One question posed often by my track runners is about protein shakes. Do they really work? Will they work for me?

The truth is that, as a runner, you do need more protein than most people. In fact, you require about twice as much as the typical couch potato.

But an average runner doesn’t need as much protein as a shake holds. Muscle recovery demands about .7 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. Most people already get this much through their diet. Your chicken dinner, in addition to the milk from breakfast and the peanut butter sandwich you had for lunch, is sufficient.

Your body can absorb more protein than this in a day, but still only about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight*. Any protein beyond that point just leaves your body with urine. And if that protein comes form an expensive shake, you’re literally pissing your money away.

If you’re a runner and concerned about building muscle, where your protein comes from isn’t as important as when you pack it in. There’s a half-hour window after workouts when your body is craving carbs and protein. A turkey sandwich or peanut-butter covered banana will give it what it needs. And chocolate milk. God bless the inventor of chocolate milk.

*This excludes whey protein, which can be absorbed in greater quantities.

Ever since that bad 10 mile run on Monday, I’ve been nursing my poor right leg back to health. I’ve been doing low mileage, and running slow on some days. And after I run, I’ve been taking advantage of the trainer’s ice bath (what a wonderful machine). This close to my Big Race, it’s important to rest any possible injuries. In fact, it should help my eventual time much more than hurt it.

After all, not resting could have disastrous results. I would hate to keep training at the same intensity, only to end up sitting on the side of Broad Street with a pulled hamstring. I think that’s the worst case scenario.

And the lower mileage is appropriate for where I am in my training for the race. I should have begun tapering on Monday (two weeks is a good amount of time before a 10-mile race), and cutting my miles back to about 60-70% of the norm. Even with my possible injury, 60% is easily achievable. And I shouldn’t have enough time to lose actual fitness- my base training will last longer than a couple of weeks.

Does it sound like I’m trying to convince myself as well as you? That’s because I am. Like most runners, I have a pretty narrow idea of how the world works. Diligence leads to fitness, laziness leads to weakness. So, as these runners often have to do, I’m trying to swallow my indomitable spirit before it further harms me.

I went to the trainers last Friday for some advice on my weird injury. They seem unsure as to why it came back and how to treat it, so they said that for the time being I was to rest my legs. That meant no running at all over the weekend.

I wasn’t allowed to do anything involving my legs- no biking or elliptical either. Even jump roping required too much bending in my muscles. Essentially, nothing aerobic for 72 hours.

That meant that my usual method for dealing with frustrations- sweating them out all over the streets of Bethlehem- was ruled out for three whole days. Without my usual outlet, I was left only with upper body training.

This being the case, I poured my frustrations out (rather copiously, as usual) on the weight bench on Saturday. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend a while in the gym; I actually work my upper body consistently through the week. But now working my arms, back, and abs had become my only method of working out. As such, I took my workout up a few notches.

It felt good abusing my body, even if it wasn’t in the usual way. It was a reminder that running is not the only way that one can build discipline.