EXTRA! Exercise Excess KOs Millions

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Outside Magazine December 2003

EXTRA! Exercise Excess KOs Millions
Your Body's Annual Mannual

By Christina Gandolfo

Intro | Your Body's Annual Mannual | The Bounce-Back Attack | Skip the Holiday Gorge Games


	(Dan Winters)

How much exercise can you handle in a year? "The answer comes down to muscle damage," says Tim Mickleborough, professor of exercise physiology at Indiana University. For example, he says, "eight weeks after completing a marathon, there's still muscle-cell regeneration going on. You haven't fully recovered, even though you might feel like you have."

Follow our guide to the number of yearly endurance tests a well-trained individual can manage and stay on the healthy side of the overtraining threshold.

EVENT	NO. PER YEAR	R&R AFTER EVENT	TIME UNTIL NEXT RACE
Marathons	2 per year	8 weeks	6 months
Half Marathons	4 per year	4 weeks	3 months
Ironman Triathlons	2 per year	8 weeks	6 months
Adventure Races	3 per year	6 weeks	3 months
Century Rides	6 per year	1 week	2 months
Ultramarathons	1 every other year	8 weeks	Cross-train during off-year

Next Page: The Bounce-Back Attack

Intro | Your Body's Annual Mannual | The Bounce-Back Attack | Skip the Holiday Gorge Games

San Diego-based writer CHRISTINA GANDOLFO's guide to triathlon training for women will be published by Human Kinetics in 2004.

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