Calf muscles pain

jrar

Well into double figures now as prep for Dublin marathon - did a 17 mile run last Mon. and just under 20 this morning. On both occasions my calf muscles were screaming for me to stop (so that's a worry considering I'll be trying to do 26 miles on the day !) but on both days the pain was worse when I actually stopped.

I iced them today and then ensured I stretched etc. but the pain was in the muscle and quite intense, and only subsided after about 30/45 mins.

Question is, how do I go about keeping this pain at bay to allow me to finish the race (I'm only aiming for 10 min. miles for a time somewhere around 4:20/4:30), and what if anything can I do to minimise the pain when I stop ?

Peckham

Get to a physio asap! Only they can work out what exactly is causing this and provide a remedy of stretching etc. that will fix it.

PM me if you want a recommendation of one in your area.

billyhead

It may not be anything serious. You did just run 17 miles and it could be just a matter of the calve muscles needing to get used to runing long distance i.e no pain no gain. If its still there after a couple of days and is fairly intense then I would see a physio. Training for a marathon incorporates not only taking a lot of personal time and committment but also putting up with a lot of aches and pains.

jrar

The actual calf pain had subsided within an hour tops and all I feel since is a little overall stiffness (probably as a result of doing over 45 miles in 6 days) but right now, my calves are no worse than anywhere else.

I guess what troubled me was that on both the 17 and 20 mile runs, it was the only muscle that seemed to be on the verge of "going", so I just wondered whether it was indeed a side-affect of distance running and/or whether there was any way of warding off the pain (I do stretch well before a run), or at least of getting it to manageable proportions once it does arrive, or once I finish a run.

HardyEustace

Go to a physio. It's still 8 weeks to the marathon so if you injure yourself now just a you're getting into your really long runs it could have major repercussions for your training.

For the sake of one visit, it's worth checking out. if nothing else, you'll get a good sports massage which will loosen out all your little niggles and make running more enjoyable.

I ignored the pains in my legs/knees for Dublin last year. I finished the marathon but then couldn't run for four months afterwards, it was awful. Being a lot more careful with my training now and having regular massages and a cold bath after every run. Once you're injured you'd move heaven and earth to get back running. Thus one visit to the physio is peanuts in comparison. Just make sure that you get to a good physio who is actively involved in sports. Otherwise they won't have a clue.

This forum is a good place to start. There's a good few thread looking for good physios in Dublin.

Fergal C

HardyEustace wrote:

... a cold bath after every run...

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but do you just get into a bath of cold water?

How long do you stay in it?

What are the benefits of this?

HardyEustace

Henri, the benefits are the same as encasing your legs in ice after a run. It reduces swelling and helps to prevent future injuries. The water is icy cold so its on the same principle as icing(and not of the cake-icing variety!) a bit of you after a run. The reason the bath is good is because you're treating all areas of your legs thus your itbs, your knees, your calves... basically all the bits that can go wrong and then some are cooled down.

I spend ten minutes in the water. From chatting to my PT he reckons that it's a great idea to have the cold bath and that the ten minutes is sufficient for me as I'm an exremely lean build. (To give you an idea I'll weigh under or just about seven and a half stone just before the marathon). However for someone with a bigger build then they'd probably need to spend about 15 minutes in the bath.

And yes, you just get into the bath of cold water! Had fierce problems last year after the marathon, running into this year, so grasping the nettle of all solutions! When I was injured I swore I'd do anything to get back running as I missed it so, so much. A cold bath really seems to work well for me (as well as regular PT sessions and having great shoes).

A lot of people do find a cold bath very effective. In order to lessen the pain (I almost fell off the chair laughing when I first heard this but ended up following the good advice), you wear a wolly hat in the cold bath, along with a wolly jumper. A cup of hot chocolate can also be drunk while sitting in the cold bath. Stay in the bath for as long as possible (either over ten minutes or until you start to cry for your mammy (max 15 mins)).

Said cold bath must be plunged into within the first 15 minutes of finishing the run to 1. get the maximum good out of it 2. stop you from backing out of the cold bath 3. also if you wait, you cool down so it's a LOT colder when you're getting in.

