Wednesday, October 10, 2018

WWU - Running and Recovery

I've mentioned that Jeff is training for his first marathon, along with other first-timer Cary, as well as marathon veterans Julia and Brian.  They will be running the Houston Marathon in January, which is a fantastic race and if you're going to do a marathon in Texas, this is the one to do.  I'm excited for them and will happily cheer them on during race day, but my gosh, seeing how high their mileage is already in training confirms my long-held belief that I will never want to run a marathon.

That said, part of the training is figuring out what works for each runner regarding hydration, fuel, and recovery.  Jeff has discovered that his stomach is not a fan of Huma gels, which is good to know now, right?  He's doing well with his hydration during his long runs (with our heat and humidity, if you mess this up you can end up in the hospital); he either drinks Tailwind (lemon flavor) or Sword (tart green apple flavor) that I mix up the night before the run, and then refills his water bottles with Gatorade and water that we leave along the route for our runners.

For post-run recovery, he's used chocolate milk in the past - it has the right carb-to-protein ratio that is recommended by pretty much every running site.  But over the summer I was sent some Tailwind Rebuild recovery drink packets to try, and while we did a taste test at Blue Baker, no one was running long enough distances to warrant needing a true recovery drink, so I shelved them until the last month.
It comes in vanilla and chocolate flavors, in single-serving packets as well as a larger bag.

We mix this up with water in a blender bottle the night before his long runs, and chill it overnight in our fridge.  After Jeff finished his 8 or 9 or 10 or 12 miler (egad, do you see what I mean about running long distances already?), he drank the Rebuild while he was cooling down.  He has had some pretty good bounce-backs from doing these long runs and feels like the Rebuild is helping with that.  The only bad post-run day he had was after using Huma gels - nothing helped there.  So Jeff recommends trying the Tailwind Rebuild if you're looking for a recovery drink - all I can tell you since I'm not running long distances is that the chocolate flavor reminded me of my childhood favorite Nestle Quick - the powdered chocolate milk that you'd spoon into a glass of milk - so I'd probably drink it as well, if I was in a serious training cycle.

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Speaking of running, I haven't run in two weeks.  I was going to hold off until next Tuesday to give it another try, but the weather forecast has changed my mind - the morning low tomorrow is predicted to be 57 degrees and I just cannot let that first cold front of the season pass me by without going for a run in it.  I don't suffer through the high heat and humidity for months on end only to not get to enjoy the cooler weather - nope, I'm running, calf tear or not.

I will add that I think my calf has improved over the last couple of weeks; while it's not 100% and I can still feel two bumps where the tear(s) are, they have gotten a lot smaller, so I should be OK with a run.  I am really excited and hopeful that the run goes as well as it could, all things considered.  But cool weather!  A north wind!  This is what runners in the south live for!

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It hasn't been all bad with not running - for one thing, I'm catching up on some sleep during the weekdays what with not waking up at 5:15 am to run.  And on Saturday I took care of Logan while the marathoners ran 12 miles:
Wait, that's not Logan...
Not Logan either...
There he is!  He'd had his flu shot the day before and was extra cuddly for quite a while...and I didn't mind that one bit.
 
He rallied once everyone finished and joined the runners in carrying around a water bottle because that's what all the cool kids do.  Also, see the plastic tubs behind him?  One holds cold washcloths and the other is for the used washcloths.  You might notice his wet shorts in this shot - Logan fell backward, butt first, into the tubful of very cold water and washcloths!  It was so funny, his little legs were sticking out and he was surprised but not upset at landing in cold water.  Of course I'd set my phone aside and didn't get a picture before he was lifted out, but it was one of the funniest things we'd all seen in a long time!
Straws, water bottles - who needs toys when you have things like these to play with?

Disclaimer:  I received a box of Tailwind Rebuild packets to try for this review.

8 comments:

  1. Yes to everyone figuring out what they can tolerate. Even with practice marathon day can be very tough on the stomach, I think maybe because of added nerves. I never could tolerate gel of any kind - I'd have a crummy tummy all day after using them and it's a terrible feeling.

    Good luck with your run tomorrow morning, but most of all - enjoy the cooler temps and have fun!

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    1. I've never tried Huma gels but they contain chia seeds and I'm guessing that's what messed up his stomach so much. I suggested trying candy for energy on his next long run - I was thinking M&M's but he wants mini Snickers...hey, it might work as well as the more expensive GU, right?

      I am SOOOOO EXCITED about the cool temps tomorrow and running in them! :)

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  2. So Logan's family has TWO retrievers? Such nice dogs for kids to be raised with. Yay for cool weather in Texas! Last week my brother told me it was 90 degrees one day and 55 degrees the next! Crazy. We have had nice cool weather for a while, but I have to admit I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as you about getting out and walking in it.

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    1. Technically they only own two dogs, the chocolate lab and the golden retriever, but the blond one is Sawyer, the facility dog. He stays with them when he's not at work. They all are really good with Logan. :)

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  3. Long runs sound fun and all, but I'd pick dog and baby duty any day :)

    I hope your cool weather run went well! It's FINALLY cooling down here too (today is the first morning it's below 70 when I wake up) so I'm excited to enjoy the cooler temps. This is exactly what we've been pushing through the heat for!

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    1. The cool weather run did go well. Unfortunately we were back up to the low 70s with 100% humidity for Saturday's run, argh. I told Jimmy afterward that I just should have gone for coffee with him, LOL.

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  4. I’m with you...long runs don’t alpine fun...even half marathon long run training isn’t fun. I like the 3-5 mile mark!

    What fun Logan brings to your group!!!!

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