Tired Legs

Hrududu

I feel like such a noob posting this amongst all the marathon talk. I took up running a couple of months ago. At the moment I'm doing 7k three times a week and am gradually upping it. Running super slow mind, following the old tip of running fast enough to still be able to hold a conversation.

I know not every run is going to be perfect or leave me with a buzz, but a couple of times in the past 2 weeks I've had a couple of bad runs. In the middle my legs feel so tired that I'm half convinced they'll go from under me. When that happens I take a bit of a walk break. But would love to know if there is something I can do to prevent this.

--amadeus--

Hrududu wrote: »

I feel like such a noob posting this amongst all the marathon talk. I took up running a couple of months ago. At the moment I'm doing 7k three times a week and am gradually upping it. Running super slow mind, following the old tip of running fast enough to still be able to hold a conversation.

I know not every run is going to be perfect or leave me with a buzz, but a couple of times in the past 2 weeks I've had a couple of bad runs. In the middle my legs feel so tired that I'm half convinced they'll go from under me. When that happens I take a bit of a walk break. But would love to know if there is something I can do to prevent this.

Don't let the marathon talk put you off - every one of us started where you are!

Assuming that all things are equal (you are eating the same things, wearing the same shoes, getting the same amount of sleep, not running faster or up more hills than usual) then I'd just put it down to fatigue. Not every run is perfect - I know that I often have runs where I come home and wonder wtf? But as you get fitter the bad runs tend to get further apart. Stick at it and you'll be fine!

DustyBin

Hey Hrududu
I'm not running that terrible long either.
Wednesday morning I ran what was probably my worst run ever - like amadeus said, I was wondering what right did I have thinking that I could run any sort of distance.
Then this morning I had my best run to date!
Ecoli gave me some advice recently to take the bad runs as a mental workout, and bank the knowledge that you were able to finish the run, and showed yourself the just how mentally tough you really are.
Going back out again is the hard part, but you've proven that you can do it.
Enjoy your running

Havana Hope

I started running again this August after a 20 year gap and hitting 17 stone plus. I am in my early 40s and experienced the same dead, tired feeling in my legs the first 3 weeks and then I started doing some leg strengthening exercises, squats, lunges and calf raises, initially without any weights and then with 5kg dumb bells. Within a week I was doing my runs without my legs getting tired and worked my way up from 8k to 12k in training and then managed to complete the Dublin Half Marathon at the end of September whick was a big step up from my furthest training run.

I also found that regular rest days worked a treat also. If I had a bad run with tired legs, I would have a full rest day the next day and then the following day do a light leg strengthening routine and then the following day, I would be back doing my regular training run.

As the previous poster said, it will take a bit of time and I am sure in a while, you will be running further and faster without the same tiredness. The first month or two will be the worst but well worth it to keep it going as you have made the start and are half way through the most difficult phase af training (starting from scratch). Best of luck with your training.

Hrududu

DustyBin wrote: »

Ecoli gave me some advice recently to take the bad runs as a mental workout, and bank the knowledge that you were able to finish the run, and showed yourself the just how mentally tough you really are.
Going back out again is the hard part, but you've proven that you can do it.
Enjoy your running

I agree. I tend to treat bad runs as a mental workout. When you run the last half of it even though you really want to stop you get such a feeling of accomplishment. And I also have had that happen where I've had a terrible run and gone out a couple of days later to a great one. So a bad one certainly doesn't discourage me. I was just wondering if there was something I was doing that was causing the bad days i.e. not drinking enough water etc. But my routine is pretty much the same each day so I guess its just a matter of working through it and letting my legs get strengthened by the training.

I started running again this August after a 20 year gap and hitting 17 stone plus. I am in my early 40s and experienced the same dead, tired feeling in my legs the first 3 weeks and then I started doing some leg strengthening exercises, squats, lunges and calf raises, initially without any weights and then with 5kg dumb bells. Within a week I was doing my runs without my legs getting tired and worked my way up from 8k to 12k in training and then managed to complete the Dublin Half Marathon at the end of September whick was a big step up from my furthest training run.

Jebus that's some jump. Fair play

too much trifle

try compression socks, these work wonders for recovery,
i get sore calf muscles, but recently started using socks post run & calf guards [2xu] during my run,
yes, they look rediculous, but worth it

RoyMcC

I read somewhere once that, out of five runs, you can expect

• one really good run
• three average runs
• one utterly crap run

In my case there are more crap runs than I'd like. However, if you keep doing all the right things you will progress over time.

Maybe it's like the cold-calling salesman who knows that - to get just one sale, you know that you will get nine refusals along the way. Just accept them as part of the game.

Kissy Lips

my best piece of advice would be .............. vary your distances! 3k 5k 7k 9k etc and mix them up.