Sore muscles midway through a run

It sounds like you aren't allowing enough recovery time. It takes a long time to build up to a point where you can run effectively every day. Also, are you running the same pace every day? Take some days super easy, like 90 seconds slower than your easy day. These are recovery days. Also, maybe taking a day or two off per week for a while will be helpful for you. I don't think it has anything to do with your fueling.

i don't know if this is because i haven't built enough muscle yet or because i'm not eating properly before a run.

Could be either, or it could be insufficient warm-up. Or even insufficient hydration.

Do you start with a 5-minute walk, or do you just get out there and start running right away? If you aren't warming up, you'll fatigue very quickly and increase your chance of injury.

i don't know if this is because i haven't built enough muscle yet or because i'm not eating properly before a run.

Could be either, or it could be insufficient warm-up. Or even insufficient hydration.

Do you start with a 5-minute walk, or do you just get out there and start running right away? If you aren't warming up, you'll fatigue very quickly and increase your chance of injury.

That was my first thought. Dehydration and potassium deficiencies can cause muscle soreness.

If you are running in the morning, make sure to hydrate before bed and also a little in the morning (I'm used to running with water in my stomach - I drink 16 oz about 45 minutes before my run along with a cup of coffee). Eat a banana or drink a glass of milk following your run. This will give you some additional potassium.

Good luck!

new runner too, and yesterday was THE WORST... thanks for posting this!

Thanks guys, I make sure to hydrate before a run but i often am not able to be up early mornings. I work 9 hour shifts ending at 3am so my morning is close to noon. I don't usually do a 5 minute warm up walk, but next time i run i will for sure do it. I've decided to run every other day and give myself a break.

I'm not sure what i can do for strength training, I don't have access to the gym (no money in the budget for a gym membership at the moment) and i don't have any equipment at home. can anyone suggest some exercises i can do at home?

Pushups, sit ups, squats, lunges are all exercises you could do at home without any equipment.

Good idea on dialing it back to running every other day, at least until you are more experienced. I have been running over a year and still only run 4 days a week, my body needs time to recover!

Also try dynamic stretches before your run-leg swings and squats will help loosen things up

What I have learned from my run clinic(s):

1. You need to give yourself a rest day from running.
2. Make sure you are wearing the right shoes.
3. Warm up prior to running with some light walking or jogging on the spot.
4. Stretch for 20mins after a run.
5. If the aches persist, or the muscles are tight then put an ice pack on the muscles (off and on) for a good 20-30mins. Put your feet up too and rest them.
6. Soak in a nice hot bath a couple times a week. Put 2 cups of epsom salts in the tub too and it will draw out the toxins.
7. Drink LOTS of water (half your body weight in ounces per day).

I would imagine it's a combination of 3 things:
1) Too much running.... your legs are probably weak
2) Weak muscles.... do strength training
3) Poor nutrition... try eating a banana about 30 minutes before you run... the potassium helps with cramping.

I agree with this!

Also, if you need to build muscle with no access to weights do squats, lunges, wall squats, and calf raises to name a few that would help.

i'm not a new runner but i in the middle of my march 17 5k i started experiencing leg numbness. I have gone on to run another 2 5k's and i am running a 10k this weekend and the numbness is now pain and has gotten steadily worse faster to the point i can't run. the dr. has done some tests but may have to go back any ideas?

I would check out your shoes. Were you properly fitted? How long have you been wearing your current pair? They might be worn out. Generally speaking (depending on how often a person runs) they wear out their shoes after 6mos (or every 300-400 miles). This all depends on the frequency of your runs, your weight, your running style and the surfaces you are running on. However, running shoes lose stability, shock absorption, and cushioning with time & wear and it can lead to muscle pains and aches in the joints.

I'm probably over-doing it with my running, (i typically run daily, although i'm thinking about slowing that down to every other day) and one problem i'm having is that mid-way through or sometimes even at the start my muscles get very very tired and eventually sore. i don't know if this is because i haven't built enough muscle yet or because i'm not eating properly before a run.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm guessing i need to be eating more carbohydrates pre-run than i am currently. On a good day I can run between 4 and 5km, sometimes topping at just over 5k.

I will be running my first 5k race in exactly a month and i need to do something about this tiredness! note, i run outside and not on a treadmill (no gym membership).

Please, please, please. Can one corner of MFP NOT fall the "You've got to drink water all the time or the world will stop spinning!"?

There's nothing that would lead one to suggest that the OP should "drink more water". For the love of Mike™!

It's not easy for someone on MFP to dehydrate while running - we're bombarded with the need to glug down water and, unless you're doing something really wrong, it might well be slowing you down when you run.

I'll explain that if anyone's interested.

The biggest impediment to us, the new and slow runners, has nothing to do with water or food (it's between our ears).

We have miles and miles and miles of fuel ready to be burned when we run. Further, if you eat glucose, it will take about 30 minutes to get into the bloodstream. For may folks, that means that they're putting fuel into their bloodstream as they take off their sneakers after a run.

Meanwhile, during the run, blood was being sent to your stomach to carry away food instead of being used to carry oxygen to your muscles. Oops!

I have done many runs while I was hungry. Hunger indicates that our stomach is empty — it doesn't indicate that we're "low on fuel".

And drinking water - why? The advice given out by medical directors for marathons is to drink when you're thirsty. That's is. That advice changed over a decade ago. Diet sites want you to drink water because the full feeling helps you not put food in your mouth. That.Is.It.

Even the Mayo Clinic points that out and states that there's no medical need. Most sites simply omit the reason why they want you to drink water but there's so much "group think" that they just go along.

As one poster posited, your poor performance could well be due to overtraining. I know that's happened to me recently. I did a run last week. I ran 5 miles over the same course and at about the same time of day (very similar weather). My average HR was 167 on April 24 and it was 156 on April 30. A 12 BPM drop is huge and the only significant difference in my preparedness was that I rested for three days before my run on April 30 so my legs were fresh.

Oy, enough. I'm skipping lunch - I need a run.

Nutrition is key to everything; especially cardio.
carbs before cardio; protein after weight training
try half a peanut butter sandwich 1/2 hour before run. and of course you need to keep hydrated before and after.
(Also: 1 dill pickle before a run or weight training. sounds gross, but it works!).