Muscle Soreness Post-Long Run

Summer is quickly approaching here in Chicago. We’ve seen our first couple of days pushing 80 degrees, the flowers are blooming, and most of our trees are full of bright leaves. With this comes an excitement for outdoor activities such as running, biking, rollerblading, swimming, volleyball, kickball- you name it. Chicago’s lakefront is alive and well!


For myself and many others, the nice weather marks the beginning of Marathon training. Many runners have already started training. Others already ran Boston, Tokyo, or London. The Buffalo Marathon is in just a couple of weeks. Many races are happening and many runners are having to deal with the ill effects of the abuse of a long run.


Today, I had a member of the gym ask me for advice as he had just finished his 21-mile run pre-taper for his marathon. His questions was: “I’m so sore, what can I do to recover?”
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Everyone has heard of recovery strategies for running. Everyone has their own. Some seem reasonable like taking a couple days off. Others are quirky like drinking pickle juice. Some require bravery like cold plunging. There are as many recovery strategies as there are fish in the sea.


Today I want to outline my recovery strategies for long runs.


First, let’s discuss why we get sore.


The soreness in question in the feeling you get in subsequent days after a long run. Many runners know this is DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.


We get this soreness because when we exercise we create micro-tears in our tissue. Our muscles, connective tissue, and bone are all taking a literal beating. When I ran my marathon I took over 62,000 steps. That’s like 31,000 hops per leg. This is going to cause some damage. Damage is not necessarily bad though. Damage is necessary for our bodies to grow. When we exercise and “damage” our tissues, our body responds by super-compensating and it comes back stronger! This is how muscle and bone get stronger.


In the case of a long run, we sometimes push it more than slightly past our body’s tolerance. This is when we get significant soreness. While this is not ideal, it happens to all of us from time to time and in many cases we recover just fine. However, if you’re someone who is constantly riddled with injuries related to running, you should definitely take an honest evaluation of your training volume.


Okay, with that all out on the table, what should we actually do when we are sore?


Below are my recommendations 

​Refuel

After a long run we have likely depleted our body of a significant amount of hydration, calories, and micronutrients. At this time it’s important to get fluids and a meal. How long after a run? I say start sipping water or an electrolyte drink as soon as you can. While it’s hard to deny a post-race beer, remember that water will hydrate you better and increase your recovery. For food, I recommend getting food in as soon as your stomach will allow it. Not a ton, but what you can throughout the hours after the race. BUT, it doesn’t stop there! Keep fueling well. Keep drinking water. Keep eating food. Your body went through a lot. Treat it well by rehydrating. Eat carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Whole foods will help you recovery. The vitamins, minerals, and calories in natural foods will help this process. I don’t care to make specific food recommendations other than- eat whole foods and make sure your plate is colorful. Keep this in the mind for the next couple of days post race.

​Nancy Clark offers great advice in her book, Nutrient Timing for Peak Performance-

Right after the event, your body is really in need of some top nutrition. Especially after longer events, the body’s defenses are down, and this is where the strategies you’ve learned during training will help. Eating and hydrating as soon as possible will help muscles recover, even though you are not planning on training the next day. Take advantage of the glycogen-storing enzymes by consuming quickly digested carbohydrate within 30 minutes—at least 1 g/kg. It is very important to take in sodium, so choose sports drinks as part of recovery or eat salty foods because hyponatremia can still set in if you hydrate with plain water. A good recovery suggestion is a 4-ounce (125 gram) bagel, which provides 60 g carbohydrate and 450 to 500 mg of sodium, paired with a pint of orange juice, for a total of 110 grams of fast-digesting carbohydrate, 350 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, and more than 900 mg of potassium. Or, to include protein, try a pint (600 ml) of chocolate milk with a 2-ounce (60 g) bag of pretzels, which together provide 96 g carbohydrate and more than 1,000 mg of sodium; add an orange for 100 percent of your vitamin C. For major events like marathons and triathlons, recognize that recovery goes on for days or weeks. Remember the Three R’s: rest, refuel, and rehydrate. Continue to eat regular meals and snacks choosing nutrient-rich foods; there is a tendency when not training to not want to eat or to feel like you can eat whatever you want because there is no race coming up.

