100 days of joggling (part 2) – What happens to your body during a running streak
Yesterday, you learned about what you can do to keep a joggling streak alive. Today, I’ll tell you what can expect will happen to your body and how you might deal with it.
Things to expect during a running or juggling streak
1. Expect to be sore. I wake up each morning with sore muscles. They feel better after about 30 minutes of moving around but there is definite pain. You should expect the same.
2. Expect to be tired. Running every day takes a fair amount of energy (especially if you’re averaging over 4 miles each day). Without rest, you’ll continue to get more and more tired. Stretching seems to help but so does caffeinated beverages.
3. Expect to be hungrier. Yes, you’ll be hungrier. I like to get a candy bar after I run and maybe a bottle of diet Dr. Pepper. Although, I’m off soda at the moment so I rehydrate with water or Gatorade. Careful though. It’s easy to overeat just because you think all this extra exercise gives you carte blanch to binge. During 100 days of marathon training, I typically lose only about 2 pounds.
4. Expect to run slower. Running & juggling every day is tiring. When you start your run, your legs are sore so you won’t run as fast. Don’t sweat it. Just get out there and run. The streak is more important than the speed of the run. You should try to get some speed work in about once a week but don’t worry about it too much.
Of course, you can expect all of these things when you’re training for a marathon too.
How to rest but still run
Ultramarathon man Dean Karnazes says that he is able to sleep while running. Well, even if you could, juggling with your eyes closed is much more difficult than just running that way. But to combat the soreness & tiredness you’ll need to find ways to rest.
One method is to space out your runs. If you do a workout in the morning, then wait until the next evening to do you next day workout. So, by doing a run at 6:00 am one day and 6:00 pm the next, you get 36 full hours of rest. This is almost the equivalent of taking a day off. And after 100 days of joggling, you’ll want to have a few extra hours of rest.