Help with tired legs

sparklyglitterbomb

So I'm in the middle of the "37 Days of Awesome Run Challenge" and my legs are starting to really feel like lead. Now, granted, this is the longest streak I've done with running (I'm a 2-3x a week runner at best, short distances, been running a year off and on) and I have also been biking some and hiking.

I know a rest day or two would be ideal, but I would really like to make it through this challenge as a personal goal.

Do any of you who are more seasoned runners have some advice on helping my legs get through the rest of this?

Right now, all I really do is a little stretching and throwing my legs up on a wall periodically

Thankfully, the challenge only asks for a mile a day, so I at least do that, sometimes more.

Many thanks

pondee629

I disagree with the premise of the challenge: running every day for 37 days? During my Half Marathon Training the most I ran in a week was four days. I always took rest days (days of not running) during the week.

That having been said, if you're bent on finishing this challenge, slow your pace down, stretch real well after each session, listen to your body, do not over do, no session in such a plan is a race.

gearhead426hemi

Try doing yoga after running or the following morning after running. Your body does need rest days to recover though. Your body heals and grows when you sleep and does need recovery time. Even though you are only running a mile a day your body might not be ready for that much training. The mind may be willing but the body might not be there yet. Changing your pace would be beneficial as well. You really want to listen to your body when you are working out.

Rammer123

ICE BATH

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Stick to the one miles for the next 3-5 days and slow down, that will allow recovery. Also make sure you are hitting your protein goal.

Personally I think it's a crazy challenge that risks injury.

Cherimoose

If you must risk overtraining, at least cut back on the cycling & hiking, and run on flat ground and only for a mile. Anything that promotes circulation improves muscle recovery - frequent stretching, foam rolling or massage, and warmth. Hourly stretching will probably have the biggest effect.

cwolfman13

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Stick to the one miles for the next 3-5 days and slow down, that will allow recovery. Also make sure you are hitting your protein goal.

Personally I think it's a crazy challenge that risks injury.

Pretty much...

Joanna2012B

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Stick to the one miles for the next 3-5 days and slow down, that will allow recovery. Also make sure you are hitting your protein goal.

Personally I think it's a crazy challenge that risks injury.

^^This!!!!!

stealthq

In addition to all of the above, get more sleep and if you're dieting, you can reduce your deficit until you are done. Obviously make sure you're getting good nutrition. Give your legs the best chance to recover that you can.

sparklyglitterbomb

I think I am going to forego some of the challenge and add in some rest days - especially for the next few days as I have a 5k and bike event on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone for your advice, I am going to try out a few of your suggestions to help my bod recover a bit

Djproulx

Great idea to add in some rest days, particularly if you have a race/bike on Saturday. The "Awesome Way to Provoke Injury" would be to try to continue to run through the building fatigue.

As far as relief, think about RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Foam rolling is very good, as is an Epsom Salt bath. It feels great, and the magnesium provides an anti inflammatory benefit.

Good luck in your 5k!

Bluepegasus

I did a run every day challenge in January this year, I just made sure that on the days that I wouldn't normally be running that I only went out and did 1 or 2 miles at a very slow jog to allow my legs to recover. By the end of the month, I definitely needed a rest day, so was glad when the challenge was complete!

BrianSharpe

sparklyglitterbomb wrote: »

I think I am going to forego some of the challenge and add in some rest days - especially for the next few days as I have a 5k and bike event on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone for your advice, I am going to try out a few of your suggestions to help my bod recover a bit

Good plan. I often wonder who comes up with these "challenges" as they're often just a shortcut to overuse injury. I've been running consistently for over a decade averaging between 25 and 40 miles per week (depending on where I am in a training cycle) and wouldn't consider one of these (between running, swimming & biking I'm doing something pretty much every day but I tend to alternate impact / intensity to allow for recovery)

MobyCarp

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Stick to the one miles for the next 3-5 days and slow down, that will allow recovery. Also make sure you are hitting your protein goal.

Personally I think it's a crazy challenge that risks injury.

I train for marathons, and run half marathons when they look appealing. Yesterday was my 13th day of a running streak. Today is a rest day. I really need it. Normally, every Friday is a rest day; but last Friday was the McMullen Mile, so I ran a 2 mile warm up and a mile race on the track.

For a long time, I thought streak runners were just plain nuts. But when I look at people I know who do incredibly long streaks, a few things stand out:

- They don't run hard very often.
- They don't run very many races, and they aren't competing for their age group in the races they run.
- They mostly avoid long races. I could see a streak with a half marathon in it, but I don't know how you hold a streak if you run a marathon.
- When I might have a rest day, the streak runner will run one mile easy just to preserve the streak. Yeah, I could do that physically. Mentally, it would be really hard to stop at one mile.
- I will never be a streak runner. I like marathon training too much, and there's too much of marathon training I would have to give up to safely maintain a long term streak.

I agree that a 37 day challenge tossed out to people who aren't used to running streaks is an invitation to get a lot of people injured. Streak running is a discipline that takes thought and planning to avoid injury, and the typical challenge is of the form, "more is better."

"More is better" is a faulty premise with running. To remain uninjured, you can't keep pushing for more, longer, faster all the time. There needs to be a method of backing off. For me, it's rest days, easy running days, backing off the speed work when my body says it's too much, and backing off the miles when my body says they're too much. For streak runners, part of the backing off is hold to a mile on what otherwise would be a rest day, and maybe never run very hard at all.

Ignoring what you need to to to back off invites injury. Been there, done that, don't like that tee shirt.