Struggling to run after doing a Half marathon.

Casey78

Hi

I only started running last June.I'm a 35 year old male with no running experience at all before I started.
I ran my first official 10k in the Phoenix Park a few weekends ago and I loved being part of a crowd in a proper race.I usually run on my own.

Last friday I completed my first half marathon in a time just over 2hrs.
To be honest the time I did it in didn't bother me as I saw just finishing the half as an achievement.I will hopefully start to look at improving times next year.

Since then though I have been out a few times and I feel sluggish and I struggled through a 5k on Monday and I went out today and I really struggled again and had to stop after 4k.
I'm very disheartened to be honest as this hasn't happened me since the first few weeks I began running.
I thought after being able to do 21k I would have no problems with any of the short distances any more.
Since September most of my runs have been 10k+ which eventually led up to doing the half.
I don't feel injured or tired so I am wondering what's wrong that I am struggling to finish these short distances.

I have wondered is it because I got a taste of running with a crowd that now running on my own isn't as enjoyable?
I never ran with music but someone told me today maybe If I started listening to music it might keep me going?

Any advice would be appreciated.

vitani

Congrats on your first half. IMO, you just need to give yourself a bit more time to recover from it. It was less than a week ago, yes? I'd expect it to take another week or so before you're beginning to feel normal again. Racing takes a lot out of you and you do need to give your body some time to recover.

Keep your runs quite slow for the next few days - if you have a look at the McMillan calculator here http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/ it would put your recovery pace to about 10.35 - 11.20 minutes per mile, and your easy runs as between 9.31 and 10.27 minutes per mile.

And (because someone is going to suggest it sooner or later) have you considered joining a club?

dekbhoy

i think you need to rest more. 21k is a very decent distance. For more novice runner ive heard it mentioned giving yourself a day off for every mile you raced. so for you it would be 13 days rest. afaik thats how long it should take you to get back up to the speed you raced at and not necessarily the time you shouldnt run at all. rest now untill maybe sunday and you should be back in form.

BeepBeep67

Active recovery is better than complete rest!
Just get out and jog slowly for a few miles, don't worry about pace.
Alternate days just go for a walk or cycle if you have a bike.
The rest day per 1M (or 3k by some thinking) is when you should return to doing a session or a hard run again, depending on the race effort, not when you should run again.

menoscemo

dekbhoy wrote: »

i think you need to rest more. 21k is a very decent distance. For more novice runner ive heard it mentioned giving yourself a day off for every mile you raced. so for you it would be 13 days rest. afaik thats how long it should take you to get back up to the speed you raced at and not necessarily the time you shouldnt run at all. rest now untill maybe sunday and you should be back in form.

It's a day easy for every day raced, not a day off.

OP chances are you are just not recovered from the half, so just take it easy (slow and short runs) for a week and you will be back to normal. I have done about 20 marathons now but after my marathon last spring, i went out to do a few miles 2 days after the race. I had to turn around after half a mile. I ran that 1 mile 3 minutes slower than my average pace in the marathon. I just took the next few days off and gradually got back into it after that. If you are already doing 4-5k you are already on the way to recovery; just don't rush it.

Casey78

Thanks for the help.

On joining a running club. I have thought about it but as I'm only a beginner I would be worried about being too slow.
Don't really want to be embarrassing myself and holding people up.
My fastest 10k so far is only 53mins and 24 mins for a 5k.

BeepBeep67

Most clubs have a Fit4Life section, with a good few running slower than your times. Go for it.

RayCun

There's a list of clubs here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=76314334&postcount=8
and a link to map of clubs

Most people will have people of around your standard, but they'll also let you come down to a couple of sessions first before you have to join.
So - find the club that trains nearest you at a time that suits. Arrange to drop down for a session. If they're all much faster, or you don't like the training, or they're all bastards, cross them off your list and try the next nearest club.
(okay, outside Dublin you may have a short list, but if there's only one club in the area its even more likely to have a wide range of abilities)

When you join a club, that doesn't mean you have to go to every training session, or you must train at particular times. It just means that when you want to run with a group, you know where and when they are and you can jump in any time.

Casey78

Thanks to everyone for advice.
Took a few days rest and went out early this morning and ran 16km and felt great.
Was a beautiful morning for running too.