Pose running method...

I'm doing the clinic for Pose running this weekend...still in progress...hence my lack of mileage updates...I don't know if I love it...the evidence in its favor sure is plentiful...what do you think?  Why am I cranking my hamstrings 180 times a minute...I don't know about this...I don't know that anything was wrong with my running style before...it all seemed ok and now over the past 2 days I'm told that that's not so...what is the what...who is John Galt...more to follow when I cage my thoughts!

Half Marathon Training: break 1:45?

I'm almost embarrassed to re-announce my goal to break 1:45 in my half-marathon since I don't have a wide margin of comfort that I'll make it.  And nothing is more embarrassing than failed anonymous internet middling-pace running goals...oh wait...

I've been training according to this:

Runner's World 1:45 Half Marathon Plan.

 which I found by googling, for free, although it seems Runner's World wants to charge me $24.99 from other googlings?  IDK...I didn't obtain this illegally, it's just a pdf in my search results...maybe the joke's on me and this is a 2:00 plan...ackk!  I haven't read any reviews of the plan, so I guess I'll critique it myself after the race in 2 weeks.

I've been sticking to it at an overall B+ level.  I took a few days off last week when I was ill and BFFs with the toilet but I hopped back on the training train right after.  

My overall impression of the RW plan?  It seems like it's LESS running than I normally do, but with more speedwork and slower, longer runs than I would normally tolerate.  So, fewer garbage miles traded for some higher-quality workouts?  I hope so.  I incorporated some of my races into the training schedule, and I hope that won't degrade my 13.1 performance.

I've run much of this on a treadmill, and wonder...how does that compare to running outside?  Yes, it feels easier.  So I add 1% incline and I run 0.2 to 0.3 mph faster than the prescribed pace.  I don't know if that's an adequate adjustment.  Someone commented previously that the mental rigor that running for an hour+ on a treadmill requires is all part of the game.  A really boring game at times, but necessary for achieving one's goals (I hope!) all the same.

The weather and my late start on the training are working against me, but I've been close to a 1:45 in half marathons before so I feel like I can gut it out in Las Cruces with enough internal fortitude.  The altitude is tricky as well, but I'll spend a few days running at 7000' elevation in Taos the week beforehand, maybe that'll help as long as I don't end up with pulmonary edema.  In general, I am never fully prepared for races.  I take a lot of strange pride in knocking out fairly decent times without the most rigorous preparation.  I'm working on changing that just so I can see what some "focused" training will do.  The hardest part has been relegating my pace to the 9:12 prescribed in the long runs.  9:12?  Why in the world would I do that, when I spent so much time digging my pace out of the 8s and 9s and edging slowly towards the 7s?  I cheat and use 8:49 to 8:41.  For pride's sake.  Which I may come to regret 1:45 after I start my halfsie and have yet to finish...

In other news, San Antonio has taken a turn towards winter.  My 10K tomorrow morning is sure to be character-building...I didn't bring my winter running clothes with me (uh, when I got here in July, because I am a normal person and did not plan on being here after Labor Day).  Yesterday, 82F all day.  Today and for the rest of the week?  Wind, rain, highs in the 40s, yeah, these are the whines of a Texas winter.  I went to survival school in Washington state in February one year, and that is the yardstick by which I measure my tolerance for miserable weather and tomorrow could come close.  D says "people love to read about self-induced misery!" and he eagerly anticipates my cyanotic and goose-bumpy race report tomorrow.  As I hope you do too.

My big challenge for tomorrow's race...restraining my new haircut, or as I like to call it, the Flock of Seagulls.  Serves me right for going to Great Clips.  Cheep, cheep, did my hens have chicks this winter or is that just me?  I don't like hair in my face when I run.  I don't like it swinging against my neck and shoulders.  Love a ponytail, when it's not too long, because I am a sweaty sweaty girl and my hair becomes a mop of head sweat, sprinkling to and fro as I run, a censer of perspiration.  That particular avenue of simplicity is now gone, thanks to my [new] complicated bangs arrangement.  Seriously, Teri from Great Clips, I've had the same haircut since I was 5.  I know what I like and what I don't like is having to think about how I'll configure the Seagulls tomorrow.  I'll otherwise be mistaken for Mike Score!

