lightheir wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
It's usually not my tendons and joints that suffer, it is the muscle itself.The muscle is the fastest to recover. Even more evidence that you'll be fine.
That 'deep muscle ache' you get from running is a sign you are doing it right. Of course, this is moderation - if youre pounding yourself into the ground, thats overtraining, but that's pretty tough (?impossible) to do at <25mpw.
Remember that running has the impact adaptation aspect that cycling and swimming don't. Swimming (and cycling) can be crushingly hard, but I never get the same type of deep muscle ache/deadleg that I get from running a ton of miles including some fast ones in swim/bike.
The key is not to immediately give up on running once you get that achy leg muscle feeling. Pull it back if you have to for a day or two, and once it's improving, get right out there again. I run on significant 'dead legs' pretty much continuously at my current 80+mpw regimen - there isn't a single full off day (I run 7 days per week) and recovery days are at least 8 miles. Seriously, the best I ever feel all week is 7/10, and usually 4-6 of 10. I don't run on fresh legs until the taper/race when I'm in this sort of a build (16+ wks and counting)
Feels good to read that last paragraph of yours. I'm training for a 100 at the end of May and have went out there many days feeling trashed but keep putting in the miles because I know that I need the time on my feet. It's amazing how I can now run 20, 30, 40 mile runs and get out there the day after those efforts.