In starting to prepare for this marathon oh so many months out a strange thing happened -- I fell in love with rowing. The Concept 2 Rower has to be one of the most amazing pieces of cross training equipment I have ever tried. Whether it is a 2000m warm up, or a 10000m pull after strength training I find myself actually looking forward to the time spent rowing.
With the snowy and icy winter outside, my early prep for running the marathon has been confined to the indoors. Following the prep routine from a previous post, the treadmill is the mainstay right now. Varying the incline profile on the treadmill is a great way to ramp the heart rate up and down and do a form of interval training. In 30 minutes a good sweat breaks and sipping water here and there is fine.
Rowing intervals past 30 strokes per minute is another story. The cross training nature of the Concept 2 Rower is made to have a ful body effect. The rowing movement is like a stress free squat and stretch for your legs, and a stretch and pull on your abs and upper body. There is more of a need for me to keep myself hydrated during a row right now than during my walk/runs. As the weeks go on though and the speed and distance of the runs increase the need to hydrate will become more and more important.
Getting enough water every day is crucial to health and athletic performance. Whether strength or endurance, water consumption is vital. Ellington Darden, former chief scientist at Nautils, has long promoted that a moderately active adult needs at least 1 gallon of water a day. Not coffee, tea, or Diet Coke -- water. The standard reccommendation of 8-10 glasses a day should be seen as a minimum for a sedentary adult, he says. Drinking a gallon isn't that hard -- just get yourself a liter or more of bottled water, drink it starting first thing in the morning, and then refill the bottle until you've downed 4 per day. Drinking 3 liter and a half bottles seems easier for me that drinking 3 liter bottles.
When you work out it is important to replace the water lost during a work -- especially if you sweat a lot. Weigh yourself before and after a workout. Plan on drinking 8 ounces of water for every pound lost. For long runs, try and drink 4-8oz every 20-30 minutes. This was the general reccommendation in the Feb 2004 issue of Runner's World.
