Monday, December 29, 2008

Winter Fattening

Don't the Kenyan runners take a winter break from running to fatten up and heal? That's what I'm doing too! I haven't run for 14 days and I'm starting to look like a fat Buddha. I've had a nagging cold/upper respiratory infection since the McNaughton Fat Ass ("training run"). In addition to no running, I've eaten a lot. I have gained 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Oh well. Once I get back to regular running, I'll shed those pounds and start to feel like a runner again. I have re-dedicated myself to the Maffetone-Mittleman-Lydiard-Van Aaken philosophy of training. I'm keeping the heart rate in the aerobic zone. Probably lots of easy paced runs within a comfortable HR zone of about 130-150.

If you haven't read any of these authors, check out my running library at Library Thing. You can sort by date, title, author, etc. And there is a simple search engine too.

4 comments:

west birch said...

Hi. I'm just a fan of the blog and wanted to say hello. Enjoy reading about the Clinton Ultra race and the books you recommend. I'm relatively new to the sport (since "seriously" getting involved in it) and my first huge run I'd like to do is the Clinton Ultra. Next year (2010)! I've got a lot of training to do.

Thanks for the great blog and looking forward to meeting you at the race next year.

All the best,
Mircea

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704Studio said...

Chris,

Good post, I don't know if it is age or what, but the day after running long (20-26 miles) I always seem to gain weight. Maybe it is because I get so hungry after the run I manage to eat 4000 calories in one sitting? :)

I still have not been out to Clinton Lake this season, probably won't get out there until race day. I am not worried, almost all of my runs are on rough terrain, and I plan on running the arboretum hill starting in February.

I signed up for the McNaughton 50 miler - I am either getting overconfident in my abilities or all of the winter running is making my mind unsound.....

Have a safe and happy new year!

James W.

Chris Ⓥ said...

Mircea--
Hope you do run the race in 2010. It's a great trail and a fun race. Glad you like my blog.

Mberenis,
Yes, occasionally the blog page loads slowly. I think much of that is due to the accuweather code. I just removed it. Some might be the Library Thing code as well (but I'm keeping that!). Your speed test seemed to go pretty well--I wish there were sites that tested _and_ offered advice on how to get web pages/blogs to load quicker. Any thoughts on speedier blogs?

James,
I think my metabolism is slowing down, but much of my weight gain is NO RUNNING for 2 weeks PLUS lots of eating. I often gain weight for 1-3 days after running an ultra--I think it's my body's way of getting those calories back. I eat like 6-7 times per day for a couple days after completing a long ultra (over 30 miles). Glad you signed up for MP50--it'll be a fantastic challenge.