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​Sleep

You’ll likely be pretty tired after a long run. Sleep it off! I don’t mean just come home and crash on the couch, but instead prioritize good sleep in the evening. Set yourself up for the best possible sleep that you can. Get things prepared early so that you can go to bed on time. Quiet the home. Draw the blinds. Take away the stressors like phones and computers. Sleep is when we recover. Our body releases Growth Hormone abundantly when we sleep. As the name implies, this is a big hormone for us to grow after stress. Sleep is when your body can make all of its natural processes that promote recovery. A body that does not recover will become over trained and susceptible to injury.

A great chart from one of the more interesting courses (Sleep and Recovery Coaching Course) I’ve taken:

​Active Recovery

When you’re sore, it's important to keep moving. Yes, okay, rest once you get home from your run. Kick your feet up in an elevated position. Take a relaxing shower. You do you immediately after the run, but the next day and several days afterward- keep moving! Don’t run another marathon, but take easy walks, swim, or do light exercise. Let your body's natural “pumping” via movement push out the metabolites that promote soreness. By and large, of all the active recovery strategies that exist, simply walking is the most effective.


Fuel, Sleep, and Active Recovery are the big pillars of recovery from a long run, but there are other strategies that will help, just not as much. These are the cherries on top. If you can do them, great! But don’t expect great results if this is all you do.

Additional Strategies

Compression and Elevation- Compressing and elevating your legs can help to push out some of the built up metabolites and swelling present in your legs post run. If this swelling sticks around for too long it will delay the healing process. While active recovery will shunt the swelling best, if you need to rest and kick your feet up, put on some compression socks to help it along.


Cold Plunges- These are really popular right now. There are mixed reviews on cold plunging as a means to improve recovery post exercise, but in my opinion, if it it makes you feel good, if you get a rush from it, if it’s social, if you feel it helps, go for it!


Stretching- Stretching may also be helpful for recovery from a long run. While active recovery and moving through full ranges of motion is superior, doing some LIGHT static stretching may be helpful to promote blood flow to the sore area. While attempting to "stretch out soreness", it’s probably best to lightly move into a stretch for just a few seconds. The goal is to promote blood flow, not to “stretch” and strain a muscle that needs to recover.


Massage- Like stretching, massage may be beneficial for brining blood flow to an area. Use some light implements or your own hands to massage a sore area. Try not to over do it though. Your muscles are sore because they’ve had some level of trauma. Like stretching, we don’t need to add excess stress to the muscle, we just need to promote blood flow. Once again, Active Recovery can often do this as well, if not better. If you have a good massage therapist, they may be able to take your through an appropriately intense massage, but while working at home, keep it light.


Many of you will note that I didn’t include everyone’s favorite acronym- RICE. Well, there is a reason for that.

​For those unfamiliar-

​Over the years RICE has been dropped for numerous reasons. In fact, Dr. Gabe Mirkin who originally coined the term RICE in 1978 has come out and denounced his former protocol. It turns out that Rest and Ice may not give us the healing affects that we once believed.


There is however a new acronym on the block PEACE & LOVE.

therunningclinic.com

​These are just a few modalities we can use to improve soreness after a long run. Refueling, sleeping well, and doing some easy active recovery will always be the most beneficial, however if other modalities such as compression feel helpful to you, they probably are! What our brain perceives as helpful will likely speed up our recovery process. The brain is powerful. Okay, the brain cannot necessarily will away your soreness, but if you provide a “treatment” that you fully believe in, there is a better chance that it will actually be helpful. So if you read this article and you swear by drinking pickle juice for recovery, but I didn’t include it on the list… you do you! It probably does work. Don’t let me stop you from using your harmless recovery strategies. Find what works for you!


In short, after a long run it is best to make sure you begin refueling almost immediately. Rest and kick your feet up acutely post run. Over the next few hours and day continue to eat well and do some active recovery. Most importantly prioritize and protect your sleep. This is when your body will do all of its recovery.

Follow these steps and you'll be feeling like yourself in no time!