seriously vain but...

OK - so I'm not entirely sure who to blame out of my parents but I don't have good legs at all in the vanity stakes.  

 A gym instructor who was into body building once told me he envied my calves and recently (at a dating thing) a decathlon chap said my calves look strong.  There are times when they've looked better than normal but that was when I was swimming and diving on a regular (daily and weekend) basis. I now run, occassionally do bodypump and yoga - but not regularly. 

Does anyone have any tips for making them slightly more shapely as I'm a tad worried all this running will make them huge in comparison to the rest of my body.  

ballet is good

and lots of stretches after you have worked out

I'm in the same boat as you Rach. My calves now measure 15.5 inches at their widest. They have slimmed down from a whopping 17 inches since I lost weight/started running so have no fear of them getting any bigger. 

Make sure you stretch them well after training. Very high heels (as uncomfortable as they are) will give your calves a work out too and help to give them more shape.

If you wear boots try getting the sock style pull on ones rather than rigid/structured boots (I generally cannot find a pair that will zip up over my calves). Stay well away from cropped trousers or any skirt which skims your calves (unless you're wearing aforementioned boots). 

Hope this helps.  

how long are your legs ..people with shorter legs often have bulkier muscles than people with longer legs?

if you want skinny baseball bat legs you also need to be skinny as well as tall - look at Paula Radcliffe - tall and very slim

Weirdly I'm 5"7 and medium build, but my legs and torso are almost equal - only driving and cycle instructors notice. 

I've been running for 4/5 years and my calves are pretty toned now, but when I started they were so-so. I think it's important to remember that although you're running and toning your legs, you're never going to change their natural shape - I've come to realise that I'm a petite 5'5 with strong toned legs - I'm never going to be a gangly stick insect! : 0

It's all about acceptance and thinking what can I realistically achieve

an ex boyfiend once told me that i had legs like stuart pearce!

my legs are very muscular but i love them , think this is genrally down to genetics and  have to accept i will never be tall and slim(like my size 10 chocolate munching sister!), cycling and swimming keep my legs toned but i think  running defines  hamstrings  more, that balance out the calves, streching is a must to!

i can't find boots that zip over my calves either think we are being discriminated against!!!!!!!

try Duo Boots - they make custom fit boots - you measure your calf and order using that... really good - i have 2 pairs

http://www.duoboots.com/

Glad to see there are other calf haters out there.   I have hated my calves since teenage years when the kids at the end of the street used to shout "sadler's got footballer's legs". Similar to you, superfastmummy, an ex-boyfriend of mine said that when the first time he saw me which was by a pool in Spain, the first thought he had was "she's got legs like Tony Christie" (I gather he was a footballer).

 I always think that these women who have "normal" legs and never ever wear skirts or shorts don't know how lucky they are.  And if you ever see their legs and say, gosh why don't you ever wear skirts you have great legs, they always say, oh no I've got terrible legs!   They don't know the meaning of it....

I bought boots from Evans as they give extra room for legs for obvious reasons.  I also have a pair of the pull on type but I hate the way they look as obviously they show the shape of your leg still! 

Running has certainly helped a little so far but I have a long way to go ....

I think generally all women, including runners, hate their legs!

My boyfriend and I actually measured our legs once (how sad!) and we have exactly the same length legs! He's a footballer - I'm a runner. We decided to set up the 'SLS' (Short Leg Society) for the empathy of people with short legs haha. Of course, we didn't actually set anything up (before you go googling it and joining a meeting just a bit of a joke about how you have to come to accept these things