Ouch! Sore Muscles

I'm new to being an "athlete" but am enjoying it very much! My recovery time is amazing thanks to 811lfrv and I feel powerful when I exercise, like I never have before.

Yesterday I tried "barefoot running" in my new barefoot-like shoes. It was GREAT! It took me about a mile and a half to get used to it but I was only able to go two miles before my calves wouldn't let me go any further. I knew this would happen because of using a totally different muscle group but what I didn't expect....

I CAN HARDLY WALK RIGHT NOW! Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night felt impossible, like I would never make it. Every step is painful.

My question is, what can I do to speed up my recovery time? When can I run again? Do I need to wait for the pain to go away entirely or can I try again later today or tomorrow? As I said, I'm new to exercise so I'm just not sure how to approach it.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by mirandroid on February 12, 2010 at 10:56pm

oops, this posted in LFRV Chat.

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Permalink Reply by Ketrin on February 13, 2010 at 2:25am

What did you run on? I had to run a mile and a half for this class that is required to graduate from college and my legs were killing me afterwards. I have horrible chin splints. Turns out it's really bad to run around on concrete inside going a round and round and round, at least that is what I was told my a trainer that I asked on wednesday.

Maybe your legs and body just aren't used to running barefoot yet and they are adjusting to the change... I've always wanted to try that so please let me know how it goes! Just stretch really good before you go to bed. I did that on Tuesday and Wednesday the pain wasn't so bad when I woke up that morning. I know exactly what you mean about barely walking... I was limping around school this whole week & taking those first few steps in the morning were the worst.

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Permalink Reply by jeremy poster on February 13, 2010 at 3:43am

I try to always stretch after working out. Especially barefoot running. I never stretch before hand because someone told me its bad to stretch cold muscles. So when I start running or lifting or anything I just do some warmup excersize first then jump right in to pushing myself.
I had a stint of running on the beach in deep sand. I think it was about 3 miles round trip. I always stretched out real good afterward. Especially my calves. Always felt pretty good. My buddy that was doing the same run always stretched before and never after and he was always sore. I told him about stretching after. He tried it and said it was a world of difference.

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Permalink Reply by mirandroid on February 13, 2010 at 6:27am

Well, I always stretch really well after working out but, yeah, I was using totally unused muscles the whole time and now I can feel each and every one of them while limping around.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Like I said, I expected this. But what I am really wondering is what to do now. When the sore muscles are already there is there anything I can do for faster recovery or to diminish the pain without popping pills? I massaged them really well in a hot bath and that helped but only just a touch and I keep trying to stretch them after walking.

I ran on a treadmill. As far as I understand, the running surface shouldn't make a difference if you don't heel strike, which I was very conscious of, hence the sore calves. My heels barely touched the surface, if at all.