My legs
I got plenty of exercise while on vacation, but it was all just walking. I could (and did) eat and drink anything I felt like and I didn't gain any weight (didn't lose any, either). My last night in Venice, I had for dinner: a large slice of pizza, a can of coke, a one-scoop ice cream cone, a plate of 4-cheese gnocci, a steak, three glasses of wine, and a two-scoop ice cream cone.
But I went for a run last night (4 miles plus three times down & up a 110' flight of stairs) and oh man did I feel out of shape. Back in March (February?) I could do that route no problem (well, okay, I've never *run* up the stairs three times successfully. If I did that, I'd've gone back down for a fourth time.), but a month without running and my legs are jelly. Ugh. Not a good feeling, having to walk on some flat bits coming home.
I'll try again tonight.
2 comments:
As runners have said for years, "the only way to train for running up hills, is to run up hills." So I have a question: If you want to train for long walks on your vacations, why are you out running? Wouldn't it be better to throw on an extra heavy (for training) pack and hike a few miles each day? I have read a theory that our bodies tend to return to body-fat set-point. The set-point can be adjusted by drugs (caffeine, diet pills, cigarettes), by diet (low-fat diet lowers the set point), and by weight-bearing exercise. One way to trick our body into lowering the set-point is to carry a heavy pack, since the legs sense the total weight, not just the body weight. My proof is that every long-distance hiker (e.g., after months on the PCT or AT) loses weight on the hike about equal to the weight of their pack.
I didn't need to train for long walks on vacation. I can do that just fine.
I'm running to counteract all the food I eat, because sitting here at work doesn't burn calories fast enough. Maybe after I can run down and up that flight of stairs five times without stopping, I'll take a heavy pack with me on my run...
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