Like Acid in my Veins: A Lactic Acid Refresher

It’s that point when your body parts feel like lead. Each step is labored, and your well trained legs seem to be fighting your every move in the right direction. What madness is this? Could it be that dreaded running demon known as lactic acid that is not only causing my race day agony, but my post-race fatigue, too? What role (if any) does it play in post-race blues?

Sometimes the only thing to do when you have pushed
too far is to rest and let the lactic acid settle.

Feel the [Acid] Burn

According to WebMD, the ailment-diagnosing source for all of us non-board-certified desk jockeys, the buildup of lactic acid stems from low oxygen levels during exertion, as the body attempts to break down carbs for muscle fuel.

Lactic acid begins to build in the body when glucose (sugar in the bloodstream) is broken down to it minimal form during any hard workout, resulting in the need for the body to clear the lactate from the bloodstream in order to maintain a high rate of exertion. As many runners have noticed, there is a limit to what the body can handle. 

The affect of too much lactic acid is that oh so lovely burning sensation in the muscles that gives the extremities the feeling of being lead-filled.

Often, the increase in lactic acid forces the runner to stop in order to decrease the acid buildup, which, according to the website BrianMac Sports Coach, occurs quite rapidly during exercise—with removal typically happening within one hour after exercise stops.

So what’s the cure? For the runner, taking a few minutes at the aid station mid-race can curb the initial buildup of lactic acid and prolong the physical output. The key word: “prolong”, which means, unfortunately, lactic acid is with you every step of the way on race day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t control its onset to an extent.

Steep inclines, high hills and a fast pace increase lactic acid buildup.
This hill, the Skyline Rim Trail, has an incline of 2,000+ vertical feet
in the first 2 miles, making for a lactic threshold-building run!

The Big Question: Does lactic acid buildup during an event mean more soreness after?

The short answer: No. Based on all of my research about post-race stresses on the body, my aches and pains are not to be attributed to that race day weightiness brought to my limbs by lactic acid. One positive note is that lactic acid levels, I have learned, can be beneficial if managed properly.

                  By pushing your body to high anaerobic levels you can help to increase the amount of oxygen your body can process during a given time period. By pushing your body’s anaerobic threshold you can offset at least some of the short term affects caused by acid buildup. The key is to push your exercise output above your standard, predetermined race pace for a short amount of time—typically 2 to 4 minutes, according to Runner’s World online. Follow this high-output with a “cool-down” running speed of 1 to 2 minute below race pace and boom! You have just helped nudge your lactic threshold in the right direction. Now, just do that several time throughout your run, several day per week, and you can simply avoid being burned by lactic acid…at least for a while. There are several good lactic threshold training plans available online through Runner’s World, so be sure to check them out prior to your next race.

                  As for the initial question: Why am I so sore post-race? It would appear that lactic acid buildup, contrary to common wisdom, does not carry over into my post-race blues. So, what does? In upcoming posts I will dig deeper into what causes the hurt, and (hopefully) figure out ways to avoid it!

Post-race fatigue is in my blood...Literally

The turn-around at the top of the Rainshadow Running Angel's Staircase 35k race

I was bent over, struggling for breath in the middle of the trail with sticky phlegm projecting with each cough, and the only thing I could think was: What the heck is happening? I was only four miles into my usual eight-mile trail run through the hills outside Ephrata, Washington, and my body was putting on the brakes. So, as I stooped over my spittle I thought about what had led me to this lowly point.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that my current running struggle follows my longest—and toughest—trail race to date, the Angel’s Staircase 35k by Rainshadow Running? Perhaps it was the 21.7 miles of trail-running bliss peppered with 5,926 vertical feet of gain that could have done it? Perhaps not, so I decided to take a deeper look into what affects happen following an all-out race effort.

The Basic Premise: Getting to the root of my fatigue

Gravity sucks. And, when gravity meets altitude and incline, which, in the c

ase of the Angel’s Staircase race which peaks at 8,000 feet, you get an all-out battle for muscle-recruiting oxygen. The battle is most noticeable through the huffing and puffing that occurs as the elevation (and trail grade) increases. But what causes all this deep huffing and puffing when the altitude and distance increases?

An important thing to note before carrying on is that a large part of the struggle (or lack thereof) is dependent on your pre-race physicality, but elevation and altitude cannot be discredited.

The rapid transition to higher altitude—and yes, 8,000 feet is high for someone living at or near sea level—will cause red blood cells to multiply as they attempt to make the most of the dwindling oxygen in the atmosphere. When cells multiply, according to altitude.org, they make the blood thicker, which causes the runner to feel sluggish.

Combine the increase in red blood cells with the change in air pressure (which is roughly 25-percent less at 8,000 feet compared to sea level) with a substantially higher heart rate caused by the need to filter more oxygen, and you get one worn out runner. The speed at which this cell increase occurs is not clear, but the quick transition to higher altitude can cause quite a bit of physical discomfort.

Many runner training groups recommend high altitude training as a safe, legal competitive edge—a roundabout way of blood doping by making you blood thicker prior to sea level competitions. But there are limits. “At these higher altitudes [above 8,000 feet], your exercise capacity decreases to the point that ‘deconditioning’ can take place,” according to the Institute for Altitude Medicine.

So, what is one possible result of my racing venture above tree line? A buildup of red blood cells, which can significantly prolong recovery time and time between future training runs. This, of course, is not the only combination of factors leading to my unsavory mid-run state, so I will be addressing other factors associated with post-race fatigue and hopefully building a plan to counter it.

The Never-ending Countdown

"Well this sucks," is all my good friend and archery hunting partner Scotty could say after his fourth consecutive broadhead-tipped arrow found its way far from its intended mark. For Scotty, an archer who typically places five out of six arrows into a fist-sized target at 40 yards, this was borderline maddening. This feeling, a sense of frustration as archery season looms, seems to plague the working-class archer who often finds little spare time to shoot consistently.

So how can you make the most of your shooting time when time is running low? Here's a simple tip to curb your last-minute archery angst.

Focus on quality, not quantity. 

I, like most archers, relish the time spent at the range. In the not too distance past I use to find myself spending the entire day at the range. My time was divided between refining each arrow, chatting with fellow club members, even cooking up a lunch or dinner during marathon stints near the club house. On these days I could loose more than 200 arrows.
Fast-forward three years, a full-time job, college, and a shortening archery season and my range time has become a fraction of its former self.

Today, meaning an average workday, set the simple goal of six arrows.

And even six is a stretch. The goal should actually be just one. The first shot each evening should, in your head, be a play-by-play of your dream hunting situation. Visualize that monster mule deer feeding, or that rutted-up elk walking into your setup, standing a mere 30, 40, or 60 yards away, whatever your chosen distance may be, as you draw and anchor your bow. In archery you only get one shot, so make it count. On midweek days, shooting is all about reaffirming your in-depth weekend practice sessions--a chance to build upon quantity with the visualization of success.

This abbreviated practice can be accomplished with a standard block target or a full size 3-d archery target. The benefit of a 3-d target is the emphasis on shot placement, which can be adjusted to practice quartering shots. Just remember: be deliberate with your shot, because this season may boil down to that one well-placed arrow. Good luck!