Sunday, November 27, 2011

How's your endurance?


I don't seem to have the pinterest addiction that most of my friends do, but a bunch of my friends started a group board, where they pin awesome stuff, and it's a win win. They indulge their addiction, and I check in once a week or so and get to just look at that board to see the stuff worth looking at, and skip all that crap like "crafts" and "fashion" that is so far beyond me it's not even funny.


I actually felt like I overindulged just the amount that a normal American overindulges for Thanksgiving, which is significantly less than what is considered "overindulging" for me. Mainly because almost 100% of the Thanksgiving dishes included meat, so I didn't eat them, which actually seemed to be a good thing for my pants, because I can still fit into them.


I was watching a rerun of Friends the other day, and apparently Chandler refuses to eat any traditional Thanksgiving food on Thanksgiving, so in one of those flashback episodes Monica gives him macaroni and cheese instead. So, apparently not one writer, producer, or anyone in any way affiliated with the show has ever been to a black Thanksgiving? Because that's an important entree, and in my opinion, absolutely the best part. Too bad everyone else at my in laws agreed, so when I went to eat the leftovers for dinner Friday night, it was long gone.


Let's talk about endurance.


Eric and I left at 5am Thursday to drive to Ohio, and we also left at 5am today to return. Both times we completely lucked out and didn't hit any traffic. This has to do with endurance because, it takes endurance to survive that long in a car with someone (8+ hours both ways) and we actually have fun during long car rides, even 8 hours in. When we first dated we did a triangle from Baltimore to upstate NY to Ohio and back so we could get everyone introduced to all the families in one fell swoop. When we didn't want to kill each other after 20 + hours in the car in just a few days, I knew I was in it to win it. True story. I suggest this kind of relationship test before putting a ring on it.


Actually, I'm not sure if today counted though, because I was listening to The Hunger Games on audiobook throughout almost the entire drive and I swear I was actually in the arena with Katniss. It was intense, man.
There really just cannot ever, ever be enough young adult fiction images on this blog.
Another true story: I had to stop writing this blog post after that last sentence to watch The Hunger Games trailer. Again. And I cried. Again. OBSESSED.




What I really wanted to note, before I got completely carried away thinking about The Hunger Games, was my running endurance. My first run (5 days) after my first marathon was the worst three miler of my life, I had to stop and walk, and it was so painful. After my second marathon, the Shamrock Marathon, I was impressed that I'd bounced back so much more quickly than after my first marathon, in terms of soreness. However, two weeks after that race, I did a long run with Carolyn, who was training for a half. We did 11 miles, and I could honestly barely keep up an 11 minute mile pace. This made me really nervous when training for the 50 miler, because I knew I'd have to run the Baltimore Marathon, then jump right back in and complete two double digit runs the following weekend. 


But that all went fine, and while it wasn't easy, it wasn't phenomenally difficult, either. Now, my soreness is gone after the 50 miler, but in the first few days I wondered if it was going to be similar to my Shamrock experience, where I lack soreness, but my normal speed and endurance is shot. 


It's only been a week, so it's still early, but I've done three runs and they've all felt shockingly normal! I did 6 miles with Jessica on Friday, which was good. Yesterday morning I did 6 on my own, and other than insane midwest winds pushing me backwards and nothing to look at but cornfields, I felt terrific. After our car ride, I met up with my friends Mike and Colleen for a 7 miler at Loch Raven Reservoir, a notoriously hilly local path. With five hours of sleep and seven hours of driving under my belt (and twice as much coffee as water), I thought I was in for a rough run, but I felt strong, even though Colleen was really pushing the pace up the hills. There's still time for me to feel like crap, but, maybe the more you run, the faster you bounce back? I'm sure there's plenty of research that could have told me that years ago, but I have to do enough boring reading for grad classes. I'd rather just run my own 50 miles and see what happens from there. 


Do you agree that the longer/more you run, the faster you recover?


Are you obsessed with The Hunger Games yet, or do I need to come to your house and demand that you read it, as I've already done with several friends?

15 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure my favorite part of Breaking Dawn was the Hunger Games trailer. I love those books and I cannot wait for the movie. And now I'm going to listen to the audio book because you made it sound so awesome.

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  2. I have no idea if the "bounce back" after crazy long runs gets better because: a) I have only run one marathon, and b) if I ever ran 50 miles I would probably never run ever again.
    I still haven't read Hunger Games or even know what its about. Living under a rock.

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  3. I agree with the recovering faster thing with more experience. It took quite awhile for me to get back to normal after my first marathon, but really quick after the second...don't know if I'd be feeling that way after 50 but it's awesome that you are!

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  4. it's absolutely correct! the harder you train pre-race, the "easier" the race is, and the faster you recover post-race.

    i need to jump on the hunger games bandwagon. everyone is talking about it!

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  5. I think the higher your base weekly mileage, the faster the recovery, but experience plays a big factor too.

    I want to read the Hunger Games again. I think if I listened to the audio books as I ran, I'll kill it on the weekly mileage :)

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  6. Only two marathons down, but the second one was markedly better than the first.

    But MORE importantly...I am in the middle of book 3 of the Hunger Games. I can't stand Katniss, but the plot is soooo addictive!!

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  7. I'm not sure about recovery. I don't really tend to get sore to begin with, so maybe I'm just a freak?

    LOVED hunger games!! I am freaking excited for the movie. I'm making Mike read the books too.

    I pretty much eat nothing but desserts on Thanksgiving because the food either has meat in it or it's gross. Maybe I need to go to a black thanksgiving, because I would totally eat mac and cheese!

    OMG! I get to hang out with you in less than a week!

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  8. That's great that you've bounced back. Because you know, when you're heaving into that 100+ training, 50 will be just a training run :)

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  9. Wow, I can't believe your recovery is going so well! That's really great. I definitely recovered from my second marathon faster than I recovered from my first. Taking a full week or two off after my 50-miler sounds like a good idea right now, but I'm sure I'll change my mind after the race. How soon is your next race?

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  10. I think Kara is onto something books on the run. they have those in my library....going to see if they have hunger games today!!!!!

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  11. Ahhh Dean and I just saw the preview for Hunger games and bought the book!! It looks really good! i didn't know about the macaroni and cheese being a popular thanksgiving dish!! Can I come over next time?! I love mac and cheese!

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  12. I definitely haven't been running long enough to know much about bouncing back. I think I'm going to have to cave and read The Hunger Games!

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  13. The books are so good. I hardly got anything productive done until i was done reading them. I didn't think the last book was nearly as good as the first and I didn't like who she ended up with in the end. but I can't wait to see the movie!

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  14. I think you are right on the faster recovery HOWEVER I do think that there is a breaking point at which you begin to lose growth in you ability to go longer and get stronger without proper rest and recovery. I am the example. Seriously.
    Given that you allowed your body to rest I can see why you are ready to get back to it and are feeling strong. I only caution that you respect what you did on the 19th and listen to that body (better than I listen to mine!). Give that body everything it needs and you will get so much out of it!
    I'll keep working on doing as I say...

    ...Hunger Games. I think I need to find out what all the fuss is about.

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  15. Ok, so #1 was food vs fat. Where was #2?

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Thanks for commenting! Comments make me probably more happy than they should.