for some reason i cant jog more than 800m before the lactic acid builds up in my calf so much that it becomes too pain full to continue running. I never used to have this problem, but i havnt been jogging for about a year now, i have been doing sprint training instead. I dont feel tired when i jog and im not breathing hard at all i just have to stop beaause of the pain. I do a small warm up before i jog: some skipping stretching and walking, but it doesn't seem to help. I was wondering if any one had any suggesting as to why the lactic acid builds up so fast and how to stop it.
Thanks
Greg.

Skipping??? Interesting... Isn't this placing a lot of stress on joints (ankles) and muscles (calves) which haven't had a chance to warm up properly?

Anyway, if you normally do sprint training, I would guess that you are running your 800m "jog" too fast. You say you stretch beforehand, which is good, but it might help to stop after a few minutes nad stretch again. I used to have very painful calves after about 1k, but stretching 2 or 3 times in the first 5-10 minutes seemed to do the trick.
Also, does it make a difference if you don't skip beforehand?

If you're jogging and not getting out of breathe I wonder how this can be lactic build up. Also to get lactate build up on one rep of 800m doesn't sound right either. I'd guess the reason was something else.

What happens when you're doing sprint training? Hard reps of 200 / 400 / 600 etc?

Are you sure it is a lactic acid build-up. It sounds to me as if you are getting cramps from not warming up properly and not paying enough attention to your pre-run hydration. Try stretching your calves well before running and as soon asthey start to feel stiff stop and stretch again.

Even if its not lactic acid, I would probably pay very close attention to the pace you are running - as the others have said, if you've spent a year doing sprint training, then the chances are that "muscle memory" is kicking in, and you could be going out too fast

Are you sure you are building up lactic?
You have to be running anearobically to do that!

Given the sprint training, it wouldn't surprise me if llg was running anaerobically...

Why are you just doing sprint training and not varying your training? Do you get regular sports massage to clear out the toxic build up that can sometimes happen during that kind of training? Are you stretching out enough?

Hopefully these reasons + what everyone else has said will have the answers for you

You need to be working anaerobically for this to kick in as it uses another energy system, which name escapes me.

What with the cold weather, I'd say that it's more likely to be cramp, so try focusing on warming up. Never stretch your muscles on a cold body, always do a very light 5 minute jog, like you would do on a recovery run, followed up by static stretches. Only then I'd skip landing on the and do some dynamic stretching before setting off.

If you're sure it's the build up of lactic acid, you may want to try threshold (tempo) runs. Basically it's running at maixmum effort which your body can work for long periods, and if you're working on sprint training, just tone it down slightly. Not so much like Fartlek training.

The thought behind it is to increase your ability to cope with the build up of lactic acid as it can gradually increase the body's capacity to produce energy. Threshold running generally consists of a 10 minutes warm up, and 20-30 minutes of running just below your lactate (anaerobic) threshold, ending with a five minute cool down.

It's not your top speed, but comfortably hard. If you are out of breathe to talk, you're going too fast. It should be about 78-85% of your maximum heart rate which can be found by using a calculator if you search google.

Remember though, you haven't been jogging for a year. Sprinting is explosive bursts of pace, whereas jogging is endurance. Reading a book over the Christmas period, it highlighted Paula Radcliffe wouldn't come anywhere near Lauryn Williams in the 100 metres, yet Lauryn Williams wouldn't come anywhere near Paula Radcliffe in a marathon. 800m is relatively short for muscles to be easing up, I'd say just take it easier and gradually work harder. You can use http://www.multimap.com for distances too. Don't increase your weekly mileage by more than 2 miles is the recommended distance if memory serves me correctly.

All the best with it, and let us know how you get on.

Lactic acid is not bad per se. Recent research indicates that it actually helps the muscles to cope with the extra load of intense training.