This past summer, watching le Tour, I was always amused when the cyclists would gripe about having to take two rest days among the grueling, 20-day competition. One would think, after being in a saddle for four or more hours daily, climbing hills and sprinting to finish lines, that 24 hours of scheduled rest would provide welcome relief for the body and mind, and that any sane rider would spend the time off of his feet, getting a massage, and generally trying to do as little as possible. In fact, though, very few of the cyclists rest at all on the designated days, opting instead to go for a long (albeit easier) ride; they claim that even a single day of inactivity results in decreased performance when the competition resumes.
I could never understand this. In all of my marathon training plans, I’ve been told to take one, if not two, rest days per week, and that one day of complete inactivity is absolutely essential to allow muscles to repair and rebuild. Either the riders in le Tour are a different breed altogether (probably true), or they were simply lying (they've been known to do that, too). But today I was humbled to experience the perils of rest.
I have not had a day off from riding or biking in 23 days. Granted, some runs have only been 30-40 minutes long, which is nothing compared to a five hour ride, but I’ve been working out with some regularity since (and including) our time in Spain. Yesterday morning, however, I had a scheduled medical test that required an overnight fast, and I knew there was no way I’d be able to exercise in the morning without coffee and yogurt in my system. I therefore skipped the usual run or ride (which turned out to be fortuitous timing since the rain was coming down in hard sheets, anyway). Today, however, it was business as usual, and though it was again raining hard and I was exceptionally tired, I got out of bed, hopeful that, within 30 minutes, the skies might dry up while I might perk up.
I ended up running just under six miles this morning in warm, muggy weather, and only the occasional spit of rain with which to contend. But this run felt horrible! For the last few weekends, I have been running 10 or 11 miles in one go -- sandwiched between days of 30 mile bike rides and five mile runs -- and I have felt ten times more energized than I did at 6:30 am today. I have contended with fewer hours of sleep and warmer weather and still managed to run easier than I did this morning. Yes, today’s run was a struggle from start to finish -- heavy legs, slow climbs up hills, and the feeling of just wanting it all to be over. (The only saving grace was that I forgot my watch at home, so I wasn’t able to track just how slowly I was moving.) And although I did feel better and eventually more energetic for having completed the run, this morning I was certain that I had lost three weeks worth of fitness overnight.
It seems that Newton had it right all along: a body in motion really does want to stay in motion, and a body at rest quickly becomes, well, lazy. I may never be able to compete like the boys of le Tour, but today, I felt their pain.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Run for the girls
I recently came across this piece from Runner's World:
(Just for fun, I looked up the bio of Haile Gebrselassie, widely regarded as the best distance runner of our time. Turns out he has four kids: three girls and one boy. Then I checked Meb Keflezighi, another distance superstar and winner of last year's New York City Marathon: two daughters, and a third one is on the way.)
I don't know whether our +1 is a boy or a girl, and neither Zdenek nor I really care one way or the other. But it's interesting to note that we were at the peak of our marathon training and running well over 40 miles per week when the +1 first came into existence. (More importantly, we hadn't yet transitioned into our "very tight-fitting" cycling shorts, either!)
When Isla Lough was born, the bookies offered odds of 100-1 that the daughter of the marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe would one day win the Flora London Marathon. A safer bet would have been to predict that Radcliffe would give birth to a daughter. For this you can "blame" her husband.
Research suggests that male runners who cover more than 30 miles a week – as Radcliffe’s husband and training partner Gary Lough does – are more likely to father female offspring. Researchers at the University of Glasgow divided 139 male runners into three categories: those who were taking a break from running when they and their partner conceived; those who were running less than 30 miles a week when their partner conceived; and those who were running between 30 and 50 miles a week when their partner conceived.
The study revealed that the non-runners and those covering less than 30 miles a week had a 62 per cent chance of fathering male offspring – compared to the average of 51 per cent for the general population. It was a dramatically different story for the runners covering more than 30 miles a week though: only 40 per cent of their babies were boys. The researchers put this trend down to the dip in the male hormone testosterone that occurs as a result of higher running mileage.
Running might affect the sex of your children, but it might also help you conceive in the first place. "Men who run regularly and stay at a healthy weight are more likely to maintain a good sperm count than men who are obese," says Dr Roger Henderson, a GP and marathon runner. Henderson does issue one warning: "Male marathon runners do not appear to have reduced sperm counts, although exercise that consistently heats the testicles, or which requires very tight-fitting shorts, such as cycling, may not help."
