Slice of Chaotic Life

After a couple rainy days in a row (a rare thing here on Norway’s south coast) my pulse was super low, even by my standards. I could jog longer before my pulse reached 130 (that is where I usually drop back into walking) and it took shorter before it fell to 115 (where I go from walking to jogging). In RPG terms I would call it a 10% boost to recovery for a duration of 40 minutes. Actually it was probably slightly below 10%, but fairly close.

I usually get this if I have not exercised in two or more days, unless I have a fever in the meantime. I believe ordinary humans have it too, because it is common to rest the second day before a race, says Google, and only do brief exercise the last day. So this must be a well known phenomenon, but I have not found any name for it. I don’t know what causes it either. It is not glycogen, I think, for I almost never use up my glycogen. When you run a marathon, you will use up your glycogen at some point and it is called “bonking” or “hitting the wall”. Your body becomes heavy and even shaky and you cannot run even if you try, although you can still walk. Some people become able to run again, albeit slower, a so-called second wind. And of course if they drink sugar water, they will be able to run on that once it hits the blood.

I’d love to know what this “supercharging” is that lets me perform better after two days without exercise. But even if I don’t know how it works, I still make use of it.