Hi everyone,not run for 3 weeks due to calf injury,doing my head in not being able to go out running.anyone got any advise on how to keep motivated as the longer i am out of action the more depressed i am getting.i dont do gyms as i have tried them and found them really boring.

Hi RR - have you thought about seeing a physio? If you've been injured for 3 weeks it sounds serious? What's the problem anyway?

What about swimming?

On the subject of swimming...try aqua jogging. You don't need the floats. You might look stupid but it'll keep you going.

Are you doing any form of active recovery or is it just passive?

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I'm a bit tubby.

Don't you need a weight belt to keep you from floating TC? Or is is just fat folk like me who float?

join the club. i've been suffering calf strains on and off for the last year - a physio member of our club reckons that there is a calf virus as nothing seems to help it apart from time. i put it down to lack of stretching regularly, especially at the end of races, and find that physio helps. i am also cutting down on the amount of tea that i drink as i wonder if it causes depletion of salts as well as dehydration. i have twice strained my calf in my sleep through cramp but this has not recurred since cutting back on tea (from about 20 very weak mugs a day or 4 teapots full). stretching when injured doesn't seem to help much, but when you start back try to slowly jog for say 5 mins to warm up then stretch thoroughly, especially the hamstrings, calfs and achilles.

as for exercising when injured, cycling is usually good, especially on a tank like mine, and doesn't cause problems for most of my many ailments. to make it more interesting try to vary your routes, i have now cycled along every road in the area including dead ends and used to spot car number plates from1 to 999 to give me something to look at. (but then i'm a bit obsessive) i also have an old rowing machine which is good for the beer gut.

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it's not how fast, it's how often

I would do various forms of cross training to keep fit. I do cycling and rowing.

I have also had injuries over the years.

Turns out all my injuries are related to my flat feet which I didn't even know I had until I saw a podiatrist.

I would suggest that every athlete looks at their feet as any problems in the feet translate up to the knee, hip and back.

I sympathise with your injury because I have had my fair share and have a chronic achilles nerve twinge (I think).

Good luck and speedy recovery.

Regular "gentle" calf and hamstring massage helps, it just loosens the muscles around the problem area which leads to quicker recovery along with swimming.