Two entry strategies are either a straight plunge into the bath or a slow easing into the bath. Not sure which is the most beneficial! I tend to go for somewhere in between. It's advisable to turn the radio on for distraction. I know at this point that some might instead say "why not listen to cd?". The reason for this is due to the fact that I feared that I'd develop a pavlovian response to a particular song and would start to associate it (and the associated pain) with the song, ... or start taking off all my clothes and searching for wolly hats!

The first time I tried it my neighbours must've thought that I've either had a religious conversion or that my s*x life has moved up a considerable notch or two. I decided to go straight for the plunge option . All I remember is shrieking in shock and saying "oh my god" repeatedly in a high pitched sqeak for the first five minutes. The shock, the cold, the unbearable pervasive nature of the cold water, even now are still somewhat blocked from my memory(thank god).

To be honest in summer it's not so bad, but I'm dreading the arrival of the winter months. It's so cold you get pins and needles in your legs while sitting in the bath.

After the ten minutes a long, hot shower is a blessed relief (kind of a mix of hot and cold therapy).

thirtyfoot

Scientifically the jury is still out on iced baths, as far as I'm aware there is still no conclusive evidence of its physical benefits. However, if it has some positive mental effect on someone after hard exercise its useful so if you feel it works for you continue with it.

My point is just in case anybody is thinking ice baths are the next big thing and a sure fire way to stay injury free. The best way to stay injury free is to structure your training correctly and ensure you are strong, flexible and looking after yourself by eating well and resting properly.

PS : Of the people I know who use it and find benefit, 10-15mins at about 10 celsius does the trick for them. Just never worked for me.

HardyEustace

Very good point Tingle, as I mentioned in the mail.

HardyEustace wrote:

A cold bath really seems to work well for me (as well as regular PT sessions and having great shoes).

And I must say that if I don't get enough sleep my running can deteriorate by up to a minute/mile. Similarily if I've been eating badly it always has an enormous effect. After all if you fuel your body badly, you're just not going to run fast.

I don't know about it having a positive mental effect! ha-ha... It's more a very, very cold, but its-something-I-have-to-do effect!

I don't know if I mentioned it but my feet have started to swell when I run so its a big help for this. If you get soft tissue swelling then it definitely works.

Bobby04

Please forgive my total ignorance on this subject; is an infra-red sauna good/bad/indifferent to 1. ease aches & pain 2. improve recovery 3. help prevent/cure muscle strain, after a run?

Also, you mention healthy eating, but what is the effect of drinking alcohol while trying to improve running performance, both speed and stamina?

thirtyfoot

Don't know of any backup to prove saunas work but I wouldn't rely on it to prevent or cure muscle strains. Bill Bowerman was a legendary US coach and he swore by saunas as a recovery aid.

On the drinking, the biggest problem I find with drink is that it ensures you have an incomplete nights sleep even if you get the 8 or 9 hours which means the recovery and restoration of the body isn't maximised after a workout. It also leaves you dehydrated as it reverses the natural anti-diuretic process in the body, leading to all the problems that dehydration through exercise can cause.

Bobby04

Thanks for the reply Tingle.

Regarding the sauna, I just suspect that infra-red heat may not be good for tired/sore muscles after a run when conventional advice seems to be to ice them ie. the exact opposite of heating them!

ss43

This is how I understand it at present. I am not an expert and my explanation mightn't be the best.

Ice slows the flow of blood to the site which is good in the early stages of an injury where there are tears to fibres and cells are damaged.

Heat increases blood flow, therefroe increases supply of oxygen to the muscles which is good when trying to buffer the hydrogen ions produced alongside lactic acid.

Alternating hot and cold gives an even bigger increase in blood flow as the heat casuses the blood to over compensate for the cold.

That would lead me to believe that ice should only be used when using hot and cold treatment and when someone is injured.

To speed recovery in normal training increasing the blood flow is what you should need.

That's just my take on it. There's probably some errors and it's possibly completely off but it might be some use to people.

Fergal C

HardyEustace, thanks for your detailed and informative reply. I've tried a cold bath in the last few days. To make it easier to get in, I got into an empty bath and then turned on the cold water to fill it up.

Must get myself a woolly hat.