I'm new here, any advice would be really really helpful!.
So today I completed my first ever week 1 run, but halfway through my calfs were in so much pain I had to stop. I kept going but was unable to complete the last run. I don't understand why as I am fairly active (I attend regular yoga classes, and I'm always getting told off for working far too quickly - I can probably walk quicker than I can run).
Any help or advice would be great! Thank you
Written by
GingerSoph
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Water is the first one. Muscles need water and lots of it. How's your hydration normally? You need to increase your hydration on the day prior to your runs and with weather like this right up to your run.
Some self massage will help. Either using your hands or gently thumping with the thumb sides of your fists (gently) or even with a rolling pin.
Running uses different parts of the muscles. I thought I'd be pretty ok as a cyclist but my shins were really bad for a few weeks and my calves got tighter. I swear by a massage stick 👍😁
Hmm. I don’t think I land correctly. The woman in my ear told me the bit about other people seeing your head bob up and down. I don’t seem to be able to change that.
Thumping down is a tendency at the start... think... what I call, kissing the ground with your feet... sounds daft... but it works Just think it... and it happens... I still do it nearly three years on
I met nobody except loads of traffic speeding past, so I was safe enough from the kissing of people! But the kissing of feet did not go so well. I think that style of kissing if applied to people would knock a person’s front teeth out. Will try again on the next run!
Hi Soph - I didn’t get problems with my calfs until W3 (but I had a break of nearly 2 weeks just before 😳). My run tonight was much better and I think it’s because I gave myself time for proper stretching. I have back problems too and the one I found most helpful for both back and calf muscles was simply standing in front of the stairs with feet just over shoulder width apart, standing tall, stretching up with hands then slowly reaching down to first step (not particularly flexible) and ‘bopping’ there for a little while. Another one I do is just stretching on to my tiptoes and doing a few reps of those. Didn’t notice any issues with my calfs today (W4R1) 😊
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