I start ALL my runs feeling like absolute CRAP...

samesies

I think this is pretty standard for fit people doing decent mileage. 4 or 5 years ago I cycled competitively and this would happen to me all the time. It would take 45 minutes to an hour for the muscles to loosen up and feel good.

Seriously mate? wrote:

I think this is pretty standard for fit people doing decent mileage. 4 or 5 years ago I cycled competitively and this would happen to me all the time. It would take 45 minutes to an hour for the muscles to loosen up and feel good.

But why am I so winded at such a slow pace? It's not just feeling sluggish, it's feeling winded. And it's not as if I'm physically burned out from high mileage. I've been there before with anemia and I know what's that like. This isn't that, I'm not walking around during the day feeling lethargic and totally drained. I feel fine when I'm not running.

An aside to my comment...I surmise this is why a lot of the E. Africans start their runs at a super slow, almost shuffle like pace then ramp up the pace towards the middle and end of the run.

Seriously mate? wrote:

I think this is pretty standard for fit people doing decent mileage. 4 or 5 years ago I cycled competitively and this would happen to me all the time. It would take 45 minutes to an hour for the muscles to loosen up and feel good.

I'm not sure if there is any scientific data to back up this theory but I once read that when someone is in pretty decent shape the body doesn't really recognize the you are exercising when you initially start your run. The body almost thinks it is still in a resting state so instead of increasing your blood glucose and feeding the muscles energy it is storing blood glucose as glycogen. Maybe this initial, temporary hypoglycemic condition is why you feel terrible at the start of runs and why, once your body realizes you are exercising and begins to dump glucose back into the bloodstream, you feel better later on in your runs? This could be total bs but it sounds like it could be plausible.

I assume these are mostly AM runs. You are getting winded because the slow twitch are not ready, you are calling on the fast twitch. Idiot CNS then thinks heavy breathing will help. Try walking 5 minutes, shuffling 5 minutes, jogging 5 minutes. You should be good to go.

Alan Bennet wrote:

I assume these are mostly AM runs. You are getting winded because the slow twitch are not ready, you are calling on the fast twitch. Idiot CNS then thinks heavy breathing will help. Try walking 5 minutes, shuffling 5 minutes, jogging 5 minutes. You should be good to go.

Where the hell did you learn this?

AM running does it for me. Long runs I'm struggling at 9:00 or even 10:00 pace for the first few miles. After warmed up, I can drop pace to 7:00 for 20 miles.

I still think you are somewhat overtrained.

I don't think that is a bad thing to be though if you don't try to push the runs too hard and really put yourself in a hole.

Last summer, my main concern was feeling as fresh and fast as I could most of the time as I raced a lot. I was surprised at how little running I could do to accomplish that goal. Half the days I just did an easy 2 or 3 miles. I raced faster than I had in 5 years at 50 years old.

Right now I am trying to run 1,000 miles in the first 3 months of the year(77-80 miles/week). I have spent most of that time really overtrained. I will feel pretty good for a couple days and then feel like I can barely move for a day. Most days after I get through the first half hour, I feel pretty good. When I do my speed day, I take an extra mile or two to warm up to make sure my breathing is good enough to handle the speed work.

As said before, if you start out really slow and work into the pace, you will feel much better. If you took an easy week, you would probably find the beginning of each run much easier.

good answers so far. I've been trying the 80/20 thing recently and it's taking me a while to get used to because I felt like I am shuffling for a good number of my miles. Maybe my mind and body are just struggling to adapt to going so easy... I haven't raced in a while but my last race was a 5k pr so I must be doing something right. I have a buddy (sub 14 guy) who starts all of his runs at a strider pace. Even if it's a recovery day, he'll shoot out the door fast just to shock his system into exercise mode before settling into pace. Swears by it.. Obviously though, I don't know much about the physiology or biology of the involved processes, but something about that seems intuitively true.

bump

same problem as OP

Can't believe nobody has referenced this thread:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3877762

Ah, carp! wrote:

Can't believe nobody has referenced this thread:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3877762

haha I opened this thread for the sole reason of posting about carp. Great minds...

You're doing it wrong. Start very slowly and get a good rhythm, let the pace come to you, keeping that good rhythm and it will. Concentrate on feeling good about those perfectly executed, efficient early short strides, and let it gradually pick up as you go.

Seriously mate? wrote:

I'm not sure if there is any scientific data to back up this theory but I once read that when someone is in pretty decent shape the body doesn't really recognize the you are exercising when you initially start your run. The body almost thinks it is still in a resting state so instead of increasing your blood glucose and feeding the muscles energy it is storing blood glucose as glycogen. Maybe this initial, temporary hypoglycemic condition is why you feel terrible at the start of runs and why, once your body realizes you are exercising and begins to dump glucose back into the bloodstream, you feel better later on in your runs? This could be total bs but it sounds like it could be plausible.

I always feel a but sluggish on my long runs, then when I get over the first hill, everything seems to go "up a gear", It's like the small spike of effort kick starts everything - similar to what you're suggesting. Would also be really interested to know if there is any data/study to back this up?

Have you tried to warm up to warm up? Do you do your drills, strides and stretching before going on the main run?

You misspelled CARP.

First two miles are the worst miles. Reason for that expression.

Seacrest OUT!

Dick Doobey wrote:

You misspelled CARP.

No I didn't...