Am I normal?

I've discovered, to my immense surprise, that I like jogging/running and I've got a one mile and a bit circuit that I cover most evenings.  I've been running in a 'three days on, one day off' format and noticed that I can get a little further each time before having to slow down some to catch my breath.  So that's all good. (Yay me. Where's that marathon application form?)

BUT... recently I had to take about a week off because I had a crappy old headcold and didn't think running about outside was going to help matters.  Two days ago I went back out running fully expecting that I was going to find it tough going.  To my amazement I actually got a lot further around before feeling like I needed to slow down. 

I know nothing about exercise having avoided it my whole life.  Am I normal?

haha, what's normal? sounds like your body just got enough rest & nutrition to recover from being sick &  running before.

how long have you been doing this too? sometimes we can come back stronger if we take things in cycles.

About three or four weeks only... hardly a seasoned athlete!  I was just amused that after a week with my feet up I could run further than ever.

Same thing happens to me when i take a week or so off. Come back stronger. Who knew? A lot of people will take a week or two off after a few months of continuous training.

Thanks all...  I'll keep on running!

Yea I think this has happened to me.  I go further or feel fresher after a few days off.  I think it is normal.

Normal! I tend to exercise in spurts - I'll be very active for a couple weeks (running, lifting weights, etc), then some things will come up, and before I know it it will have been 3 weeks since my last run. The first run after the time off is usually a very pleasant surprise! Some rest does a body good.

Very normal.  The basic concept is built into training schedules with one cutback week each month and tapering before races.  Not breaking (or cutting back) for more than a week isn't beneficial, and not more than one week per month.

Completely normal. When I started exercising years ago I could only walk slowly on the treadmill, for short periods and I sometimes had to hang on to the rails. I now do 50 minutes a day interval training, very fast pace. I no longer get out of breath and my overall health is much better. Have you considered lifting/strength training? That will definitely build your endurance.

when you run every day or almost every day, you can (I did) get into a mindset that THIS is the amount I ran yesterday so Today, this little bit more is all I can run, because obviously nothing has changed from yesterday. 

In reality, when you start out running, your skill can grow quickly and I bet you can run quite a bit more than you think.  My coach used to say that running is 2/3rds mental 1/3rd physical, and I'd go as far as to say that it's nearly ALL mental. 

Though, a good warmup can do wonders for the aches.  I've started to get on an elliptical for 15 minutes to stretch out all my muscles and then go outside to run, but I used to have a stretch warmup, then high-skipping (as high as you can, cherry-picking with opposite arms), then high knees with quick steps, butt-kicks with short quick steps, striding as long as your legs will stretch, then running.  (I did about 50M of each)

woah tangent.  But I always feel sad when I see someone with bad form that is obviously happening because they hurt from not stretching properly.

in about one 26th of the distance of a marathon - this is what happens at the taper. you rest or take a very very very easy week, allow all your muscle fibres to heal and stock up on glycogen and hey presto - you are good to do the marathon.

up to this point you had been doing  18-22 miles on your long run - after the rest and by the big day you are ready to do that and more.

same theory, less distance. no doubt tho that we'll see you on the marathon buzz pretty soon :)

You did an unplanned deload. A deload is something you should plan into your bigger picture training routine. So let's say you take every 4th week off, or decrease the intensity, volume, overall load, etc for that week. This allows both your muscles and central nervous system recover from the stress placed on it by constant exercising and adapt to the stress you've been placing on it. This will make your body handle the load more efficiently in the future. So try planning a deload every 4- 6 weeks.

Oh man, I just realize that it sounds normal, and I am going backwards .

Happy running. Hail to the penguins!

Original Post by tealparadise:

when you run every day or almost every day, you can (I did) get into a mindset that THIS is the amount I ran yesterday so Today, this little bit more is all I can run, because obviously nothing has changed from yesterday. 

 In my case there is a post-box which is about half-way round.  Less of a mental block and more of a very visual bright-red-sticking-out-into-the-pavement landmark.  I'm always very conscious of the post-box because how I'm feeling when I get there can go from 'feeling OK' to 'pass the iron lung'..

On this occasion I was not only 'feeling OK' but 'feeling better than OK'... noticeably perkier. 

axs2009... Thank you but I can't possibly accept a word like 'deload' into my vocabulary, sorry.   'Unload' I can work with so I'll say that I 'unloaded' for a week.

It gets better....  Yesterday evening I was leading a group of my cub-scouts on a clue-based treasure-trail around our local town.  To get maximum points we not only had to find all the clues but get back to the meeting point by a certain time.  At one point I found myself saying (and it honestly sounded like someone else doing this) 'we'll get there quicker if we run'..... and actually managed to out-sprint a bunch of 8 - 10 year-olds.  

(Back of the net..... )

Good for you. Keep it up. You will notice a big difference in how you feel. Your general well being, your energy level,  your mood,  your sleep, your stamina. Everything. I am totally sluggish without my workouts.

Yup, you're normal GI Jane ;)

This happens to me when I take a week off of running - I come back faster. Same thing with swimming. I actually took a month off of swimming to focus more on marathon training, and my first practice back I was expecting to go really slowly, but I beat people who usually would beat me! It was surprisingly fantastic :)

Anyway, good for you! I'm glad you like running. It really clears your head. Just be careful not to injure yourself. You were smart to take off when you weren't feeling up to par. don't push yourself unnecessarily. 

You're totally normal - taking breaks from work outs really helps you because your body repairs itself and then when you start up again your body wants to get things going... which explains your farther length!

Congrats on doing this too, I know how amazing it feels!!!

I'm also glad you're feeling better!