What might be the reason for lightheadedness during a workout?
Hello everyone!
I’m a regular evening runner and usually get about 4 miles in a day. I’ve been trying to run early in the morning so I don’t have to worry about running later, but running in the morning has been pure torture for me.
Usually when I run in the evening, I can get my 4 miles in easy and have energy afterwards. But since I’ve switched over to morning runs, I can only get about 3 miles in, and the whole run consists of a pounding headache, trouble swallowing, and then afterwards lightheadedness and fatigue.
Before my morning runs, I usually drink 2 cups of water, and 8 oz Gatorade, and a bagel with cream cheese. Today I added an 8 oz protein shake along with those and still felt miserable the whole time.
I feel like it’s hypoglycemia, but all over the internet it seems as if people eat next to nothing before their runs and they are fine!
Any possible reasons for these crappy runs? What should I do about it?
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7 Answers
Maybe you need more fluid. People are dehydrated when they wake up in the morning.
Do you normally drink caffeine during the day? That could be missing from your new morning routine.
If that’s not it, do you warm up at all before your run? By the evening you’ve been moving around for a while, but first thing in the morning it’s definitely important to get a little stretch/warmup in before taking off.
Not sure other than that, unless there’s a large temperature difference.
Heat exhaustion. Or malnutrition. Or low blood sugar. Or low blood pressure. Maybe you could consider having a good breakfast.
Lack of hydration, lack of food prior to running, hyperventilation from improper breathing, brain tumor? LOL :-)
How old are you? Have you checked your blood pressure recently? Even if you are young and in good shape BP issues can be hereditary. Worth a check. I have a good friend that is in amazing shape and runs/works out but has high BP anyway.
Maybe you’re not a morning person? I used to exercise in the morning and I’d feel similar. Maybe like me you just don’t wake up as fast. Or maybe you don’t get quality sleep? Or, it could be that you just don’t have energy in the morning. After all, you haven’t eaten since the night before, which was hours ago.
I hope this isn’t a cop out, but I’d just get back to afternoon workouts. Instead of looking at running as something to “get out of the way,” you could make it something that’s just a part of your life—your daily routine. When I exercise, I see it as a way of meditation. It helps me release fury from the day. It actually ended up being something I look forward to.
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