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Runner's Forum: Lower calf/upper achilles pain

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorFree Memberchi1749
    • CommentTimeSep 17th 2008
     
    chi1749

     I have been feeling pain in my lower calf and upper achilles lately in my runs.  It doesn't hurt to the point where I can't run at all but it has gotten worse this past week.  I recently made the switch to Nike Structure+ and have been wearing it for just under a month now.  Before Nike, I have been wearing Asics 2120's and thought I'd give a different shoe a try.  The structure is only about 185miles old.   I have never had any problems before with my legs so this is sort of a shock to me.  Any ideas?

     

     

     

     

     

     

  2.  
    rpetreccajr
    Any changes beside the change in shoes? Increase in mileage? New type of workouts? Add any hills to your runs? Are you doing appropriate stretches for your calves? If not, were you before? If the only changes in your running routine are new shoes and new pain, and those changes came about as first shoes and then pain, I would presume the shoes to be the culprits.
  3.  
    giggles32006
    Sounds like Achilles tendonitis to me...I suggest going to an orthopedic office to get custom insole orthotics...they work wonders.
    • CommentAuthorFree MemberHarbourboy
    • CommentTimeSep 20th 2008
     
    Harbourboy

    I would also go see a physiotherapist and have them take a look at your muscles.  I had similar pain and when I went to see the physio, he did a few tests and told me that my glutes were weak and so the calves were taking more load than they should.  He gave me some specific glute strengthen exercises and since then my calf pains have gradually got better (as my glutes have become stronger).

     This is the sort of stuff that is pretty hard to diagnose without expert help.  If you can find a good physio, he or she will be worth their weight in gold to you.

    • CommentAuthorFree Memberkiwitifosi
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2008
     
    kiwitifosi

    Woo, Chi1749, take the shoes off and don't put them back on again! I too used to run in Asics 2120s with no problems at all, and then for some mad reason I changed to a pair of Asics Kayanos, which I'm sure are a great shoe if you need that level of support, but they gave me grief from the very first run. I ended up with a lot of nonspecific pain in the medial side of my lower leg, which even rest (OK, so it was only a couple of days!) and sports massage didn't fix completely. I stopped using the shoes with 250 km on them, but four weeks ago I was running up a steep hill and my calf muscle tore with a nasty pop. My physio reckons there are also tears in the musculo-tendinous junction down by the Achilles. No running for six weeks. Six weeks! (I've run for 27 years and never torn a muscle before and aside from my rapidly receding date of birth, the only real change to my running was my shoes.)

    Harbourboy is right - a good physio is the best friend you can have. Find one that you like and respect, talk to them - and then listen to what they say!    

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