New Runner - Injury vs muscle soreness

I apologize this is long.......

Hello everyone,

I am VERY new to running and I'm currently enrolled in a class "How to run a marathon". I took the class not to be able to actually run a full marathon (especially not out of the gate as a new runner) but to get assistance in a training program.

Things have been going very well and I have just completed Week 5 of my training. I have worked up to almost 5 miles (4.8) for my long runs and then I run 40 min. two days a week and walk (speed walk) 1-2 days a week.

My question is this, how do you determine injury vs typical training pain? After my long run on Sunday I felt great. No issues...little tired legs but was nothing serious. My run on Tuesday went just fine. No pain. Thursday my run went just as planned, no problems nothing different but on my walking cool down I noticed some pain creeping into my calf. (where the tendon meets the muscles) I attributed it to just some muscle tightness and continued on home and did my stretches. I went to work and noticed  that is was still bothering me (good 3 hrs after the run) and it continued to increase throughout the day. I iced it when I got home, used some muscle rub, and then elevated it. The next morning I was still pretty darn so but I could put pressure on it and walk. I wrapped it to give it some compression and then did not run or walk Friday or Sat.

Everything was feeling pretty good on Sunday, no pain on walking so I decided to give it a go and try a speed walk with some jog sessions. I went ahead a wrapped it just for extra support. Once I got up to speed I felt a little pulling but it wasn't bad. I tried jogging for just a couple min and the pain came right back in. I tried one more time later in the walk to see if it would improve with more of a warm up but, no go. I got home stretched, iced, and elevated. Again I was incredibly sore the next day and wrapped it again but today I am feeling much better. No wrap needed.

I can pinch the tendon and push up and down my calf and no pain but it comes back when I run. I can feel it from my ankle up to where the tendon meets the calf muscle.

If you made it through this long post....bless you. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm nervous to run again and I was supposed to be in a 5k/10k May 7th but it's looking doubtful now :( I'm so frustrated, thoughts?

Shannon

I was thinking it sounds like a stress fracture.  Here's an article from Mayo Clinic.  See if this sounds like what you have.

http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-126247/Stress-fractu res?q=stress+fractures

 

if you are very new to running, i think you may want to back off on the program you are using and go with the couch to 5K program or something that won't increase your milage too quickly.  being very new and up to 5 miles may be the issue as your body needs to adapt to all the wear and tear associated with running.  it takes time for your body and increasing distance and length of your sessions too quickly is a common mistake and root cause for injury.  best of luck and keep posting.

Ok, well my trainer through my class has officially suspended my training until I go in and see a professional for a diagnosis. Her feeling is my achilles tendon may be spasming and it could just be soft tissue issues but I am not allowed to run again until I see someone and get an official diagnosis. :(

I am in tears! Still hoping its not as serious and I will be able to resume running. I so want to run the half!

I won't risk more injury but this was a dream of mine...I hate to see it slipping away...even if its for another year :(

" Once I got up to speed I felt a little pulling but it wasn't bad. "

That's an injury. If it's muscle soreness, working out makes it feel better. If working out makes it hurt, it's an injury.

That's the rule of thumb anyway.

Also, your dream isn't really slipping away. It's just on the slow track.