Hi guys,

My fitness seems to be coming on leaps and bounds at the moment but towards the end of my runs lately i feel like my legs just dont want to move any more and start feeling like i have lead in my shoes even though i know that my heart and lungs could take so much more. Its getting frustrating because i dont feel im improving myself as quickly as i could be.

I was thinking i might need to do some strength excercises on my legs to combat this situation. Is this the right way to go or will my legs progress with my fitness?

Any thoughts welcome.

Cheers.

i'd have thought thats more endurance than strength, and the only way i know of acquiring that is to keep at it and build distance gradually.

depending on the kind of training you're currently doing your cardio system may have adapted quicker than your muscular endurance.

how long have you been running for ?
how long are your runs ?
how has your running progressed (diastance & time wise)?
how regularly do you run ? any rest days ?

and a 2nd thought.... could be flexibility linked too perhaps, do you stretch at all ?
tight muscles from the previous run won't help matters.

just a few thoughts.

ed

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I've found the same Dan... when I was unfit it was always that my lungs couldn't keep up and I was always gasping for air - as I've got fitter it's more about the muscles aching/fatiguing that limits my performance (unless I'm in a short race/effort with near max HR - then it seems to be the heart/lungs limiting me again)

I think it's just how our bodies are - though if anyone knows how to overcome it I'd be most interested to know how!!

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www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - Glooston 10k report added

all relevant points,

iv been running for about two weeks now started doing every other day for about two miles iv just been trying to make it the whole two miles without stopping so far. im doing a six miler today though to see how i get on. i stretch out for at least half an hour before runs then run for five minutes stop and stretch out the now warm muscles then continue for the rest of my run.

If you've gone straight from 0 to 2 miles everyday then that's quite a lot! It definitely just sounds like over-working and fatigue! If you cut it down to every other day you'll probably find that you'll improve and then you can slowly start adding an extra day every few weeks... what would probably work really well for the endurance thing is maybe try training 3 times a week with a long run and a quality run - when i started training again in the new year I only did 3 days and it was hard, despite during the summer having been doing running every other day...

ANYWAY a major point here is that if your muscles are getting fatigued and you're not giving them time to repair themselves and take the benefit of the exercise you've done the previous day, then by running again you're probably actually decreasing any benefit from that run, so I'm not sure strength training is your answer for the moment - when you're starting out running itself is probably training enough. It is a little frustrating, especially if you've got the motivation to be running every day, however you don't want to injure youreself before you've even begun, and so take it easy for now - if you give yourself some rest you'll actually see that your endurance will increase faster!

Does that make any sense? LOL!

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Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.

My training if you can call it that is just 'heed doon huad chapping'. When I started running 3 miles was a struggle and the next day I really felt it in my legs. I just stuck with it keep going and now I can manage 14 miles with no problems I'm far from a serious runner. The pain goes away and the feelings of satisfation stays.

Squint

2 weeks of not completing 2 mile runs - and then decidinding to do a 6 mile run...

that's insane...

perhaps you need psychiatric help... (jokes)...

but seriously, take it slower...

the guidelines is to only increase distance by 10% per week maximum...

if you do more, you'll never be able to maintain it... trust me... i tried to do more and backfired...

good luck with the running...

Stretching for 30mins sounds a little unnecessary? I'd say a very gentle jog for a few mins and 5mins of light stretching would be fine to warm up? Seems to work fine for me anyhow!

If you go for the 6miler, try and make it a bit of a one off and as the others have been said, try and build gradually. Chances are you will want to push on and will probably end up injured, but you never know your limits until you've gone beyond them!

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www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - Glooston 10k report added

well im gonna chuck all these points into the melting pot and see what happens i think my problem is i just expect too much from my body so will take it a bit easier. cheers for all the input guys

Even when I've been extremely fit (aah, those were the days...), I've had runs where my legs "run away" with my lungs ; and runs where my legs haven't been able to keep up with my lungs. No explanation for either, and no way of predicting when those types of run will occur.
That's (running) life...

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GONE RUNNING