Beginner running question - tight muscles, no energy

Promac · 08-04-2012 11:15PM #1

Hi folks - As the title says, I'm fairly new to running so I'm not sure what's going wrong here or how to fix it. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I started running in December and I've been out pretty regularly since. Doing about 3 or 4 short runs a week - my shorter runs are about 3.5km now with the longer one about 6km (once a week). Average pace is about 6m30s per km. I don't think I'm overdoing it and I keep my heart-rate down when I'm running (just by listening to it, not using a HR monitor).

So, to the problem: I haven't been out in a few days so I'm well rested, I don't diet so I should have plenty of reserves (and I had a big Wendy's burger for dinner last night so I really should be ok for fuel) and I'm not sore or stiff or anything else that might imply over-training or TMTS or anything like that and I drank some water earlier on. I also go for a whey protein shake after runs to aid in any recovery and all that.

But I went out for a run this morning and by about the 2km mark I just had no more energy for my legs. The muscles got very tight all over, no actual pains or localised tightness, just an overall sort of tightness feeling in the leg muscles and I just felt like I wasn't gonna be able to run any more today. Tried just walking for a bit and letting the muscles loosen up but as soon as I started running again they were just gone. It felt like I was just running on fumes but I'd only gone 2km at a very normal pace. No pain or anything, just no juice.

I'm sure it's just a noob mistake that I don't know about but maybe you guys do so here I am!

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers.

menoscemo · 08-04-2012 11:19PM

First off, you don't need whey protein after a 3-6k run.

Sounds like you just had a bad day, we all have them. Don't overanalyse it and try again.

Promac · 08-04-2012 11:30PM

I'd rather find out what was bad about it and try to avoid it. Everything happens for a reason, cause and effect, etc.

menoscemo · 08-04-2012 11:40PM

Promac wrote: »

I'd rather find out what was bad about it and try to avoid it. Everything happens for a reason, cause and effect, etc.

Ok then, best of luck finding the answer you want :rolleyes:

Promac · 09-04-2012 03:26AM

Sorry if I offended you but I'm looking for a bit more than "it was just a bad day". Obviously.

myflipflops · 09-04-2012 06:35AM

Promac wrote: »

Sorry if I offended you but I'm looking for a bit more than "it was just a bad day". Obviously.

He is almost certainly right though. I'm just back running again 2 months myself and I had a bad one today. it;s annoying but I'm not worried. It's part and parcel of the path to proper fitness.

Sometime it just doesn't click: you were probably at a low energy point when you were out. If you experience this feeling over a longer period then you may want to get yourself checked out but not after one day.

One thing I will say: fuel should never really be an issue if you are only running 5/6km at that pace but a Wendy burger is not a good thing. Metabalising all that processed red meat is not what the body wants to do the night before running.

dahat · 09-04-2012 07:25AM

menoscemo wrote: »

First off, you don't need whey protein after a 3-6k run.

Sounds like you just had a bad day, we all have them. Don't overanalyse it and try again.

Nost likely the correct answer!
Recently i ran 4.5 mile and had to stop 1/2 mile from home,totally legless...gave up hobbled home head bowed.........had a rest day with some strecthing and ran easy miles for next 2 runs,was A1 after that.
As a beginner you tend to over analyse pains and runs too much,sometimes you just have to go with it and realise every run will not be perfect!(took me 8 months to realise this)

huskerdu · 09-04-2012 09:00AM

We all have a bad day at the office every now and then. It is an important part of running to get used to it, don't be put off and keep going.

Over-analysing one bad run doesn't help, because you might never find the reason and drive yourself mad.

As was said before, fuel is not an issue with short runs like 6km.

The burger might have been your problem. You were probably still digesting it the next morning. You might have not been hydrated enough, even if you didn't realise it.

Avoid eating a large fatty burger the night before a run, and see how you get on.

Promac · 09-04-2012 11:58AM

I'm not analysing anything at all because I've no idea what it was that made the difference between an easy 6k and a hard 2k so I don't have anything to "over" analyse. Things happen in your body for a reason and it's pretty stupid to just write it off as a "bad day" and think no more of it. I'm a beginner runner but I'm not a beginner athlete.

