Just out of interest, how long does it take people till they feel normal again after a proper tough 12 miler?
Just out of interest, how long does it take people till they feel normal again after a proper tough 12 miler?
I would say it depends on you fitness and how much you put in to the race, also for me the terrain makes a difference. A hard half road marathon race can leave me with heavy legs for a week. But I can do a 20 mile fell race and feel pretty good in two or three days.
I did a road race two days after the HPM and did pretty good, I couldn't have done that two years ago but I've put in the mileage since.
any one else got a thought....
tough 12 miler where I am pushing myself would usually be 48 hours. I often feel slightly dead legged, occasionally sore the next day but fine the day after.
Recovery used to be a LOT longer and used to be a couple of days minimum but as fitness increased recovery time decreased.
This is only based on how I am feeling. I reckon a full recovery may be longer.
Just thinking about these people that do 12 mile runs day in day out...
can't imagine the strain.
Im shocked how long it has taken me to recover from a 21 mile lakeland run on the weekend (app 6500ft) as i have regularly ran highish mileage on roads and i am really fit.Is this down to me not being used to the ascents/descents as my quads/thighs are sore to the point where i can hardly walk properly!!!.Does this improve with time as i plan on another this weekend and in the future?any more thoughts welcome and anyone have any tips for quicker recovery?
Short answer: Yes.
Road running you are using the same muscle action over and over again, so once those muscles are well trained they can take a lot of punishment. It only really makes itself known when you push harder or longer than usual.
Climbing and descending you are placing very different strains on your muscles, particularly quads. High mileage road running, unless in a very hilly area, just doesn't train those muscles enough, so the reason they are hurting is from the unaccustomed effort. Recovery times will improve as you do more hill runs and build up the strength.
As for what you can do to improve recovery, if I wasn't a cheapskate I'd go for some sort of specialist recovery drink, which will have protein in. Some protein rich snack such as a tuna sandwich as soon as possible after the run does alright for me.
After you've finished, light self-massage, or getting your partner to do it, will help. You have to be careful though as you will have damaged muscle fibres from the run and if you push too hard anywhere you can end up doing more damage.
Usually I find the worst day for aches if I don't do anything comes 2 days after the effort. Although it may not be easy, it's worth going out the day after the effort for an easy 30 minute run to flush out your system, and the next day usually isn't so bad.
Gazj1979,
Filled the form in for NFR, and plan to pop in the post shortly, The 21 miler in the lakes you mentioned was it with the club that had the report on the NFR website, and if so how long did it take? and what sort of pace? etc. just so I can get some idea of preparation I have do before I can take part in a bit of training.
Hope you`s enjoy this coming weekend run, and hope the wind dies down.
Thanks Markt.
gary you need a large jar of deep heat and get your lass to rub it in!