[briguy]

So I had a tuneup race this past Saturday (3 days ago as of this post), a big climb (3000′ in 3.5m) followed by a big descent. I’m pretty happy with my ME work this training cycle and the results thereof, but even then I still expected some DOMS from that big descent at race effort. I was okay the next morning and did my long run (2.5 hours at Z1) but sure enough on Monday the soreness really seemed to kick in. This is pretty typical for DOMS, peaking about 2 days after.

But here on Tuesday I am still feeling some quad soreness and I’m scheduled for some more intensity work today (tempo intervals) but I’m wondering if this is wise?

Previously, following marathon plans etc I would just soldier on and do the work, but now I’m wondering if that was helping or setting me back.

What’s the UA protocol for this? Hold off until the legs have recovered/adapted from the stimulus, or continue to hammer them?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 28, 2020 at 4:59 pm #43935

Hey Briguy,

Good work on the test race; sounds like your body handled it well and sustained through a long, easy session the next day.

The delayed muscle soreness certainly isn’t unusual but it can be different each time, and your hunch on protocol is correct: i would recommend avoiding any intensity or significant strength work until your quads feel supple again and aren’t sore. The pain/soreness indicates that recovery and healing are still happening, so further stress would not only hamper recovery, and the attempted gains from such a workout will be curtailed because the muscles aren’t ready for the load.

Bottom line: easy training until the soreness is gone, then you can hit it again.