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→Muscle Damage
=Muscle Damage=
Running, and especially [[Downhill Running]] tends to produce muscle damage and [[Delayed_Onset_Muscle_Soreness| Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness]]. This damage immediately weakens the muscles, with recovery and remodeling of the muscle fibers taking around 14 days<ref name="images"/>. After a single bout of DOMS, the muscle fibers undergo 'profound adaptations' to be more resilient<ref name="images"/>. It seems reasonable that this mechanism is a key benefit of the Long Run. Therefore a long run should be long enough to create some muscle damage, while balancing the risk of injury. Similar muscle damage [[Glycogen| can be seen]] after a marathon.
<gallery widths=300px heights=200px caption="Muscle damage from eccentric exercise (downhill running)">
File:EccentricA.JPG|Muscle before downhill running<ref name="images"/>
File:EccentricB.JPG|Muscle 14 days later<ref name="images"/>, structurally recovered (other metrics do not return to pre-exercise levels at 14 days).
</gallery>
=Anecdotal Advice=
Given the limited scientific information, it seems reasonable to examine the anecdotal advice that is available.