Aching legs post run night

recently ive been having trouble sleeping at night due to really bad aching in the calves, its not painful but an uncomfortable ache that stops me from being comfortable.

ive only just started to have this after 2+ years of taking my running seriously.

In the past 6 months my average monthly distance has gone up quite a bit and i now average 12 miles every run so i thought it may be muscle fatigue and i need to back off a little, but a friend of mine suggested it might be lactic acid build up as over doing it would cause soreness rather than aching (he used to be a pesonal trainer in the 80/90's so his info might be out dated hence why i ask here)
If this is the case, how can i prevent that? stretch more? he suggested also wearing compression socks after a run.

thanks for your time.

Hi Marc,

Same here, just upped training to Marathon fron half and have a problem with achiles tendinitus also.

I find an ice pack post run (or a cold bath)  and one ibuprofen before bed takes the edge of and I get a good nights sleep then. I also am cutting back every third week which seems to prevent it getting any worse.

 Am interested in others approaches to dealing with this.

ive just spoken with a sports therapist friend of mine who says it may also be dehydration, i hydrate well before running, but in this humid and warmer season, i do lose a lot of fluid when running. perhaps i need to concentrate on replenishing that after.

Have you took advice on your training programme? I was surprised to find I was running way too fast for my previous target and am now training at 1 min a mile slower than previously (I am training for a marathon).

Do you take on carbs post run as well as fluids. There are plenty off threads on here that confirm that you need to replace the glycogen through carb intake within an hour of running - I take a dieters replacement meal type milk shake and a banana.  It seem sto help.

i slowed down a min/mile about 8 weeks ago actually, it gave me back my distance's as i was training too hard for faster times.

carbs i take on before and fluids =, but replacing glycogen i never really do. i just try to replace fluids when i return, i think i will look into that, thanks a lot for the info.