(Just for fun, I looked up the bio of Haile Gebrselassie, widely regarded as the best distance runner of our time. Turns out he has four kids: three girls and one boy. Then I checked Meb Keflezighi, another distance superstar and winner of last year's New York City Marathon: two daughters, and a third one is on the way.)
I don't know whether our +1 is a boy or a girl, and neither Zdenek nor I really care one way or the other. But it's interesting to note that we were at the peak of our marathon training and running well over 40 miles per week when the +1 first came into existence. (More importantly, we hadn't yet transitioned into our "very tight-fitting" cycling shorts, either!)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
No cancellations
At this time last year, it seems that I often wrote about a desire to cycle as much as I possibly could because I knew that the fall could turn to winter at any moment. It’s only two weeks into September and thus far the temperatures have been near-perfect: cool mornings, warm days, and plentiful sunshine (except during Monday morning’s mucky ride and Monday night’s drizzly run, but those are different stories). It will probably be at least another month before a cycling jacket and booties won’t suffice to keep me warm during a morning ride. Unfortunately, there’s another clock ticking away that compels me to cycle as much as I can, because who knows when I’m simply going to be unable to reach my handlebars anymore?
So far, though, it’s been smooth sailing, and I can’t really complain. (Zdenek, of course, feels that I complain way too much, but I did that before I got pregnant, so I can’t imagine why things should change for the better now that I’m hauling around a baby-to-be 24/7.) I am still running and cycling as much as I would ever want to, and enjoying it equally well. (This morning, I even managed a full loop of the Park in sub-9 minute miles, which is a pretty decent pace for me these days!) And even when I eventually can’t cycle anymore, I know this will probably be a good thing, because it should free up a few additional mornings each week for some much-needed rest.
When I found out I was pregnant a few weeks before my Rhode Island marathon, the first thing I purchased was a book on exercising during pregnancy. I chose a scientific, well-researched book -- despite its 1980s photos -- written by a leading physician in the field who pioneered studies on the effects of exercise on pregnancy, childbirth, and maternal and fetal health. I read the book cover-to-cover in a single evening and still refer to it from time to time. Happily, everything I read reinforced that the best possible thing I can do is exercise frequently, intensely, and especially in a weight-bearing activity (i.e. opting for running instead of swimming). As one reviewer of the book quipped, “If women couldn’t exercise strenuously throughout pregnancy, the saber-toothed tiger would have finished off our species a million years ago. Finally a book that confirms this.”
Study after study in this book details that women who exercise (frequently and intensely) throughout the duration of their pregnancies have easier pregnancies and deliveries with fewer interventions and complications, give birth to leaner (but not underweight) babies, gain less weight themselves, and go into labor, on average, 5 to 7 days earlier than non-exercisers (this may, though, mean a Christmas baby, which is the only thing worse than a New Year’s baby). The catch, however, is a big one: women who stop exercising at some point during their pregnancies not only lose the aforementioned benefits, but are actually often worse off than those who never exercised at all!
I’m thus approaching December 31 as my goal event. Having run a marathon in my first trimester and kept up my cycling and running 6 to 7 times per week since then, I really need to avoid slacking at this point lest my performance suffer horribly when I make it to the starting line. I’m not, of course, blind to the reality that a million things beyond my control may curb even my best efforts in this regard and that all of this will become increasingly difficult as I become increasingly large. I also know that even a dedicated running regimen is hardly a guarantee for a trouble-free delivery (case in point: Paula Radcliffe’s first delivery, which she documented in some gory detail in an issue of Runner's World a couple of years ago).
But for now, I need all of the pleasant fall weather I can get to make running and cycling as easy and enjoyable as possible, for as long as possible. More so than for any other training I've done, it really is a case of needing to finish what I started. While the ultimate date of the event is subject to change without notice, it definitely observes a strict no-cancellation policy.
So far, though, it’s been smooth sailing, and I can’t really complain. (Zdenek, of course, feels that I complain way too much, but I did that before I got pregnant, so I can’t imagine why things should change for the better now that I’m hauling around a baby-to-be 24/7.) I am still running and cycling as much as I would ever want to, and enjoying it equally well. (This morning, I even managed a full loop of the Park in sub-9 minute miles, which is a pretty decent pace for me these days!) And even when I eventually can’t cycle anymore, I know this will probably be a good thing, because it should free up a few additional mornings each week for some much-needed rest.
