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looking for some advice on possible injury and some fatigue
Gary Ashwell
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Hi,
I've been running regularly for over a decade but pre-Covid I used to balance swimming and running and would only run 2-3 times a week. I used to suffer quite badly with shin injuries. When the first lockdown happened and the pools closed I decided to try to run every day if I could. Surprisingly I found I pretty much could do it and since last March I've run 10k every day with the exception of about 6 or 7 days that I missed with niggles. I realise this is nobody's idea of a great training plan as I'm alternating between 2 routes and running at roughly the same pace every day (5.20-5.30 kms).
I've really loved my running and it has been very important for my mental health, I haven't really had any problems until the last week. At the start of this week I started to get some soreness from my calf on the last half of my runs. Not pain as such, it feels more like running with a dead leg. Suddenly hills that I was enjoying running (my two routes are 1. Quite hilly and 2. Very hilly) felt quite difficult. This got progressively worse and runs were starting to be a struggle. Today, on the very hilly route, I got to the third hill ok but started to feel very anxious about my ability to do it and had to stop and walk it, I just felt that the energy wasn't there and felt I'd hit a wall. Can't remember the last time I haven't been able to complete a run and that really disheartened me. Running back home the calf soreness got quite bad and I had to stop twice more.
I didn't want to completely lose my confidence with running as it is very important to me, so I went back out with my partner with the idea of running with her for a bit just to get my confidence back. She runs a little bit slower than me (6.00 kms) and I ran at her pace with her for just over 6k and felt great. It was the most I've enjoyed a run for ages. Calf felt OK and I certainly didn't feel out of energy, yet this was less than an hour after I'd had to stop and walk.
I don't know whether the key thing is the calf, just having done too much and needing a bit of a rest, getting too anxious about it or all 3. I'm 46, so not a youngster and I've never run as much as this before but until a week ago I wasn't struggling at all. Would really appreciate any advice if anyone has been through similar things.
Gary
I've been running regularly for over a decade but pre-Covid I used to balance swimming and running and would only run 2-3 times a week. I used to suffer quite badly with shin injuries. When the first lockdown happened and the pools closed I decided to try to run every day if I could. Surprisingly I found I pretty much could do it and since last March I've run 10k every day with the exception of about 6 or 7 days that I missed with niggles. I realise this is nobody's idea of a great training plan as I'm alternating between 2 routes and running at roughly the same pace every day (5.20-5.30 kms).
I've really loved my running and it has been very important for my mental health, I haven't really had any problems until the last week. At the start of this week I started to get some soreness from my calf on the last half of my runs. Not pain as such, it feels more like running with a dead leg. Suddenly hills that I was enjoying running (my two routes are 1. Quite hilly and 2. Very hilly) felt quite difficult. This got progressively worse and runs were starting to be a struggle. Today, on the very hilly route, I got to the third hill ok but started to feel very anxious about my ability to do it and had to stop and walk it, I just felt that the energy wasn't there and felt I'd hit a wall. Can't remember the last time I haven't been able to complete a run and that really disheartened me. Running back home the calf soreness got quite bad and I had to stop twice more.
I didn't want to completely lose my confidence with running as it is very important to me, so I went back out with my partner with the idea of running with her for a bit just to get my confidence back. She runs a little bit slower than me (6.00 kms) and I ran at her pace with her for just over 6k and felt great. It was the most I've enjoyed a run for ages. Calf felt OK and I certainly didn't feel out of energy, yet this was less than an hour after I'd had to stop and walk.
I don't know whether the key thing is the calf, just having done too much and needing a bit of a rest, getting too anxious about it or all 3. I'm 46, so not a youngster and I've never run as much as this before but until a week ago I wasn't struggling at all. Would really appreciate any advice if anyone has been through similar things.
Gary
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Comments
Re the tiredness you could have or had a virus, do you check your resting heart rate every morning? This can often indicate if you have a virus, or are tired or overtraining or overstressed.
Try an not to be anxious about it. Running is to be enjoyed, we're not machines and all have a few bad runs now and then.
I would suggest that you vary your distances and routes, just alternating between 2 routes of the same distance seems odd to me, explore your local area, do some hills, mix it up a bit.
Shades is absolutely right, it just sounds like you haven't been varying your demand enough for your body. At the elite level, periodisation is the buzz word, meaning you have spells of increased/decreased mileage, perhaps having six weeks where you up the distance and then a week of very low mileage, before changing your training to incorporate some quicker runs. Even within these phases, distance and speed are varied from day to day to get the most out of your body.
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