Early fatigue while running?

betsy329

Question for my fellow runners: Sometimes while running, I kick *kitten*. I can go for long distances/times and feel great. Sometimes though, I will get on the treadmill or trail, and feel like it's the first time I've ever ran. I'll be so tired and fatigued that I can barely kick out 2 miles. Usually when this happens, I also have a higher than usual calorie burn, and it'll feel like I just don't have any energy to run. Now, I drink a ton of water during the day, take vitamins, sleep well, and eat pretty healthy (although I don't usually have a pregame snack). It seems very sporadic, and I just can't pin point what would be the culprit. Any thoughts on what could cause this kind of fatigue?

ald783

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

yesimpson

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

Totally agree.

Only thing I would add is sometimes this coincides with my period starting. The days before and just after I start I can lack energy.

betsy329

Thanks for replying. It's just really odd sometimes. I was fine all day the other day, and really pumped up to work out. Then I got to the treadmill, started to run, and felt like I'd never done an ounce of exercise before. It usually happens once every couple weeks. I will push through, and get a great calorie burn, but it's frustrating to go from running 5 miles with no problem to barely running 2.

ald783

I understand the frustration. No matter how many times it has happened to me, it still gets me down a little bit when it happens. On the other hand though, do you have days that are the opposite? Where you run your targeted distance, maybe even a bit faster than usual, and feel like you still have energy energy to run 5 more miles? I have those days too, also for no apparent rhyme or reason. So I try to figure that my actual endurance is somewhere in the middle, and that some days are just strange exceptions.

betsy329

yesimpson wrote: »

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

Totally agree.

Only thing I would add is sometimes this coincides with my period starting. The days before and just after I start I can lack energy.

I have an IUD so I don't have to go to that party...But maybe my body still thinks there is a party to go to? lol

betsy329

ald783 wrote: »

I understand the frustration. No matter how many times it has happened to me, it still gets me down a little bit when it happens. On the other hand though, do you have days that are the opposite? Where you run your targeted distance, maybe even a bit faster than usual, and feel like you still have energy energy to run 5 more miles? I have those days too, also for no apparent rhyme or reason. So I try to figure that my actual endurance is somewhere in the middle, and that some days are just strange exceptions.

YES! Maybe it's just give and take as a runner? You have good days, you have bad days. Luckily there are more good days than not

Somebody_Loved

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

I totally agree with this. Whenever this happens to me, it's more mental than anything. Last Friday I was supposed to get in 10 miles and could only manage 7. Physically I know I could have gone the full 10, but I just wasn't in it at all. Gave myself permission to end early and got right back to it the next day.

betsy329

Somebody_Loved wrote: »

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

I totally agree with this. Whenever this happens to me, it's more mental than anything. Last Friday I was supposed to get in 10 miles and could only manage 7. Physically I know I could have gone the full 10, but I just wasn't in it at all. Gave myself permission to end early and got right back to it the next day.

Sounds like that just what needs to happen every now and then. As long as it doesn't happen as often as a good run does, I can manage.

brandiuntz

Agree with what most have said. Sometimes there are just bad runs, even if the other factors seem the same. I don't get them often, but they happen. The run after a bad one is usually awesome, though.

Even with an IUD, wouldn't you have some hormone changes that can still affect energy level? Never used BC, so have no idea. I definitely have weeks like that due to my period.

betsy329

brandiuntz wrote: »

Agree with what most have said. Sometimes there are just bad runs, even if the other factors seem the same. I don't get them often, but they happen. The run after a bad one is usually awesome, though.

Even with an IUD, wouldn't you have some hormone changes that can still affect energy level? Never used BC, so have no idea. I definitely have weeks like that due to my period.

Oh I'm sure there has to be some hormonal stuff going on with that. It's been so long since I've had a period, I don't even know when it's supposed to occur. It's definitely worth considering as a cause of fatigue though.

blues4miles

betsy329 wrote: »

yesimpson wrote: »

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

Totally agree.

