First a quick recap of what took place Sunday, I walked/hiked/ran 100000 steps and 56 miles so that I could help people understand what was required to pull off such a feat. Click here to see the 100000 Step Project and related posts.
It is now Thursday, so three days have passed since I finished with the project and my recovery has gone surprisingly well. I want to put some context on this though because I believe that my fitness level for the project was very high as I am training for the Triple Lakes Trail 40 miler. In the nine weeks leading up to this project I had run 346 miles, climbed 31755 feet, and done 8600 push-ups for core work. From that base level of fitness, I believe that my recovery has been aided quite a bit.
To detail the recovery, when I woke up Monday morning, I had tired legs, and both quads were sore, but no worse then I feel after a marathon. On my schedule for the day was NO RUNNING. My preference is always “active” recovery, so I decided to get some walking in throughout the day. I actually finished Monday with 12339 steps and my legs were still tired, but the soreness was subsiding. I also focused on getting fluids in and eating pretty clean. Fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. The types of foods our bodies need to recover; nothing special really.
Tuesday I went for a 5k shakeout run, just to see how it would feel, and to my surprise, I actually had a little zip in my stride. I knocked out the 5k in 24 minutes and 9 seconds feeling pretty good. Then I went downtown to visit with friends and decided to walk the whole time. I finished Tuesday with 28291 steps still feeling pretty good. Again, nutrition was clean eating mostly, nothing special.
Wednesday I wanted to add a little distance and a little vertical climbing, so I did 10k at an easy pace with about 800 feet of climbing. The run went well and I felt comfortable but slow. I clicked off the 10k in 56 minutes and 52 seconds on tired legs. Again, I went downtown in the evening and decided to walk resulting in 30291 steps for the day. Regardless, I feel really good about where I am right now, no pain, slowly starting my running back up, and tired legs. All to be expected after Sunday’s huge day.
That’s it. You have all the posts in regards to the 100000 Step Project. The plan, the details of the day, the nutrition, and the recovery. If any one still believes that people are just pushing out 60000 to 100000 steps a day after they get home from work, read all of this again. It is not a realistic and sustainable goal for normal people and it borders on dangerous! Work your plan and improve on yourself. If you want to work your ways up to ultra marathon distances, take the time to learn and do it safely. Broken record time, 10000 to 15000 steps is achievable and sustainable for normal folks and will greatly improve your fitness. For us crazy runners, 20000 to 30000 are achievable and sustainable. If you are a little obsessive, I’ll even give you 30000 to 40000 steps a day. Above that… it starts to get very fishy!
I want to thank EVERYONE for all of the love and support during this process; it has been overwhelming and humbling! Peace. Joe the Runner
I hope that this post and this blog helps you achieve your dreams! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!
For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner Strava: Joe Randene
Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!