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Is Swimming Killing My Run?
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 2015-03-01 2:03 PM |
 353   Conroe, Texas |  Subject: Is Swimming Killing My Run?History: I have been fighting pain in the upper part of my Achilles where it attaches to my calf muscles for 8 to 10 months now. I sort of self diagnosed myself with tendentious and stopped running for 3 weeks and took 400mg of Naproxen Sodium daily but I kept swimming 5 days a week and cycling 2 times a week. The pain subsided after the 3 weeks so I started running again slowly but after the 2nd 3 mile run the pain returned. After nursing my calves with slow runs , Ice and compression for another 4 weeks the pain would not go away. I figured I had not given myself enough time to heal properly so I shelved the running for 6 weeks and no cycling, just swimming 5 days a week as before. After the 6 weeks was up I was very cautious in starting up the running again with slow 2-3 miles runs every other day. I managed to make it a little over a week before the pain returned and you could probably imagine my frustration. For a while now I've been suspecting my swim may have something to do with the issue since it started around the time I increased my swim workouts to 1500yds+. In an effort to get my marathon training in starting in December I decreased my swim sessions to 3 days a week and this actually allowed me to increase my run distance and frequency. With my Marathon just around the corner I decreased my swim to 2 1500yd workouts per week and the week before the Marathon I did not swim at all. Yesterday was race day and I completed the 26.2 miles with NO calf pain at all. Normally on my Sunday long runs of 16 miles I would have to ice bath my calves and wear compression sleeves for 24hrs afterwards just to get them back to running condition in 3 days. Today I don't even have a hint of pain in the calves after running a full marathon. Am I on the right track? Anyone else have issues with their calves while training for Triathlons? |
| 2015-03-01 6:04 PM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
Master 8247   Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Personally, I haven't had any issues with calves or achilles that get aggravated by swimming, but I do sometimes see kids with sore achilles or calf cramps from pushing off the wall too forcefully (I can't imagine this is an issue for most triathletes, unless you do a lot of aggressive speedwork in the pool) or sometimes pointing their toes on the kick. You might want to have someone look at your swim form to see if you are doing that. Swim fins can sometimes also irritate ankles or calves, especially in distance runners, who tend to have fairly inflexible ankles. If you use them a lot, you might want to try going without and see if that helps, and work more on ankle flexibility. It could also be just coincidence. Maybe the injury was more serious than you thought and just took an unexpectedly long time to heal. |
| 2015-03-01 9:22 PM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
Veteran 2297 Great White North | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? No I think your injury just took that long to heal. |
| 2015-03-02 7:06 AM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
754 | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Three years ago, I tore an AT, right where it connected to the calf. It took about a year and a half to heal. The orthopedist and physical therapist both said that swimming was fine. However, healing took longer than it should have because I tried to take care of it myself for a few months before I sought medical help and kept pushing it, making it worse. |
| 2015-03-02 8:16 AM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
| 370 , North Carolina | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Start swimming again and see what happens. While, it doesn't seem logical for swimming to make your calves hurt that bad, it not out of the realm of possibilities. |
| 2015-03-02 8:33 AM in reply to: simpsonbo |
Member 1748 Exton, PA | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Originally posted by simpsonbo No I think your injury just took that long to heal. ^^^ Agree, I never heard of swimming causing pains in the leg like that. |
| 2015-03-02 9:38 AM in reply to: mike761 |
| 221 | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? I suspect I get the same thing. Never had calf cramps/strains while running in my life until I started swimming last year. The pain ranged from my Achilles to my lower calves. I kept thinking swim days were "rest days" too, but the issue didn't go away. As my swimming form continues to improve (less pointing of the toes and flexing of the calves), the calf issues are becoming less frequent. |
| 2015-03-02 11:50 AM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
Member 78 Pineville, North Carolina | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Interesting...I just started having calf issues in the exact spot you describe as well. I started masters swimming in December, and as a result I increased my swim volume significantly (almost 3x). It continued to increase in January. During this time, I was not running a lot. In mid-February I experienced a calf cramp while running that stayed tight for a few days. I stopped running and it eventually loosened up, but it continues to stay sensitive and will cramp more often than I have experienced before. Maybe the big increase in swim volume along with more running is putting too much stress on my calves? One more data point - I am working to improve my pull, and any full pull drills (paddles + bouy) are miserable for me. I can't keep up with the pace. But I do have a strong kick. I am usually way ahead of the pack in the kick drills. Maybe using my legs more in my swimming has an impact? I see most of the posts feel this should not have an impact, but your post got me thinking that it might make sense in my case as well... |
| 2015-03-02 4:11 PM in reply to: roserc |
| 928 | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? When I was recovering from my Achilles injury last year, I also found that as I reintroduced running I had to stop swimming. Swimming was aggravating whatever healing was taking place, and preventing me from continuing running. Once I recovered completely I was able to swim again without issue. |
| 2015-03-02 6:20 PM in reply to: sawyer1206 |
Regular 585 Pueblo, Colorado | Subject: RE: Is Swimming Killing My Run? Calf strains in that area are pretty common and can recur fairly easily. What's worked for me is a lot of stretching (once healed). Since I started stretching my calf muscles daily, I've seen a significant reduction in that issue. |
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