Running While Sore

Good morning! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Weekend recap - This weekend was fairly low-key for me. I did some preparation for my move to Austin this coming Saturday, did some yoga, completed 7 more miles towards my goal of 1,000 this year, and planned to take a Zumba class with my friend Kristen. The Zumba instructor was apparently still on vacation (lucky...why can't I be?) and never showed up. We were fortunate enough that our efforts to wake up early and go to the gym weren't wasted and the front desk employee filled in to instruct a Boot Camp class for us. OUCH! It was such a good work out, but I have definitely been feeling it in my muscles the past 2 days. My entire body is so sore! I thought this would put a damper on my long run for Sunday, but after some intense stretching, I was good to go and ran my fastest 6 miles ever, with a time of 53:48 (8:57 mile). 

Since I was worried I wasn't going to be able to complete my long run I had planned to do, I decided to research (aka GOOGLE) if running on sore muscles was a good or bad idea. The results were somewhat mixed, but I really wanted to do something active and make a dent in my mileage. So I went with the results I wanted (go figure...) that sided with the idea that some light activity can be good for loosening up your tight muscles and releasing lactic acid. (When oxygen is limited during a strenuous workout, such as Boot Camp, the body temporarily creates lactate, which allows glucose breakdown--and thus energy production--to continue. Source)

Everyone's definition of "light activity" is different. In my mind, I was only planning on running 3 or 4 miles. But once I stepped outside to perfect weather and got moving, I didn't want to stop. I went on a new trail and was excited to see where it would take me. I wound up running to the end of it (3 miles) and I had to get back home somehow! So I ran another 3 miles back and walked the last mile home. I wasn't feeling sore at all during the run, but once I stopped running and transitioned to a fast walk, BOY was I hurting! 

Even though running on sore muscles worked out fine for me, everyone's definition of  soreness is different and you need to listen to what your body is telling you to gauge the next day's level of activity. There is a big difference between pain and soreness. General soreness is typically okay and a perfectly normal body response when you push yourself harder than usual. However, if you find one specific part of your body to be more sore than another, you should probably rest it (i.e. a muscle pain in one leg and not in the other). My run was a great detox for me and I never felt any kind of specific pain. However, I think today will be a perfect rest day...or maybe some light yoga to stretch these puppies out!

Verdict on the Elliptical Debate - In regards to my previous post about the elliptical counting towards my miles, I have come to this conclusion: If the elliptical is the only machine available (and I have no choice but to use it), then the miles count. If a treadmill is available and I CHOOSE to use an elliptical to get a different kind of workout, then the miles don't count. Fair enough, right? But like I said in that post, this is only the case for the next 5 days before my move...which, I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT!

01/07/2013: Miles run - 15 of 1000. Miles remaining - 985 of 1000