Rest is Overrated?

Dallas marathoner Angela Tortorice accomplished another feat this month. She completed her 54th marathon or ultra event in 365 days.

By doing so, Tortorice earned Titanium status in the Marathon Maniacs club, the highest honor awarded by the national group that recognizes those who take the sport to an extreme. She is the 51st person to achieve the rank.

"Rest was overrated," said Tortorice, 42, who cycled, swam, ran or weight trained about four times a week in addition to the weekend runs. -dallasnews.com

MY COMMENT: Read on.."The 54 marathons included 10 back-to-back Saturday-Sunday events, one triple – three marathons in four days – 12 ultras and one 50-miler. She also did a few Ironman distance races but didn't count those marathons in her total."

I have no idea how these Marathon Manics do it. I guess if you can stay healthy and get into a groove, the body's ability to recover reaches a remarkable level far beyond that achieved by normal runners. It appears that Angela fills her week with cross training, allowing her legs to recover while maintaining a steady level of cardiovascular fitness. The ultimate hard, easy program, but not so easy if she bikes and swims enough to complete ironman distances.