Team Giles

If you’re a blogger, tweeter, & runner, buy now you’ve probably heard about Operation Jack.

About Operation Jack:

“Operation Jack will be an attempt by Sam Felsenfeld to race at least one marathon a week in 2010 (61 total for the year) to generate attention that will raise funds and nationwide awareness for Train 4 Autism, an organization that works tirelessly to raise money for Autism charities.”

What is Autism?

Wikipedia says this:

“Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old.^[1] Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.^[2] It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, andPervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met…”

Sweet boy, Jack.

Here’s what Sam had to say about running these marathons:

This year, I’m attempting to run 61 full marathons to raise money and awareness for a great charity called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’ve completed {let me know when you run this and I’ll give you the current number — Alaska will be #38} without much trouble. If there’s one thing I’ve learned a lot about, it’s recovering quickly. I have no choice with at least one marathon every weekend!

Multiple elements factor into the equation — diet, stretching, rest and exercise — and some of the simplest things can make a difference.

Nutrition is certainly an important factor. If you put ketchup into the gas tank of your car, you’re not going to get very far. It’s the same way with your body — you’re not going to exercise well if you don’t fuel correctly and you’re certainly going to delay recovery if you don’t eat right when your body is screaming for nutrients! I’m not a scientist or a doctor, I just know what works for me.

After a marathon, I make sure I get a fair amount of carbs in my system fairly quickly. I’m out of energy at the end of a race, and I’m not going to do too well if I’m running on empty. Bananas are great, because they’re loaded with potassium, but I go through phases where I get tired of them because I eat them so often. A lot of times, I have a few sports drinks in the finish area because that’s easier to stomach and I also love pretzels, because I know the salt helps me replenish my lost electrolytes.

Once I get through my initial carb replenish, I try to increase the amount of lean protein in my diet for at least a few days. There’s nothing I can do to avoid being sore, but since my muscles are craving protein, I grant the request. It’s the least I can do for all the work they do! I don’t drink protein shakes very often — I try to stick with food — but they work pretty well for me. I just pick up EAS at Costco since it’s nice and cheap.

In a nutshell, I go with carbs immediately and primarily protein for the next few days. My wife makes most of my meals and she’s gotten pretty good at knowing what I need to eat.

Stretching is also extremely important. Eliminating the post-marathon tightness by stretching decreases soreness immediately for me. Tightness will impact your stride when you start back up with your running and that can lead to injury. The most important thing for me to stretch is my hamstrings. I lie flat on my back alongside a wall with a corner and try to lift one leg up perpendicular to the ground while leaving the other leg as close to flat on the ground as possible. That stretches the hamstring in the leg that’s up and the quad in the leg that’s down at the same time. I hold for a 100 count, then switch legs. I also stretch my calves by standing on the balls of my feet on the edge of a step and lowering my heels down.

Five minutes after a race or a run can make a big, big difference. Actually, not taking five minutes after a race or a run will make a big, big difference as you’ll get tighter and tighter and tighter.

I have a foam roller that I should use more often. With that, I roll back and forth on sore muscles and the IT bands in my legs, and it hurts a ton, but it helps me get better. I haven’t used it much this year aside from when I had some pretty bad problems with the IT band in my right leg in June, but I got better in a hurry. I went from limping in pain through three consecutive marathons to running a Boston qualifier two weeks later. I also use “The Stick” primarily on my quads. I don’t think it helps me get better, but it helps me feel better.

One more thing that helps sore muscles get better is an ice bath. I hate ice baths and find them to be extremely painful. But they certainly work well. When you exercise, you create microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. The ice helps decrease the swelling. You’re a lot better icing before heating after a marathon. Hot water makes the pain go away temporarily, but it increases the swelling in your muscles and can actually delay your recovery. Ice first!

Whenever I get the chance, I take advantage of ice machines in the motels I’ve been staying in this year. There’s not much of a need to go beyond 15 minutes in one. You reach the point of diminishing return by then and you’ve already done enough good at that point. I have troubles getting in the water because it’s painfully cold, but I have better luck when I get in on my knees so that just the lower half of my legs gets cold first. That’s what works for me, although that might not be what works for you.

Beyond the diet and stretching, the part I think is really the most important when it comes to recovery is exercising! You have to get out there the next day! You might not want to run, but do yourself a favor and go for a walk for 30 minutes. Keep the legs moving and keep the blood flowing. Staying dormant will just make you stiffen up. This is where I’m not so good at practicing what I preach. With my travel this year, I’m usually too exhausted to get up early enough to exercise (5 a.m.) the morning after a race.

But I always try. Walking is great if you’re not used to running marathons as frequently as me. I’ve found the stationary bike at the gym to be a big help. It’s a nice leg workout using different muscles. You can get good card without using the beat-up part of your legs. If you can run, even lightly, one thing I love to do on recovery runs is hill sprints. There’s a stretch by my home that’s about 100 meters long and about a 6-7% grade. I run all-out up the hill and slowly jog down about 10 times. I get faster with each rep and by the time I’m done, my legs feel great. They feel like they would after any moderate training run. I certainly don’t feel like I’m recovering from a marathon!

If you don’t have access to hills, you can at least go for an easy recovery run on flat ground. Don’t even fret about the pace. Just shuffle your legs! When I’m running well, I’ll run a marathon at about 7:05/mile. I feel no shame running 4 or 5 miles at a 9:30 pace the day after.

No matter what you do, you’re not truly going to be 100 percent until about a month after you run a marathon. You’re also going to be sore for three or four days. That’s inevitable, part of the territory of covering 26.2 on foot. But you control how miserable that first week is and how soon you get back into your routine. If you take the right steps, you can certainly make things easier on yourself.

I know that what works for me might not necessarily work for anybody else, but it’s what has gotten me through {number} full marathons so far this year!

Take a minute {or 10} and head over to Operation Jack to offer your support for this important cause.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends!