Hello forum friends,
I graduated 3-4 weeks ago and have been consolidating. I joined my local running club's beginners group last week and first the first time did some 'shuttles', involving short fast sprints. It was good fun! I felt pretty strong, and my legs ached all over for a couple of days. I did my usual 30 jog on Sunday then last night I set out to do my running club 'homework'. The idea was to do 4 lots of 5 minutes, increasing the pace slightly each time. I thought I would use the podcast from W5R1 then repeat one of the runs to make 4 lots of 5.
It all started well. I set off for the first 5 minutes even slower than my usual snails pace and was very pleased with how easy it felt. 3 minutes of walking, then I set off at my usual snails pace for the second 5. The first thing I noticed was how tight my calves and hamstrings felt when setting off for the second 5 mins, but I carried on and within a minute I felt fine. Just as the 5 minutes ended I suddenly had quite a strong twang in my right hamstring, like a giant hand had flicked it. I stopped and did some gentle stretching. Both calves and my right hamstring didn't feel good at all. I walked for a bit then tried a very slow jog, but only a couple of steps told me my run was over for the day and I hobbled home.
I iced my hamstring, elevated my leg, and gave my legs a really good massage (massage balls and the foam roller). Today I don't feel anything worse than the usual muscle stiffness after a run.
Sorry for the long post - the question is do I need to rest? If so, how long? I can't believe I'm saying this but I really don't want to stop! I want to maintain my new-found fitness. Any advice gratefully recieved.
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