I found something on the IMAZ website forum that I thought was interesting. A girl was having phantom pains so she emailed her massage therapist to see if it was the massage and this was the therapists reply. I found it quite interesting and maybe useful to us gals who "go long"

I don't think it's massage pain because you really were not that bad this time. I think it may be more tapering. Tapering...the lesser mileage and time spent exercising causes the muscles to change their tension. Not the same pounding or exertion, so they begin relaxing a bit and change their length. Each muscle fiber may change differently than the next...this change in tension also changes the pull around each joint...many times this change causes achy pain...like the flu..weird aches and pains that you never had before. This change in tension seems to trigger all the proprioceptors...including the pain receptors unfortunately. It is a very strange phenomenon. And it seems the more intense your training, the worse your taper may be...but I also have seen that the more uncomfortable taper phase, the better the race performance...so keep the faith. You may want to try upping the intensity, like we talked about, with the shorter mileage. Meanwhile, take drugs, drink wine, and this too shall pass..........