Exercise & Fitness: it’s a marathon, not a sprint

[baxus]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

The host of a podcast I've gotten into recently ran seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents a couple of years ago. Imagine the recovery from that. 

There is a race in Sahara desert that consists of 7 marathons in 7 days, and you carry your own water and everything and keep track of where you're running because the track is obviously not marked. The first time I heard of it was when James Cracknell did it. The guy is 2x rowing Olympic champion, and after retiring he is doing all kinds of endurance feats - he rowed across Atlantic, ran that 7 marathon race in Sahara, did a row the English Channel - ride a bike to Gibraltar - swim the Gibraltar, rowed in the Boat Race in his late fourties (oldest person to win it) etc. If you like things like that, I'd suggest you look him up.

9 hours ago, Mudguard said:

Some guy did 50 marathons in different states in the US over 50 days.

Not sure if he's the guy you're thinking of, but I think Eddie Izzard did something like that, too.

The biggest feat of endurance I can think of is this guy doing 50 Iron man triathlons in 50 days in all 50 states in the USA.

[Mudguard]

27 minutes ago, baxus said:

There is a race in Sahara desert that consists of 7 marathons in 7 days, and you carry your own water and everything and keep track of where you're running because the track is obviously not marked. The first time I heard of it was when James Cracknell did it. The guy is 2x rowing Olympic champion, and after retiring he is doing all kinds of endurance feats - he rowed across Atlantic, ran that 7 marathon race in Sahara, did a row the English Channel - ride a bike to Gibraltar - swim the Gibraltar, rowed in the Boat Race in his late fourties (oldest person to win it) etc. If you like things like that, I'd suggest you look him up.

Not sure if he's the guy you're thinking of, but I think Eddie Izzard did something like that, too.

The biggest feat of endurance I can think of is this guy doing 50 Iron man triathlons in 50 days in all 50 states in the USA.

Jesus.  These people are all crazy.

[baxus]

You may think that as a joke, but you're not far from the truth.

I'd suggest watching some of Cracknell's "adventures", since some of them have been done for charity or filmed for TV shows, and there is a fair amount of video material on it. The amount of dedication the guy shows is fanatical at best and psychotic at worst. I mean, he got sunstruck in Sahara and refused to get an IV in the medical tent because it would mean he gets a time penalty on his score.

Also, BBC did a documentary on Britain's men's fours preparation for Sydney Olympics and he was a part of that crew, along with some other rowing legends. It's a pretty interesting insight into life of athletes at that level.

[Tywin et al.]

Yeah, some of these endurance athletic feats are just bonkers. Not exactly the same, but there are some amazing stories of individuals paddling across an ocean, which takes months. 

[Starkess]

Yeah some people are just really next level. Pretty nuts to imagine!

[lessthanluke]

On 9/15/2021 at 1:25 AM, Mudguard said:

Some guy did 50 marathons in different states in the US over 50 days.

Yeah a guy I know (ex strongman) just did something similar for charity.

48 marathons in the 48 different English counties 48 days in a row. Mind blowing.

https://www.insider.com/john-clark-former-strongman-running-48-marathons-48-days-charity-2021-8

 

[ljkeane]

My fitness playing rugby today was absolutely terrible. I've been struggling with my foot so I've been running less and less and missed quite a lot of training for various reasons over the last few weeks. I was just a complete liability after about 30 minutes. I really need to sort myself out.

[Iskaral Pust]

4 hours ago, ljkeane said:

My fitness playing rugby today was absolutely terrible. I've been struggling with my foot so I've been running less and less and missed quite a lot of training for various reasons over the last few weeks. I was just a complete liability after about 30 minutes. I really need to sort myself out.

I felt the same playing football on Thursday again this week.  I was doing well for the first 30 minutes, but breathing heavier than I should be for the pace of the game.  Then after 40 minutes my left calf tightened up badly.  I went in goal for the remainder.  I thought it might be cramp because I did not drink much water all day prior, but I can tell since that it’s a minor muscle strain.