Who can tell me, how do you accommodate for treadmill vs outdoor running?  What sort of conversion factor do you use?  I base mine on perceived exertion...not sciency indeed.

11.1 miles to go before I reach 100 miles in November.  Not as difficult as I thought!  I'll try for 125 in December.

Notes on real life

Today: 4 miles/some number of minutes

Speed training!  I forgot what running hard (for me, laugh at my pace if you will) is all about.

Good thing I chose to do this at the gym on the treadmill under the watchful eyes of the passively pressuring treadmill hawks.  I eat your aggression, treadwalkers, it keeps me going during a tough run!

I decided entirely randomly that this was a good workout for me today:

1 mi warm up

4 x (.5 mi at 6:50 or faster, .25 mi at 8:49)

And then the plan was for a 1 mile cool down but I had to run to the potty instead - what a speedy 0.05 mile!  For sure, the swampy sweat-humid gym treadmill’s most redeeming quality is potty proximity.

I’d forgotten what it was like to breathe hard and really exert during a running workout.  I hate it and yet I’m hooked.  I ordinarily roll along (yes, merrily) at my comfy pace with the occasional minor pick-up and I want to break myself of this nonsense habit.  Running around a happy carefree bunny is a good hobby for stress release and aerobic fitness maintenance but I want 2014 to bring some needed speed gains even if I spend the year-or most of it-in other parts of the world

Lately I’ve been feeling bum-da-bum-bum-bummed that I just can’t ever plan out future long races.  One of my current pastimes includes registering for races and then not being able to show up.  Yeah, I can gut out an ok-for-me 10K with a week’s notice but my schedule precludes me from registering early- and thus training properly-for longer races.  It’s part of the whole job thing, which I chose and love.  I worked hard to get here so ja of course I knew that the schedule was going to be crazy/full of surprises/uncertain.  So I blame me.  But still, whine I will.   

One year, I would just like to pick some races for the year, not pay exxxtreme late-reg prices, and train wisely.  I suppose that’s what retirement is for.  But as I get older the likelihood that my RUN ALL THE TIME WITHOUT ANY REAL THOUGHT philosophy will enable me to run fast and injury-free is increasingly remote.

My “speedwork” (would you like a snack with that hyperbole?) today is my first stab.  If only I had a coach and no job and sat at home all day hyperfocused on workouts, salad calories and feelings....oh wait no, then I’d be easily confused with the one million other small-time runningchroniclesbloggers…except they’re all a lot faster than I am :)

The uncertainty of 2014 sat on the far horizon for so long and now, well, whatever the encroaching future brings I want to be running faster in it.

I race this coming weekend in Las Cruces, NM.  Then 2 x Turkey Trots back in TX- races to commemorate that my months away from home draw to a close. 

 

Whaddya say about some weekend races with little training and new shoes?!  Why not??

***76 MIN to go.***

Dehydration causes uterine cramps. Science.

Every so often during my early morning treadmill hillwork, I get muscle cramps when running.  

No, not leg or back cramps or even a side stitch.  

I experience what feels like menstrual cramps- especially during a real tough workout.  I thought maybe at first it was due to my posture, or maybe a case of the Bubblies, but it happened again yesterday on my 3 miles of steep hillwork, where I was holding a pretty quick pace, the day after my PR 10K.  I thought maybe my rectus abdominis was sore from some ab work a few days ago, but no- this was exactly like a menstrual cramp, and it lasted a few minutes, but was so bad I had to stop running and drink water until it washed away.  The funny thing is, whenever this happens, it's never during that time of the month, it's usually in the week or two preceeding it.  I think. 

So I did some research into my chief suspect:
DEHYDRATION-INDUCED UTERINE CRAMPS.

Turns out, there are lots of internet voices out there who have dealt with this same situation and unfortunately been sneered at by their primary care provider, with no help!

But I can help with what I've learned.  I hope!!

It's all in our brains, to begin with, well...sort of.  Here's our pituitary gland:  It's less colorful in real life. 

Not a scrotum, but yes, that's a uterus.  Grumpy one!

