.



good luck,



Middle of the pack Mike

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Sloutre, I'm glad you're on

Sloutre, I'm glad you're on the rebound. Yikes! That must have been painful.

I like this: Sometimes you just need to let your body show you the right way to do things.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Thank you all! By the way,

Thank you all!



By the way, I do let my heels touch. That's something I've been really careful about for weeks.



But I agree with sloutre...I definitely overthink my form!