Running

ha, i'm doing both short *and *slow at the moment.

feeling much more sprightly today after a good stretch last night. my cardio's pretty good from regular long distance swimming (although i'm finding that even a short run is for more aerobically intense than even a pretty vigourous swim) so mainly i think it's a case of working on the muscles and finding a rhythm that works for me.

maybe i'll have a night off the running tonight to be on the safe side.

cheers.

A little bit of soreness the next day is to be expected when you are starting out but if you are stiff for days you might be over doing it. This may sound a bit nuts as you are sensibly starting out with short, slow runs with active rest, but the body doesn't lie.
When I started back into running after injury I spent a good month and a half fast pace walking only, just to get the right muscles up to speed. If you spend a lot of time on the bike you will find it difficult to run at the start because some of the muscles used for running will be under developed compared to muscles used cycling. Shin splints are very common at this early stage due to poor muscle balance.

Don't run everyday, plan your rest days. Some runners work on a 10 training cycle rather than 7 day to make it easier to plan for rest days. Why not plan for running days, fast paced walking days and rest days.

There could be a number of other reasons why your leg muscles are suffering.
-Do you properly warm up before running? (walk for 10 minutes before breaking into a jog)
-Do you warm down and stretch after running? (this may sound excessive but I usually spend at least 30 minutes stretching after running, afterall there are a lot of muscles in the human body and you should hold each static stretching possition for at least 30 seconds to a minute to get the benefit)
-Are you running on roads/pavement? (grass or treadmills take away some of the impact of running and can be useful for starting out)
-Have you been properly fitted for running shoes? (I'm not talking about just size but pronation support)

The last point is most important. You need to match your shoes to your running gait otherwise injury is inevitable. Also the cushioning provided by running shoes deteriorates over time so even if your shoes look ok they may not be suitable.