Calves tightening

Stretching much?

If not, here are four good calf stretches: (1) wall push with rear leg straight (stretches main calf muscle (gasroc), (2) wall push with rear leg bent (stretches lower down the leg...achilles/soleus, (3) dropping heel off the edge of curb/step, and (4) while seated and leg extended straight, grab both ends of a towel that is looped around your foot/toes to stretch your calf.

It is critically important that you stretch those calves out...otherwise you will likely be back here shortly complaining of achilles pain, plantar fascitis, tibialis posterior tendinitis or one of the many other lower leg/foot ailments that come from overly tight calf muscles.

Also, how long have you been running those distances? The vast majority of calf-cramping is related to over-exertion or running further/harder than your body is prepared to do.

Have i run these distances before yes I've been putting in short runs during the week 2x a wk and 1 long run during the weekend. Just to let you know it's been close to 2 months since coming off a foot injury i sustained while i ran in the Austin Half Marathon last Feb. Might i add the healing process was long. As for pre-run activities i've been doing 20 min warm-ups before my runs. Gets a bit confusing when there's two different versions of why one should or should not stretch before a run, so i just warm up pretty much and go. Now if i'm doing something wrong by all means i'm here to listen. I'm not an elite or have a colliegate or high school background in running, that's what i love doing. When running there's nothing like it, when your out the door early in the morning especially during the weekend when there's no one on the roads well you understand what i mean. I'm just want to get myself back to running shape so i can run the Austin Marathon this coming Feb. Any advice or critisism i'm here to listen.


Thanks.

There are three general causes of leg cramping: hydration, over-exertion, and naturally tight calf muscles. From what you've said, it sounds like hydration is definitely not the issue, and over exertion is not likely the issue (although jumping back into 8 mile runs after 2 months off *may* be pushing it some...that's more of a personal evaluation). So that leaves overly tight muscles that need to be stretched as the most likely cause.

I think the general premise on pre-exercise stretching is that you shouldn't do any deep stretches on a "cold" muscle. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do any stretching, especially if you are exhibiting signs of tightness and cramping.

Three options:

1. Start your workout with very gentle stretching, working your way up to deeper stretches.
2. Do your stretching at the end of your 20 minute warmup.
3. Do your stretching at the end of your workout (yes this will still help immensely...you should be able to get an even deeper stretch (as long as you haven't cramped up), helping you out for those subsequent runs)

My suggestion would be #2. Just make sure you do *something*...speaking from personal experience, "tolerating" the calf cramps will just lead to more major issues like those noted above.

Thanks for the tip - I have had similar issues and have actually injured myself a couple times (feels/sounds like Achilles tendonitis for me), and will definitely try the stretch, warmup, stretch more and then finish the run.

Hey ricro thanks for the input i will put it into good use because i definetly do not want to go through another injury again. Going to be running a 5k next month coming in fort hood this will be my first race since last Feb at the 1/2 marathon in austin. Just to get back to the starting line is going to feel great. Once again Thanks.

New pair of NB and they only have roughly 30 miles on them, and no i was not fitted, the nearest store is about 55 miles away if i wanted to get a fitting done by a specialty store. never had a problem running with NB my problem occurred when running the half in austin in feb 08 with a pair of brooks that was fitted. never again will i wear a pair of brooks and let me add that i'm a heel striker and that can be causing a problem too. Now i will be looking into a new pair of Newtons, heard many great things about them as a matter of fact my PT recommended looking into purchasing a pair of newton running shoes. even a couple of friends of mine who are triathletes actually wear them and did not hear not one bad thing about them. So whatever it takes to get me running comfortable again those steps will be taken.

Heel striking can definitely exacerbate the problem. Try shortening the front half of your stride and lengthening the back half of your stride.

Will do...Gave my run and my legs a few days off, letting my legs heal a bit since i was giving some instructions from other athlethes that i need to listen to my body first so i can keep training for the marathon in Austin Tx in Feb 09 without a glich. Picked up some inserts for my running shoes, since i'm flat footed, they make it more comfortable to run especially when i'm planting my foot, but i will start working on the planting of the feet. Once that is over i'll be training for my first tri The Rookie in may 2009 in New Bruanfels, TX.