Cant shake the tiredness

Hi All,

Ran a ultra a month ago. Had lots of rest for the first 3 week after. Went to get a full massage from a sports therapist .

I planned to have a very slow recovery and get back to running very slowly. I am doing 1 hour runs with seem fine at the time but the following day all my joints are sore and fell generally very tired.

Any tips on recovery because its 5 weeks now since the run.

Cheers

Barry

Hmm. I'm no expert but I'd guess that if ALL your joints are sore it could be a sign that you might have some kind of minor virus that's hampering your recovery. Though having also run my first ultra about 5-6 weeks ago, I can tell you that I still have lingering twinges that weren't there previously and when I sit down for any length of time I seem to 'stiffen up' more than I did before. I've been making odd "oof"ing noises when I crouch or kneel down and while I felt pretty much back to normal after the first week, my heart rate monitor told a different story as even on moderately slow runs my heart was working at over 90% of max.

Tips on recovery? Make sure you're eating enough good quality nutritious food and don't skimp on the protein. If you're tired, try to sleep more. And make sure you're not overdoing it on your runs...

Hi Barry,

A few questions for you:

(1)  How long was your ultra?

(2)  Was it your first ultra?

(3)  Was it over different terrain than you trained on?

(4)  Did you watch your fueling strategy during the race?

(5) Did you get the time you wanted?

It is possible that the cartilage in your knee cap is swollen. 

There is an easy way to test this. 

If the cartilage is swollen, then you can hold your leg straight and gently move the knee cap sideways. 

If the cartilage is not swollen, then you will not be able to do this. 

The swollen cartilage pushes the knee cap outwards slightly, which allows it to be moved gently from side to side. 

If this is the case then you need to R.I.C.E  the knee and take ibuprofen. 

Hi all thanks for the info.  

It funny because the soreness is more is more in my upper body arms and almost not pain in my legs. I am going to do a short run today and see how I feel in the following 24 hours. Might need to go to the doc if the soreness keeps up.

A few questions for you:

(1) How long was your ultra 39 miles

(2) Was it your first ultra? Yes

(3) Was it over different terrain than you trained on? 30 - 40 % hill but I did train a lot off hills

(4) Did you watch your fueling strategy during the race? Yea lots of fulid and a gels

(5) Did you get the time you wanted - Just under 7 hours which was almost spot on the time I planned to run it.

If this is your first ultra then you are not doing badly. Hilly, rough long races are tough on everything. I take about 2-3 months to fully recover from long ultras. Trying to force a comeback earlier has been frustrating, but it does get easier the more ultras you do.

I would listen to your body and only slowly get back into running. 

Agree with RwD about sleep and nutrition.