The calf being an immensly hard core shock absorber can be triggered by either a sudden explosive movement or a series of repetitive movements. If you experience it tighten up suddenly, this is typically your brains decision to pull it tight to protect itself from further harm.

Things that can help speed up recovery:

1. Stop doing the exercise or movement that may have caused it in the first place. Continuing on it is more likely to make the injury worse requiring a longer rehabilitation period.
2. Rest from weight baring activities. Evaluate, test and diagnose the injury to confirm what’s going on underneath.
3. Put in place a strength / conditioning and mobility program. Slowly return back to movement in a gentle, controlled, structured way to avoid repeating the same injury twice.

The calves being such an amazing 'spring system', there's nothing better than zoning in, trigger pointing and stripping through the calf to provoke a healing response. This also applies to achillies tendon which is the tendon at the end of the calf. I'm also a keen advocate for taping it to slow down the reaction time of the muscle which in turn allows it perform more at a simmer than full steam! 

Keep your running shoes on anytime you’re on your feet. A running shoe usually has a nice cushioned heel to help raise the foot and give the calf some time off.