Dr Tyson, again
I have a little bit of experience with running with legs that haven’t run in a month. It’s almost all I’ve done in the last ten months. One of the patterns I’ve seen is that after getting psyched up to start running again I’ve come back from that first run and had severely sore calves the next day. My calves have been so sore and tight actually that I’ve had difficulty walking two days after the run. I’ve considered trying to run on legs that sore but have thought better of it and lost whatever momentum I might have otherwise gained.
Perhaps because Tuesday’s run was at such low intensity, I woke up today without any discomfort in my calves or any other part of my legs. A great opportunity to get out on the road again! And if Tuesday’s pace was what it takes not to have the sort of pain that keeps me from running, then it makes sense that I should duplicate the conditions. Once again, I put a podcast on the headphones and went out for the run.
This was also a Commonwealth Club talk by Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson, this one focusing more on Pluto and topics peripheral to Pluto’s classification as a Kuyper Belt Object than the earlier talk I listened to on Tuesday. Still, it was largely similar to the earlier talk.
Rather than run out to the Bay and in a loop, I went straight out by Mission Creek and past the ballpark. I went a little ways up the Embarcadero but turned around at about the two mile mark when I began to bonk. It’s sad that I would start to feel so depleted after just two miles but I turned back and continued home. When I had to stop to wait for traffic by the Lefty O’Doul Bridge I’m afraid I lost my momentum and walked most of the rest of the way back.
I’m bothered by having run out of energy after only 2.6 miles, especially after breakfast. But once is an incident. I’ll wait until it becomes a pattern to worry.
Running
To me, sore calves after running indicates not enough stretching before and/or after the run and/or going to far and/or too fast too soon. Sounds like this time, you were more moderate and didn’t get the calf pain. When starting an activity I haven’t done for a while, I also figure that the second day I’m going to tire more quickly. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, just don’t expect as much. Maybe the next day should be a rest day or a day of some different type of activity. Then back to what you did the first day. Extend gradually. G‑R-A-D-U-A-L-L‑Y. Does not mean do twice as much the next day.