How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
Image copyright Comic Relief Eddie Izzard has completed 27 marathons in as many days for Sport Relief. But can his body recover from such a feat, ask Robert Spencer and Justin Parkinson.
The numbers are astounding. In 27 days, Eddie Izzard operated or walked 707.4 miles( 1,138 km) around South Africa, often in extreme hot, at the age of 54. On the last day, because of earlier interruption, he did a double marathon to ensure he reached his target.
The comedian’s exertions for Sport Relief have raised more than 1.35 m. But now, as the lightnes of completing his undertaking recedes and he continues to deal with media interest in his achievement, Izzard must begin his recovery.
“I can’t stand upright, ” Izzard said, after he traversed the line in Pretoria, sipping from a bottle of champagne. “I have a huge blister and I’m exhausted.”
One man who can empathise is Rory Coleman, who operated 28 marathons in 28 days in 2013 and 43 ultra marathons( double marathons) in 43 days in 2004. Wholly the 54 -year-old has done 971 marathons.
Izzard’s exertions should do him no harm in the long term, Coleman argues. “He’s running the marathons very slowly, operating and strolling them, ” he says. “He’s not going quick enough to break his body. He is utilizing his body for what it’s designed for. We are not designed to sit at desks and answer email. We are designed to run across a plain all day. That’s what we are – hunter-gatherers.”
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Running marathons every day for a prolonged period means “you actually get fitter, and the distance becomes less of a challenge” because the lungs improve and the body get lighter, he adds.
Izzard has risked severe damage to the knee ligaments and there’s a strong likelihood of “massive muscle damage”, says Peter Jones, head of Staffordshire University’s school for psychology, sport and workout. The immune system will be suppressed during the initial recovery, leading to a greater hazard of infection.
Izzard’s recovery should take about a month and involve plenty of low-impact, low-intensity develop, such as swimming, plus stretching exercisings. “What he’s done is a little bit extreme, I guess, ” says Jones, ” but he should be back to normal after a few weeks, so long as he hasn’t done any major damage caused to his body.”
Most research on damage to the body caused by high-impact sports is based on single events, such as a rugby match or a marathon, whereas Izzard’s feat is unusual because it involved a repetition action – running or strolling – over such a long period, says Jones.
Top marathon-runners today complete the course in not much more than two hours. Elite athletes take part in only two or three full races a year, is targeted at peak performance, rather than constant repeating of effort.”Ordinary” marathons were once considered towards the outer reaches of human capability. But today organised events, such as the Marathon des Sables, in which challengers complete the equivalent of five-and-a-half marathons through the Sahara Desert in six days, while carrying knapsacks, move the human body to its limits.
When he was 42, Coleman operated 30 miles a day for 43 days for endurance event ending in the Portuguese capital Lisbon. He believes the physical and psychological impact was so huge it took him four years to recover fully.
Physical exercise, while not actually a drug, “possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacological agent”, according to an article published in 2012 by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information. And an “upper-dose limit potentially exists”, after which there could be problems for the heart and bone structure, it added.
But, says Jones, the basic advice to aid recovery after a marathon still applies after Izzard’s feats. A few hours after a marathon’s completed, delayed-onset muscle soreness can hit. For the first 24 hours after the race, athletes should apply ice-packs to their legs for several minutes at a time and to elevate them for an hour at a time to help pump out impurities.
Energy levels will also be low, meaning high-carbohydrate meals are recommended, as well as plenty of protein to repair muscle and tissue injury. Foods rich in iron are good. Some athletes put on weight after the marathon, which is usually because of water retention. This is a bad time to start a weight-loss regime and athletes should maintain eating a full range of nutrients, says Jones.
Many athletes report having “the blues” after completing a huge goal, such as a marathon or a triathlon.
“There is a low after any kind of big hurry, whether professional or personal, and you wonder where you are going, ” says Franois-Xavier Li, a lecturer at Birmingham University’s school of sport, workout and rehabilitation sciences. “For a month or more he has thought only of that and abruptly there is a big void to fill. He does seem to be a guy with big projects anyway, so he is unlikely to remain idle for long.”
It will be difficult to recreate such exhilaration, though. “It’s that Neil Armstrong thing, ” says Coleman. “Once you’ve been to the moon everything else is truly dull, isn’t it?
“This type of feat is more of a pilgrimage. What happens is you park up all of their own lives, you leave it at the start, then you live in this strange land where all you are doing is working, then at the end of it, psychologically, you merely operate straight into a brick wall. And that’s the hard bit. I bet today he actually wishes he was running.”
But Izzard offers some advice that many more might want to follow: “This was tough. Don’t do this at home.”
How will 27 marathons affect Eddie Izzard?( February 2016 )~ ATAGEND Read more: www.bbc.co.uk
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How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
How Will Eddie Izzard Recover From 27 Marathons? - BBC News
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