body feels great...but legs terrible - help?

troll

same thing happens to me too. maybe it's the heat getting to you? I know it def takes a lot out of me. who knows. keep hydrated and keep on keepin on.

This is exactly my situation right now but with a little less mileage. I'm planning to cut back on mileage next week and then build up from there, hopefully it will help you should try it out too.

more rest, easy day (like 9 min pace per mile, I f*** you not)

and better nutrition. Ice bath, massage, roll the muscles, and also heat them sometimes.

stretching does little for some. I often feel more hurt when I stretch than I do when I don't.

I've run 55 sec 400's without stretching and felt fine, but sometimes I stretch and I can't hit 58 and feel like crap for days its weird with me. I f*** you not.

thanks all...while i realize cutting back/taking a few lower mileage days would probably solve it, i'd rather not do that, but i will if i have to.

as for running 9 min miles, i'll try. but it's hard enough to stay at 7 min miles. i feel like im making myself slower if i don't speed up. truly it'd be better if i were more disciplined. i know the johnson brothers always talk about how they would make sure they REALLY recovered on easy days, like 8-9 minute miles if they had to, but they wouldn't cut the mileage, just the pace. i'll certainly try that.

if not, i guess there's no alternative other than to cut the mileage for a week...but it'd make me so depressed, lol

I have the same problem as you but for slightly different reasons.

My legs feel like sh1t pretty much every time I get out. Sometimes after a rest day it feels even worse than with no rest day and tend to feel stiff pretty much everyday.

Problem is my weight had ballooned up to 225 pounds. I have managed to average around 40 miles and increasing a week since I decided to start running again (6 months ago) and have dropped to 190 pounds.

I have prioritised my workouts around losing weight as I feel this is where I will get the most improvements. I tend to do longer slower runs which hammer the legs and provide me with running partners :)and overall burn more calories than a shoter tempo run or track workout. I intend to start incorporating track workouts and tempo runs when I get down to around 180 pounds.

Is this a sensible approach to getting back into shape or should I rest up and take the more conservative route going forward and try and build everything up slowly?

I'm not sure if you are doing any quick stuff, but a few accels or striders at the end of a run can work miracles. The next day I often feel much better...it really works. Good luck.

Underground:

Don't change anything!

The body goes through peaks and valleys.

Embrace this phase of suck like you're running up a hill, knowing that next week you get to run down the backside of the hill.