From the never-too-late-to-write-about-it file, comes a neat little piece from the venerable British Medical Journal (BMJ). Written in 2004 by then medical student Akbar Lalani, the piece, titled Endurance (pdf), chronicles his training for the ultra Marathon Des Sables, the 2008 edition of which is going on right now and finishes April 2 (race site). With his detailed yet fairly digestible approach, Lalani discusses topics like sleep, bonking, glycogen storage, and blood biochemistry in a manner quite different, and in many ways more illuminating, than that of most marathon and ultra pieces. One notable quote: "Based on blood results alone, a marathon runner might be admitted to a coronary care unit as creatine kinase concentrations rocket to 10 times normal."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Doctor in (Endurance) Training: bonking, blood chemistry, and the sleep monster
From the never-too-late-to-write-about-it file, comes a neat little piece from the venerable British Medical Journal (BMJ). Written in 2004 by then medical student Akbar Lalani, the piece, titled Endurance (pdf), chronicles his training for the ultra Marathon Des Sables, the 2008 edition of which is going on right now and finishes April 2 (race site). With his detailed yet fairly digestible approach, Lalani discusses topics like sleep, bonking, glycogen storage, and blood biochemistry in a manner quite different, and in many ways more illuminating, than that of most marathon and ultra pieces. One notable quote: "Based on blood results alone, a marathon runner might be admitted to a coronary care unit as creatine kinase concentrations rocket to 10 times normal."
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1 comment:
Food for thought - good article.
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