Spastic Left Calf

During my scheduled rest day yesterday, chaos ensued in my left calf. The muscles there were twitching all over and at times cramping. Looking at the calf, you could see the involuntary contractions happening at random, and it reminded me of looking down at a thunderstorm from high up above in an airplane, where you're able to see sporadic eruptions of lightning down on the surface of the clouds.

How my left calf feels

What made matters worse was that it was accompanied by a strange, shooting pain that was unlike any other calf cramp that I've ever experienced. At first I was wondering if it was related to a strain or a pull. Then it was suggested to me by the health occupations instructor at my school that it could be the sciatic nerve, and perhaps the cramping was aggravating it.

Despite the problem still persisting pretty badly today, I decided to go for a test run. I figured that if I could run on it okay, it was indeed just a combo of cramping aggravating the sciatic nerve. If it got worse or hurt more, it would likely indicate a muscle strain or tear, which is more severe.

Fortunately, the running actually helped. I suspect it really is just a bad electrolyte imbalance (helped by the sudden summer-like temps no doubt) and the nerve getting aggravated by the cramping and twitching. I also found my bottle of S-Caps and downed a couple before the run, so that might have helped as well. I could still feel some soreness in the calf, but it got less as the run went on. I even opted to explore a new-to-me trail and went a mile further than planned.

So, all systems go for the 50-miler at Pineland Farms on Sunday. Bit of a scare there, but I feel much more confident after this evening's run. Aside from the calf, the legs felt springy, fresh and raring to go. I'll continue to take in plenty of fluids and electrolytes, and taking another round of S-Caps before bed tonight and a few times tomorrow should help as well.

Ran 4.0 miles @ 9:12/mile pace.
Roads for 1.7 miles, Trails for 2.3
Slightly hilly.
Brooks Mach 11, short, short sleeved shirt.
Upper 70s, sunny.