Hello everyone, this is my first post for over 3 months, I been too depressed!
Back in early July I had completed C25K and was enjoying my consolidation runs and starting to work towards 10K. Then I hurt my calf whilst running a relatively modest 5K, there was I think I would be out for a maximum of 2 weeks... Its been misery ever since!
There have been many false starts over the intervening weeks, think it had healed and I was ready to run again. Last Monday I decided I was going to try again, I thought I would go back to Week 4 of C25K, but yet again there is still a problem with my calf, it doesn't exactly hurt, but it didn't feel right. The feeling has disappeared again now, so I am going to give it another 2 weeks and then try again.
I have no idea what I did to it, but it must have been pretty severe! The really disappointing thing is that I have now lost all of the endurance and stamina I had gained. Oh well at least it won't be boiling hot, like it was last summer, when I finally manage to start running again!
Happy running.
V.
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Visionon
Graduate10
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Oh so sorry to hear this. Did you ever get checked out by a physio? It sounds like a calf strain/tear. These can take a LONG time to fully heal. I pulled a calf muscle at the start of this year, and I couldn’t run for a few weeks. Even when the pain had subsided and the muscle had healed, I could still “feel” it. It is really important to not run with muscle tears, as it just gets worse and worse, so you did the right thing by resting it. I found sports massages really helped me with mine, once it was mostly healed. I think mine was caused by doing too much hill running too fast - and then doing it with tight calf muscles!
I now strengthen my calfs by doing calf raises whilst brushing my teeth twice a day - and am really noticing the difference!
You will get your strength and stamina back, don’t worry about that. Think how lovely it will feel as you get fitter again!
No I never did get checked out by the physio, my wife said I should try sports massage. I feel it is almost sorted, but I just keep digging at it and aggravating it, because I am too impatient!
I had a few calf problems post c25k graduation. I’d definitely recommend seeing a sports physio. They will be able to tell you whether it’s a tear or something else and will give you the appropriate exercises. If you have a local running shop or running club they can probably recommend someone to you. It’s well worth the £40-50. Good luck.
I know how that feels. But running on a tear can just make it worse again, if it is a tear. Might I suggest you at least go see your GP, to rule out other things? I know it is highly unlikely, but a pain in the calf can also be a sign of a DVT. My massage guy made me go get mine checked out before he would massage me! (But it was definitely a strain.) The sports massage really can help speed up recovery if it is a strain.
Hopefully you’re over the hump now and you can start back from the beginning of the programme, keeping it slow and gentle. We’re here for a chat if ever you need us! 😀👍
Oh flippin eck. What a nuisance ☹️ It may have been a tear. We can get micro tears which are really painful and take a while to heal.
Hopefully you”ll be ok to get back out there soon and pick up where you left off. If not, not to worry. Take care. I hope your calf will behave itself Good luck 🙂
Oh no...I hope you’ve been finding some other activities you can do to keep you sane at least. I’m with the others on suggesting you see a Physio or Sports Therapist, or at least ask your GP for advice (some uk ones even refer quite quickly for an nhs Physio appt). Sometimes they can help make things last for much less time. Good luck getting sorted. ❤️❤️❤️
Welcome back to the forum Vision! I'm sorry to hear about your injury. It's been a long recovery, but it sounds like you've made progress, keep that in mind too. It's better not to push it, as it wouldn't be enjoyable. You may find that you have more endurance than you expect when your running pain free. I did say WHEN, just like you did with C25K, you will do this too! You certainly sound as though your close to being off the IC, so hopefully, it won't be too long before we're cheering you on again! 🤗❤️
No offence meant here, but have you actually had the injury medically checked out? Coming back too soon and too hard isn’t good and leads to re-injury. I’d certainly be seeing a sports physio and taking their advice.
I would, it’s recurring and you don’t want to cause a permanent weakness... many footballers have cut careers short or been less than they should have been because they came back too soon and too hard when injured.
Also, don’t take offence, I read all your posts... you’re fast... but I get the impression you’re fast every run, which is something even the likes of Mo Farah doesn’t do, because it leads to injury. My advice would be to learn slower paces, they’re safer and they will make you faster. See if your local running club has coached sessions and maybe have that coach help you find your slow. My coach used to kick my ass if I lapped too quickly!
Oh no - rubbish to hear this Visionon. My first thought was the same as some of the others on here and to get it checked out Hope you can get back on the road soon though!
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But running on a tear can just make it worse again, if it is a tear. Might I suggest you at least go see your GP, to rule out other things? I know it is highly unlikely, but a pain in the calf can also be a sign of a DVT. My massage guy made me go get mine checked out before he would massage me! (But it was definitely a strain.) The sports massage really can help speed up recovery if it is a strain. 
Half on, half off the IC
Still running!
Off the couch! (🤞) 
Help, Advice, Calf Injury
