Have I injured my calves?

ReusableGore

Long story short, I went too far too fast on a pair of barefoot running shoes using a forefoot strike for the first time ever.

I was not just sore the day after, I was in pain. I could not walk for three days after the run, I had to shuffle around because my calves refused to work.

I learned my lesson and committed to gradually easing into a forefoot strike. I just went running for the first time in a week, and had to stop after half a mile due to the pain in my calves. I can't walk down stairs right now, its not soreness in my calves its sharp pain.

Are my muscles still recovering, or have I injured myself? I hope I can walk tomorrow, shuffling around work sucks.

Telex

There's not much you can do except light stretching and icing until they loosen up. If you have or can get a foam roller or massage stick, those work great for getting deep in the muscles (this will hurt, but it should feel like a "good" pain). Your lack of movement between the run means the muscles haven't had a chance to "work out" the soreness yet, so I bet after a few days of light movement/massage you will feel much better. Just keep moving them as much as you can tolerate until then.

Those barefoot running shoes can be very dangerous if you jump into them too quickly, but I doubt you did any lasting damage on one run. The bigger risk is a stress fracture because of long term overdoing-it on hard surfaces like sidewalks and city streets. Keep in mind that while humans did evolve to run barefoot, we also evolved to run on dirt and grass. When barefoot running, do it on soft surfaces as much as possible. And also make sure that even when you feel better, you stick to a gradual plan. I've heard it recommended to do no more than 1 mile total during your first week, and add no more than 10% of last weeks total barefoot-running time each week thereafter. It will take about 9-12 months to be fully used to them.

(You might be doing this already - the preceding paragraph is more cautionary than anything else. I work in a running store and hear about this kind of stuff all the time. Barefoot shoes are great for what they do, but in my opinion are more limited than many people believe)

Slider

I think your calves are simply very, very sore. You probably just used some muscles that are normally not being used when you run.

Keep stretching and use ice to help with inflammation.

WildEEP

If you can, hit the doctors office and they can confirm.
I think the previous postings are correct - you may have just torn a muscle and its gonna take time to heal. The Doc can perscribe you some muscle relaxants and pain killers.

Robman

When you say your calves, do you mean the front or the back?

The muscles of the shin are held quite tightly in their fascia coat, which makes inflammation of them VERY painful. That's the source behind shin splints.

Your "calf"muscles, the rear muscles, are a little more forgiving, but they can still get constricted. As well, there are two distinct muscles there - it's possible you've never really used one before running on bare feet. Do some deep squats to build up your shank strength.