Calf Injury (not all bad news)

Well the good new first:

This past Saturday I was 1st place in my age group 50-54 and 40^th out of 412 overall in a sprint distance Triathlon at Rancho Seco Park in California.   Later this week, I will post the full race report which will provide the exciting details of the event.

The Bad news:

In preparation for my a upcoming race, I added some hill work and some longer but slower runs to my workouts as well as much longer open water swims.  However I did not significantly increase my overall monthly average in terms of miles.  I just tried to mix it up a little.

About a week and a half ago, I was on a run with my Marathon buddy and we were going pretty slow (8:01 MPM  pace) as I was tired from a hard training week and it was very hot outside.  Towards the end of our run, in a matter of about 100 feet or so, both of my calves started to tighten up (cramp) but I was able to run through it for the next ½ mile or so.  After I stopped running, I was in significant pain which caused me to limp back ¼ mile to the car.  When I got home I climbed into an ice bath for 15 minutes twice, separated by about an hour.  I took ice baths for the next three days and did not run at all for a full week.  Two days before my race I still felt some stiffness in my calves but more like a good workout type of thing.  I took a very easy jog and felt good.

The morning of my race I stretched out and did my usual pre race routine.  During the race, my swim went exactly as planned, my bike was a tenth slower (average MPH) than my plan and I felt really good when I rolled into T-2.  I started my run at my planned 7:30 MPM pace for the first 1/8^th mile with an intention to ramp up to a 7:00 MPM pace for the balance of the run.  At about ¼ mile, just after speeding up,  I felt a fairly sudden cramp in my left calf which made it very difficult to run.  I adjusted my speed to 8:00 which is as fast as I could possibly do and continued for the balance of the run which was 3 miles total on a hilly course.  During the run, the pain varied from what I would characterize as extreme to really bad and back to extreme.  Stopping was absolutely not an option as I felt pretty certain I was leading my age group by about a minute and change.

After the race I was nearly crippled with pain and had great difficulty walking.  A physical therapist rubbed out my calf for about twenty minutes.  I then used ice and ibuprophen and beer to manage the pain.  The next day I was still very stiff but was walking better and after moving around assisting my children with their race, I began to loosen up and feel much better but not totally healed by any means. 

I have noticed that when I sit or am not active for a while my calf tightens up.  After moving around I get loose and feel better.

Anyway, what kind of advice does anyone have for me regarding this problem?