Forums >General Running>Experienced runner feeling exhausted, sluggish, having to take breaks -- why?
Tessa
Get to a doctor. I'm not one, however, it sounds to me as if you may have caught one of the infections that can lead to heart damage. It used to be called "rheumatic fever" and what it usually was was a strep infection.
Mononucleosis is another possibility.
And sorry, but from the posts I'm not certain what your gender is and I don't know you well enough to know from previous posts. If you are female, is there any possibility you might be pregnant? Early pregnancy will knock you flat for a month or so.
Also, you shouldn't be taking iron pills unless you have been instructed to by a medical professional after tests show that you're low on iron. Hemochromatosis is a possibility.
Get checked. Good luck.
Thanks. Actually, I'm a male, so being pregnant is not an issue. :-)
Also, someone else mentioned that I might be running too fast for too many of my runs. Most of my 10k times are between 42:00 - 43:00, although if it's really humid, I might take 44 minutes or a little longer. My fastest 5k has been 20:16, although even my worst times usually aren't longer than 21:30-ish (obviously, my time in the race last night, which was around 24 minutes, was my slowest ever).
I have wondered about the possibility about me having caught some kind of infection that infects the heart, because, even though I don't think I've mentioned this in the thread yet, I will usually experience at least a few heart palpitations during most of my runs now. It just feels like my heart will jump up into my throat for a second. Of course, that's another thing I never experienced until the last few months.
I guess my running days will be pretty much over if that's what it ends up being....
That's not necessarily true, but it would be a good idea to stop running until you get this sorted.
Are you saying that your 5k PR is 20:16 and that your 10k training runs are normally 42-43 mins long? If so then you're certainly running too fast in training. Or are you saying that 42-43 is your normal race result for a 10k? If so then what kind of pace do you normally maintain in training?
The majority of your weekly mileage should be relatively easy. The higher the mileage the more this is so.
Dream Maker
I have been to the doctor with severe fatigue so much and the results have been at various times
1. Mono
2. Thyroid and b12 deficiency
3. Overtraining
4. Thyroid hypo again
its stupid expensive and I know my doctor suspects depression every time until bloodwork shows something else (but maybe because I am female). But you have to do it.
Proboscis Colossus
!!!!!
Doc. Now.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
To be honest, I really don't run fast at all -- I have always been a very "slow-twitch," 8-ish minutes/mile kind of person, which is why I'm wondering why I'm feeling run-down (since I don't run fast anyways). I honestly don't think I can get any slower, LOL. I guess it could still be overtraining.... the reason I don't *think* it would be Lyme is because I'm not experiencing fatigue outside of running, or muscle pain at all.
Sounds like you are going to fast on your easy runs to me. you said you ran a 20ish minute 5K last year and that you run your easy runs around 8ish. I ran a sub-19 last year, and my easy runs are closer to 9:15. Easy should be easy. Just because you can run at a certain pace day after day, doesnt mean you should.
Faster Than Your Couch!
I agree, it's something you need to have checked out by your doc. The risk for permanent damage to your health is too high to experiment around it or wait it out.
Iron supplements take at least 10-14 days to show a noticable effect, that's how long it takes the body to ramp up the production of red blood cells (or produce red blood cells with sufficient hemoglobin levels). Don't take them without being told so by your doc, you could risk some bad side effects or overdose on them, which can be life-threatening.
In my experience, overtraining would rather have you feel tired, exhausted, but not force you to stop running several times.
Hope you'll get it diagnosed and treated, but there are also some viral infections that can last for several months, which stay usually undiagnosed, and you have to wait it out until it resolves on its own.
You might also be experiencing some mental burn-out, but still need to get a doctor's diagnosis.
Run for fun.
King of PhotoShop
As Spaniel wisely points out, this could be a lot of things, but of the very important things it could be is a heart problem. I had the exact same symptoms just before they replaced my aortic valve with an artificial one and I had triple bypass surgery. Get to the doctor now. Spareribs
What????
You just said you did a 5k and finished in 24:30 or so. that's a 7:53 pace and your normal run is 8:00 ish. Seems to me you are running too fast for your fitness. Fitness comes and goes and you can not peak all year round. Easy pace quickens and slows right along with your fitness. 8:00ish easy pace sounds reasonable for a 20 min 5ker but you're not there right now. If you keep trying to run at a certain pace all the time and your fitness is not there, then you are running the risk of overtraining and that to me seems to be where you are right now.
By all means get the testing done to rule some things out, but slow down and back off for awhile and see how it goes. OVertraining can take a long time to overcome so be patient and don'r rush it.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life
Regarding training times, 42-43 minutes is my normal time for a 10k race and 20:16 is my record for a 5k, although I'm slower than that in real life. Something I forgot to mention is that, back in January and maybe once or twice in February, when I was working out at the gym, I suddenly felt nauseous and ran to the bathroom because I felt like I was really going to barf. It was towards the end of my workout and I was just sitting around at that point when the feeling came on. I leaned over in the bathroom for maybe 2 minutes, but I never threw up, and I felt better when I stood back up. That hasn't happened in probably over a month.
You need a new doctor if depression is what he suspects when you are fatigued. I was anemic a while ago, and when I went to the doc and told him I was unusually tired during almost all of my runs, he did blood work. I was severely anemic. In fact, just had some blood drawn today because I'd like off the iron supplements. My doc is runner/athlete.... so that helps.
Live the Adventure. Enjoy the Journey. Be Kind. Have Faith!
What everybody said: see a doctor, check into medical causes. It could be lots of things -- in my brother's case, he had a blood clot in his lung.
....... Any insight as to what could be going on would be greatly appreciated....
.......
Any insight as to what could be going on would be greatly appreciated....
Just another thought. Check your iron levels....
A significant question that I have to ask is, why didn't I notice these symptoms until the last couple of months? If it's overtraining, then why didn't I feel anything between 2005 and the last few months?
It may or may not be overtraining, but you should assume nothing without a medical exam. The chest symptom may indicate a blockage in your heart. I'm not a doctor or a medical professional at all, but in my mind, common sense would dictate you see a doctor in the fairly near future.