Tell me more about the Whey drink? Is it something you mix or buy premade? Details good buddy.

Since I run 2x a day my two most important 'meals' are the two after each run. In the morning I need to recover so I can run in the evening and after the evening run I need to recover so I can run again in the morning or in 8 or 9 hours. Yes, that's my life during the week. Wake up, run, work, run, go to bed. Anyway, my recovery drink is very simple and it really works. Ready? After my morning run, 15grams of whey protein and 50 grams of dextrose, vitamin e, vitamin c. There are tons of companys that make whey powder and about as many flavors. I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard. 1/2 a scoop is close to 15 grams of protein or about 65 calories. 50 grams of dextrose is 200 calories. Dextrose is corn sugar or glucose. It's not as sweet as table sugar but it dissolves in water or milk easily. You may ask yourself, why do I drink this or what is the purpose of this recipe? Obviously after you run you need to replenish carbs, but you also need to repair your leg muscles or at least start the process. There is an argument that if you took it really easy there would be no damage to repair, ok fine. Don't drink this then (but it won't hurt). The dextrose is a very high glycemic or simple sugar. The higher the glycemic load the more insulin your body will release upon ingestion. Normally a huge surge of insulin is not good as it along with cortisol promotes fat storage. After working out, however, your muscle cells are insulin sensitive and during that time insulin promotes increased flow of amino acids into the muscle cells, thus starting the recovery process. After working out, insulin in the presence of protein is a GOOD thing. The catch is that this period of muscle sensitivity to insulin only lasts up to 45 minutes, so I drink mine within 10 minutes of finishing. Whey protein is also very quickly digested making it the perfect protein to consume at this time. Hard food, like a protein bar, can take more than an hour to digest and therefore is not the preferred protein source. Go with liquids. Now at night I change it up just a little bit. Real muscle repair occurs while sleeping. This is when muscles grow, adapt, etc. This is an all night process so ideally you want a protein source that lasts all night. Where does this come from? The answer is Casein protein. Milk is part whey, part casein. Where whey is quickly digested, casein is not. Casein takes up to 6 hours to digest, so if you drink some right before you go to bed it will be working for you while you're sleeping. So, my evening shake is typically 1/2 pack of Met-Rx in 1 cup of skim milk with 25 grams of dextrose. I also put in 1 teaspoon of glutamine and some glucosamine powder. Met-Rx or EAS Myoplex meal replacement shakes have both whey and casein along with some carbs, vitamins, etc. Met-Rx was originally formulated by a physician to give to patients that had muscle wasting illnesses, or to keep them from dropping too much weight. I swear by this stuff. I have my father living off of Met-Rx because he's too weird to eat real food (long story). Ok, I know that was long but because I attempted to lay out the 'whys' behind what I do. But the process is incredibly simple and you don't need to make it difficult. Good old chocolate milk is excellent post run nutrition, and I have used it in the past. So if you don't want to go out and buy all this crap, just get some chocolate milk and drink 8 ounces after a run. And I hear you about having heavy legs. With the exception of long runs, I don't ever plan a run out. I have 60 minutes in the morning and 30 in the evening. I can tell within 30 seconds if my legs are heavy or light. If they are heavy, I run slow. If they are light, then I play around and do some faster stuff. Simple. Trying to force yourself to do a certain workout just because it's planned on tired legs is not the way to go. In fact I think it's more counterproductive than anything else. In that case you would be better served not running at all. I also know how hard it is to take a day off. I have an almost woman-like fear of getting fat if I take one day off (hope that didn't offend). I have had border line eating disorders and have some weird eating habits besides the fact. But I have learned to trust my body because it's never lied to me, and I doubt yours has lied to you.

Marcus, Your double workouts are amazing. I was doing doubles with the XTing but I would do one workout at lunch and the other in the evening, but that got a little crazy. Not enough recovery. I am guessing you have a nutrition plan for before your workout too? I liked the Tae Kwon Doe picture.

Tae Kwon Do??? Not!! That was taken in Japan. Tae Kwon Do is Korean. I did study TKD for 2 years though. Nutrition plan before workout doesn't really exist. My first run is at 5:30 am and the only thing I have before that is a stiff cup of coffee right when I roll out of bed. But you know during the day I nibble. When I get to work at 8:30 I eat an apple, and a 100 calorie English Muffin (8 grams of fiber) with sugar free jelly. At 11:30 I have a pack of sugar free oatmeal with a serving of grape nuts thrown in (yet more fiber) and 380 calories. My lunch at 1:00 is a banana and then what I call a "Samitto". Part sandwich, part burrito. I use 80 calorie, whole grain tortillas (14 grams of fiber), 3 ounces of some lunch meat, and a piece of cheese (usually muenster). I also eat a 100 calorie snack pack of some kind of chips, and a small protein bar or Kashi bar (even more fiber). My lunch is no more than 600 calories, and calorie wise is my biggest meal of the day. At 3:00 I eat a Kashi, Clif, South Beach Diet, or Powerbar depending on what's in my desk. I leave work at 5:00, ride the train, walk in the door at home around 6:30. Change, grab a handful of almonds or peanuts, and then go run. Obviously I am big into fiber and usually consume 50-60 grams per day. I avoid large amounts of sugar as much as possible except for right after I run, as previously described. Unfortunately, there is some junk food in our office, like animal crackers (which are not too bad), Jelly Bellys, and miniature Hershey bars. And I do have a little bit of that from time to time, but nothing excessive. And of course, post evening run is another liquid meal and maybe some cheese and crakers or more nuts an hour later, but never anything heavy. In fact, I never eat heavy meals. I can't stand feeling full. I don't even eat before long runs. I know that's more than you cared to know, so sorry!

Marcus, No veggies? I tend to eat lots of veggies but have to plan them CAREFULLY with the running, especially LRs else I get sick. Sucks. Do you think a latte is as good as chocolate milk? After today's 12.5 LR I had a 16 oz dark mocha, decaf with skim. Didn't know what size I should have had. How are you feeling? Ran into several of my ironman friends, they've had bronchitis too; crap is going around bad here.

Marcus, I like your longhorn tattoo! Appropriate for a beautiful person, I think.

Marcus, I like your longhorn tattoo! Appropriate for a beautiful person, I think.

Thanks! I thought you would.

I admire your scientific ways. I used to be more like that, followed the zone diet, measured everything I ate, but it just got too controlling. I enjoy the latte which is basically chocolate milk and like the idea of drinking it after a run without the guilt. I think I will get some protein powder to add to it since my runs are going to get longer. I ran 2 miles today and no soreness. Will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow because sometimes it takes two days for the soreness to come. If you cured my heavy legs, well start making a wish list, I will owe you big time.

BTW Marcus, I think you are an extraordinary runner. Very talented indeed. 7:30 easy pace, yikes.