What did I just do???

So last Saturday, while trail running with friends, I felt a little twinge at the bottom of my calf, on the inside, after a little too fast for me downhill section. Finished the run ok, ran easy on Sunday, no real issues. Took Monday off and went out this morning. Ran 3 miles to my turnaround, felt the twinge but nothing bad at all, then BAM! no warning, a REALLY sharp pain. Thought I had kicked a stick or something then realized it was my calf. Starts about 4" above the top of my shoe and runs up to the center of my calf, on the inside, not the back.

Had to kind of hobble with my toe turned out 45 degrees thinking how much fun it was going to be getting home like this. Wound up getting home and by the end could actually walk with toe in front of heal, but something is wrong. Ibuprofin and ice right now, but curious what I might have done. I think it's more in the calf and not the achilles, but was definitely a 'pop' and a sharp pain. However, I did walk 3 miles home so I doubt I tore anything.

Wierd, there was no warning and I was running real easy at the time.... Any thoughts???

I would counter that the warning was the soreness you felt during your trail run. Sounds like some sort of -itis. Mark's pretty good with figuring out which muscle it is, so I'll leave that to him (though a Google image search of the lower leg muscles will probably help you figure out which one it is). Anti-inflams might be dulling the pain, but if it IS something inflammation related, it's only hindering the healing.

Wow, with a recommendation like that, I guess I have to take a stab at it.

Sounds like a dandy muscle spasm/cramp/strain in one of the supporting muscles of the ankle. That makes sense, given a trail run, which already seemed to overstimulate those supporting muscles. It seems more likely than pulling your soleus.




I'd keep icing and elevating it for a day or two with no running and see how it feels. You could try alphabet exercises (drawing each letter of the alphabet with your big toe, flexing your ankle and lower leg to "write" the letters) to work the muscles.

If it's still bugging you, or you feel a persistent knot in that part of the leg after a few days, or if you still have pain, you should probably get it checked out. (And heaven knows, I'm no doctor, so please don't take my word for it.)

I don't know what it is but you described exactly the one injury I've had (twice) since I started running. For me, it has been 3-5 days off of running but both times I've found that I can use the ellipitical with no issue at all. Weird but it goes away quickly. I thought I had been kicked from behind when it happened to me while playing soccer but when I looked around, there was nobody within 10 yards of me. But the sharp pain and location was exactly as you describe.

Sounds like the very edge of the soleus to me. Chris' suggestion is a good idea. 3-5 days off, ice, and see where you are then. I had a buddy who pushed it on his and was out for 6 weeks to let it heal.

Chris M wrote:I thought I had been kicked from behind when it happened to me while playing soccer but when I looked around, there was nobody within 10 yards of me.

Funny, I turned around as well because I couldn't figure out what hurt so bad.

Thanks for the replies. It's quite tight, especially going up and down the stairs, but no sharp pain. Hard as it is for me to do, a few days off is probably what it will take.

Damn....

I would 3rd the soleus strain. Ice and vitamin I will help. Once it no longer hurts, light stretching, and then keep it stretched.

That is exactly where I hurt when I had a soleus pull. On the good side, it let me run on it again within a week. On the bad side, it bothered me on and off after that for months. Not necessarily enough to stop me running, but it was not pleasant, and it still tightens up on me at times if I don't do a good amount of stretching. I found that massage helped it quite a bit when it would flare up on me.

Would walking 2 or 3 miles be good or should I just rest?

Rest it completely for two or three days, then try an easy walk. There's no sense in pushing your luck.

Tim C wrote:Would walking 2 or 3 miles be good or should I just rest?

Serious runners don't walk.

Tim C wrote:Would walking 2 or 3 miles be good or should I just rest?

Full rest for a few days with ice and maybe massage. Wait to try stretching. After 2-3 days see how it feel with light stretching, if OK, try a short slow run, if that is OK, you are good to go, but watch anything speedy for a week or two and stretch and ice after every session for a bit.

I would invest in such. If you all remember here and from Hal's sight, I have had and still have Soleus muscle problems (since 1991). Strangely enough, since I have been wearing my compression socks (September 2011), they have been sore, but never pulled. Food for thought.

I wore my compression socks a lot too when I had my soleus issue. Loved them! I have both the sleeves and the socks and I still wear the sleeves fairly often for recovery after long runs.