Extremely sore calves
So, I've been changing my running style a bit in order to prevent shin splints. Shin splint story is long, but basically I'm heel striking when I run faster which causes me shin pain. The change in form has caused me huge calf pain in both legs. It's bad enough that I have to stop running. It doesn't hurt until I've been running for about 10 minutes or so and then it just gets worse and worse. It seems really odd that my calves would hurt this much just from a slight change in form. They don't hurt at all during normal walking and daily activities. This has been happening for about 2 weeks. Anyone have any ideas?! This sucks and is putting a wrench in my training!
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What changes specifically have you tried to make to your running form? How have you been making those changes? For how long?
So, my additional question is "how long are your run sessions?"
It's never a bad idea to work on form. But doing it at the same time as building volume or intensity is probably a gamble, at best.
Coach Rich- I started getting shin splints (which I've had several problems with in the past) about a month ago. So I videotaped myself and realized that when I ran faster I was heel striking, it seems that I was taking longer strides instead of increasing my cadence. So, I started changing my stride a little, mainly trying to take smaller steps when running faster so I was increasing my cadence. This was about 3 weeks ago. I started getting sore calves after a couple runs. I'm sure it's sore muscles, it's in both legs and definitely feels like a really sore muscle. I've spaced out my runs so they're every few days in hopes that my calves will recover. But, about a mile or so into the run they start getting really sore again. They're sore enough that I could run through it (maybe if it was a race), but I really don't want to! They aren't very sore just during the day walking around, it seems to only happen when running. I can't think of any other info that would help. I'm hoping you'll have some kind of idea about this! Thanks!
I'm chiming in b/c I've been thru the calf & AT thing many times. One of the early red flags for me is a combination of very heavy leg feeling with swollen/tight calf that feels like it's going explode.
Knock on wood, but I haven't been through this during this year/season. I attribute that to more foam rolling, a longer & more patient mileage build over the fall (run durability plans), and respecting the OS training stress on my body, meaning I quit doing all the extra stuff in addition to my OS. My legs have responded much better this year. But, most importantly, I've avoided the injury.
Sending some healing mojo your way. Hope it's no big deal.
Ok, please see this video and my notes on running form.
The big takeaway(s) are that you need to be very, very conservative with any changes you make to your running form. Also, in my experience, when people consciously try to avoid heel striking they go to the other extreme which is an overly exaggerated midfoot / forefoot / tippy-toe foot strike.
With regards to sore calves:
I was a very, very bad heel striker back in the day, before about 2001. I focused on my cadence vs footstrike and over a very conservative 2-3mo, I brought my cadence up from 80-82rpm = slamming my heel on the deck, to 90-92rpm+ = I don't really get overuse injuries (KNOCK, KNOCK). However, I'm constantly managing other stuff that are the result of twisted ankles, foot surgery last year from a motorcycle crash, etc.
The net is that working conservatively to increase your cadence over a long period of time will basically fix a lot of form issues.
I went through this in ~2010 when switching to Newtons. Take it very conservatively. Literally a couple of miles at at time for a while. It'll come, but you have to be patient.
Cindy