When I found out I was pregnant a few weeks before my Rhode Island marathon, the first thing I purchased was a book on exercising during pregnancy. I chose a scientific, well-researched book -- despite its 1980s photos -- written by a leading physician in the field who pioneered studies on the effects of exercise on pregnancy, childbirth, and maternal and fetal health. I read the book cover-to-cover in a single evening and still refer to it from time to time. Happily, everything I read reinforced that the best possible thing I can do is exercise frequently, intensely, and especially in a weight-bearing activity (i.e. opting for running instead of swimming). As one reviewer of the book quipped, “If women couldn’t exercise strenuously throughout pregnancy, the saber-toothed tiger would have finished off our species a million years ago. Finally a book that confirms this.”
Study after study in this book details that women who exercise (frequently and intensely) throughout the duration of their pregnancies have easier pregnancies and deliveries with fewer interventions and complications, give birth to leaner (but not underweight) babies, gain less weight themselves, and go into labor, on average, 5 to 7 days earlier than non-exercisers (this may, though, mean a Christmas baby, which is the only thing worse than a New Year’s baby). The catch, however, is a big one: women who stop exercising at some point during their pregnancies not only lose the aforementioned benefits, but are actually often worse off than those who never exercised at all!
I’m thus approaching December 31 as my goal event. Having run a marathon in my first trimester and kept up my cycling and running 6 to 7 times per week since then, I really need to avoid slacking at this point lest my performance suffer horribly when I make it to the starting line. I’m not, of course, blind to the reality that a million things beyond my control may curb even my best efforts in this regard and that all of this will become increasingly difficult as I become increasingly large. I also know that even a dedicated running regimen is hardly a guarantee for a trouble-free delivery (case in point: Paula Radcliffe’s first delivery, which she documented in some gory detail in an issue of Runner's World a couple of years ago).
But for now, I need all of the pleasant fall weather I can get to make running and cycling as easy and enjoyable as possible, for as long as possible. More so than for any other training I've done, it really is a case of needing to finish what I started. While the ultimate date of the event is subject to change without notice, it definitely observes a strict no-cancellation policy.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The run-down in 250 words or less
Ole!
So what if Spaniards don't eat paella at night? We're not Spanish!
Testing out the best pastry shop in Seville...
...and a few moments later 
Madrid & me
Retiro Park was so pretty, we decided to take a run in there the next day
Jambon, anyone?
The suckling pigs beforehand
Pig on a plate
Tourist
Double-fisting
A very hot day in Seville
Self-portrait, Seville
Another tourist
Strolling through Ronda
Inside Alhambra
More Alhambra
And another one
We took a lot of photos in there -- it was stunning!
Gorgeous Granada and a view I had a hard time leaving
Our trusty beemer helped us survive Spanish roads and drivers
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Spain run-down
Having just returned from a beautiful trip to Spain, I think I have finally learned how to correctly assess accommodation. If the directions to the accommodation include the phrases, “up the hill,” “keep going,” and “located right at the top,” and especially if they mention something about a 4WD being absolutely essential, then I should expect my running opportunities to be both limited and difficult.
To be fair, the point of this vacation wasn’t supposed to be about running, but I have a hard time sitting motionless for any longer than two or three days at a time. Fortunately for me, Zdenek and I were on our feet almost all of the time -- in fact, of 11 days, I think only three of them qualify as lazy lounging days. We arrived in Madrid, jetlagged and exhausted after barely catching more than a couple hours of shut-eye on the flight over (and Zdenek even less so due to the very rude passenger behind him who refused to let Zdenek recline his seat by even one inch). After a snooze in our hotel room, we hit the streets of Madrid to find them baking hot but remarkably clean. Three days and at least 15-18 miles of walking later, we had traversed most of the major sites by foot and were left thoroughly impressed by the vibrancy, architectural beauty, and spotlessness of the Spanish capital. We even managed a 5.5 mile run by completing two loops around Retiro Park -- Madrid’s answer to New York’s Central Park. It wasn’t quite as spacious as our favourite piece of home turf, but the lack of humidity more than made up for this.
Next we headed to Seville, at which point in the trip I wound up horribly sick and unable to find any pharmacist willing to dispense a single drug to me in my embarazada state. So I suffered through the 40+ degree heat by mostly staying inside my hotel room, feeling miserable, and making poor Zdenek’s life miserable, too (sorry, honey). We did manage to enjoy most of what this historic and charming city has to offer, though, including an excellent flamenco show in the birthplace of the dance itself.