Abruptly returning to football after so many years out has shone a harsh light on my physical conditioning.  I’ve swam a lot all summer, in addition to lifting weights, but it doesn’t prepare you for the exertion of a soccer match, especially 7v7 with constant motion and no subs.

I went out today to do some light running and kicking the ball around, as much as my calf would allow without re-injury, to at least loosen up my stiff muscles.  My shin splints feel very tight.  I’ll continue to leave off heavy leg weights while I’m feeling so tight after soccer.

I’ll do some upper body weights tomorrow.  And I may swim too, although a wetsuit will be needed even if it was 81F here today.  It’s beautiful weather for September, but the water is still getting colder each night.

[Tywin et al.]

@aceluby,

What were the power blocks you were recommending? I'm close to needing an upgrade.

[aceluby]

6 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

@aceluby,

What were the power blocks you were recommending? I'm close to needing an upgrade.

https://www.roguefitness.com/powerblock-elite-exp-series
 

These are the ones I got, 5-90

[Iskaral Pust]

Today I had a long swim, and eschewed the wetsuit for another week.  It felt fantastic to be in the water. 

Then I went inside, ate a banana for some energy, and did a weights session of bench press and cable row.

Feeling good now, but I need to add a mid-week weights session even if work is very busy again.  I probably won’t be able to play soccer this week because of a commitment at my son’s school that evening.

[Starkess]

Alright, my longest training run is in the books. Was supposed to be 20 miles, but I knew I'd not make that so I stuck for 3 hours 15 minutes. Those last 15 minutes were...not fun. But I made it about 17.5 miles, a new record for me. And I feel confident that I can at least complete the marathon, although if that was a preview it is going to be an absolutely miserable experience in the end.

Now begins the taper. Which I'm looking forward to, gods I'm so tired, but also I've gained about 5 lbs the past month and I know I'm just going to feel even worse about it when I'm not running as much. Didn't want to try and mess around with marathon training on a calorie deficit, but after the race I'll be starting counting calories again to cut this a bit. I just feel so puffy around the middle!

[aceluby]

Had a really good chest workout this morning.  Nearly all of my heavy sets finished with 1-2 in the tank, which is exactly where I aim to be.  Tomorrow is back, and Wed will be legs, but I have this nagging issue with my left hip.  I'll roll it out a few days in a row, but then leg day hits and it feels tight again.  It's not painful, per se, but it is uncomfortable.  I'm trying a new workout this week, so maybe I have bad form for one of the moves.  Guess we'll see on Wed.

[VigoTheCarpathian]

Got a 3 mile trail run in, 950 ft elevation up, two weeks ago.  Twisted my ankle on my way back down, but nothing serious, just tender since.  
 

Been doing 40 min HIIT dumbbell workouts with a core component, with two rest days of yin yoga.  Starting to get some of my cardio conditioning back from the long pause and show some definition.  Hoping to throw a long bicycle ride into for enjoyment, and do some more trails before rainy season sets in.

[Tywin et al.]

Solid workout session this evening. Jogged two miles, walked a total of 11 over the course of the day, did a 35 minute circuit workout with 21 sets, each 12-15 reps and a nice 15-20 minute deep stretch afterwards. My distance running goals are still a long ways away, but a shift in training plus even more yoga and Pilates hopefully translates to real gains in the next month or two before I have to shut it down for the winter (still not comfortable going into gyms to train for distance running).

Now I just need to give up my two counterproductive vices, pizza and beer. Sigh....

[aceluby]

12 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Now I just need to give up my two counterproductive vices, pizza and beer. Sigh....

This hits close.  I am basically doing a dirty bulk and am at my heaviest I've been in a few years. I don't have any events in October besides bowling once a week, so my plan is to do a serious cut in October through Thanksgiving.  Really need to drop the beer, but shit... kids make it hard.

