Nike Free Update

I love running in my Nike Free's. They are so light and very comfortable. I have gradually increased my Nike Free mileage, and although I had one scary moment where I thought I had got injured again, I am running pain free and looking forward to the day that I can say I no longer need Orthotics. The rest of this post is a more detailed log of the last 3 weeks of running while I rotated my New Balances (with Orthotics) and my Nike Free's...

I first ran in my Nike Free's on 10/8 when I ran 1.25 miles, I then ran 1.25 miles (10/10) and 2.00 miles (10/12) and my legs had been feeling great with no reaction from my calves at all. My fourth run was unfortunately a different story all together...

After having no reaction from my first three runs, I decided to see how 2.8 miles (the length of the Greenway out and back) would feel. I also decided to run without the dogs for the first time (I had taken Scout and Molly with me on my previous three Nike Free runs). So, on 10/14 I ran 2.79 miles at 7:53/mile and although my calves felt fine during the run, before I'd even made it the home (3 minute walk) I knew I had done too much because I felt my right calf (the one that has been causing me my problems) tighten up. I did my post-run stretching routine and although the muscle loosened up, I had a dull ache for the rest of the day.

When I woke up the following day, I wasn't sure what to make of the situation as my calf felt fine. Was it my calf simply not being used to running faster and longer in the Nike Free's and aching for a few hours as a result? or had I done some damage? I decided to be cautious as my left calf had felt fine and I took the day off of running.

The next day, both calves felt fine and I set out on a longer run in my New Balances. I stretched and warmed up like I normally do and was cautious during the first mile, but everything felt fine. In fact, I felt great! I took a longer loop around the neighborhood that contained a number of up hill and down hill sections and ran at a tempo pace. I felt fine during the run, but as I began my walk home, my right calf tightened again. My excitement at completing a challenging tempo run was quickly replaced with a feeling that maybe I had hurt myself again after all.

I returned home and stretched, and this time the tightness was replaced by an all to familiar ache - the one that I had felt over the summer. I retrieved my Ace compression sleeve from a draw and strapped it on. I hadn't felt any knee pain, but that typically didn't appear immediately, so I couldn't even take that as a good sign.

The following day (Sunday) I woke up and the ache was still present - not as strong, but it was still there. There was no knee pain, so I pleased about that. I kept the compression sleeve on as much as I could that day, but I was flying to Portland and I didn't want it on while I was in the air.

On Monday the ache was gone. I still wore the compression sleeve as a precaution, but I was happy that the pain had gone away so quickly. Maybe it was just a slight reaction to the extra distance after all!

On Tuesday and Thursday I ran cautiously in my New Balances in Portland (I didn't have room in my bag for my Nike Free's) and my calves felt fine. I had told myself to stop immediately at any sign of tightness or discomfort, but there wasn't any. I flew home on Friday, rested on Saturday and ran a 5 mile tempo run in my New Balances on Sunday with no reaction. It was a relief to get through a tempo run without an calf issues and I gave myself a pat on the back for listening to my body.

I took the calf issues as a warning sign and decided to drop back down to 2 miles for my next Nike Free run and see what reaction I had. I ran 2 miles with the dogs on Monday and my legs felt fine, so I followed that with 5 miles (New Balance), 2.5 miles (Nike Free), 5 miles (New Balance) and 2.75 miles (Nike Free) and my calves feel fine at the moment.

In hindsight, going from 1.25 miles to 2.79 miles in 6 days was much too quick and it is no surprise that my calf was unhappy. Recognizing the signs and taking an 11 day break from running in the Nike Free's (I still wore them for walking every day) seemed to allow the muscle to recover and I completed runs of 2.00, 2.50 and 2.75 miles without issue.

I plan to slowly increase my Nike Free miles and decrease my New Balance miles until I can stop running in the New Balance's all together.

Next week I think I will do this:
Sunday: Monster Dash 5k (Nike Free)
Monday: 4 miles (New Balance)
Tuesday: 3.25 miles (Nike Free)
Wednesday: 4 miles (New Balance)
Thursday: 3.50 miles (Nike Free)
Saturday: 4 miles (New Balance)
Sunday: 3.75 miles (Nike Free)