Forums >Racing>Where do you experience muscle soreness following a race or race-level effort?
Will Run for Donuts!
I ran a goal marathon on Sunday and, as usual following max-effort races, my quads and (to a slightly-lesser extent) hamstrings and glutes are extremely sore. This isn't surprising given the fact I was racing a marathon, but I have almost no noticeable pain or soreness from the knees to my feet. My calves and lower leg muscles feel absolutely fine, both during the race and afterward. It seems odd that I'm feeling the effects of a race effort in the muscles above the knees, but nothing at all below the knees. Anyone else experience this? Does this suggest anything about form or stride? I'm just curious about why this is always the case.
Depends a lot on the course, in my experience. For me personally, flatter races tend to result in tight calves. Hillier races tend to result in tight quads.
If it's something you consistently notice, most likely it is something to do with your form.
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr, 1:15:48
Up next: Runway5, 4 May
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
First of all there is not a whole lot of muscle mass below your knees to get sore, most of the work is (or should be) done by your core and upper legs.
Secondly like Mark said this might depend on the race distance, course and how hard you ran it. A hilly course, I get sore in the quads, glutes and hamstrings like you, but a shorter race on flat course, I get a bit of sore calves, could be because I don't train fast.