I was in Hong Kong recently, with very sore legs, having just ran the East China Half marathon. But I literally felt on top of the world, 35 floors up overlooking the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Kowloon.
I had to fly there via Tokyo for business and the journey took about 30 hours, (not recommended). I left home in Reading at 9 am last Friday, and finally got to bed in Hong Kong at 2 am Sunday morning.
Unfortunately, at 5am I was up again to travel to the race in the New Territories for an 8am start. Although just aiming for 80 minutes run time, I had had to look after myself on the way to the start line. I had done all the recommended stuff on the flight, wore my 2XU compression tights, drunk plenty of water, walked around the plane and stretched. If I had not I know it would have been an impossible task to run so soon after such a long flight. I love travelling and racing at great venues around the world, so I just put up with the consequences these days. During the race, the views were spectacular; sharp mountain peaks and dark green rugged forested coast line. To my amazement within 400m of the start we turned a corner and ran up a steep hill into a country park. After that point, I did not see another building until the finish, 21km later…this was not the concrete jungle I was expecting.
After the race I went out with a group of the runners, and one of them (an ex footballer), told me how he his legs always burn up just minutes into a run. It doesn’t matter if there is a big hill in the way or not. He said he can either sprint fast or jog very slowly, but nothing in between…it reminded me of similar problem a rugby playing friend of mine told me about last summer. I began thinking; this may be a common problem amongst team sportsmen and women who take up running, cycling or triathlon.
Do you start off training feeling light on your toes, only to be heavy legged, and lose your coordination too quickly?
…and do your muscles burn up and slow you down to a jog, within minutes of starting to train?
If this is you, read my article ‘How do I Stop the Burning Pain in my Legs when I Train‘