gah, soleus pain

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

So my training has been ramping up nicely before the race, and everything
seemed fine until last week I started getting some mild soleus pain. I

That's a too much speed, not enough base injury.

I don't think you need to panic just yet. Take a couple of days off, maintain
volume, back away from any fast speed work. A tempo run each week should still
be OK.

What you need to avoid is hammering out short intervals.

Cheers,
--
Elflord

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

So my training has been ramping up nicely before the race, and everything
seemed fine until last week I started getting some mild soleus pain. I
back down as much as I could and it was quite OK for my long run this
Sunday. Monday I just biked. Today I ran a bit, but it started
getting a bit painful in the middle of the session, so I backed off. Now,
this feels like something that may gradually heal if I don't push it but
continue my every-other-day schedule. On the other hand, I have my first
race on July 1st and I don't want to miss it. Is it safest to take a
few extra days off, perhaps doing biking, or doing continuing with my
routine but with less intensity and/or volume?

--
Christos Dimitrakakis
Homepage:http://www.idiap.ch/~dimitrak/main.html
Music:http://olethros.dmusic.com

I get gay sleous pain too. Just use body glide where "the sun don't
shine" and you'll be cured.

"Christos Dimitrakakis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So my training has been ramping up nicely before the race, and everything
seemed fine until last week I started getting some mild soleus pain. I
back down as much as I could and it was quite OK for my long run this
Sunday. Monday I just biked. Today I ran a bit, but it started
getting a bit painful in the middle of the session, so I backed off. Now,
this feels like something that may gradually heal if I don't push it but
continue my every-other-day schedule. On the other hand, I have my first
race on July 1st and I don't want to miss it. Is it safest to take a
few extra days off, perhaps doing biking, or doing continuing with my
routine but with less intensity and/or volume?

--
Christos Dimitrakakis
Homepage: http://www.idiap.ch/~dimitrak/main.html
Music: http://olethros.dmusic.com

July 1st is coming right up, so consider the time until then to be a taper.
You can back off everything in a taper. No faster running until the race,
except some careful strides perhaps a few days before the race. Beware of
biking too much - biking tightens calf muscles generally. So for a couple of
days, just rest it, then try some easy running and gentle stretching. If you
want to bike more, wait until you can stretch it after each biking sesssion.

-Tony

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

So my training has been ramping up nicely before the race, and everything
seemed fine until last week I started getting some mild soleus pain. I
back down as much as I could and it was quite OK for my long run this
Sunday. Monday I just biked. Today I ran a bit, but it started
getting a bit painful in the middle of the session, so I backed off. Now,
this feels like something that may gradually heal if I don't push it but
continue my every-other-day schedule. On the other hand, I have my first
race on July 1st and I don't want to miss it. Is it safest to take a
few extra days off, perhaps doing biking, or doing continuing with my
routine but with less intensity and/or volume?

Sorry you've hit a snag with the calf pain. I've been admiring your
progress, so I'm going to throw in my 2 cents here.

First, are you sure it didn't start as a hydration / electroyte issue?
The first week of warm weather I noticed the soleus wanted to cramp up
until I had the "duh!, drink more" revelation.

Second, fortunately the upper calf muscles are quite accessible to
massage and "rolling them out":
http://www.achillestendon.com/PreventingInjuries.html

Quoted message said:

As part of a stretching program, also consider massage. Lightly massage
the calf muscles before exercising and massage the calf muscles and Achilles
tendons after exercising. Although there is some controversy as to the
benefits of massage, many health professionals believe that massage:
reduces muscle and tendon tightness, promotes healing, reduces the
time muscles need to recover from exercise, and increases flexibility.
Use the fingers to massage the Achilles tendons. Use a rolling pin (or
similar commercial device) for the calf muscles.

Last thought: I'm not sure why, but in my case the best way to
prevent / relieve tight soleus and gastrocs is to relax my toes.

