February 2012

[marathondan]

Interesting synchronicity between two threads.

I'm a newcomer to this multisurface lark - until this season, and my ankle tweak, I was a certified tarmac hound. So I was shocked how difficult I found it to come back - but I suppose I shouldn't be; it's 4 months since I ran 10 miles on tarmac. Still, around the 15 miles mark is when the training starts to get tough anyhow. As I said, the biggest worry was the impact on my speed - the legs were definitely the limiting factor. All I can do is knock out at least one session a week on the pavement and wait for the steel to return. It took a full 48 hours for the soreness to go this week.

Great quote from MLCM on BB's thread - "Postmarathon muscle tissue is a war zone: widespread disruption to the muscle sarcomere, breached cell membranes that allow the contents and intracellular proteins to spill out into interstitial spaces and the bloodstream, swollen muscle fibers, and damage." We've all been there, I think. Nothing worse than intracellular proteins in your interstitial spaces. When you have to walk downstairs backwards, you know your muscles are basically buggered, even if you don't know the science.

It all stands to reason, doesn't it? Maybe trail running is the future. There's less call for giant chickens though.

But to return to Sweder and me, and our dates in April with 26 miles of tarmac... I think we have enough time. This is almost like some weird anti-massage we have to go through. A weekly session to deliberately damage our muscles. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it sounds.