I beat ya...16 inches and 30:35 10K
I beat ya...16 inches and 30:35 10K
15 inch calves...big...this thread surprised me because i thought for the longest time about this and how i was sure small calves= faster running and now i am positive it is true..
does anyone with large calves also feel that it is harder for them to do as much running as small calved peers and recover at an equal rate.. like you have more runs that just end up so tiring where your legs are heavy because you have big legs/calves..
Guess this is one reason the only running Hillary Clinton will do is running for office
I'm about the same as "gotcha". I'm 5'10" and have 15 to 16 inch calves depending on how I'm standing when I'm measuring. 6 mile best is 29:28 (15 years ago). I was skinnier then, so my calves must have been smaller, but I always got comments about large calves even then. I got them from my dad... my mom has small calves.
As for recovery from distance running, there was a period in college when I was running 140 miles per week on 20 mile singles every day (I wasn't on a team, so I could do what I wanted). My recovery was good.
Got everyone beat so far:
At largest point, calves are 16.5-17 inches in diameter.
5000 - 14:45
10000 - 30:33
In college, I took a lot of crap for my huge calves. They are almost as big as my quads. I am 5'10.5" and when I ran those PRs, I weighed roughly 145-147.
Anyone else?
6 feet tall, 150 pounds when in shape, white, male, 15 to 16 inches, 14 flat 5k. I do not really think that big calves slow you down(maybe a little because they weigh more) but I think they help recovery. My body can take pretty high mileage. Plenty of great runners have big calves. Look at some pictures of Kevin Sullivan, Teg, Solinsky, and even Ritz's calves are big compared to the rest of his body.
Who on here thinks they have they have the smallest calves?
I have 12 inch calves (fattest point). I can run a sub 2 800 pretty easily, but I can't run a 17 minute 5K to save my life.
Also, I run 50-60MPW on average.
Ahh... Finally a good thread.
5ft9,5 150lbs (on a really good day) 15.5-16inch calves, 3.53 1500m. (14.50 5k).
Feel I need quite some time to recover, but that's not my beloved calfs problem. That's just limited talent in general, I guess.
14in. 5'10 142- 3:43-1500m
I don't think it really matters much as I don't think they play a prime role in running.
Calf size seems to be relative to how the muscles are attached to the bones.
Be careful when looking at photos of calfs and making judgements about size, your calves look larger when your foot is off the ground and your reaching for your next step.