Why so sore?

Question

okay so im in decent shape not in my best but gettin there...

i ran hs track and it ended on a tuesday.... the next sat i raced but did shorter distances than what i usually do for youth track...

i was soo sore the next 2 days or so, which i can understand not running for a while and then doing stuff i usually dont,

but then the next week i basically did what i usually did in hs track and ran my regular longer distance races and i am really really sore again..

any ideas why im sore, what to do to prevent it, and any precautions i should take now??

Answer 1

yea same i do know how you feel. after an athletics comp my legs would be sore but that was probably coz i didnt warm up properly. maybe you need to stretch and warm-up properly. thats usually the reason why people have sore legs and maybe you are doing too much training so it would be best to cut down.

Answer 2

Well soreness is caused by lactic acid build up in your legs. Your body produces this when you run as a by-product when producing energy without oxygen. This isn't saying you're not breathing oxygen or anything your body uses this process because there is not enough.

To get rid of soreness try stretching a bit while you're sore. This should help a lot just in it self. If you are sore before running then start off a bit slower to get time to get used to the feeling and get used to it. Other than this just keep moving. Idleness will only make it worse.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I know what you mean. I run XC, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track. There is usually  2-3 weeks break between each season. I try to run everyday during that time. However it is natural to slack off a little bit when not with a team. My problem, and possibly yours, is that when your not with your team, you tend to slack off on stretching. Usually team stretching takes a while and you cant start to soon cuz everyone is stretching together. Just try to do your usual amount of stretches and STAY HYDRATED!

Answer 4

Soreness is not caused by lactic acid nor can it be prevented by stretching or drinking water. It is completely normal to be sore after a race.  It happens to all athletes if they race hard.

Soreness the day after a race is caused by muscle damage that occurs during the event.  Usually it peaks 24 to 48 hours after running and then it slowly goes away as the muscles repair themselves.

So what happened?  Track season ended.  Did you do any workouts during the week prior to the race?  Now you run an event you don't ordinarily run.  You may have used new muscles or muscles slightly differently.  During the race, your muscles are pushed to their running limits, muscle damage occurs and you feel sore.  This is completely normal.  It may have been made worse because it was an event your muscles are not used to or because you were very well rested due to no track practice during the prior week. The same thing probably happened the next week.

Ok.  So what to do? The better prepared you are for an event the less sore you'll be.  However, no matter how well prepared you are, if you race hard and push yourself you may be sore the next day.