Energy Issues

Hello

I am a bit annoyed tonight as I went out for my first run of the week and although the mind was willing, my little legs just would not carry me - it felt awful, not to mention it's rubbish

I have been running since about April this year and at the moment, I do 15-20 miles a week.  Over the past couple of weeks, I had some great runs, last week I even did 5 miles Tue-Thur ... and they were those great ones where you feel like you could go on and on.  I do 5ks when I am short on time or doing hill work/fartlek but I usually do 7k + four times a week.

I was going for a 5 miler today but could barely do 5k!   I haven't run since last Thursday (Christmas things have got in the way!) so it's not like I am not rested.  I do eat well - healthy and little and often - so it's not that I am not 'fuelled'.  Oh and sorry if this is too much information for the gents out there but I am currently having my 'monthly visitor', in fact the pill I am on at the moment makes this happen every couple of weeks at the moment, rather than monthly.  I am aware this can cause iron problems so I am taking my multivits everyday.  I do work full time - but it's office work so I am on my arse for most it it, it's not like I have worn myself out today on the daily grind!

Has anyone else encountered this problem, and if so, how did you deal with it?  I am planning to run tomorrow after work but I don't think I will look forward to it as much as I usually do after tonight's epic fail!

If I have a bad run I just chalk it down to experience and forget about it, knowing full well that my next could be fantastic. If I feel tired, or my legs feel weak I assume i've a bug of some sort, do the run anyway, and again, forget about it. This is the benefit you get of having a few years experience.

I second that, run and learn!

Always try and find something constructive even out of a "bad" run, for example...your legs felt really heavy but you could still finish a 5k!

Next time your out you will know that even if everything feels wrong you can still finish a 5k so it will help you along.

If everything else seems fine eg.,diet, water, fuel..etc, check your form, are you wasting excess energy? Learn to run efficiently.

The other really backwards advice I can give you is when you feel like everything is going wrong sometimes the only thing to do is keep running!

Swap a training run for a "fun" run, ditch the watch, forget about time and splits and just run!

No plan, no time, fast, slow, road, trail it doesn't matter just go and play!

And the most important thing I can ever pass on.........Don't forget to SMILE!

Everyone has runs like this. It makes you appreciate the ones where everything feels good more. I always say give it 10 minutes very easy pace. If you still feel like ****, turn around and go home.

ditto the above, just do an easy run and if it doesnt get any better, make it a short one. there's always another day.then forget it and move on.

I always think (but am probably wrong) its either hormone related, or its your body catching up with the last few weeks running, and so needs to regroup a bit.

As soon as one run finishes, no matter how bad or good, I think about the next one. We all get the bad ones, but no point dwelling!