No DOMS post marathon.

Scout7

CPT Curmudgeon

posted: 7/13/2011 at 11:27 AM

I wonder if there's a confusion in terms here.

Are we all talking specifically about DOMS, or are we talking about general soreness felt after a hard effort?

Because yes, a hard effort would leave me sore, probably stiff as well, immediately after the race. But the effects tend to wear off fairly quickly. If we are talking about the next day, then the only soreness I experienced after my last marathon was the first 5 minutes of running, and it usually worked itself out after that. Is that DOMS? I'm not sure, the definitions I've read are somewhat vague.

What I have found is that the stiffness and soreness both immediately after the race and beyond are diminished by better training leading up to the event, and not laying around doing nothing afterwards. Active recovery is definitely worthwhile after a longer race.

Over_the_Hill

posted: 7/13/2011 at 11:35 AM

If I understand the acronym "DOMS," the first word is "delayed." I think typically it assumes a delay of many hours or more.

According to that definition, I've never really had DOMS after a marathon. If it is going to hurt, it hurts at the finish; at the very most the soreness increases for the first couple of hours.

heelgrad92

posted: 7/13/2011 at 12:21 PM

Quote from Scout7 on 7/13/2011 at 11:27 AM:

I wonder if there's a confusion in terms here.

Are we all talking specifically about DOMS, or are we talking about general soreness felt after a hard effort?

Because yes, a hard effort would leave me sore, probably stiff as well, immediately after the race. But the effects tend to wear off fairly quickly. If we are talking about the next day, then the only soreness I experienced after my last marathon was the first 5 minutes of running, and it usually worked itself out after that. Is that DOMS? I'm not sure, the definitions I've read are somewhat vague.

What I have found is that the stiffness and soreness both immediately after the race and beyond are diminished by better training leading up to the event, and not laying around doing nothing afterwards. Active recovery is definitely worthwhile after a longer race.

Speaking for myself, I am referring to the pain that jumps on me by Wednesday. I ran down to Lake Michigan to take pictures the morning after PR'ing with a 3:18, no problems. Woke up Tuesday hating stairs. I can't get my quads to fire properly and i spend the next several days trying not to teeter over. I walk around after the marathon, once even got an IV and a massage, it feels fine right afterwards, but if I give a real race effort, I am going to get DOMS after a marathon. I dropped the pace just 6 months later in Boston to finish in 3:28, no DOMS because i still had something left in the tank at the end. It's a freaking 26 mile tempo run, I can't conceive not being sore after running it like one.

spaniel

mileage hound

posted: 7/13/2011 at 12:41 PM

Quote from Over_the_Hill on 7/13/2011 at 11:35 AM:

If I understand the acronym "DOMS," the first word is "delayed." I think typically it assumes a delay of many hours or more.

According to that definition, I've never really had DOMS after a marathon. If it is going to hurt, it hurts at the finish; at the very most the soreness increases for the first couple of hours.

For me, while I may be sore and have a bit of trouble getting around the day of a marathon it is typically 2 days later (ie Tuesday for a Sunday race) where it is the worst. I usually stretch, try to move a lot, and grit my teeth through a 4-miler on Day 4 to get things back to normal. That run dcan be really, really painful but is really, really beneficial. I can usually run half-normally again after 7 days. I can usually THINK I am fully recovered in 2 weeks but really it's about 3 before I can actually handle real fast running again.

2012 goals: Fastest race times since 2006.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

No DOMS post marathon. (Read 1240 times)