Tight calf muscle... Again!

I'm in Florida this week. So, that means daily morning runs. The weather is just about ideal so the running is enjoyable. Except for... my right calf. This is something I struggle with pretty consistently when running. It prevents me from increasing my distance the way I would like to be ready for the 13.1 mile running leg of next year's half ironman. These are the factors that I believe will help to prevent muscle cramps:

1. Adequate hydration.
2. Trace minerals, particularly potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium.
3. Regular stretching of the vulnerable muscles.
4. Accomodation to longer runnning distances.
5. Adequate warmup before the run.

So, I'm drinking water before my run, eating bananas and drinking orange juice, doing regular yoga and concentrating as well on stretching both calves, and working on long slow distance runs. I think that what I need to do now is hold myself back a little before I start each run to make sure my calf muscles have warmed up and loosened. This is hard to do because when I walk out the door, I naturally break into a trot and gradually increase my speed.
On tuesday this week I ran about 5-6 miles finishing with a sore right calf. Bad start! Wednesday, I started with a quarter mile "brisk" walk so that I could feel my right calf stretching easily then finished with a slightly shorter 3-4 mile run. My right calf felt pretty good when I finished. A little sore, but not threatening to seize up on me. This morning again my run was preceeded by a quarter mile walking warm up and I completed 5-6 miles feeling very good, even had a little bit of a "kick" at the end. I'm not ready to claim victory over my muscle cramping problems but things are definitely looking up. And I will definitely be walking to begin my runs from now on. One way or another, I'll figure this out! :-)