Half a mile in and calf gone again 😫 W7R1

[Mitchm77]

Left it 6 days since I pulled my calf muscle on W6R3. Was feeling really good. Stretched before the 5 minute walk. Just over half a mile and it went again! I’m so gutted! I don’t want to lose all that I gained! 😢

[Dobbydoodah Graduate]

Sorry to hear that. Its so annoying isn't it! I tore a calf muscle a few weeks ago, eventually had to take 3 weeks out which I found so frustrating. Back running now, take time to repair, it will be worth the wait. Listen to your body.

[KayBee1000 Graduate]

Hello,

I wonder if you’re over-stretching before you run? I was doing that early on, and in my opinion it was worse than not stretching at all!

Muscles need a bit of time to warm up and get ready for action (particularly when we get past a certain age). If you stretch them too much from ‘cold’ you can do a lot of damage.

Instead of stretching try just pumping your legs up and down until your legs feel ‘warm’ inside - I go up and down on the balls of my feet, getting quicker, for about 15-20 repetitions, until my legs feel a bit warm. Then I do very gentle stretches/lunges (literally only stretching a couple of cm, not doing huge stretches).

After my run I do bigger stretches and hold the stretch, that seems to lessen muscle fatigue after a run.

You just need to find what works for you and your body as everyone is different, but it sounds like gentler stretching might be worth a try?

Good luck.

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Maybe you need higher drop shoes. Or try heel cups in your shoes.

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