Distance Runner More advice on my calfs and coaches

Off-topic
1

So, I took all of your advice. Got fitted to a pair of 100$ shoes, the fitting was an amazing experience. So yeah did that, and changed my technique a lot. Problem with shin splints not solved, but considerably better. No thanks to my stupid coach.

Now after the shoes and technique change, I’ve got massive calf pain. Seriously, it causes me to gimp around. I stretch, I heat, I message, I ice, I soak (in Epsom salts), I do all there is to do. Still pain.

My coaches answer, as it was before is intelligently enough, to work through the pain. I’m not sure if he understands that I’m in physical pain Vs. my lungs are in pain, kind of thing. I can’t even run enough to get a work out.

I hate to be the complainy bitch on the team, always making excuses for their times sucking but I’ve got the papers and times to back me up. First 2miler of the season was 12:38, or something close. Today I ran a 15:08. That is over two and a half minutes. They tell me to work through the pain. Pff. Earlier on, I kicked several people ahead at the end of the 2mile when most couldn’t kick at all, now I’m limping by, I actually got lapped. I was dead last. I crossed the finish breathing easy.

Should I tell my coach to piss off? He seems to be an arrogant unintelligent man with his head where the sun don’t shine. He and his wife miss everyones split, except their precious little angles. She’s good, but they ignore a lot of other people. His wife showed me a quad stretch for me calf, and dude wants us to run a mile+ before we warm up.

/rant

Seriously help appreciated, I’d like to do good this season, at least once, I got 3rd by 4 seconds early on. Maybe a first once. My coach is of no help at all.

Thankew

BTW- I eat a clean diet, take a really good multi- and get 1gal+ each day in water. So it’s not that my body doesn’t have what it needs to repair itself.

2

Give it time, your caffs should get stronger, and you will be running fine. Until then you will probably get really bad times. If they don’t feel better in a week or two, then i don’t know what to tell you.

3

Fill a trash can with ice water and sit in it for 10-15 minutes after your workouts each day. That will do several things: reduce swelling, flush waste products from muscles, and decrease metabolic activity. Then as you warm back up, you get fresh blood flowing into your muscles which speeds the healing process.

We would do this during track after our workouts. I was also a distance runner. One tip to make it feel less cold is to not move when in the icewater. The more you move the more you feel the cold.

4

Is it you calf or akiles tendon? Muscle pain isn’t to much to worry about from my experiences but tendon pain is some thing you really want to watch for.

5

Been about a week and a half- two weeks.

Would do this if I could. Can’t. I get ice wrapped when possible, but it seems are athletic trainer is never there, at all, or just wandering around some place which I don’t know. All he leaves is a note saying call somebody if it’s important.

It is not my tendon. It’s mainly my upper left calf muscle, on the outside bit of the leg which hurts so bad. I can’t kick, or even get a normal stride, I’ve got to grandpa jog. I’m used to muscle soreness, I lifted all winter long, wasn’t really any time which at least one part of my wasn’t sore, usually more. This is like a shooting pain when I run though, it’s not a good sore like benching or such.

6

What running shop did you go to? What shoes did you end up with? What made the experience so amazing?

7

Well Billy, you work at Wal-mart right? You must see the kind of buffoons that place will hire. Your not one of them of course, but still you know.

I went to Elite Runners and Walkers of Pittsburgh, I believe. To start off, a semi-attractive young lady asked what I was looking for, I informed her running shoes. She said “Alright, please come this way” and lead me to a bench. She told me to roll my pants up and walk a bit, she crouched down and observed. She even picked up my old stinky trainers and examined them, after which she brought out three pairs of shoes, which should be comfortable for me, as I waited. She unlaced them and pretty much put them on my feet, I tied them. The first pair was good, then she had me take one off and put another brand on to try and compare. At the end I had tried on 5 different kinds of running shoes, and even took a stroll on the tread mill. She couched down to observe my run, to make sure I had the right shoe. I also tried on 3 pairs of track shoes.

Amazing, polite, friendly, knowledgeable, no guess work at all.

I ended up with a pair of Brooks running shoes, the gts 10, I think. Amazingly comfortable, I mean all the shoes were really comfy, but these were the best of the best. I didn’t have a problem with one pair.

After I selected the shoes, she boxed them up, took them up front and said I was free to look around some more.

She probably would have brought out 20 pairs if I asked her to. Spent about 45minutes total.

I’ve gone to footlocker, they simply grunt at the most expensive pair of shoes in the place, toss the box in your lap and walk away. And service in general is bad these days, I’ve never had somebody from a store actually invest time into me, as a customer.

8

It sounds like the pain started after the new shoes. It could go away after the shoes break in or it could be the wrong shoes all together. It took me years to find the right shoe and by that time I was done running.

9

I had the same tightness/pain in the calf when I started running again after spending a lot of time spinning short cranks on a unicycle. It slowly got better with time as I started to run more.

Generally it just sounds like you are over training to me.

I understand you want to do well but sometimes less is more.

10

Any good book/website on training: It’s quality of the training not the quantity.

Working through pain is so old school.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--13104-0,00.html#

Push too hard and you will have rest days whether you want to or not.

This is what happened to me: http://www.eorthopod.com/content/sesamoid-problems

Six weeks on crutches (no weight bearing), six weeks in a walking cast (even while sleeping)

Six months off training, and 3 months of taping my foot before every workout. A year before I was pain free and working out 100%.

It’s a fine line between gutting it out and being stupid. Find some running web sites and/or orthopedic web sites with forums where you can discuss your training and your chronic pain.

11

Yeah, I figured it was over training.

Telling the coach I’m taking some time off, if he doesn’t agree it is his problem.

I put my trust in the coaches, thinking they would help me improve over the season. Nope, my times have been decreasing, and they act as if I’m faking the pain almost. I saw more improvement when I trained by myself, and went of books/web advice. I timed myself and tracked my progress… kind of sad I could train myself better.

Him and his wife were seriously telling me to sprint when I was limping. I’m just going to take my training into my own hands, coach can say what he wants. Nothing he has done has helped me, we don’t do intervals, speed work, technique or anything, just base miles really. Every now and then we will do like ten minute of butt kickers, high knees, but that about every other week maybe.

Don’t think it’s the shoes, could be, but I doubt it. I’ve really changed my running style, I think I’m just under developed in the calf. Can’t win.

12

When you heal up a bit, try doing some calf raises to strengthen your calfs. Weights routines should be part of every runner’s training. It should be endurance lifting though not strength lifting. Work abs every day though no matter what.

13

Good for you!

Good healing!

14

A couple of years ago I had shin splints. The only thing that helped me was goblet squats. I can’t do them with my feet flat on the floor so there’s a wood slat under my heels.

Find a suitable weight to balance and then work on using a lighter and lighter weight.