Only thing I would add is sometimes this coincides with my period starting. The days before and just after I start I can lack energy.

I have an IUD so I don't have to go to that party...But maybe my body still thinks there is a party to go to? lol

Ha. I love the way you phrased that. I am on the pill but skip the off-pills so basically don't go to the party either.

Since you mention you are running on a TM, do you try to run all your runs at the same pace? It's perfectly normal to be able to crank out a certain pace one day and feel fine, and need to go a lot slower the next. And most of your runs should be easy. Look up the 'talk test' for running. You should really only feel like you are pushing it 1 or 2 runs a week at most, and only 1 run a week if you are just running 3x a week now. I know it seems crazy you'd get faster doing most of your runs at an 'easy' pace but that's honestly how it works. You train easy and race hard. So maybe if you are trying to do the same thing day after day that is what's wearing you out.

Somebody_Loved

@betsy329 - I wonder about that, too. I've had the IUD for 6 years now and never have periods. I do have period symptoms (tenderness, spotting, bloating, etc.) ever so often, though, so I assume that could definitely affect energy levels. Just sucks that I can't predict it at all.

jgnatca

I vote for a womanly cycle of some sort since your energy bounces back quite quickly, and you aren't getting fatigue the day after a heavy workout.

betsy329

blues4miles wrote: »

betsy329 wrote: »

yesimpson wrote: »

ald783 wrote: »

I have this now and then too. Sometimes it correlates to not getting enough sleep, or not eating as much that day or the day before, drinking too much, etc. Other times there's no rhyme or reason. If it's pretty infrequent like it seems to be for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

It could also be somewhat mental- you may actually be fatigued but then your brain picks up on that and starts to convince you to stop earlier than your body could actually handle. You may find that if you push through that wall of fatigue (assuming you don't feel really sick or weak), you may still make close to my desired distance. However, on those days I'm feeling really checked out I have no qualms about stopping early. It doesn't sound like anything to worry about for a pretty occasional occurrence.

Totally agree.

Only thing I would add is sometimes this coincides with my period starting. The days before and just after I start I can lack energy.

I have an IUD so I don't have to go to that party...But maybe my body still thinks there is a party to go to? lol

Ha. I love the way you phrased that. I am on the pill but skip the off-pills so basically don't go to the party either.

Since you mention you are running on a TM, do you try to run all your runs at the same pace? It's perfectly normal to be able to crank out a certain pace one day and feel fine, and need to go a lot slower the next. And most of your runs should be easy. Look up the 'talk test' for running. You should really only feel like you are pushing it 1 or 2 runs a week at most, and only 1 run a week if you are just running 3x a week now. I know it seems crazy you'd get faster doing most of your runs at an 'easy' pace but that's honestly how it works. You train easy and race hard. So maybe if you are trying to do the same thing day after day that is what's wearing you out.

Well I've had it happen on trail runs before too. Typically I start my runs off slower until I get really warmed up and then increase the pace slowly. I run 3 times a week, twice on treadmill and once on a trail. I also swim, weight lift, and do calisthenics, so I switch it up quite often.

FitGirl0123

It happens and is usually mental. The more you learn to push through it mentally the less it will happen. You will have those off days once in a while as we all do and soon you will be able to determine if you should cut the run short or push through it.

betsy329

Thanks guys for all your help! Just knowing I'm not the only one this happens to makes me feel better.

salsup317

For me, it's a huge mental block to try to put any miles on a treadmill, and they all seem extra long and extra torture. But then I'll get outside and crank out 5 and feel fantastic. Even when I'm training outside, I don't seem to hit my stride until about 2.5-3 miles in. There are good and bad days though, but the nice thing about those though is they all teach you something about yourself and your run.

pacificnorthwitch

I find that my mental state affects my run every time. If I'm mentally energized, focused, and hyped, its almost always the best run ever, even on a treadmill. But if I'm feeling anxious or low or bothered, its like trying to run with cement legs. Unless I'm ad about something, sometimes thats just as motivating lol