Is it normal?

1 watcher

Nellers Jun 2015 10:16am, 21 Jun 2015 29,752 posts	0 Nellers No not that. That's fine! Get your minds out of the gutter!;-) I'm coming back from a muscle tear in my right calf. I'm managing slow runs up to 2 miles now without any pain while I run. The next morning though, my calf is aching where the tear was/is. Is this a sign that I'm not properly healed and need to back off again or is it just the way things go and it'll take longer to feel completely "normal". It's the first time I've had this type of injury and I've no real idea how things are meant to develop. Thanks.
icemaiden Jun 2015 11:02am, 21 Jun 2015 4,392 posts	0 icemaiden I've no idea but as it was you I had to click the thread. I hope it feels better soon!
Diogenes Jun 2015 11:03am, 21 Jun 2015 9,946 posts	0 Diogenes I was worried there might be a picture. I'd say it was, from my experience, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's right.
Canute Jun 2015 11:26am, 21 Jun 2015 1,524 posts	0 Canute When the torn muscles healed, collagen fibres would have been laid down in a jumbled manner. Once you start using the muscle again, some of these need to be torn apart or wrenched into a better alignment, so some discomfort is expected. It is not good to wait until there is absolutely no discomfort before training again because some re-modelling of fibre alignment is good. So provided you build up gradually and the discomfort s is not very marked, it is probably OK.
Nellers Jun 2015 11:37am, 21 Jun 2015 29,754 posts	0 Nellers That makes sense, Canute. Thanks. I'm not getting any problems while I'm running but the aches, which are most noticable in the morning. I was thinking it might be a sign of a longer-term problem but hopefully it's not.
Nellers Jun 2015 12:01pm, 21 Jun 2015 29,755 posts	0 Nellers Any thoughts on whether I should be stretching it more or not at all?
HellsBells Jun 2015 12:11pm, 21 Jun 2015 19,398 posts	0 HellsBells personally I wouldn't stretch a newly healed tear as I think you'd be more likely to tear it again - I have no evidence for this view, it just seems logical
Nellers Jun 2015 12:52pm, 21 Jun 2015 29,756 posts	0 Nellers That was my thinking, HB, but like you I'm working from first principals rather than knowledge or experience.
alpenrose Jun 2015 12:56pm, 21 Jun 2015 10,445 posts	0 alpenrose My logic says that After Canute's comment a massage might help with re-aligning the muscles etc. I recently had an issue with my calf and a "knot" was felt and worked on. One short "ginger" run later and all seemed back to normal.
Derby Tup Jun 2015 1:47pm, 21 Jun 2015 16,460 posts	0 Derby Tup I tore a calf and it was a while after healing (I didn't run for a month) that it felt right when running. The first few gentle walk / run outings were awful because I was very conscious it just "didn't feel right". It felt tight and "lumpy". A friend said there's a fair amount of collateral damage for want of a better expression with a torn muscle I would not stretch a torn muscle. What I did was loads of heel raise etc to build strength back up. Walking and cycling on it were okay from about 10 days after the tear, which was like being shot in the leg!