There is this phrase in endurance sport
"Just stacking the bricks"
If you put in the work, over days and years, nothing too intense but very consistent you will create a strong athlete. That these bricks will slowly build a whole house. Ive always believed in this. Believed in the science of simple endurance training. Until 4 years ago.
The last 4 years the 'bricks' theory didn't work. What if the bricks are loose? What if they don't have good mortar and seem to fall out about as fast as you put them in? I constantly tried to make sense of it. I was willing to do the work but the work would quickly set me back instead of move me quietly forward. Some soreness, fatigue and discomfort is what sport is about. But you should generally feel good most of the time. I generally felt like PURE SHIT most of the time. Maybe an hour or two a day to feeling good and even that was a good day.
On top of this I have never been someone who believes I need to supplement my diet to health. I kind of thought if I was deficient in something my doctors would test for it and figure it out and let me know. In high school I had that happen with Iron. Test and supplement and then feel better. Simple enough.
But my doctors just shrugged. So I started to figure it out myself. I accidentally stumbled on L-Carnitine and found it gave me back a quality of life that I was missing for years. In the last few weeks the same thing has happened again. Taking a simple electrolyte mix that had Magnesium in it proved to make my body feel shockingly better, shockingly like my old self.
Funny enough I am from a town called Saratoga Springs. We have a very fast Cross Country and Track team at the High School level. People always joked "there is something in the water". I never took much stock in it, but now I wonder. Those essential minerals ARE literally in the spring water. The well water I grew up drinking day in and day out. But maybe since coming to Vermont that just hasn't been happening. And maybe the added mitochondrial stress of Covid infections seems to have made it worse. Maybe I do in fact NEED some of these minerals to work properly again?
Turns out both these simple minerals/supplements are very KEY transporters in the cell to bring energy into the needed areas. Without them the body does not function well. Without Carnitine I had high fatigue after exercise, low daily energy, more sugar craving, brain fog, blurry vision, muscle weakness and instability feeling in my body, no endorphin release, low mood. I have fully supplemented my way out of most of this. But as I have tried to start running again, I felt wobbly and loose, I felt achy in my bones and feet and pelvis after my runs. Even with 3 years of strength training behind me. I felt like recovery would take days longer than it should. I never got 'cramps', a telltale sign of magnesium shortage, but I did get weird achy joints. Adding magnesium to my day has seemed to resolve this too. Today my run felt really solid, and I didn't feel like a 90 year old woman afterwards. I think staying on top of this means I can start stacking my bricks. Im thrilled! So excited to have found a path forward!
I am in a bit of shock that maybe its that simple and it still took me over 4 years to figure out.
Either way if you want to follow my runs check out my Strava. I am hoping the bricks will continue to stack and I will be able to soon make a house that I am proud of.
No comments:
Post a Comment