Week 5 - running with tight calves?

[lux1]

Found the first 4 weeks to be pretty easy so have been disheartened to find week 5 a little tougher. I've repeated w5r1 3 times because I was finding it tough, just felt really hard to push through it and my calf muscles were so tight it felt like they were seizing up.

Thought maybe following the familiar pattern of doing a new run 3 times would help, and it has helped me with stamina. It no longer feels difficult in terms of mental fatigue and my breathing is steady. But I still feel a lot of discomfort in my calves, especially with the final 5 minutes, and for a minute or two after when I start walking it feels really hard to work because of how tight my calves are.

Is this a sign to keep repeating w5r1? I'd really like to move on to run 2, because otherwise I feel ready. I do recover from the discomfort pretty quickly with cool down and stretching and the next day there's no soreness.

[Instructor57 Graduate]

Welcome to the forum !As this is your first post here have you read our programme guide?

healthunlocked.com/couchto5....

It's packed with really helpful information to guide you through the programme!

As far as the calves are concerned it could be a number of things .

What are your running shoes like ?

Are you wearing shoes advised following a gait analysis from a running shop ?

If your shoes are wrong and not giving correct support then your calves will need to work harder to stabilise the ankles .

Also doing 'Dynamic' calf warm up exercises before you run may help .

Not 'Static' though as this could make it worse .

Maybe add these to your warm up routine .

youtu.be/7Zs4hh4cp98(Not working as expected?)

Are you having a non running day between runs?

Take at least 1 day between runs to recover .

Also make sure you are fully hydrated (not just on run days)

Hope this helps

[lux1 in reply to Instructor57]

Thanks so much! I've been doing all these calf warm ups since I started really as well as resting between runs and staying hydrated. And doing calf exercises. I've also been strength training for a year before I started running. But I've now not run for a few days and my calves are still quite tight.

I do think it's possibly the shoes? When I first started I had pain in my achilles heel and I got a new pair of shoes, and the achilles heel pain improves, but calf pain and heel pain started. I thoght this might just be adjusting to the shoes. I did get my shoes advised from a running shop that analysed my gait and I really don't want to have to keep looking for shoes.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Well done for starting this great programme...you have had some great advice from Instructor57 ...

Pushing through the feeling of tightness is not a great ideas and having to keep repeating the runs will just make it feel even harder?

So.. some lovely exercise to help those calf muscles are the key... Take a look at these too...

healthunlocked.com/strength.......

It is always good on some of your rest days to pop in exercises for your running body, especially as the runs get longer...

Maybe ease back a tad and do get those exercises started...a massage roller too could be useful but please, do follow the instructions on how to use it..used incorrectly they can cause more issues!

[backintime Graduate]

I suffer from tight calves too sometimes.

Some of the exercises OldFloss gave you are great to do while you're boiling the kettle or brushing your teeth, they don't have to take extra time out of your day, but they do help with the tightness and stretching out after helps too.

The other thing that helps me when the tightness starts to strike, is making sure I relax my calf muscle on the leg I'm not using. I found that I was keeping it tight all the time, even when I picked my leg up after using it (not sure if I'm making sense) with my toes pulled up which meant my calves never got a chance to relax. Probably isn't your problem but I thought I'd mention it as it was a small thing to adjust and made a huge difference.

[Gthants in reply to backintime]

That's such a good idea!

[Gthants]

I'm no expert and you're clearly getting great advice here. I am a week behind you and am finding rest days very helpful indeed. I'm also doing a lot of stretching on those rest days. Good luck!

[Cmoi Graduate]

Hi lux1 , I'd second recommendations for ensuring you're well-hydrated, consciously relaxing adn maybe trying some exercises. You might also need to slow down a bit. Remember, too, that the first ten minutes or so of any run often feel tough, due to the "Toxic Ten" - healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

For me, assuming it's just discomfort and not pain, I find that choosing to ignore the tightness and keeping on running and is essential. I run a lot of hills and if I stopped every time my calves felt a bit tight, I'd never run at all.

I stress, though, that you do need to be able to differentiate between feeling uncomfortable and experiencing pain. If you're in pain, don't run.

Hope this helps!