Questions about Running

General inquiry to all runners: Do you ever experience completely off-days? And, do you have any inclination as to what causes them?

I could barely make it through my run today. It was fairly warm and sunny out, and ever since I've started running recently, this has been by far the hottest day I've found myself struggling against.

I've been timing my laps and I really bombed out today. Last week, I jogged/ran 5.4 km in around 29-30 minutes. Today, 5km in 34:50. And it was hard. I could barely lift my legs, and I felt super heavy and tired. My running bursts were just barely making a faster pace (I usually jog 100m then burst for 100m).

Well, last night I got in around 8 hours of sleep, and then I woke up and had a 300 cal oatmeal breakfast (if it matters, 120 cals large flake oats, 90 cals all-bran, sprinkle of cinnamon, 65 cals apple, splash of lacteeze milk, topped with 30 cals of biobest fat-free yogurt), and went on a run 2-3 hours after. So I believe I had a suffice amount of energy stored and my food had digested. Is it my choice in breakfast before exercise that could have an effect?

In the grand scheme, do you guys have any clue as to what I can owe my lack of... performance(?) to?

It just doesn't seem like there was anything wrong with me physically, as I'm not getting sick and it's not that time of the month, or anything of the sort.. so any tips, kids? Any recommendations? Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong?

Thanks very much in advance!

My experience has been that a bad workout is just your body's way of telling you it wasn't ready for what you were asking it to do that day.

We tend to think in terms of day-to-day cycles but the body doesn't work that way. You may be feeling the accumulated effects of workouts you were doing last week. The body also does not adapt to exercise training in a continuously linear way -- i.e. steady and continuous improvement. The progression chart is more of a sawtooth with ups and downs in the short term, and up and down macro cycles as well.

In my experience, more often than not, a crappy workout is soon followed by some good ones. I learned many, many years ago not to worry about it.

Also, things like temperature and humidity can make a huge difference to how it feels to run. Temperature seems to bother some people more than others, but there's a calculator somewhere (maybe runner's world?) that attempts to predict your pace change as a result of temperature increase. For me, I find that humidity matters a lot more, at least until the temperatures get into the 90s (whee, Arizona!).

Everyone has bad runs from time to time. Chances are, your next one will be better. Good luck!

always have off days. (like i dont have em all the time) but i have them. everyone has them. what sorta mileage are you doing? listen to your body when you feel like this. rest for a few days. i just took 3 off... we'll see how i feel tomorro! listen to your body.

also d you know what your resting heart rate is typically? pay attention to it. its an indicator of how you are in terms of health. usually 5-10 beats higher indicates in impeding infection, or attack on your immune system

Every runner has bad days, so don't beat yourself up over it! The nice thing about bad days is that they highlight the good days and keep running interesting.

Rest up and keep at it!

I have often found that if I am not hydrated enough, it is difficult for me to get through a run.  I feel sluggish.  When I am well hydrated though, I feel much better. 

There are so many factors to why you might feel that way though.  There were many good suggestions here before me!  Temperature also effects me.  I live in the Washington, DC area, and it's usually pretty humid here.  In winter it hurts my throat and chest to run in the cold outdoors, which stinks, because the run by the Potomac River is just as pretty in winter as in spring, especially after a light snowfall.  In summer, I can feel super sluggish because it gets hot and the air gets thick.  Then there are internal issues.  You could be super stressed, or tired.  Your body could be reacting to some other issue like an illness that hasn't completely manifested itself yet, so you don't know.  There are just so many factors!