The Movie is Here

1/11/11

The Hood to Coast Movie is out!

http://www.hoodtocoastmovie.com

Just watching the trailer for the documentary is an emotional thing for me. I cried a few times while I was doing Hood to Coast. Seeing the trailer brings those emotions back. The happiness, the excitement, the pain, the suffering.

Unfortunately the tickets for the screening sold out fast and I wasn’t able to get any tickets.  I would like to see it on the big screen. I hope they release it in a few theatres on more dates.

If any of my readers got tickets or plan to see the movie in other cities, please let me know what you think of it!

Something I want to talk about now is Recovery. One thing I did NOT train for when I was training for Hood to Coast was how to recover. It’s an important part of training: being prepared for the hurt your body will be in.

I thought I did everything right. I didn’t run for 7 days after Hood to Coast. Instead I just swam to stretch my muscles and relax. I sat in the hot tub at the gym. I tried to stretch and just generally take it easy.

I did not fuel my body right for the aftermath of Hood to Coast, either. If you’ve been reading my blog since last summer then this old news but I complained for about 2 weeks after HTC of the insatiable HUNGER I had. I could not eat enough food. Of course I was also trying to watch my calorie intake too. That turned out to be counterproductive because what my body needed to recover was food.

Immediately crossing the finish line of a race you should begin healing with food. Replace fluids, electrolytes, and glucose immediately. I crossed the finish line at Seaside and immediately ate a cheeseburger and diet coke, then an hour later on the drive back to Portland devoured an entire burrito, rice and beans dish. And I was still hungry! When I got home I ate a bowl of cereal. It was like I couldn’t eat ENOUGH food.

Improving Recovery

Want to improve your recovery after a hard run or ride? Two words:

1. Protein
2. Carbohydrates

When you exercise, carbs are the main energy source. When you exercise and the carbs stored in your body are depleted, it puts the body under stress. We must restore those resources as soon as we can. The general rule is 15 minutes-1 hour after exercising is when to eat to restore these nutrients.

Protein helps the muscles to regenerate and repair. After a hard workout, damage is done to the muscles. For example: weight lifting is essentially a tearing of muscle fibers to make new BIGGER fibers. This is a good thing!!

Protein is essential for the muscles to recover. Protein  is the fuel to build new muscle fibers.

What to Eat for Recovery:

PROTEIN! Start with lean meats like turkey, ground turkey, chicken without the skin on it. Are you a vegetarian? Get protein from other sources like maybe brown rice, quinoa, beans and eggs.

DAIRY. Try a Greek Yogurt. It’s low in sugar and high in protein. Cottage cheese is also really good.

POTASSIUM: Bananas are a runner’s best friend. Seriously. Potassium helps with muscle cramps. It also helps maintain the right balance of water in your body.

WATER: Drink it like you’re in the desert miles from anything. Gatorade is also good too for helping replenish the lost nutrients.

I remember the week after Hood to Coast I ate a lot of protein. I was craving meat like I was a carnivorous dinosaur.

GIVE ME STEAK!!!!!

I wasn’t as famished after the Reach the Beach bike ride. If I ever run another long distance race (half marathon perhaps?) I would do the “after care” differently. I would ignore the calorie counting and eat whatever my body wanted to heal faster.

QUESTION: If you’re a runner who has done some races, how do you recover from the race? What do you eat to replenish your body?