I'll try to keep this short.

During a fire dept hiring process the FD training staff advised buying good running shoes. I went to a running store, had my running analyzed. They recommended pronator correction shoes and I bought them. After running in them I noticed calf pain. I dismissed it thinking my legs were getting used to not pronating. I still ran ~5-10mi/wk with a combination of sprint intervals, hills, and long, slow runs.

My old pair never gave me any problems. I've put <90mi on them.

I got hired at the fire department and we did a 1.5mi run. I finished in 11:54. We also ran hills, power walked, and did other running circuits. Last Monday we did the 1.5 again and my time slipped to 12:32. The next day we ran again and I couldn't get a stride. I was jogging at a walking paces/stride. My PT officer was understanding and put me on bicycle/elliptical duty for the time being. I'm due to go to the clinic Monday.

I'm taking naproxen OTC 6x/day. Icing 2x/day after work; 4-6x/day on weekends. Resting as much as possible when at home. Stuff I cannot change are that we run on concrete, run hills (levees), and I cannot completely rest from all leg PT. (Remember this is all job-related, not a race). I have gone back to using my old shoes.

The calf pain is dull on walking, sharper on running. I don't have full range of motion when walking so I shuffle some. The pain is posterior, at the bottom of the calf muscles, and around medially to the shin. It extends distally to the ankle. The pain isn't so severe that I can't jog. After I try to run I can hardly walk. The main problem is I have no leg power. I cannot open up my stride at all.

A condition of graduating academy is running a 1.5mi, 1.75mi, and 2mi run within a certain time. I've made my times on the practice runs. I have about 4 weeks before I have to do the first official 1.5mi run. Cardio's not a problem. I need some recommendations on how to heal my calves so that I can run.

Any advice is appreciated. Sorry it's so long.