So, with all the crap weather about at the moment I though I’d do some light running to maintain fitness and perhaps improve my cardio. I typically do about 12 to 20 miles on the MTB but have done very little running before. I got a gait analysis and bought the recommended trainers and on Tuesday ‘ran’ 3 miles. I spent 15 minutes stretching before going out. The first mile and a half was fine, I felt good and was enjoying it, however I felt my calves tightening and some lower back pain. I stopped and stretched some more and tried to continue but ended up walking the last half a mile. I stretched again when I got home and followed that with a hot bath. Since then I can barely walk and have had very bad lower back pain. Any ideas what I’m doing wrong and how to get rid of the pain?

Thanks.

Poor glute function/engagement can lead to lower back pain.

Don’t run

I think it’s something to do with your calf muscles becoming used to cycling not running, they’ll ease up a bit, but I get the same thing when I go from normal road running shoes to flats for track work.

Take it slow after you’ve given yourself some time off to recover

Sounds just like first run aches and pains. Wouldnt worry too much just take it easy to begin with.
Oh and dont stretch before a run. If you feel an overwhelming need to stretch at all do it post run.

Once it stops hurting start running again but build up slowly. Maybe 2 mins run then a minute of walking, and repeat that 5 times. Then once you’ve done that every other day for a week or so without pain then maybe try 3 mins run and two mins walk, then 4 mins run 2 mins walk etc. If you start to feel a lot of pain anywhere the next day then step back down and do the previous one for a while longer.

Build up slowly and give your body a chance to adapt to running. Watch out for things like back, achilles, knee pain.

Oh yeah, and forget the stretching, just do some jogging or quick walking for a few mins at the start.

Oh and also worth having a think about how you run. Most people have rubbish running form and don’t realise you can get a lot better at the way you run.

What you are feeling is very normal. You are doing nothing wrong. It’s just that your muscles etc are not used to it. So will take time to build up ease off etc. Don’t be afraid of walking a bit here and there. You will be surprised how you will progress in a month of regular short runs

Mattrgee, There’s lots of great running advice on here, but surfer is proper guru, he has great advice and mostly spot on . I pretty much pay attention to everything he says re running

I don’t stretch before a run either.

Sounds just like first run aches and pains. Wouldnt worry too much just take it easy to begin with.
Oh and dont stretch before a run. If you feel an overwhelming need to stretch at all do it post run.

Noted, thanks.

Mattrgee, There’s lots of great running advice on here, but surfer is proper guru, he has great advice and mostly spot on . I pretty much pay attention to everything he says re running

Will do buddy.

but surfer is proper guru, he has great advice and mostly spot on . I pretty much pay attention to everything he says re running

😳

I started running a few months back after not running for the last 10 years, I regularly do 100k bike rides so fitness is fine but running muscles def weren’t – I am using the 10K runner from Clear Sky Appswhich has so far taken me to comfortably running 8K in about 2 months (9 weeks so far). It is based on the NHS couch to 5k program.

It is all about slow progression and letting the specific muscles cope with the extra usage and I think your body is telling you that running 5K straight off wasn’t a good idea !

Ditto on the don’t stretch on cold muscles

Yup, sounds like typical cyclists’ tight hamstrings – most people don’t realise that that can be the cause of the lower back pain they experience rather actually being something wrong in the back itself. All to do with the nerves running out from the base of your spine and in to your legs shortening because of the shortening/lack of use of the hamstrings, or something like that is what I’ve been told by a cycling/running physio mate…

Stretching cold muscles before exercise is bad if you’ve not warmed up sufficiently first – can actually cause more damage… Like Emsz and Surfer, I don’t stretch before running, just set off at a nice gentle pace and slowly build up over about 10 minutes then stretch, sometimes, after I’ve finished – running anywhere from a nice, steady, relatively flat 5 miles on local trails up to half-marathon-ish distance with 1k-2k metres of ascent on the fells, 30 minutes to 3 hours.

It is really crap and very frustrating, but your general fitness will be able to handle a lot more running than your body can take. Build up slowly and let your joints and muscles slowly adapt to the very different demands of running.

Forget about distances. Set yourself time goals. Distances are misleading and demoralising when you first start running.

Run for a few minutes, turn round and run back. Do this for a week. Next week add a few minutes more do this for a week..and so on.

Distance comes by itself. As your running fitness improves, you’ll get faster and cover more ground per minute.

Build up very slowly. Injuries are easy to obtain and hard to shake off.

Yup, sounds like typical cyclists’ tight hamstrings – most people don’t realise that that can be the cause of the lower back pain they experience rather actually being something wrong in the back itself. All to do with the nerves running out from the base of your spine and in to your legs shortening because of the shortening/lack of use of the hamstrings, or something like that is what I’ve been told by a cycling/running physio mate…

you hear about cyclists’ tight hamstrings a lot but surely they are more likely to be caused by spending hours sitting at a desk/driving/on the sofa than spending a few hours a week cycling?

Interestingly I started a beginner yoga class a month ago and out of everyone there the runners (6 of them) have by far the worst flexibility, hamstring or otherwise!

Do regular stretching after all runs and bikes to keep yourself supple. I’d recommend regular foam roller work too.
Tight hamstrings are frequently the root cause of back issues and cycling really shortens your hamstrings.

Worth getting a physio to check you over and make a diagnosis and give you some recommended stretches

Thanks for all the advice. Definately going to give the stretching beforehand a miss and will check out one of the 10K Runner app. Seems like I presumed my body would just accept the running based on doing some cycling. Bit of a silly presumption in hindsight. Will take it slow and give my body chance to get used to it.