Coaches Help!! Ramadan and running.

It probably shouldn't take someone as smart as me to point this out, but do you really think he would survive a month of being "made" to run the workouts and starve?

I would post this on a few more forums and try and get some help. Or you could facebook a few prominent Muslim runners. Ammar Moussa comes to mind.

I, too, am curious about this. No, he can't have water either. No water, food, sex, or music while the sun is up.

Ask him when the best time to run would be. 4:30 am sounds good, because he can also eat right before a bit. It might be hard to do. There are some world class runners from Algeria and Morocco, so it has been done before.

Another problem is sleep. Muslims I know get crazy sleep patterns in Ramadan because they sleep during the day since they have no energy and then stay up at night eating, sleep a bit, get up before sunrise to eat again, and then sleep again for an hour or two after the sun rises. I asked what would happen if they did not do this and was told that there'd be big trouble from Allah, but they get enjoyment out of it, so that's why they do it.

Take the Islam out of him first, then worry about making him a good runner.

Hi, I'm Ammar Moussa and I fast also during the month of Ramadan to fulfill my religious obligation. For me, I run normally with my team twice a day, once at 6:30 and once at 4. With me, I get up early and drink alot of water and eat protein filled foods so I'm not really hungry through the day. I think that as long as your kid does that, he'll be fine. But I know people who actually train before sunrise...personally I find no problem with training normally. Sometimes, I do get thirsty, and I've learned that you can rinse your mouth out and also just cool your self off by showering yourself with water. It also helps that my coach is understanding and allows me to make calls on whether I can handle a specific run or workout as long as I come to him. I understand the fear for letting the freshmen run by himself in the mornings, so I would definitely give regular training a chance, but also give the kid the option to chill/cutdown on workouts. The first few days are the hardest, but I feel that it definitely becomes manageable, and makes one stronger, and science says that the body becomes more efficient as a result of fasting.

Email me at

moussa421@hotmail.com

or facebook me if you have any more questions :)

Thanks for some real advice.

and

Bump

I wonder how El Guerrouj trained during Ramadan, does anyone know?

I heard he just trained normally, and just cut down the intensity of his workouts by a little bit if he had to

Really cool that you came on here. Thanks.

Not So Experienced wrote:

I wonder how El Guerrouj trained during Ramadan, does anyone know?

He only took his EPO before the sun came up or after it went down.

Thanks for the help everybody and especially to Ammar.

What i've done before is doing one easy run before breaking fast eat light then do another run/workout a couple hours later in the dark.

another way is to start the run right before breaking fast then break fast while running, i did this when doing long runs.

running in the morning is not a good idea, imo.

like someone said here, give the kid the option to cut the run short or not doing a workout but instead running easy, better safe than sorry.

one more thing, strides and short fartlek when running before breaking fast, it'll make him very efficient.

good luck.

Try getting hold of Mohammed Ahmed of Wisconsin. He had a successful freshman NCAA cross season coming off of Ramadan.

Just seen Mo Farah on TV and he's on Ramadan atm too. He said he just takes it a bit easy and trains very early and very late so he can eat after training. Didn't sound like much fun though, if the Olympics were during Ramadan would he still fast I wonder?

I talked to Mohammed Trafeh and he said that he trains early in the morning and then eats afterward.

Just tell him that if he runs fast and brings glory to Allah that's all it matters. In order to do that, however, he needs to be an exception and eat during the day and sacrifice himself like those who drove exploding vans into federal buildings.

starve himself that isnt healthy man!

NO MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO!

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Not So Experienced wrote:

I wonder how El Guerrouj trained during Ramadan, does anyone know?

He only took his EPO before the sun came up or after it went down.

POD.

Do Muslims only bomb places when the sun is down?