Breathing OK - legs feel heavy?

[emmabrambles]

Just finished week 3 - Any advice on why my legs feel so heavy towards the end of my runs, but my breathing is more than fine? Is that normal? How can I help my legs?

[tara-j Graduate]

Hi Emma, I haven't graduated yet but for what it's worth my calves are often feeling really tight and plodding the end of my run and breathing is ok. I have found stretching afterwards and even in the evenings when relaxing helps...don't know if it will help, might be worth a try though.

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Your good breathing means that you are running at a good pace for you -- your muscles however are NOT happy!!! - and won't be happy for some time yet!! Just ignore them - unless they get especially difficult. If so, give them a rest for a while - They'll get used to it!!

[emmabrambles Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

OK makes sense - I naively thought that it would be the cardio aspect that I would struggle with (please don't tell me that gets more difficult - but I know it must do!!)

[spinnerdcc]

I know the feeling well, I have days where I can do 10-15km easy and feel like I could run all day, then I have day's where my legs turn to lead after 5km.

I have tried everything from carb loading, hydration, rest but it seems totally random

[emmabrambles Graduate in reply to spinnerdcc]

Not sure you do know the feeling! I am talking 3 minutes of running haha

[Tomas Graduate]

I totally agree with Bazza. It's just your leg muscles complaining about the unusual activity you're asking them to do. It takes about three weeks to reap the muscular benefit of exercise, so right now you're legs are adapting to the demands you made in week 1.

Best thing you can do is to make sure you get some protein and carbohydrate within half an hour of stopping your exercise. A glass of chocolate milk and a banana is great.

[emmabrambles Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Ok yes that makes sense. Milk and banana it is. I play tennis on 2 of my off days (the reason I am doing C25K is to improve my tennis) so I am sure that doesn't help (i only play doubles though) x

[Tomas Graduate in reply to emmabrambles]

Any sport with bursts of sideway movement can be very hard for runners - you're putting a lot of stress on your legs when you jump sideways to catch a ball. Same goes for badminton, volleyball, basketball, etc. Just something to be aware of, maybe consider turning the "weeks" into 8-day or 9-day periods so you still get sufficient rest.

Happy running

[emmabrambles Graduate in reply to Tomas]

how do you mean a 8/9 day week? do you mean I do 3 runs in 8 or 9 days rather than 7? that sounds obvious now I type this

i don't want running to ruin my tennis - just improve it - when you say tennis is hard for runners do you mean my legs are more at risk (when I play tennis) if i become a runner?

questions questions!

[Tomas Graduate in reply to emmabrambles]

Yep, that's what I meant. The programme is based on 3 runs in a week and 4 days recovery. You add 2 days of tennis, so if you in a 9 day period run 3 times and play tennis twice, then you still have your 4 recovery days. Just an idea.

Thinking about it... forget what I said about latteral movement and tennis. It's a bad idea for runners to take up tennis as cross training, as tennis can be very hard on the legs. But you're already a tennis player, so you presumably have that covered. And I don't think running is going to hurt your tennis (apart from maybe giving you achey legs if you don't rest enough). So that was me gooing off on a wrong tangent... sorry.

[emmabrambles Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Thanks so much for taking the time to help. I suppose my legs are used to tennis - i play 2 and sometimes 3 times and have been doing that for years. Doubles is much easier as you have less court to cover. I play golf too (once a week/sometimes twice) so I wasn't sedentary when I started C25K, I just want more stamina and better cardiovascular fitness. I will probably stick to running 2/3 times a week for 30 mins (if I do graduate!)

[Chaseme73]

Hi Emma...yes, I felt exactly the same! And kind of still do to an extent. We're working hard...and getting used to running.... Enjoy, and good luck

[mrrun Graduate in reply to Chaseme73]

You somehow ended up in a 3 year old thread

One of the reasons could be dehydration as well.