Maybe you guys are just happy thinking that one day is good but the next the gods or something aren't looking favourable. I prefer trying to find out what the difference is between that easy 6k and a hard 2k. I figured I'd ask here because people in Boards forums are generally well informed.

myflipflops · 09-04-2012 12:11PM

Promac wrote: »

I'm not analysing anything at all because I've no idea what it was that made the difference between an easy 6k and a hard 2k so I don't have anything to "over" analyse. Things happen in your body for a reason and it's pretty stupid to just write it off as a "bad day" and think no more of it. I'm a beginner runner but I'm not a beginner athlete.

Maybe you guys are just happy thinking that one day is good but the next the gods or something aren't looking favourable. I prefer trying to find out what the difference is between that easy 6k and a hard 2k. I figured I'd ask here because people in Boards forums are generally well informed.

Well, you got an answer from a number of posters that agreed with each other. Do you want someone to make a diagnosis of something complicated based on one day when you felt bad? The reasons are that you had a low energy day caused by sleep, diet or something else. Difficult for us to say.

Nice work being both patronising and getting a subtle dig at us into your last paragraph though.

You say you are not a beginner athlete yet you think a Wendy burger meal counts as 'fuel'. That strikes me as strange. Then again, I've only been involved in athletics for 12 years representing my country along the way.

token56 · 09-04-2012 12:19PM

There are too many variable outside of running for someone here to able to tell you what went wrong really.

First thing people do just have bad days when it comes to running. It somewhat impossible to predict how you body will react to exercise sometimes because of so many different variables, sleep, food, stress, injury, time of run in relation to eating, having sex, etc. If you are very strict with your training, your diet, your schedule and everything is very regular then it can be easier to identify a possible cause for a bad run.

You say you were well rested and would have loads of energy as you had a burger the previous night, well as has been pointed out this is certainly not the best source of energy for a run the next day. Greasy foods take a long time to digest and dont provide you with the sort of energy you need when running.

Regardless of anything else its going to be very hard for someone here to identify why you didn't feel great, only you can do that really. The way you should be doing it is by identifying any familiar patterns of the days before a bad run. Keep a diary of your runs and record how you felt on them, if felt really bad or even really good why you think that is, even if it is something as simple as the burger, a bad nights sleep, the time of day of the run, a race last week, etc. You might see a pattern for some, but you will also just have off days that you can't explain. If they are a very irregular occurrence you just have to chalk it off and move onto your next days run.

Promac · 09-04-2012 12:31PM

myflipflops wrote: »

Well, you got an answer from a number of posters that agreed with each other. Do you want someone to make a diagnosis of something complicated based on one day when you felt bad? The reasons are that you had a low energy day caused by sleep, diet or something else. Difficult for us to say.

Nice work being both patronising and getting a subtle dig at us into your last paragraph though.

You say you are not a beginner athlete yet you think a Wendy burger meal counts as 'fuel'. That strikes me as strange. Then again, I've only been involved in athletics for 12 years representing my country along the way.

Well aren't you amazing! Apologies if I don't know who you are!

I'm grateful to huskerdu for having a stab at it but you really shouldn't be offended if I don't suck up your "sage" advice. As I said, I was looking for something a bit more scientific. If you don't have anything to add feel free to keep it to yourself.

Promac · 09-04-2012 12:34PM

token56 wrote: »

There are too many variable outside of running for someone here to able to tell you what went wrong really.

First thing people do just have bad days when it comes to running. It somewhat impossible to predict how you body will react to exercise sometimes because of so many different variables, sleep, food, stress, injury, time of run in relation to eating, having sex, etc. If you are very strict with your training, your diet, your schedule and everything is very regular then it can be easier to identify a possible cause for a bad run.

You say you were well rested and would have loads of energy as you had a burger the previous night, well as has been pointed out this is certainly not the best source of energy for a run the next day. Greasy foods take a long time to digest and dont provide you with the sort of energy you need when running.

