No Pain, No Gain

This is not entirely true.  one must discern the type of pain it is to determine whether the pain is from injury or from work.  There is no question about it, marathons are painful - during and after.  What's new to me is running the days after a marathon.  Except for my last two marathons, I have taken the days (at least 2, sometimes 5) off after the marathon.  Pain generally sets in during the later miles.  At that point it is necessary to understand the type of pain.  Muscles acquire tiny micro-tears the more pounding they take and the more work they do, especially on hard surfaces, concrete being the worst.  Road marathons can sometimes be worse than trail ultras do to this fact.  With three times your body weight pounding on each strike of the foot, there are a lot of little tiny explosions in your muscle fibers.  Taking the time off after a marathon allows those muscle fibers to heal.  However, all of the lactic acid build-up remains in place and doesn't allow for a quick recovery.  Since I am trying to run everyday - which I have (sort of - see earlier post about Heathrow), i have run the days following the Miami marathon and now the Umstead marathon.  There is no question that running the first few days after a marathon is painful.  It really hurts (but I'm not complaining as this is something I choose to do) but I find that 1) it helps with recovery breaking up the lactic acid 2) it mentally prepares you to run those later miles where there is fatigue and pain and 3) it keeps you grooved and doesn't allow you to get lazy.  I'm managing taper and recovery better than expected while continuing to run everyday (including longer runs on weekends) and I know sometime this year I am going to have a couple of peak marathons.  It won't be Bataan due to the nature of it.  It might be Flying Pig but it could be Salmon Marathon in Alaska.  I think I am gaining but proof will be in the watch.  I think the best way to train for marathons anyway is to run marathons as long, supported training runs.

Today Day 63: 3 miles: 2014: 345 miles