This is a question someone asked me elsewhere and I thought it would be useful here.

Wahine - Can I ask you a question about my aching legs? It doesn't bother me that much because I know they'll feel better in a couple of days but I am just curious - is this just normal pain for working so hard? Or does it just mean that I am not in good enough shape and maybe should have run slower? Is it ok to have my HR up so high for so long?


So the key to this question is how hard was this person running? The only way to know the answer is to know what this person's lactate threshold is. This can be done with a VO2 max test, or it can be simulated with the help of a friend on a track test.

I would guess that this person was running above their lactate threshold. When you do this you are expending more energy than you're body can produce with aerobic metabolism and you will produce lactic acid. Without flushing the lactate out after the race, there will be inflammation and painful tension in the muscles the following day. That's one theory anyway. The other theory is that the pain has nothing to do with lactic acid and that the pain and inflammation comes from small tears in the muscle fibres. I think it's a combination. So what can you do to ease it...

1) Flush the system out by walking after the event or going for a light spin for 20 to 30 minutes

2) Replace the glycogen lost in the muscle, have some protein and make sure your vitamins, (esp vit C), are up to snuff. Your body needs this stuff to repair the damage.

3) Drink lots of water. Potassium and calcium are key to preventing cramping.

4) A cold water bath within a few hours of the effort. You can use heat later.

5) Gentle stretching for a minimum of 20 sec each muscle group, no bouncing.

To prevent it, run at an effort that you know your body can sustain more easily. But that's not usually the point of a race. Good hard efforts are excellent for building strength and speed, especially as we get older. The difference is that as we age we need longer recovery between efforts. That goes for rest periods between intervals and rest between hard workouts.

Finally, the more base training you have, the easier your body will handle a hard effort run. But keep in mind that anyone, no matter what their training is, is going to be sore after a really hard effort race.