Regardless of anything else its going to be very hard for someone here to identify why you didn't feel great, only you can do that really. The way you should be doing it is by identifying any familiar patterns of the days before a bad run. Keep a diary of your runs and record how you felt on them, if felt really bad or even really good why you think that is, even if it is something as simple as the burger, a bad nights sleep, the time of day of the run, a race last week, etc. You might see a pattern for some, but you will also just have off days that you can't explain. If they are a very irregular occurrence you just have to chalk it off and move onto your next days run.

Thanks for adding something more than just a throwaway comment and expecting adulation.

Not to mention the "do you know who I am" guy.

AntiVirus · 09-04-2012 01:37PM

I'd say you just went out a bit faster than your normal pace and didn't realise it. You're only new to running and running a short distance at a slow pace which is normally comfortable for you to run. It's very easy to run slightly faster without realising the increase in speed and you just run out of energy quicker. Pacing is one of a beginners biggest problems.

Every runner with a GPS watch will have noticed this happens sometimes.

Promac · 09-04-2012 01:47PM

Thanks for the input but it wasn't a pacing problem. I know how to monitor my heart-rate and speed. I'm an ex-boxer. As such, I used to just put things like this down to "a bad day" but as someone who's focusing on running for now I think it's completely pointless to settle for that kind of thinking. Hence the question here.

I appreciate people trying to help but saying things like "you just had a bad day" is not helping. No-one who is serious about a sport would accept that kind of thinking.

az2wp0sye65487 · 09-04-2012 01:47PM

Promac wrote: »

Well aren't you amazing! Apologies if I don't know who you are!

I'm grateful to huskerdu for having a stab at it but you really shouldn't be offended if I don't suck up your "sage" advice. As I said, I was looking for something a bit more scientific. If you don't have anything to add feel free to keep it to yourself.

Maybe it was something to do with your bad attitude

Promac · 09-04-2012 01:48PM

Nathalie Helpless Spruce wrote: »

Maybe it was something to do with your bad attitude

You know what? I think you're right. It was just my bad attitude and not my desire to acquire helpful information from experienced athletes.

Long Time Reader · 09-04-2012 01:50PM

every drop wears away the stone....

eat more, run more.

works for me

Promac · 09-04-2012 01:54PM

Long Time Reader wrote: »

every drop wears away the stone....

eat more, run more.

works for me

Is it simply nutrition? I don't burn energy running the way I do in any other form of exercise. I can cycle for 50 miles without having to think about nutrition but that's a completely different way of using muscles.

az2wp0sye65487 · 09-04-2012 01:55PM

Promac wrote: »

Nathalie Helpless Spruce wrote: »

Maybe it was something to do with your bad attitude

You know what? I think you're right. It was just my bad attitude and not my desire to acquire helpful information from experienced athletes.

I'm not an experienced athlete. I do run. I like training, I like entering races, and I like talking about it. Boards is a great place to swap ideas, stories etc. with others who are of a similar mindset.

I don't personally know any other posters here, so I can't vouch for anyone. What I can say is that having gotten advice here in the past, it's usually sound.

Being aggressive, sarcastic and dismissive towards people who aren't giving you the answer you're looking for isn't really going to get you anywhere though, is it?

menoscemo · 09-04-2012 01:56PM

Steviecakes is right, you're attitude is very bad.

We all have bad days and sometimes there is no explaination

You original post gave us no clues to work on except you mentioning that you had a wendy Burger the night before. You were obviously looking for us to all come on and say the burger was the issue, which in fairness you achieved, so well done.
Personally I doubt the burger had anything to do with it.

Promac · 09-04-2012 01:57PM

Nathalie Helpless Spruce wrote: »

I'm not an experienced athlete. I do run. I like training, I like entering races, and I like talking about it. Boards is a great place to swap ideas, stories etc. with others who are of a similar mindset.

I don't personally know any other posters here, so I can't vouch for anyone. What I can say is that having gotten advice here in the past, it's usually sound.