Good luck!
--
Daniel ( [email hidden] )

Donovan said:

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

everything seemed fine until last week I started getting
some mild soleus pain.

That's a too much speed, not enough base injury.

Yeah, my soleus barked at me on a few occasions this spring, seemingly
in response to an abrupt injection of too much fast uphill running.
That was at about the beginning of my PF discomfort - I'm guessing
related.

Tony S. said:

"Christos Dimitrakakis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

So for a couple of
days, just rest it, then try some easy running and gentle stretching. If you
want to bike more, wait until you can stretch it after each biking sesssion.

Thanks Tony, it actually never hurts while biking and stretching it
today feels fine. Of course, the race is all uphill with an average
grade of 10%, so I should be extra-careful.

Charlie Pendejo said:

Donovan said:

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

everything seemed fine until last week I started getting
some mild soleus pain.

Quoted message said:

That's a too much speed, not enough base injury.

Yeah, my soleus barked at me on a few occasions this spring, seemingly
in response to an abrupt injection of too much fast uphill running.
That was at about the beginning of my PF discomfort - I'm guessing
related.

Most of my training is either slow hills or faster flat running so
that seems to be that, yes. I did read somewhere that PF usually
begins as a soleus injury, so you could be right on the money about
that too.

Daniel said:

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:08:17 +0200, Christos Dimitrakakis

Quoted message said:

So my training has been ramping up nicely before the race, and everything

Quoted message said:

Sorry you've hit a snag with the calf pain. I've been admiring your
progress, so I'm going to throw in my 2 cents here.

Thanks, I am humbled 🙂

Quoted message said:

First, are you sure it didn't start as a hydration / electroyte issue?
The first week of warm weather I noticed the soleus wanted to cramp up
until I had the "duh!, drink more" revelation.

Could be. I have been trying to drink a couple of cups of water
before starting out, but the weather is quite hot these days. Maybe it
is time to switch my runs to the early mornings.

Quoted message said:

Second, fortunately the upper calf muscles are quite accessible to
massage and "rolling them out":http://www.achillestendon.com/PreventingInjuries.html

I am massaging as much as possible :P

"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Donovan said:

Christos Dimitrakakis said:

everything seemed fine until last week I started getting
some mild soleus pain.

That's a too much speed, not enough base injury.

Yeah, my soleus barked at me on a few occasions this spring, seemingly
in response to an abrupt injection of too much fast uphill running.
That was at about the beginning of my PF discomfort - I'm guessing
related.

Good guess.

-Doug

"Christos Dimitrakakis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Charlie Pendejo said:

Donovan said:

Christos Dimitrakakis wrote:
> everything seemed fine until last week I started getting
> some mild soleus pain.

Quoted message said:

That's a too much speed, not enough base injury.

Yeah, my soleus barked at me on a few occasions this spring,
seemingly
in response to an abrupt injection of too much fast uphill running.
That was at about the beginning of my PF discomfort - I'm guessing
related.

Most of my training is either slow hills or faster flat running so
that seems to be that, yes. I did read somewhere that PF usually
begins as a soleus injury, so you could be right on the money about
that too.

I don't know if PF starts with a soleous problem but it's all
connected - foot fasciia, achilles, and soleous are all connected as a
unit. Any one can cause a problem. This is the reason most foot docs
will tell you to stay off hills and speed work when you have PF and
achilles issues. If your soleous is tight, it pulls on the achilles and
fasciia - more stress.

The soleus does seem to be better now. I did some moderate biking and
some extremely light soleus and calf raises at the gym on Wednesday,
which did not elicit any discomfort whatsoever.

Yesterday I went for a very easy half an hour hill run.

Today I'll just do some easy stretching. I'll probably do a leisurely
hike on saturday and a long hill run on Sunday. Then two easy 30
minute runs before Sunday's race (one flat on Tuesday and one hilly on
Thursday).

I don't think I will detrain if I do nothing this week, but I feel
restless if I don't run for more than two days.