 The posterior pituitary produces 2 hormones as shown above: ADH (antidiuretic hormone) and oxytocin, and as they are made in the same factory, these chemical structures look very similar to our body.  

ADH is produced when we are dehydrated, and acts on our kidneys to help us stay hydrated by decreasing the amount of water we eliminate in urine, hence "anti-diuretic."  

Oxytocin acts on the uterine muscle.  It's primary purpose it to cause uterine contractions for baby delivery!  You may have heard of pitocin, or even used it to induce labor- it's based on the hormone oxytocin.  

When we are dehydrated, like during an especially strenuous aerobic workout, our uterine oxytocin receptors see the extra ADH and think it's oxytocin and commence cramping.  When we then drink water, our body no longer releases the ADH, and the spillover to our uterus stops.  Yay, no more cramping!  Save that for when it's actually my period please.  Actually, please don't save it at all :)

By this same logic, staying well hydrated during your period can ameliorate those cramps. 

This is exactly why pregnant women should stay hydrated, especially when feeling crampy!  And with the holidays nigh upon us and August and September the months with the most birthdays, I'm sure some gals out there might use this information in the near future :)

I also wondered why this cramping usually only occurred a week or two before my period, similar to what many of the anonymous gals found on some women's health websites- and this study here found that in nonpregnant women, during the pre-menstrual (the two weeks before your period) phase of the cycle, ADH is four times (!) more potent than oxytocin in causing uterine cramping. What a naughty little chemical this ADH is!

Wow, do I ever feel like drinking more water before heading to my early morning workouts- overnight dehydration certainly plays a role, too.  And I'm pretty sure this dehydration situation is why I felt these cramps yesterday.

I hope this helps those who have been turned away and made to feel that their pain was unimportant.

Of course, persistent abdominal pain should always be checked out with your health care provider.   

Please tell me I'm not the only one out there with this??

Working out with a significant other: yay or nay?

I already have my answer to this question.

Solid NAY.

Not that my marriage is in trouble, tyvm, but in my relationship, this is how things go, unspoken yet decided long ago.

When D and I first met a few years ago, we lived across the street from each other.  I'd come home from work, walk Nugget, run some errands, etc.  He'd come home from work and play Call of Duty.

Then at 6 or so I'd walk over, we'd spend a little time together, then head to the gym followed by a dinner trip to Central Market.  He still talks about Central Market and it might have been a big reason he came to visit me in San Antonio this summer...he's pretty well known in the deli section.

One of the first memorable things boyfriend-level D ever said to me was, "have you ever thought about joining a gym?"  - not the immediate reaction one desires from a romantic partner- but it had its intended effect and I joined D's gym and our daily gym push became a steady part of the relationship.

Mostly because we parted ways at the door.

I wanted a boyfriend with fitness priorities, someone who could be a built in gym-buddy who would encourage me to exercise on days when I'd rather gorge myself on Cheetos-- someone for whom I'd do the same.

I did not want a sweaty dude helping me benchpress a 45# bar.  I don't want him, or anyone, yelling "YOU GOT IT!!!! GET SOME!!!! UP UP UP!!!" and D certainly needn't spend his time at the gym doing that.  First off, I don't like to be scrutinized and I can't fathom the frustration I would feel at him.  His only interest in the sets/reps/weights or miles I run is that he wants me to meet my personal goals.  If I needed help, 100% he would be there.  But I go do my girlie things at the gym and he does his bicep things and we meet up at the end.  Sometimes I meet up with him in the middle if there are too many girls in his vicinity.  Also, by vicinity I mean "entire gym." :)

Shortly after we started dating, D got orders to Korea and left.  I still went to what was our gym, and I liked the memories of our gym time, reminding me he would only be gone a year. It's the same gym I go to now, actually, that we are once again in different time zones.

