- You Need a Rest
Sometimes you might just need a rest. It may be possible that your body or mind is tired and depleted. Take a break for a day or two from running to rejuvenate your mind and body. Also, make sure to properly fuel and hydrate your body, consuming adequate nutrients like protein to rebuild broken muscles. Try to drink water as much as you can. Give some time to practice yoga, to stretch out all your aches and soreness and some other cross-training, depending on how you are feeling, and get ready to return run-ready and refreshed!
- You Are Under-Fueled
Run fuels are taken before, sometimes during, and after running also, based on your running conditions. If you find yourself struggling to keep up your running pace, or growing tired halfway through your run, it may be because you are not properly fueling for your distance. Signs include things like shortness of breath, lethargic/no-energy while running, headache, muscle cramps, and the run just seems overly hard when it’s just your easy run. If that is the case, re-evaluate your caloric intake and adjust accordingly. Play around with when you eat and how much in relation to your run time and distance and figure out what you need to allow you to run your best.
- You Have Poor Recovery
Do you refuel your body within 30 minutes after finishing your run? How about stretching and foam rolling those sore, tired legs? Recovery for everyone is a differentiated process, and is different depending on how far you ran, the running conditions etc., but take some time to figure out what it means for you and to make sure you do it properly every time.
- You’re Dehydrated
If you feel thirsty very frequently, either you are running or not, or having dry lips, and a pasty taste in your mouth, and you feel like you’re sweating way less than normal. you may be dehydrated! Dehydration has a great impact on one’s running schedule. When the body doesn’t have enough water amount, all vital systems start to struggle on the inside, and as a result you start to struggle as well. And if you feel like you are drinking enough water, but still have all the above symptoms, try replenishing your electrolytes. As runners, they need a lot of electrolytes. As plain water, sometimes isn’t enough to get things back on track.
