Two weeks ago I was out running (on the road) and about 2 miles in I felt a sharp pull in my right calf muscle.

Made it home, and hobbled around all day at the office.

Gave it a week of "rest" (no more running, I did do some very moderate hiking and a bit of climbing in there), and gave it another go.

Felt great, for 1.25 miles, then the same thing again.
Not as bad this time, and I took some Vitamin I and then later some Aleve, so I wasn't hop-along Cassidy afterwards.

Another week of "rest" (as above), and went out again this am (trail run this time). Started off relatively slow, then picked it up as I warmed up. Started feeling pretty good, so I picked up the pace a tad.
At about 2+ miles, same f'n thing. Felt kinda like a window shade rolling up.

Took 2 Aleve (turns out our supply of Vitamin I is "expired". D'OH!!! ) and a hot shower.

Prior to 2 weeks ago, I've never had a problem even remotely like this.


So, I'm looking for advice on how to avoid and treat this sorta thing:
Total rest? Easy recovery exercise?
Ice vs. heat? Or both?
Vitamin I vs. Aleve?

To complicate matters, I have an adventure race this Saturday am. Thankfully the trek/run/orienteering part will only likely be approx 6-8 miles or so, so I'll probably just have to suck it up for that part.
(The rest is mt biking and paddling, that should be fine)

Thanks in advance for your advice.
-M

well it probably happened now cause youre old. muscle pulss or strains are a tough thing to percsribe the right treatment since what works for some people wont work for others.

i would say easy / moderate exercise, up until it hurts, kind of like how you would treat a finger injury.

make sure you stretch alot, and i personally like aleve over advil for muscle pain.

but that is what i would do and not a medical veiwpoint.

Hmm, taking part in a competition with a partial muscle tear, huh? Sounds familiar. Hint - take a look at the scar on BD2's bicep.

IANAD but I think if you insist on running with this injury, you will effect a complete tear. Calf injuries (my wife had one last year) can heal completely, but it ain't gonna happen in a week.

Running's dangerous - stick to climbing.

Suck it up ya big bawl baby nancy boy girly man

I had a similar injury biking. Sort of a small tear. These injuries probably take 4-6 weeks to heal, even if they are minor tears. The medicine probably just dulls the pain. The danger you run, so to speak, is making it into a permanently recurring injury. Rest is the best solution. After that I would recommend stretching and warming up before you race to avoid this sort of thing in the future. Good luck. (I'm no doctor by the way, so ymmv.)

Same thing happened during my last marathon in the mid-80's (trying to qualify for the US Olympic trials). I needed to take 6 mos off, and only went walking on a daily basis, and then slowly came back into it. Now a days I still run hard on it but it has never hurt since.

Take it easy, you have all the time in the world for it too heal. No use blowing it totally. Do oter things (like climb), swim, bike... and then coming back into it forget about what you were doing before.

Advise that Dick Beardsley ( in the early '80's he was a decent marathoner) gave me when I was frustrated with getting back into it; leave the watch at home... just go out and run a few miles and listen to your body, if you take the watch you may decide to "train" instead of letting your body adjust to the renewed stress.

OK Mike, you heard him. So from now on only run at (Chas's) easy recovery pace: 6:30/mile.