The_Jazz

Yes. It will probably last another 3-10 days as your body adapts to the new stresses you're putting on it - which is good. You can shorten the length by drinking lots of fluids (water is much better for flushing lactic acid than sports drinks, etc.) and stretching the sore muscles several times a day. The BEST possible thing, though, is to keep running, because that soreness is just lactic acid build-up in your muscle tissue. Your body is currently not very efficient at eliminating it. It's basically just a waste-product of muscular energy conversion, and once it's out of your muscle cells, you'll feel much better. The best way to do that is to get lots of hydrated blood flowing past those cells to make the transfer more efficient. And what better way to do that than by going for a run?

This is all predicated on the idea that what you're feeling is entirely muscular and you didn't have some sort of impact injury you haven't told us about.

As the guy that recommended that book to dlish, let me wholeheartedly support that. It never won a Pulitzer, but the first time I read it I thought the author, John L. Parker, Jr., had crawled into my head during training runs and races. I've never found any other book that even gets close to describing what it feels like to run a race to win (as opposed to finish, which I know is a righteous goal for most) but even more importantly, what it feels like to do the training to be in the position to win. And for those of you who have read the book, I've done 3/4th of the quarters workout (thought I was literally going to die at the end), and I've run the Tobacco Road route with a guy who was the basis for a minor character. Everyone in that book is based on a real person at the University of Florida. If someone's interested, we can start a separate thread to discuss that since I don't want to derail this one any further.

[This is one of those times that I hate the way English can be so imprecise. My idea of "long" and "short" are always different than everyone else's, just like my idea of "hot" and "cold" are too. If the heat index is over, say 95F, and the run is over about 6 miles (meaning that a training run for anyone here is going to last between 36 and 54 minutes), water is probably a must-have. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to drink it - cool water on your skin can temporarily halt dehydration for a few minutes - so running through a sprinkler or spraying your face may be enough. For Charlatan in Singapore, though, drinking it may be more important. Again, our bodies are designed to run long, slow distance (compared to 4-footed prey) over harsh terrain, so with proper acclimation and preparation and forethought, you can handle a little more than you think (which is what running is all about).

highthief and I completely agree on how important hydration is. In my head, the top 3 things to prevent injury are strength (lifting etc), flexibility (stretching) and hyrdation. Those won't stop you from stepping off a curb funny and rolling your ankle, but they will definitely help with lots of overuse injuries.

HERESY! BURN HIM!

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