sore thighs and a big rock climb

oof. We did our longest rock climb yet this past Saturday, one that has been my big goal for years. Not hard as in difficult climbing, but extremely loooong, 24 pitches. Yay for me! To be honest I turned into a whimpering baby near the top because I was so tired and thirsty, and couldn't find my way out of the wall, but oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Anyway. The descent is what is still killing me. Steep path downhill for 2-3 hours, and my thighs feel like they've been filled with concrete - still. I've skipped biking (well, plus anything other than walking slowly on flat ground :D) for the past two days, but does anyone know if I should/could be doing something else constructive to help this pass? I have to go down stairs backwards, and it's now 2 full days since the descent. I hesitate to try massaging them because they're so dang sore...

It's not good to massage immediately after an exercise (the massage you get at massage tents post-ride is more a relaxation rub) but a few days afterwards you should go for a deep tissue sports massage- and yes even if its painful. The massage person will ajust the pressure as required but its a case of no pain no gain!

However it is worth it.

Also have a bath with Epsom salts to help drain the lactic acid out of your muscles.

Lactic acid is cleared from the muscles within minutes of exercise. The pain that you're feeling is what's known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS for short), and is caused by microscopic muscle damage and the inflammation that follows. The only thing that can get rid of it is time. You can carry on as normal- go for a ride if you can tolerate it, because increasing bloodflow to the area can only be a good thing (though there's no research that shows 100% proof that it's going to help), and, even though it will be somewhat painful, it's not going to cause any more damage.

Thanks - walking seems to help after a little while, and sitting makes it much worse :p so I'll try to keep moving.

Ditto Andrea - DOMS can be a killer and about the only thing that seems to help me is moving those sore muscles. Light, repetitive motion (like an easy spin bike ride) helps get the blood flowing and even if it's all mental, it seems to work. I swear that the healing speeds and I feel much better the next day.

But definitely take it easy. You need to heal!