I don't want to make it sound like my husband is a gym rat, but it's part of the job, and a way we both eliminate stress.  We also eat a lot of ice cream and brownies and take naps and there's a whole lot of Candy Crush that gets played in our house.  And sometimes we even skip the gym, too.  Or go separately.  But in the same vein, if we both want to run at the gym, we do try to get treadmills next to each other and just maybe, maybe, I'm not above reaching over and pressing the "increase speed" button on his :)

Working out separately is just our personality style but also a way to cope.  We've been stationed apart often, so while keeping each other in mind, we do what we must, whether work or gym, and then come together at the end to enjoy each other's company; it's the way we live.  My feeling is that if I relied on D to be side-by-side with me at the gym, I'd be lost in the sauce all the times that we live in different places.

At the same time, I do see couples (successful ones, too, I assume!) at the gym who work-in sets with each other on each piece of equipment.  That works for some, but I'd go crazy.  I don't even like to chit chat at the gym, much less have to cooperate with D.

In other news, I successfully weeded out that pesky Call of Duty habit.  Other video-game widows out there, email me for advice, it can be done!!

What do you think?  Do you work out with your significant other?  Let me know!

Reciprocal pain and injury

New Math

 I alluded to this problem earlier: running injury, err, pain in one place quickly migrates somewhere else.

In my case, I seem to trade sides and of course, my right plantar fasciitis has now manifested as left Achilles tendinosis.  This stinks worse than the original problem!

That is what I think of heel pain

 This happened previously with a right metatarsal stress fracture which morphed into left knee pain, culminating in right hip pain.

Now I see why physical therapists always check "one joint above and below" the site of injury.  The thighbone is connected to the leg bone, after all- and didn't we all learn that in nursery school?

It makes sense that pain on one side of your body affects your gait pattern, causing reciprocal problems elsewhere, especially as we compensate for the pain, weakness, instability, blah blah blah.

How to break the cycle?  And don't you dare say "rest!"  Strengthening and balance training is probably a good place to start.  One day I will learn that that should be done continuously and not only after the pain sets in...hmmm.

So far, my answer is to stretch, ice, take ibuprofen, ignore the pain, and be thankful that I am rarely injured.

Lately I've been doing more hill training since the Transmountain Challenge is next weekend.  This could be the culprit, too.

I'm not ready for the race, but I wasn't ready for it last year either and it ended up as such a fun time.  What's the big deal, it's just a 1300' elevation gain in the first 6.5 miles, and a 1300' foot drop over the last 6.5 miles....

Just have to keep the finish line burritos the main thing in your mind :)  Of course, it takes me so long to get over that Mountain, I could probably order a pizza on the course for a mid-race snack.  

You can still sign up for the race, and it's very value-priced, too, even at the last minute:
2013 Transmountain Challenge

Dodgeball Day

I was never much of a standout in gym class.  I really suck at gym class games.

Today I re-confirmed that dodgeball is just as scary now as it was in elementary school.  I could've used D's help for sure.  Or at least his silhouette, to cover and conceal me :)

This morning my peers and I played a few rounds with the folks at the Center for the Intrepid (CFI).

In case you don't know, CFI is a revolutionary place where unprecedented things are happening for the people who deserve them the most.  It's too earthshattering for me to merely describe, so feel free to look into it and all the people it touches.

One of these legs is not like the other

Today our opponents included a group of people who are currently receiving therapy at CFI.  These folks are not only undergoing several phases of recovery and therapy but many also have prostheses and braces and other orthotic devices of all sorts.

$#!&'s about to get real

 It was a strange feeling, to try and bean a guy missing an arm and leg, but that's also the pith of my experience today:  people are people, regardless of the pieces and parts, whether original or replacement.  And yes they merit dodgeball-beaning just as much as anyone else.  It's a lesson we intellectually understand but can't fully grasp until facing an amputee about to gun one's self down with a terrifyingly powerful and speedy rubber ball.   But it's the same lesson my 12 year old stepdaughter helps me learn, too.  To me she's a goofy and quirky and splendid tween, just as she should be, despite cerebral palsy.

At the end of the day, I wish I was better at dodgeball.  Each and every person I attempted to knock over caught the ball, forcing me out, just like in 4th grade.

Read more here:
The Center for the Intrepid
The IDEO Brace

Trailing it in the heat

I am in San Antonio still...and it is hot...and as promised I have been trying to re-visit some of my favorite running spots, in between all the fun, nay, character-building training the army has prescribed.  And I do mean character-building in a most Calvin and Hobbes sense...

