Started running too quickly

moriaht
moriaht Posts: 251 Member
edited October 1 in Fitness and Exercise
So I started running and was going about 20 minutes 3 or 4 days a week. That was all fine and then one wednesday and one friday I did hour long runs and now even over a week later I still can't seem to run. My legs just hurt when I do. I have been walking a lot and using the elliptical and stair master and trying to do occasional jogs (only last 10 minutes usually before my legs just won't run anymore). How long of a rest period should I be taking to heal up from this? I think I started too quickly :( I didn't work last Sunday or the whole weekend before that so I figured that should be enough! Or is this completely normal and I should push through it and keep on running?

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    So I started running and was going about 20 minutes 3 or 4 days a week. That was all fine and then one wednesday and one friday I did hour long runs and now even over a week later I still can't seem to run. My legs just hurt when I do. I have been walking a lot and using the elliptical and stair master and trying to do occasional jogs (only last 10 minutes usually before my legs just won't run anymore). How long of a rest period should I be taking to heal up from this? I think I started too quickly :( I didn't work last Sunday or the whole weekend before that so I figured that should be enough! Or is this completely normal and I should push through it and keep on running?
    Well you upped it by 3x as much as what you were doing so your legs weren't conditioned to do it. It could be a mental thing now. Start slow again and add small increments of time each week (5 minutes).
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
    Sounds like you added too much too fast. You should never add more than 10% (time or distance) to a run unless you want to get injured.
    It sounds like are also not letting yourself totally recover. Maybe take a few days off completely and then start small again and maybe two or three minutes to your run each time, not 40.
    Good luck!
  • Always want to avoid increasing your distance too fast. You're body needs time to adjust to changes. What were you doing before you started running? Were you following a workout plan? Or did you go from couch to running?
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