Just started Week 5, and I seem to be seeing a common theme. Every day I run, once I get home, my legs do not want to move. It’s almost two hours since I got home from W5R1, and my legs usually feel very heavy by the last third of the session, every time. And then, upon getting home, moving feels an effort, and all of the things I wanted to with the day do not get done.
Does anyone have any tips on how I might be able to improve this? I stretch beforehand, but not afterwards, as it feels like too much effort.
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Garu
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Stretching after is going to help a lot more than stretching before, the benefits of which are much debated. Hydration would be suspect too. I try to avoid sitting for more than a few minutes at a time after a run, and in general I don’t do it for more than an hour.
Hydration may be the key here - plenty of fluids on rest says as well as run days. And maybe try extra walking on your rest days just to gently build some stamina. You could also look at your running speed - even if you think you’re running slowly, you could possibly slow down some more. I found the Japanese slow jogging technique video on youtube really helpful - and I run this way all the time. It helped me with that heavy leg feeling.
If you read the guide to the plan it gives links to appropriate stretches for pre and post run.........they are not the same.
As you have been advised, post run stretching is far more important than pre run, which I, personally, rarely do.
Post run stretching, while muscles are warm and supple pulls out any contractions in muscles and improves blood flow for repair, avoiding carrying those contractions into the next run.
The guide also has advice on hydration, which is crucial.
Stretching and hydration are key.dynamic stretches before are great and then follow the guide to post run stretching. I always drank 2 litres of water a day for years and even I had to increase my intake doing C25K
Thanks for your help, everyone. I’m usually - but not always - pretty good with hydration, but I used to make a much more conscious effort. I’ll try that again going forward.
Pre-run stretches are vital for me - I do notice a significant difference between doing them and not doing them. I do have - and have always had - quite tense muscles, so I will definitely put more effort into warming down stretches. I’ll report back tomorrow!
Didn’t sit down pos-run today, and did some stretches. My legs feel better for that! However, I still felt lethargic, which I always do. But then, I felt lethargic before the run, so it could be unrelated. Let’s see on Friday...
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My daughter, my conscience
Why do my legs hurt more on the second day????
Week 2 day 3 - Making the legs WORK!
Why are my legs hurting so much?!🤔🙄
Lost my mojo! 😣....
