Lactic Acid

Ryan Prout said:

Hi All, I have a race on Saturday that I would ideally like to have a very good run in. I did a
bit of tempo work last night and my legs felt really heavy and it was a real effort. Has anyone
got any ideas on how I can loosen them out?

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
angio.netangio.netOpen ↗ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

In article said:

Hi All, I have a race on Saturday that I would ideally like to have a very good run in. I did a
bit of tempo work last night and my legs felt really heavy and it was a real effort. Has anyone
got any ideas on how I can loosen them out?

The subject line is somewhat ill-posed -- lactic acid actually clears up very quickly. Muscle
damage, which causes DOMS takes somewhat longer to recover from, but you've got plenty of time. Just
continue with easy running up to the race, consider taking a day off the day before.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Ryan Prout said:

Hi All, I have a race on Saturday that I would ideally like to have a very good run in. I did a
bit of tempo work last night and my legs felt really heavy and it was a real effort. Has anyone
got any ideas on how I can loosen them out?

Quoted message said:

Thanks Ryan

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at the
end. Andy Hass

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger.

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

What will the accelerations do?

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger.

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

What will the accelerations do?

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

apusapus said:

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger, I think that's the shortest post you've made in months. I'm proud.

A nice swim workout gets your blood going and doesn't tire the same muscles you're going to run
on. A nice light jog will have the same effect, but if you're not used to doing a lot of running,
may not be as beneficial. I find that I get a similar effect from a light cycling workout the day
after a hard run workout.

Please, oh babbling font of wisdom, tell me why I'm wrong.

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
angio.netangio.netOpen ↗ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

apusapus said:

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger.

HEY! That's my job!

Doug Freese said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

Quoted message said:

What will the accelerations do?

i think they help the loosen up the muscles a bit. after a slow run, i sometimes put in a little
surge or two and i can definitely feel the muscles relaxing.

jobs

In article said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

What will the accelerations do?

Increase your velocity (-;

--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

apusapus said:

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger, I think that's the shortest post you've made in months. I'm proud.

A nice swim workout gets your blood going and doesn't tire the same muscles you're going to run
on. A nice light jog will have the same effect, but if you're not used to doing a lot of running,
may not be as beneficial. I find that I get a similar effect from a light cycling workout the day
after a hard run workout.

Please, oh babbling font of wisdom, tell me why I'm wrong.

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
angio.netangio.netOpen ↗ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

apusapus said:

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger.

HEY! That's my job!

Doug Freese said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

Quoted message said:

What will the accelerations do?

Quoted message said:

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

----A few accelerations at the end of easy runs seem to help keep the snap in the legs. For me at
least, if I do this after a very easy recovery run, I feel a lot better. He has to race soon, he
needs to keep the feeling of good turnover in his legs without working too hard. Andy Hass

Doug Freese said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

Quoted message said:

What will the accelerations do?

i think they help the loosen up the muscles a bit. after a slow run, i sometimes put in a little
surge or two and i can definitely feel the muscles relaxing.

jobs

In article said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

What will the accelerations do?

Increase your velocity (-;

--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Doug Freese said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Go for a few easy, slow miles to work them out. Then do a few short (150m) accelerations at
the end.

Quoted message said:

What will the accelerations do?

Quoted message said:

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

----A few accelerations at the end of easy runs seem to help keep the snap in the legs. For me at
least, if I do this after a very easy recovery run, I feel a lot better. He has to race soon, he
needs to keep the feeling of good turnover in his legs without working too hard. Andy Hass

Dave Andersen said:

apusapus said:

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Go swimming. Nothing too hard.

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger, I think that's the shortest post you've made in months. I'm proud.

A nice swim workout gets your blood going and doesn't tire the same muscles you're going to run
on. A nice light jog will have the same effect, but if you're not used to doing a lot of running,
may not be as beneficial. I find that I get a similar effect from a light cycling workout the day
after a hard run workout.

Please, oh babbling font of wisdom, tell me why I'm wrong.

... and I know, I shouldn't rise to the bait, but:

poweringmuscles.commusclerecovery.aspOpen ↗

"Rest is essential for recovery, but when done properly, combining active recovery workouts with
outright rest results in better recovery than you can achieve through rest alone."

More in the injury sense, but also applicable to general muscle soreness:

clarian.orgrecovery.jhtmlOpen ↗

"Cross-Training. Don't wait until you are completely free of soreness to begin exercising. Low
impact exercise such as swimming, stair climbing, or an elliptical exercise machine will promote
blood flow and speed the healing process."

From the perspective of an older runner who's plateaued a bit:

sportsguidemag.comTrainFit recoverybased.asOpen ↗

"Mondays are swim/recovery from the weekend long, race temp bike/run workout. [...] Thursday is a
swim day and Friday is currently a total day off, but will also become a swim day the last month
when I begin to taper my running a bit. After the two easier days with no running or cycling, I'm
ready for the race simulation training on Saturday and give it a solid effort. "

trifuel.com000319.phpOpen ↗

"Exercise in water is a very effective method of promoting recovery. The water pressure helps to
remove the waste products and extra fluids that often builds up in the legs after running. Swimming
is great too because it will use the arms and not further deplete the legs of energy stores plus you
don't have the pounding of the road on your joins and muscles."

I'm not suggesting that swimming will make him a better runner. But swimming _is_ a great method of
active recovery.

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
angio.netangio.netOpen ↗ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

"Dave Andersen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dave, you're an idiot.

Quoted message said:

Please, oh babbling font of wisdom, tell me why I'm wrong.

Oh, you thought I was talking about swimming? No, David, I was referring to your allegations of
racism. Made in another thread, I know, but can't you draw the dots for yourself?

I wrote a 9K answer based on my experiences in my country - Rhodesia - over the past four decades,
which I then decided to spare you on two grounds. One, you wouldn't understand. Two, it wouldn't
change a thing if you did. So I cut to the chase - which is:

Dave, you're an idiot.

Roger.