My calves really hurt

D

Donnie Fandango

0
Doing more and more running these days. Good shoes, good technique. Stretch plenty before and after, and I consumer plenty of water daily. For some reason my calves begin to hurt shortly into my jogs and or interval training. I have had this before, but it went away. Not sure why or for that matter, what caused it to come back. It is the muscle for sure, I can feel them "knot" up....I am able to keep running, and they seem to loosen up as I get going, but still remain sore. Once I am done training I rub them out and soak in warm water. Not long after they are fine, the next morening they hurt very little. And this repeats it's self.

Any thoughts??
 
Do you stretch your calves?
Do you foam roll your calves (anything that rolls you can use. It does not have to be a foam roller)?
 
I think you will just have to work through this. When muscles get overworked, they hurt - that's the bad news. The good news is they get stronger afterwards and will eventually not bother you, as long as it is just a muscle issue.

I have never used a foam roller, but others recommend them.
 
lean meats, fresh veggies. A good deal of fruit. protein pre and post workout.

I jog 4 days a week and on one day a week I work extra, extra hard. Sprinting, jogging mixed with stair running at the local high school.
 
Is it a cramping feeling?

If so, you can try to add some Potassium and/or Taurine to your diet which would help with cramps, given you take in a lot of water during the day.
 
Have always been active. Been running for about a year. Laid off a bit and started back up a few weeks ago. It is more of a cramping sensation....I almost feel the muscle "balling" up. Sometimes it works its way gone in just a few minutes, sometimes it lingers for a bit, then goes away. Some days hurts more then others.......:rolleyes:
 
Derwyddon said:
Okay, this is going to sound weird, this is one of my "I know it but can't yet prove it" suggestions.

Start eating bananas. Don't laugh, just try it.

Also, like another poster said, look into getting yourself a foam roller. For 10 bucks you can work out a lot of kinks in your muscle tissue and feel a whole heck of a lot better.
Click to expand...

Nothing weird about this at all. If the soreness you are feeling is minor cramping, cyclists have been carrying bananas in their jersey pockets for decades as an energy source and to help prevent cramping. Here is a link to the benefits of bananas:



(BTW, I rode with Andy Hampsten a couple of times when he and I were both undergraduates at the University of Florida almost three decades ago. The dude was really, really, really fast and I'm sure he is still really, really fast. He qualified for th 1980 Olympics.)
 
I do eat nanners already...but only 2, maybe 3 a day.

We will up that a bit, and I will also try eating one just before I run...will report back after I give this a legitmite try.

Thank you folks;)
 
Too much potassium can cause problems like cramping as well. You have to find what the right amount for you is because everyone is different.
 
I roll my out on a softball bat, it has been a great "juice squeezer outer"

you have lots of good stuff already. The one thing I noticed is that you stretch before you run. I am nto an advocate of that. It is sort of like stretching a cold rubber band- not good!

My sweetie was having some calf pain, and I caught her stretching prior to the run, she stopped, and now she says her calves are sore- but no longer identifies it as pain.

get a mile or two in and then stretch. OR, do like I do, and stretch really well, long slow releasing stretching at the end of each run.

I do know one thing for sure. More running is great therapy for sore calves.

FF
 
Ok...another week or so later....just to update you...those that GARA.


Calves still get sore, but, not nearly as much as they did before. I am eating nanners, but not to many more per day then I did before. I just changed the time when I would eat one....pre and post workout. I think the issue is that my calves just are not strong enough...or conditioned enough. I noticed something goofy. While walking my daughter to her classroom, which requires me to walk up to flights of stairs, if I step nearer to the edge of the stair and do a "calf lift", the muslce feels really good. Becuase of this, I have started more calve strenghten applications in the gym....and THAT seems to be helping more then anything. It's like instant results. I work them out, then run.....very little pain.
 
Shoes

Everyone seems to think you are cramping. It seems to me that your calves are sore from your shoes. I will trust your technique is good. They might be good shoes but just wrong for you and your foot shape. Do the balls of your feet feel a little sore as well as your calves? I had this happen to me, been running my whole life, got some new shoes and all of a sudden calves started hurting. So I went and got another pair of shoes and my calves have never been better. I'm sure you don't want to break down and get another shoe but give it a try. If it hurts enough to post it on here I'm sure it worth 60 bucks for some new shoes. Happy running!
 
Everyone seems to think you are cramping. It seems to me that your calves are sore from your shoes. I will trust your technique is good. They might be good shoes but just wrong for you and your foot shape. Do the balls of your feet feel a little sore as well as your calves? I had this happen to me, been running my whole life, got some new shoes and all of a sudden calves started hurting. So I went and got another pair of shoes and my calves have never been better. I'm sure you don't want to break down and get another shoe but give it a try. If it hurts enough to post it on here I'm sure it worth 60 bucks for some new shoes. Happy running!
 
I have the same problem, but from looking at previous posters who are more experienced, it must be just a development issue. The muscle group might also be strained if you are fairly heavy, possibly the body weight and muscle strength ratio is uneven, giving you the correct sign of improvement; pain.

I'll probably stretch, drink water and include a banana (good potassium (thanks lv)) before running.
 
Running on the balls of your feet or midfoot?

I think this may be related to your running form:

Most of us are heel-toe runners, land on the heel, roll to the toe. If you constantly feel pain in you calf, you probably land more on the midfoot or the ball of your foot before rolling to your toe. There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm not saying you should change to heel-toe. Some may argue that ball/midfoot to toe is even better. If you switched you'd likely get more shin-splits, which a lot of heel-toe runners get (because the shin is pulling the foot towards the body). It's kind of a pick-your poison scenario.

In any case, the point is, depending on your running form and where you land, you'll be affected by certain muscle groups more then others. In your case it's your calves. It's pretty much like g8r80 said though, you just have to keep working through it. Cut back the miles and/or the intensity as your calves start to get used to it. The calf raises you're doing will ultimately help a lot. You're using your calves to run more then others do, so you simply need to have them stronger. Know in the future, as you start to increase distance & speed, that if your calves feel sore, you're probably doing too much and/or going too fast too soon.
 
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