Just as I was feeling a bit better, we headed to the Costa del Sol to hobnob with Europe’s rich and famous and see the surrounding areas (including Ronda and Granada -- I cannot recommend the latter highly enough). Here, we plunked down for six nights in a hillside villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I did manage to run on four days during our stay in Marbella -- it was straight up and straight down in each direction, providing an excellent workout for my quads and butt irrespective of my slow speed. But similar to our stay in Costa Rica earlier in the year, I’m pretty sure that these accommodations were not situated with long, relaxing runs in mind.
For better or worse, though, I simply had to get out there as much as possible. I read Born to Run on this vacation, and if there was ever a book to inspire you to run far and frequently, this is it. (I even became moderately convinced of the merits of barefoot running, and I do intend to try out the shoeless approach -- or something approximating it -- very soon.) I was reminded that running is truly the healthiest and most natural thing we can ever do for our bodies and our minds, and that, indeed, we wouldn’t be here today had our ancestors not been endurance runners themselves. Every time I read even a few pages of this book, I was itching to put it down and change into my running shoes -- blazing sun, lingering sickness, and lazy Spanish days be dammed. (Next time, if I really intend on relaxing, I think I need to book accommodation even higher on the mountain or re-think my choice of vacation reading material.)
And after arriving back in NYC following more than 15 hours of travel, the first thing Zdenek and I did was change into our shorts and head out for a four mile run in Central Park. It was, after all, our final vacation day.
To be fair, the point of this vacation wasn’t supposed to be about running, but I have a hard time sitting motionless for any longer than two or three days at a time. Fortunately for me, Zdenek and I were on our feet almost all of the time -- in fact, of 11 days, I think only three of them qualify as lazy lounging days. We arrived in Madrid, jetlagged and exhausted after barely catching more than a couple hours of shut-eye on the flight over (and Zdenek even less so due to the very rude passenger behind him who refused to let Zdenek recline his seat by even one inch). After a snooze in our hotel room, we hit the streets of Madrid to find them baking hot but remarkably clean. Three days and at least 15-18 miles of walking later, we had traversed most of the major sites by foot and were left thoroughly impressed by the vibrancy, architectural beauty, and spotlessness of the Spanish capital. We even managed a 5.5 mile run by completing two loops around Retiro Park -- Madrid’s answer to New York’s Central Park. It wasn’t quite as spacious as our favourite piece of home turf, but the lack of humidity more than made up for this.
Next we headed to Seville, at which point in the trip I wound up horribly sick and unable to find any pharmacist willing to dispense a single drug to me in my embarazada state. So I suffered through the 40+ degree heat by mostly staying inside my hotel room, feeling miserable, and making poor Zdenek’s life miserable, too (sorry, honey). We did manage to enjoy most of what this historic and charming city has to offer, though, including an excellent flamenco show in the birthplace of the dance itself.
Just as I was feeling a bit better, we headed to the Costa del Sol to hobnob with Europe’s rich and famous and see the surrounding areas (including Ronda and Granada -- I cannot recommend the latter highly enough). Here, we plunked down for six nights in a hillside villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I did manage to run on four days during our stay in Marbella -- it was straight up and straight down in each direction, providing an excellent workout for my quads and butt irrespective of my slow speed. But similar to our stay in Costa Rica earlier in the year, I’m pretty sure that these accommodations were not situated with long, relaxing runs in mind.
For better or worse, though, I simply had to get out there as much as possible. I read Born to Run on this vacation, and if there was ever a book to inspire you to run far and frequently, this is it. (I even became moderately convinced of the merits of barefoot running, and I do intend to try out the shoeless approach -- or something approximating it -- very soon.) I was reminded that running is truly the healthiest and most natural thing we can ever do for our bodies and our minds, and that, indeed, we wouldn’t be here today had our ancestors not been endurance runners themselves. Every time I read even a few pages of this book, I was itching to put it down and change into my running shoes -- blazing sun, lingering sickness, and lazy Spanish days be dammed. (Next time, if I really intend on relaxing, I think I need to book accommodation even higher on the mountain or re-think my choice of vacation reading material.)
And after arriving back in NYC following more than 15 hours of travel, the first thing Zdenek and I did was change into our shorts and head out for a four mile run in Central Park. It was, after all, our final vacation day.
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