75 mpw and manual labor

Juice Springsteen wrote:

Water, water, and more water. I always did outside work (farm hand and general maintenance) and drank a gallon of water during the work day alone. So really you’ll be close to 2 gallons of water a day

Better up your salt and overall mineral intake doing that.

konrad1198 wrote:

4:15 am - wake up

5:00 am- run (8-12 miles)

6:30 am - boss picks me up for work

7:00 am-5:00 pm - work (lunch at around 1 pm)

5:00 pm-5:30 pm- commute home

5:30 pm-9:00 pm - spend time with family, chores, dinner, etc.

9:00 pm-10:00 pm- get ready for bed, try to sleep

I averaged about 106 miles per week (anywhere from 100 to 122 miles) for a stretch of 6 weeks before my senior year in high school. On my better days, my schedule would be:

6:15 am - wake up

6:30 am- run 2.5 miles to work

7:00 am-4:00 pm - work (run 2 miles during lunch at around 12 pm)

4:00 pm-5:00 pm- run 2.5 miles to home, then add 5 miles on before I got home

5:00 pm-7:00 pm - spend time with family, chores, dinner, etc.

7:00 pm-8:30 pm - run another 7 miles with my dad around the local lake

8:30 pm-12:00 am- shower, watch TV, get ready for bed

This gave me the potential for about 19 miles (2.5+2+2.5+5+7) on each weekday for a total of 95 miles, and then I would try to do a 10 mile run on Saturdays and a 20 mile run on Sunday for a potential of 125 mpw. In reality, all of my weekly mileage was between 100 and 122 mpw, by missing various runs on various days.

So, here's my advice:

* try to do more than 1 run a day

* try to schedule 100 mpw, so when you miss various runs, you can still get 75 mpw.

* if getting up at 4:15 am gets to be a drag, try shifting to an after work run.

* I can't remember paying much attention to nutrition, other than eating throughout the day when I felt hungry

Wow! That is one tough a$$ dude!

I've been doing farm work ~8hrs a day the past several months. Have had zero luck with post-work runs. Always death marches. Get up early regardless of how early that might be. Have something light (amino acids or protein powder and a banana or two) immediately after running. Do mobility work. This is huge for managing added physical stress. Then eat something substantial either right before leaving for work or on the way. Sip water all day. Electrolytes help, too. Do a little more mobility work after the workday. Don't eat too close to bed or multi-poop mornings will put you behind schedule. I would maybe lower volume a little bit to account for added time on feet. I haven't backed off intensity but ceased doubles and cut volume by 25%. Don't feel like I've lost anything. This will be hard at first but you'll come out more resilient and healthier in the broadest sense. Listen to your body. If your form is feeling weird (this may happen because of stress on new movement patterns and muscles), prioritize form drills and strides. Don't develop bad habits. If you can't run fluidly (correctly?) on a given day, exercise caution. Maybe rest or scale back. Easy runs may need to be slower than normal. Put your feet up when you get home. Good luck!

People are so soft these days.

Between my frosh and soph years in college I worked 40 hrs per week for the Town cutting lawns, putting in fences, lining baseball fields etc., all manual labor outdoors 7:00am to 3:30pm, half hour lunch break, bike 2 1/2 miles to work and back each day, got home and ran 10 miles and then Mon.- Thurs. worked for a local beverage company loading trucks with beer from 6:00pm until 10:30 or 11:00pm, drinking probably 4-6 beers each night. Never thought it was a big deal, just did it. The 70-75 miles per week was more than I had ever run before, previous summer was 20-30 mpw.

As a 95lb woman, I worked on my family dairy farm during my college summers when was doing 85mpw in singles before milking started at 4:30am. I was exhausted, but definitely strong. I survived by eating a big breakfast and lots of snacks during the day, and going to sleep closer to 8pm. Train hard, but recover harder.

@over hydration yes you will need to consume ample salt but I think over dehydration at 1.5 -1.8 gallons of water a day given this fellow’s situation is a stretch. It really depends on how hot and humid the climate is.

NPC #262222 wrote:

What's the 45 minutes for at 4:15 AM? Why not set your clothes out and have them ready to go and sleep until five of?

I like to make some coffee, wake up a bit, etc.

Plus sometimes I'm out by 4:45 depending on the length of the run

Look up New Zealand 1500m Olympic Champion John Walker. He worked at a cement factory.

What would be the best mobility routine for someone on their feet all day? I know many mobility routines are designed for the opposite (desk job, sitting all day) Are there modifications that should be made?

notscguy wrote:

The IG GOAT works in a warehouse 60+ hours a week and crushes mileage - it can be done...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwkrmHQBlYt/

How does dude get those abs?

I used to work 12 hours a day on a fish pier unloading boats boxing fish shoveling ice and loading trucks cutting fishbyoh nsmd it

Plus ran 2 x a day all summer for 10 years

Usually 3-5 at lunch then 6-10 in evening

Never stepped foot in a gym

Didn’t have to

Farm strong

Ran fast times too

Abs wrote:

notscguy wrote:

The IG GOAT works in a warehouse 60+ hours a week and crushes mileage - it can be done...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwkrmHQBlYt/

How does dude get those abs?

HGH

You need the extra 1½-2 hours sleep. Do your training in singles! And eat a well balanced breakfast.That`s the most important meal of the day.

-Magic summer-

i've done this before. I ran almost in singles with very few doubles. Make sure you stay hydrated, eat a ton of food, and get lots of sleep. be ready to have M-F pretty much exclusively be run, work, sleep..

Didn't read all the replies.

I have been there. These people recommending doubles don't know what they are talking about. The work is the "double"part, idiots. You only have so much energy in a day. There's no comparison to your 9-5.

There's such a thing as chronic fatigue syndrome. If you find yourself not able to fall asleep, you need to check yourself, first and foremost. You don't want to be a non-starter, or dead-man-walking.

The main thing is to get sleep, and not let anyone or anything interrupt it. If you are really hungry when you wake up in the morning, rethink your morning and mid-day eating habits.

Don't neglect hydration, and go out of your way to get good electrolytes. Go to a health food store and get a mix. Gatorade is good, but some other stuff is better. If you sweat all day, and get good runs in, you don't want to learn about charlie horses the wrong way... that sort of thing can lay you up for days.

This is going to be a complete disaster of you attempt to stick to any sort of diet, fasting or restrict your intake in any way. You will need all the food you can shove down your neck in order to stay healthy.

It's definitely doable. I did it one summer and then had the best Cross Country season of my life afterwards (really the best season Cross or Track that I've ever had by far) and I credited a lot of that to the physical strength and mental toughness working a full-time manual labor job brought me. The main tips that I would have would be to focus on hydration, nutrition, and sleep even more than normal.

I'm a big fan of the protocols in Jay Dicharry's book Running Rewired. Especially the "performance" routines, which focus on priming movement patterns. Also lots of good info in there about how to utilize self-massage and the like. Being up and moving around all day is helpful for general mobility, but you'll be introducing new movement patterns and strengthening muscles that may not be conducive to fluid running mechanics. I also like this program called Balanced Runner (free series of audio clips) but it might be overkill if you don't have a pre-existing issue.

You'll have to tailor things to meet your needs. Mobility routines for desk workers with tight hip flexors might not be super helpful, but you might find that your quads feel tight or your low-back is achy -- and these would be the things to target. I've focused on a lot on ankle mobility and activating my hip abductors pre-run, as these have tended to be problem areas for me. Mostly just look for changes in how things feel and figure out what makes them feel normal again. Not always easy, but doable if you're conscientious and deliberate.