This morning I woke up with a terrible pain in my right calf...almost like a charlie horse. I didn't do any running yesterday, but I did the day before that without any pains at all. I'm not sure if it's a pulled muscle, but sure feels like it could be. I missed my run today because I didn't want to cause a real injury to my calf muscle...I have a 5K coming up in a week from tomorrow. Is it okay to run if it is crampy or was it smart to not run at all? I don't want to be unconditioned for the 5K, but I don't want to end up with an injury and not be able to run it at all. What is the smart thing to do?
Forums » Health & Wellness » Injury Prevention
calf pain
(2 posts)-
Posted 7 months ago #
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I'm no expert, but I think you did the right thing by resting.
Depending on what the pain feels, I'd be tempted to encourage a combination of trying to "stetch it out" to relax it: stretching, warm bath, massage, very very light exercise (like spinning on a bike, or "leg pumps"). These steps should help stretch out the muscle in a gentle way. BUT DON'T PUSH IT! And if it hurts worse then STOP.
Also treatments for swelling seem to be suggested for almost any injury... RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation.
Maybe a little bit of both... although it sounds a little counter intuitive. If you have an injury, then you want to reduce swelling, and slightly increase blood flow to improve healing power.
Good luck! Also, remember that you won't improve your fitness any in the next week... and so taking it easy before your 5K is not a bad idea at all... just rest up and get ready to have a great race!
Posted 7 months ago #
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