I did a new leg workout today and it was hard as hell.  5 sets of dumbbell squats to warm up, 7 sets of split squats per leg - holding at the bottom between sets, 7 sets of sumo squats - holding at the bottom between sets, 3 sets of single leg deadlifts, 3 sets of single leg squats, then 3 sets of hip thrusters.  My glutes are ridiculously tired.

[AverageGuy]

Figured I'd share. I'd kind of let myself go a few years back. BP got to 160/90 in November of 2019 and was 206 at 6'0, wanted to make some changes. Didn't do anything, January rolls around and I'm 211.

So I start working out. Of course gyms all shut down a couple months later, so I settled into a 3 days/week walking, 3 days/week body weight routine for the past year. Along with some diet changes, good old fashioned calories in/calories out. Left myself some room to have desserts on weekends, but overall went for a 250-500 calorie/day deficit. At this point I've lost 45 pounds, added a little muscle back (though bodyweight only means I'm not big by any means), and BP finally hit 117/79 (without meds), which is probably the biggest success. I'd still like to get that a little lower, next step should really be to cut back on caffeine and lower my sodium intake. Maybe up my cardio, I used to do triathlons and might try to get back into them now. Overall though, in line with the "marathon" part of thread title, patience and consistency have paid off.

For reference, 0 month/10 month/20 month transformation:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/aa114/averageguy_shoe/SideBySide.jpeg?width=450&height=278&crop=fill

[Iskaral Pust]

30 minutes ago, AverageGuy said:

Figured I'd share. I'd kind of let myself go a few years back. BP got to 160/90 in November of 2019 and was 206 at 6'0, wanted to make some changes. Didn't do anything, January rolls around and I'm 211.

So I start working out. Of course gyms all shut down a couple months later, so I settled into a 3 days/week walking, 3 days/week body weight routine for the past year. Along with some diet changes, good old fashioned calories in/calories out. Left myself some room to have desserts on weekends, but overall went for a 250-500 calorie/day deficit. At this point I've lost 45 pounds, added a little muscle back (though bodyweight only means I'm not big by any means), and BP finally hit 117/79 (without meds), which is probably the biggest success. I'd still like to get that a little lower, next step should really be to cut back on caffeine and lower my sodium intake. Maybe up my cardio, I used to do triathlons and might try to get back into them now. Overall though, in line with the "marathon" part of thread title, patience and consistency have paid off.

For reference, 0 month/10 month/20 month transformation:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/aa114/averageguy_shoe/SideBySide.jpeg?width=450&height=278&crop=fill

Congrats on a great turnaround.  That’s a pretty severe calorie deficit to maintain though, but good for you if you can sustain it.

A deficit of 100 kcal per day equals 10lbs of body fat in one year, which is not too onerous and yet still a meaningful improvement.

[Impmk2]

So I got inspired by the marathon talk and went for a couple runs this last week, my first this year. Nothing too long - approx 3km (2 miles) each. I'm predictably slow, my first run at 6min/km felt ok, the 2nd at a little faster than 5min/km felt like the absolute limit. I was pretty sore for the couple days after the first run, though not so much the 2nd for some reason even though it was much harder. I'm feeling like my cardio could come back pretty quickly if I stuck with it.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Impmk2

[AverageGuy]

16 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Congrats on a great turnaround.  That’s a pretty severe calorie deficit to maintain though, but good for you if you can sustain it.

It wasn't too bad, though I tended to stick closer to 250 kcal. I went with the three small meals and one or two snacks strategy, aiming for a good combo of protein and fiber whenever I ate since those help you feel full. Lots of veggies to up volume, tried to keep down butter/oil. Got rid of soda and alcohol (for the most part, I would have a drink or two socially, but pandemic meant being social was pretty rare). Leaving some calories each day for treats helped, too.

That said, I've definitely switched over to maintenance calories in the past couple months. I'm happy with my weight at this point, time to figure out how to sustain it.