Being aggressive, sarcastic and dismissive towards people who aren't giving you the answer you're looking for isn't really going to get you anywhere though, is it?

Having said all that what exactly were you expecting me to say to "Maybe it was something to do with your bad attitude"?

Promac · 09-04-2012 02:00PM

menoscemo wrote: »

Steviecakes is right, you're attitude is very bad.

We all have bad days and sometimes there is no explaination

You original post gave us no clues to work on except you mentioning that you had a wendy Burger the night before. You were obviously looking for us to all come on and say the burger was the issue, which in fairness you achieved, so well done.
Personally I doubt the burger had anything to do with it.

I gave as much information as I had. I was hoping for someone to come along and tell me about something I was doing wrong that I wasn't aware of so that I could improve my running. I've no idea why you're focusing on the burger.

Promac · 09-04-2012 02:01PM

menoscemo wrote: »

We all have bad days and sometimes there is no explaination

That is a bull**** statement. There is an explanation for everything and you shouldn't fault me for looking for it.

dahat · 09-04-2012 02:02PM

Try 2 Wendy burgers the next time,see if that helps :rolleyes:

AntiVirus · 09-04-2012 02:02PM

Promac wrote: »

Thanks for the input but it wasn't a pacing problem. I know how to monitor my heart-rate and speed. I'm an ex-boxer. As such, I used to just put things like this down to "a bad day" but as someone who's focusing on running for now I think it's completely pointless to settle for that kind of thinking. Hence the question here.

I appreciate people trying to help but saying things like "you just had a bad day" is not helping. No-one who is serious about a sport would accept that kind of thinking.

Do you do any warm up before going for your runs?

I often do some push ups and pull ups and stretching to get me warmed up before I head out for my runs. On a few occasions I have myself feeling more tired at the half mark than usual and have had to push myself on. When I've uploaded my data I found that my heart rate was higher than normal at the start caused by my over warming up.

dahat · 09-04-2012 02:03PM

Promac wrote: »

That is a bull**** statement. There is an explanation for everything and you shouldn't fault me for looking for it.

People here are experienced runners and know what they are talking about,bad days happen on the road get over it.

Try listing everything you did the day or 2 before the run if that helps you

SWL · 09-04-2012 02:04PM

Promac wrote: »

Thanks for adding something more than just a throwaway comment and expecting adulation.

Not to mention the "do you know who I am" guy.

Here is the answer you are looking for grasshopper.
Running is a little like life, sometimes for no obvious reason it goes to sh1t, you have two choices in dealing with this turn of events

1 Shrug your shoulders and say hopefully tomorrow things will be better.

2. Or insult posters who have taken the time out of their day to give you some advice. Any advice I have received on this forum has been as accurate as it could be based on the information I provided.

Your problem could be as a result of several different things food, rest, dehydration etc., posters are not telepathic and the least you could do is to acknowledge their generosity in giving you an answer in the first place.

Promac · 09-04-2012 02:05PM

AntiVirus wrote: »

Do you do any warm up before going for your runs?

I often do some push ups and pull ups and stretching to get me warmed up before I head out for my runs. On a few occasions I have myself feeling more tired at the half mark than usual and have had to push myself on. When I've uploaded my data I found that my heart rate was higher than normal at the start caused by my over warming up.

Yeah, I do about 5 minutes of warm-ups before heading out - light burpees and the like to warm up muscles. I don't think stretching before a run is good for you so I don't do it.

YFlyer · 09-04-2012 02:06PM

The few days off had a bearing on your body. You probably became more flat.

Train most days to get your body accustomed to running. Active recovery such as an easy few Km be better then complete rest.

You need 'miles in your legs'. Build up slowly though.

Promac · 09-04-2012 02:07PM

dahat wrote: »

bad days happen on the road get over it.

You call that helpful in the face of what I've already said?

Some people are more scientific than that. I've tried to demonstrate that I'm one of them. "Get over it".

Beginner running question - tight muscles, no energy

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