Run Well Juliet McGrattan (microsoft ebook reader TXT) 📖

best. Let’s start with muscles, move on to bones and joints, and then look more specifically at knees, feet, ankles, hips and the spine. There is quite a bit of crossover in all these sections so read the whole chapter rather than just one section.

Muscles

Q Why do my muscles hurt so much the day ­after a long run, and how can I ease the pain and ­stiffness?

A You may have heard the term DOMS. This stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and the typical picture is of a runner standing at the top of a set of stairs the day after a marathon and wondering how on earth they’re going to get down them! Any time you push your muscles to their limits, whether through endurance or strength workouts, you’ll probably feel some DOMS. We used to think that the pain was due to a build-up of lactic acid in muscles, but we now know that this usually clears within a couple of hours of stopping exercise. Instead, we think DOMS is due to micro-tears in muscle fibres – tiny rips that happen during intense exercise. As the body heals the tears, muscles become a little inflamed and swollen, making them stiff, sore and tender. It’s important to prioritise recovery, to allow muscles to repair and strengthen themselves for your next run.

What can help the pain of DOMS? Time is the biggest factor. It’s usually gone within three to five days. There’s no evidence that warming up or stretching will reduce DOMS happening, but being well trained to run the selected distance certainly will, so following a gradually increasing training plan is the best preventative. Ice baths straight after exercise might be beneficial and so might a post-race massage, but the evidence is mixed. If you have DOMS, try light exercise, warm baths, ice packs, gentle massage, compression wear and paracetamol to get you through the worst days and return slowly to running when you’re ready.

Q I’m running my first marathon and don’t want to be one of those runners you see at the side of the course with bad muscle cramp. Why does it happen and how can I prevent it?

A Muscle fibres contract (shorten) and relax (lengthen) in turn when a muscle is used. Sometimes the muscle gets stuck in a contracted state and that’s when you get the excruciating pain of cramp. It’s a pain that’s impossible to ignore, as demonstrated by runners having to stop when they’d otherwise just tough it out. There are multiple causes of cramps, including dehydration, low mineral levels (sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium) and poor circulation. Cramps can sometimes be due to underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, thyroid disorders and medications, and they’re also more common in pregnancy.

But what causes a cramp in an otherwise well runner who has kept hydrated, replaced their electrolytes and doesn’t have any medical conditions? The answer seems to lie in the theory of altered neuromuscular control and there is a growing acceptance of this explanation for exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC). Muscles contain stretch receptors called muscle spindles which detect muscle length, relay that information to the brain and spinal cord, and activate muscle contraction. At the same time, structures called the Golgi tendon organs detect tension in muscles and tendons (which attach muscle to bone), and prevent too much loading by inhibiting muscle activation. When there is an imbalance in these messages and the muscle spindle messages overwhelm the Golgi tendon organ ones, then involuntary muscle contractions occur. This imbalance can happen in fatigued muscles, is probably exacerbated by heat and is more likely in undertrained runners.

If you get cramp the best thing to do is to stop and passively stretch the affected muscle. Passive stretching means the muscle itself is not doing the work. The easiest way to passively stretch your hamstring is to lie down, and get someone else to lift your leg off the ground and raise it towards your head. You can passively stretch your own calf by taking hold of your foot and flexing it. Drink fluids to negate any dehydration and let your body temperature slowly return to normal. Most importantly, prevent cramp by training sensibly and gradually for your marathon, practising your fuelling and adjusting your expectations according to the weather conditions on the day.

Did you know?

Leg cramps in the evening and at night can be part of Restless Leg Syndrome, a frustrating condition when the sufferer has the overriding desire to move their legs around. Aching, itching, jerking and tingling can all be present. The cause is unclear, although sometimes there’s an underlying medical condition such as an underactive thyroid, iron deficiency or diabetes. Runners can experience restless legs after a particularly long, hard run.

Q Why am I better at running slower over long ­distances than I am at sprinting short ones?

A Muscles contain two different types of muscle fibres: slow-twitch fibres and fast-twitch fibres. The slow-twitch fibres, also known as type 1 or red fibres, contract slowly, don’t fatigue easily and are used in endurance exercise. Fast-twitch fibres, also called type 2 or white fibres, contract quickly, tire rapidly and are designed for explosive movements like jumping and sprinting. We’re born with a certain amount of each, usually around half and half, but the ratio of each is largely what determines our strongest events when it comes to running. If your muscles are packed with fast-twitch fibres (think Usain Bolt) then sprinting is probably your niche. If, however, you have a higher percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibres (think Paula Radcliffe), then you may be more suited to marathon distance. Genetics have a large role to play in this, but you can’t ignore the environmental factors and your ability to target training at the different fibres. The evidence is mixed as to whether you can convert one fibre into another, but you can certainly work and train with what you have.

As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass and