A few years ago while running a 6 hour run up Rose Peak in the East Bay foot hills I started wondering if the body had some kind of internal fuel supply that is imited.
I am not talking about the Krebs cycle utilization of energy in the form of ATP that is derived from the breakdown of glucose utilized as my energy source. The Krebs cycle is the metabolic pathway within the cells. This pathway chemically converts carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, and converts water into serviceable energy. Do you really care about this science? Not really!
What I was thinking that maybe within humans we have some sort of reserve like melatonin that does not get replenished over time. I am not sure that I have any science to base any of my thoughts on. But what I do think that obsession with anything is not good. While I was and am not obessed with running on daily basis, I was obsessed with my 6 hour Saturday runs.
Over the course of 8 years of continuous long runs every Saturday morning, I started feeling pains like never before. Eventually, I had to limit my running to 3 miles 3 times per week. After a year off of the long runs, I am now able to run for a few hours every Saturday morning.
My buddy Dan and I run real slow. We probably walk about 25% of the time mostly because we are in deep philosophical dialogue and we need the oxygen. We run only on trails with a lot of elevation gain. We are constantly changing our pace and muscles groups to run this tricky trail terrain.
I deeply miss the long trail runs and know that I may get to like that ever again. It's kind of like wishing that I was in high school again. I can smile at the past and be thankful the present.
What I am most thankful for right now is that I have a future in running. I feel like I cheated the years once again with some common sense.
A good friend that I work with is into the shock treatment types of work outs. He is nearly 50 years old-(me too) and he is the epitome of god like body. He does not lift weights. He uses his own body weight. I think he is on to something. He is a cop and I bet he never has had to kick anyones @$$ because one look at him makes the criminal lie in the prone position.
I recently started doing the Beach Body Insanity workout. It's total shock treatment to the body because the routine changes every few minutes. While most people have told me that it's extremely difficult, I don't find it a grinder like back in the days when I was the high school wrestling team. However, it's an extremely efficient work out that got me sore in places like my toe muscles!
So what's this all about when I said too much is not good. Yep. I am mixing things up a lot in my exercise program. I walk 5 times a week. I inline skate. I bicycle 4-5 times a week to the BART station-it's a 2 mile round trip. Everything I do is in small amounts. It's mostly for fun.
I never push myself to point of pain. I subscribe to the "More Pain, No Gain" theory.
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