Whenever I work up to anywhere around 40mpw I start to feel constant fatigue in my legs, specifically my quads. Any ideas what to do?
Whenever I work up to anywhere around 40mpw I start to feel constant fatigue in my legs, specifically my quads. Any ideas what to do?
A lot more info required, but in general you just need to give it time. When I build up past 80mpw my legs feel heavy and tired for about 4 weeks but then it gets better.
Do more mileage, if you do enough mileage your legs will just become num and won't be sore or dead.
I run 40mpw and race throughout the fall. Whenever I am doing speed workouts with reps anything less than 800 I do great but 1k and up kicks my butt. I will build up slow and maintain 40 for about 3 months before I have to just take a break for a few months, then the process repeats. The fatigue affects me in races over 1600 and in between runs my legs just feel heavy. Anything other info needed just ask
Also in the past cycle I have tried slowing down easy runs from 7:30 to 8 min pace and that did nothing. Do I need to go even slower? Run easy runs faster? I am about a 16:50 5k by the way.
I suggest not being a puss-y
YOU’RE WELCOME
DeadTruth wrote:
I suggest not being a puss-y
YOU’RE WELCOME
Thanks a lot man I'll get right on that.
Np bro. Only one week of that and you'll see wonders in how fresh your legs will feel
Give it time, and make sure your diet is decent (although it shouldn't matter too much at your mileage).
Dead Legs wrote:
Whenever I work up to anywhere around 40mpw I start to feel constant fatigue in my legs, specifically my quads. Any ideas what to do?
You should look up the term “adaptation”. I’ll try and explain it well, though.
When you run, your body undergoes stress. For you, at 40 mpw, this stress feels high and uncomfortable. Try staying at 40, and even going to 45-48 for a few weeks. The body will begin to adapt to the new load. A lot of the adaptations the body undergoes, in particular with mileage, take 5-8 weeks to see. You just need to push past the pain and the fatigue will go away. Here is another word: “homeostasis”. That’s where you will eventually be at while running 40-50 mpw, it just takes time.
Some folks say that it might be lack of iron stores in your body. A 'serum ferritin' test will show your iron storage in ng/ml. Some doctors suggest that less than 30 ng/ml is something an endurance runner should look at, and less than 20 ng/ml is critical for anybody. Some folks with either case are sometimes advised by some doctors to supplement with a meal a 50mg of iron dose with 500mg of Vitamin C (helps absorption) twice each day for 6 weeks. Preferrably not a ferrous sulphate type iron since this has the harshest bodily side effects. Then, they say to get another serum ferritin test. If your serum ferritin has not increased by at least 6 ng/ml then they may say that you should try another type iron supplement or that you may not be absorbing nutrients like iron for some reason such as due to gluten. Some doctors say this is a classic with with gluten sensitive and celiac patients.
Sand Dunes wrote:
Do more mileage, if you do enough mileage your legs will just become num and won't be sore or dead.
+1. If you find 40mpw hard, try to run 50mpw. You should feel it easier.
if you feel tired run less or just walk
if you're doing 40 mpw there's a 99% chance your easy pace is slower than 8 min/mile. if elites run their easy miles 3 mins slower than 5k pace, so should you.
when I was running in HS, the difference between me and my teammates was my easy runs were between 8 and 9 min miles, while they ran high 6s and low 7s for their easy runs. always felt recovered and could throw down during workouts.
reference:
4:08 1600, 14:22 5k
Thanks a lot guys I guess I will just have to stick it out and even increase mileage if I want the fatigue to go away. Also I will experiment with different paces on recovery runs.
Whenever a snowflake lands on my hand it melts. Can someone please help?
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS wrote:
if you're doing 40 mpw there's a 99% chance your easy pace is slower than 8 min/mile. if elites run their easy miles 3 mins slower than 5k pace, so should you.
when I was running in HS, the difference between me and my teammates was my easy runs were between 8 and 9 min miles, while they ran high 6s and low 7s for their easy runs. always felt recovered and could throw down during workouts.
reference:
4:08 1600, 14:22 5k
This is the biggest load of crap. Elites that aren’t running 5:30-6:20 on their easy days are the exception, not the rule. That’s like 1:30-2:10 slower than their 5k pace.
This annoying letstun stupidly slow easy pace dogma is idiotic. It can work, but that doesn’t invalidate actual training that sees a hell of a lot more success than your crappy training.
You should adapt over time, but in the short term try light strides during/after some runs. Taper if you have dead legs before a race.
Not sure how quickly you got to 40 mpw, but for someone who isn't customarily at a particular mileage level (regardless of what that level is), a VERY gradual increase up to said mileage level seems to work best for most. Also, it might help to have a down mileage week every 3rd week. You can do this and continue to increase your mileage gradually .... if you want or need to. Don't feel like you have to do some amount of mileage just because others are... do what you enjoy. Also, I couldn't help but wonder what you are or are not eating and about your sleeping habits. Both are crucial.
LoveMarathons wrote:
Not sure how quickly you got to 40 mpw, but for someone who isn't customarily at a particular mileage level (regardless of what that level is), a VERY gradual increase up to said mileage level seems to work best for most. Also, it might help to have a down mileage week every 3rd week. You can do this and continue to increase your mileage gradually .... if you want or need to. Don't feel like you have to do some amount of mileage just because others are... do what you enjoy. Also, I couldn't help but wonder what you are or are not eating and about your sleeping habits. Both are crucial.
I get a solid 8-9 hrs of sleep every night and I saw a nutritionist once upon a time and still stick to his plan for the most part. I do live in Texas though so I have to pig out on some of the great food now and again.