Are you ever not sore? What soreness do you just kinda live with? (Read 1471 times)

I've gotten myself slowly up from 15 miles per week to 25 miles. From 3 days to 5 days/week. Weekly long run is up from 6 to almost 10 miles. A real accomplishment for me. My question is about soreness. Not pain, just residual (DOMS) soreness. I have it mostly in the shins (inside) and lower legs. It goes away after 2 miles or so when I'm warmed up. The rest of me, quads, hammies, knees, hips, etc. feel great and I have plenty of jump in them when I play hockey. If I crouch down I'll feel tightness/soreness in the shins. I'm sure it's just the increased mileage and extra days - and I suppose if you're not a little sore you're not pushing yourself hard enough. I kinda like DOMS - it tells me I'm working my body. But for those of you that have been where I am now and gotten to a marathon, what level of soreness did you just kinda get used to and learn to live with? I avoid pain relievers b/c I want to be aware of pain, not mask it. Frozen dixe cups are good too. I feel pretty good but just wondering what to expect as I crank it up this summer. Do we all have some level of soreness pretty much all the time?

I can relate. I am increasing mileage to about 20 miles per week, following a training plan, and What really seems to get me is the tight calves, soleus muscles. I have read that alot of slow miles ( LSD running) is a culprit of this. Nothing is " OMG sore" and can't work through it, but I don't like to take anything either. Although it may not be the smartest thing to do, I have done a ( very short very quick) All out sprint for about a tenth of a mile at the very end of my run to get everything un-cramped and my legs feel GREAT after that. Not sure why .... For shins, I found that my Foam roller works really great on tight calves/posterior muscles. It's great to break up all those tiny microscopic knots that cause the tenderness. Stay Strong~

I think this is the body's way of telling you something. When you learn your body's language you can make adjustments based on what it is telling you. Some soreness is normal. However I think cronic soreness is a problem. If you are always sore then you are not ever fully recovering, which can lead to overtraining... I think I expect to be sore a bit after hard workouts. BUT I expect to be recovered from them after some period of time. ex: the soreness from running tough hills on wed should be gone by the time I run my saturday long run. The ankle stiffness I sometimes get from my long runs should be gone by my wed run the following week... if not then I figure I am due for a two day rest... Generally there is soreness (muscle and very mild) and there is soreness (tendons, knee, groin, ankle...)... and there is soreness (feet).. I look at soreness as an indication that I have over-reached... and well overreaching is just part of training. however if you are always overreaching you will just beat yourself down... you need to have some workouts that are easy... that don't make you sore... IMHO --- note updated a typo didn't realize it would mark the thread as updated sorry ---

Any time I start ramping up mileage, I throw out the fast stuff until I'm comfortable w/the added training load. It's not always easy to keep yourself in check, and running easy, but it helps A BUNCH when you're trying to increase your mileage and/or frequency of your runs. Looking at your log it looks like you're doing a lot of tempo runs and long runs. I'd work on getting more miles in that are of the easy variety. Get yourself up to 25 - 30 miles per week of mostly easy mileage and then after you get comfortable w/it, start adding in a tempo run once a week or so. If you're almost always running hard or long, you are gonna be sore a whole damn bunch. Good luck, and nice job!!!! Stay after it! Q

I personally like the idea of every 4-5 weeks doing a recovery week. You will be amazed how you feel after a week of just three or so runs at very moderate distance will do. Cut back to at least 1/2 of what your weekly average is. If you learn to rest better you should also be able to learn to work harder when it is time.

this is a great thread since I've been contemplating my "soreness" lately...the other day I ran a 10K race (big mistake 2 in one week), took a day off and ran an 8.5 easy run. Shins have been tender but tolerable. I don't run fast or daily (try to take a day off in between). Yesterday was the most painful run I've ever had! It actually felt as though my lower legs were going to break in half!! It really scared me.....did a lot of checking on the computer, etc and have decided to take a week off completely. No run, no long walks . I think the muscle "soreness" is different from what I experienced. If I have sore quads or calves I run and the pain goes away. But this was different. Bottom line, listen to your body. It'll tell you what it needs. Right now mine needs physio and cross training (swimming and biking).

It seems like for me new mileage seems to lead to some soreness in my calves. What I'm going to try is sticking in the new mileage range for a while and just let my body get use to it. Then repeat. And I'm trying to force myself into cut-back weeks also.

thanks for starting this post - it could have been me writing it! i am in a similar place mileage wise to you, just a little behind. i'm really battling with sore calves/ shins at the moment. i am curious to know if it could be shoe related?

I'm almost never sore, and I'm just an average schmoe. I did 90 miles last week, all of it in hills, and was never sore.

jake, you don't know how jealous i am of you for that statement!