qcassidy, no I'm pretty set on finishing, even if it means walking most of the way.  I ran 19.5km 4 1/2 weeks ago, then hurt my leg, so I know my body has recently been capable of running that far, and I'm prepared to not be able to walk for a few days after and then to take a month off of running and work back into it slowly.  This has been my goal since January, and I'm determined to complete it!

I need you to have made it, Noah, so I'll think I can too! I'm doing my first half this weekend, and planning to do it in bikilas.  The catch: I've been injured and not running more than 7.5km at a time for the past 4 weeks   I think that will have a lot more to do with my run than the shoes.

Do they ship free overnight to Canada too? I doubt it
I just got some zensah sleeves in the mail though, so we'll see how those work.  My half is on Saturday...6 days! 

Are you icing it, too, Noel?  I hope they told you that part!  My chiro's quote was "ice the heck out of it!"  So 3 times a day I was sitting with an ice pack, it's supposed to help a lot too.
I went for another treatment yesterday and she said my calf feels much "less dense", so I'm done till after the race!  Here's hoping!
1/2 hour treatment...ouch!!!  I don't know if I could sit through that much of it!  I hope it works for you, though!

Let us know how it goes, Noel!  My calf is much better after 3 weeks (6  ART treatments), I was able to run 6km pain free on the weekend, did 4.3k on Tuesday and am going to try to get a 10k in this weekend, then run the half next Saturday.  I assume I'm somewhat deconditioned after not being able to run much for 3 weeks, but atleast I can run again!  I hope you have the same success!

I guess the question is, can you go barefoot comfortably?  If you can, then you can wear VFF's.

I tried using some contact cement that specified "for shoes" to glue bike tube patches onto my VFFs.  The bikila's patches came off in less than 4km, the KSO's lasted about 15km. Other suggestions?

I managed 6.1km tonight and felt good. I just didn't want to go till it hurt and aggravate it again, but I could have kept going.  Then did some massage, lots of stretching, and ice, and still feel great!  I'm hopeful that I may be able to do the half, although it's now been 3 weeks since my last longer run (did 14km the day I hurt myself, and today's was the longest run since).  My physio/sister says it's better to go into the race undertrained and healthy than injured, though, so I'm trying to not push too hard and just heal.

Did they show you any tips at the store for putting them on?  I find that it works best if I fold the heel in flat under my foot and slide my foot in until my toes are just at the openings of the toe holes, then use my fingers to get the in between parts in the right spots, then slide my foot in the rest of the way, walking my toes forwards, then pull up the heel.  Hope that helps!

I recently learned what shin splints are, and the info may help you:  It is actually the muscles on the front of your lower leg that attach to the shin bone that cause the pain. I always thought it was the impact up the bone, so the news that it was muscle attachments was quite interesting. Therefore, those muscles will need time to adapt and strengthen to a different activity, just like the other muscles in your legs and feet.
As I was researching compression sleeves for my calf tightness, I also read that compression sleeves can help with shin splints.

Another suggestion, from dealing with an injury myself, is to try to strenthen the ankle without running for a bit.  My chiro suggested starting with standing on one foot to build to a minute at a time, 3 "sets", 3 times a day, and then standing on one foot and going onto the toes and slowly lowering back down, 10 to a set, 3 sets at a time.  I've seen someone else suggest a wobble board to help strenthen those muscles as well, and I believe there are other threads about that too if you search.

Noel, that sounds a lot like what I've been dealing with (see my thread calf injury --active release).  It's been 2 1/2 weeks so far and 5 active release treatments and I managed 4km pain free on Monday, but it seems to take a long time to recover from this.  Good luck to you!

I ordered some zensah sleeves on Friday, and am anxiously awaiting their arrival! I'm hoping they have more compression than the sugoi socks I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks.
I've been going for ART at a chiro, and resting quite a lot. Giving myself about 4 days at a time before I try again, and stopping as soon as it feels like it's tightening up again.  Lots of ice, compression socks, etc.  I've gone from hurting after 1.5k to doing 4k last night in a week and a half, so I don't know if I can expect to be good for the half or not, but hopeful.  I'll check out your other posts.

I just found this thread through searching for active release.  I've been having the same calf pain that some of you describe here, and am curious how you all made out.  Did you all recover and go on to different problems, or is this one that has continued to flare up on occasion? Also, do you remember how long it took to recover?  So far I've been dealing with it for 2 weeks, and have 2 1/2 weeks till the half marathon I'm registered for. I'm wondering what the chances are that I"ll be better by then. Thanks!