If you have gone out on an all night bender the previous night, you might expect to wake up with a cracking hangover and to feel like death warmed up. Likewise if you went out and ran 71km (44 miles) the previous day like I did, you might expect to wake up with a serious case of DOMS and barely able to walk. All the signs last night indicated I was in for a serious case of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) today. When I went to bed my hips were really stiff, my left knee and pad of my right foot under my little toe were a bit tender, and my left calf muscle was quite swollen and tender to the touch just above where my sock came up to. Actually my left calf muscle was what worried me most as the lump was pretty big and I have never had swelling like that before. I googled it and found out that the swelling is usually quite harmless, and is gravitational or dependent edema from being on your feet for so long.
I went to sleep with my feet raised on a pillow so that the fluid could drain from my legs and I also rubbed some Voltaren gel on my feet, left calf and left knee. Voltaren gel belongs to a group of drugs known as NSAIDs (NonSteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), and is used to treat pain and swelling.
It seems that raising my feet and using Voltaren gel did the trick, as this morning I woke up feeling almost like new. I have ever such slight muscular aches, but nothing to write home about, and if I had the desire I could go out and run again now. Obviously I wont do that as my body needs to rest, and even in the MDS there is a rest day after the long stage if you manage to complete it in one day. I will however go out running tomorrow and do the remaining 18km that I need to do in order to complete my 160km (100 miles) week. Everything I wanted to achieve this week has gone to plan.
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