Calf pain >> Newton!!
Few things to lay some groundwork...
I have previously run in stability shoes (Adidas Supernova Sequence) & lighter stability shoes (Brooks Ravenna), and decided that this outseason I would dedicate myself to focusing more on running midfoot with a higher turnover. I have had ITBS issues in my hip before, and at the tail end of last season I was having IT issues in my knee. Slower runner w/ very low cadence, led me to believe that I could be helped by getting more fore/midfoot & increasing my cadence. OS test 5k was 23:00.
Mid-October I got my first pair of Newtons (Sir Isaac S), and started out running very short distances. 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. Calves were sore, but really just tight & clearly needed to lengthen out to the new shoes. No real pain to speak of though. Started the OS in the Nov class, and have been using my Newtons for transition runs & usually the Z3 part of longer runs. I would swing back by home & switch out shoes. This past weekend I wore them for an entire 60min run, and now I'm paying for it.
Pain is on my left calf only. Inside of calf, call it about the bottom 1/2 to 1/3rd of lower leg. Not intense, but noticeably there.
So I know that I need to scale back the Newtons, and truly gradually phase into them. I feel like a fool b/c I got over-zealous, but man o man do they mean take it slow when you are switching. Why I thought I could change 27 years of biomechanics in 1 month, I do not know. With such a shallow heel-toe drop, it really takes some drastic lengthening of the soleus & achilles. Stretching & strengthening are also in order, as well as a focus on better run mechanics.
My question for you all is now that the injury/pain exists, how do I go about training? Stop running altogether? Run only when pain-free? Stretch? Obviously I will be reverting back to my Brooks for the time being, but am looking for any other thoughts.
Thanks.
-Ed
Comments
First step is to fix your calf. Smack in the OS = get it dug out by a pro. Make sure they dig out the botton of your foot and hammie as well. Heck give them time for your whole leg.
in the mean time, short easy runs in your regular shoes (not newtons) to tolerance and biking (slide your cleats back a mm and drop your seat the same- unloads the calf to allow for healing). If the bike intensity is too much, drop it down to z3 work.
Second step is to find a new plan for the Newtons. Super hard to transition into a minimal shoe during OS intensity and try to change form at the same time. There are a million moving parts for that.
Traditionally, I transition my athletes this way:
1) increase cadence first (most have garmens so I have them snag a foot pod off amazon and put cadence front and center on their screen). this starts changing how the foot and calf hit the ground while still allowing for support with the more rigid shoe.
2) during this time, I work on strengthening the calves, hammies + hips. I also make sure they have the mobility for a minimal shoe (ankle joint, big toe, calves, knee and hip- if you've got restrictions, you're going to have to fix that before the pieces fall into place; otherwise you're just waiting till muscles break down/get injured).
3) Once the first two are in place, then I switch to the minimal shoes. The first key is flat, soft surfaces. Work your way up to hard surfaces and then to hills/uneven terrain.
The transition is possible regardless of what you bring to the table, there's just usually a lot of middle ground work to be done.
In the mean time, hit up your favorite PT/sports massage/ART person and get your calf fixed. Tone it down and let it heal now so it doesn't haunt your for the reset of the OS.
Leigh,
Thanks much for the reply. I really like the tutorials on your site & have been referencing them frequently lately. Everything you said in the post makes plenty of sense & that's the plan I'll take. Definitely is an aggressive transition during the intensity of the OS, but if I can manage to do it intelligently & safely, I think it will pay off in the long haul.
I have a footpod on my Garmin & have been watching my cadence climb.
Thanks again.
I totally cede to Leigh all expertise and rehab stuff, but I thought I would share my successful transition to Newtons. I sound a lot like you. For years, after overuse injuries in my 20s, I ran in stability shoes with orthotics. I'm a little faster than you, but not ridiculously so. For a variety of reasons - which included some pesky foot problems that were popping up when I was "going long" on bike and run - I resolved to give the whole Forefoot/Newton thing a try. (I had loved some relatively minimalist Zoot shoes for triathlons, so I knew I could at least try.)
I actually bought my first pair like the day after I finished my first IM, which was mid-Sept 2009. I thought that my recovery phase after the IM would be a good time, because I would be just starting all over and not worrying about speed, etc.
Like a lot of people, I was too aggressive about the distances at first, and paid for it with the typical sore areas. I did a LITTLE running in my old shoes, but this didn't really work for me, since they induced a completely different gait. Instead, I just biked a little more and ran a little less.
Without dragging this on too long, I found getting the distance up slowly with nothing faster than maybe HMP was what worked for me. I didn't declare myself converted probably until December. If you had asked me in advance, I'd have said that the real "OS" would be a tough time to switch . Although it's natural to run faster with better form...it's just that you are also beating yourself up more.
It sounds like the advice you got from Leigh should work great given that you didn't have the time that I did.
Over the last few months, I've even taken the orthotics out of my Newtons, so it's been a good thing for me. Again...this is just me...and my issues are probably different than yours, but for what it's worth..