Wk 4, run 1

[Scottish101]

Hi, yesterday was my wk4, r1 and my calves are so so sore today!

I did my weeks 1 and 2, then I did two weeks of wk3 purely because the look of wk4 scared me, but I needn't have worried after all. It was definitely manageable just going at a steady pace and I was so pleased to have accomplished that first run, but I'm so sore this morning.

I do 3 or 4 runs each week, all on the treadmill, coz I didn't realise you could give yourself the weekend off - I've been doing it religiously every 2nd day.

However Sunday there, should have been my 7th run for wk3, but we had been at Edinb zoo all day, and spent 5 hrs walking, had tea on the way home so then didn't want to run on a full stomach, so I missed it and just started wk4 yesterday.

So I'm wondering if all my walking on Sunday then that run yesterday has made my calves extra tender?

[Vicxzy Graduate]

Yes give yourself more rest days

Another good one for calves is stand backwards on the edge of a stair with one heel hanging over the edge. Push down through the heel So you get a deep stretch in the muscle it does hurt but in a nice way (!) and certainly helps. Good luck.

[Hidden]

Hi Scottish. I've been doing R1, rest day, R2, rest day, R3, 2 days rest. Then I start the next week. I thought I had read somewhere to do this - now I'm wondering if I made it up!!! however, it does seem to be working for me so far.

[Scottish101 in reply to Hidden]

It'll be me that hasn't read it properly! Thanks to you both for your replies, more rest days seem to be the way to go, can't complain with that I suppose!

[nhs2015 Graduate]

I am not an expert however if it was me I would give it an extra day rest. Perhaps you went to fast?

[agedsnailspace Graduate]

The rest days are there for you to recover - so long as you aren't still feeling sore the day following you rest day, you are good! In these early weeks, you will feel the impact of the extra exercise and combined with the walk around the zoo, it may be that you overdid it a bit. The stretching exercise is a good one and as well as that you might want to consider investing in a foam roller to help ease sore muscles.

[Ugifer]

It's been suggested above, but do make sure you stretch, particularly after you finish a run.

I found calves to be the muscles that took the most hammering when I started running and you can expect them to be stiff, but if they are really sore then more stretching and more rest days are probably in order.

There is no essential rate at which you need to the runs - you want to get at least 2 runs in each week, preferably 3 to keep your fitness improving but leaving 2 days between weeks is not a bad plan and an extra rest day here and there will certainly not hurt.

Keep it up - you're doing great.

Ugi

[Scottish101]

Thanks for all the replies. I did some stretching this afternoon, too sore to do it this morning. Definitely not as sore now as they were first thing - walking down stairs this morning, one stair at a time! I've had sore calves before, maybe when I just started wk1, but not as sore as today's.

I might need that extra rest day tomorrow so the muscles recover, so perhaps better not have that ice cream after tea tonight 😞