I squeezed in an afternoon run at the Salado Greenway.  It was stinkin' great!  I refuse to bore you and myself with any more thoughts on my sub-par pace.

The path is wonderful.  Wide, well-marked, paved, with benches and mileposts.  I don't like to run with my cell phone in all the humidity since I am an unnecessarily sweaty gal, but here's a pic of the trailhead where I started, near Oakwell Farms.  Yes, yes, it's taken from the cool and breezy womb of my car, before the onslaught of the summery air-soup.

Green as can be!

I like to run 1.5 miles north to the Tobin Park Trailhead, near an overpass of I-410.  There is also a water fountain here, and a doggie water fountain.  And some information placards about the local flora and fauna.  Mountain lions?  Really??  I haven't seen one yet but I have seen the stoic heritage live oak shading the trails.  "Heritage," of course, bestowed only on the live oaks over 100 years old.  Or so I think.

From there you can veer left and follow the path all the way to McAllister Park or LBJ Park.  Which are both great runs, but for cooler, more clement days.  As in not July.  But what I like best about running the Greenway year-round is the absolute difference in ambiance that even a casual observer like me will notice.  Overwhelmingly verdant in summer, and in January, it's as bleak as the moon.  The autumn colors (and whatever color autumn is, it's definitely my favorite) are as sharp as anywhere I've seen, and the springtime is just steeped in possibility as the plants are bursting with color...and pollen.  Achoo!

This trail system is truly a prize.  It reminds me of home, the Emerald Necklace encircling the city of Cleveland.  Bash the "mistake on the lake" as you will, but I aver that Cleveland is one heck of a great place to live.  I hope to write a post from there soon!

Running out of town: San Antonio

I have not been doing very much running at all, have you?  Over the holiday weekend, it seems like every few hours we are visiting with friends and eating hot dogs!  I managed a few trips to the gym but I am not running more than 2 to 4.5 miles at a time, though pretty quickly (for me), around a 7:12 min per mile pace.  I hope this will restart my running with renewed mental energy (as opposed to calorie-massive quantities of charred processed beef ingested this weekend).  

We saw fireworks by chance as we drove across the mountains.

I am out of town for the whole summer, so I'm soliciting San Antonio (yay!) running ideas, paths and plans.  San Antonio is certainly among the top five places I've lived and I am always happy to spend time there.  

I like running along the Riverwalk (early in the morning for sure, to beat the crowds and heat), starting at the Pearl Brewery:

and ending with a post-run fancy pastry at the CIA Bakery Cafe, 

Separation anxious even with her safety goggles

 and I love the Salado Greenway, too.  This picture from last fall just oozes refreshment:

Can't wait to call this my go-to running path again!

 My road bike is coming with me (though Nugs and D are staying home in El Paso) and the plan is to get some rides in with my old bike club, the San Antonio Cycling Club.  I love to ride out in Castroville and get cookies at Haby's Bakery for the drive back into town.  It's the wrong time of year for Tour de Gruene and the Fiesta Wildflower Ride but I love both these routes and will do them solo if time allows.  

There is nothing like Hill Country by bicycle even when it's a humid one billion degrees out!

A great day = the Guadalupe in spring + road bike

Temptation is this Orangeleaf half marathon on July 20th in New Braunfels but I'm trying to ignore this compulsion...must not think about all the delicious yogurt at the end...

Hope everyone enjoyed a happy 4th of July weekend!  San Antonio fans (and who isn't??), won't you share your favorite places for running, riding, passing time?

Nugget, pondering squirrels and Texas pride

Fridge fess up...part of the overhaul!

I thought I'd take a big step in our friendship and open up my refrigerator to you, from top to bottom.  As you know I am undertaking a training/everything overhaul because of my pace dropping so precipitously.  I think I might as well take some advice on my fridgie-fridge and see how I can improve my running by doing better with the foods I eat, too:

3 types of coffee creamer and skim milk on the top shelf, good priorities in this house!

Cottage cheese, eggs from our hens, blueberries, choc pudding, greek yogurt

Sugar free Red Bull, Spicy V8, Sprite...could be worse

Apples, string cheese, cauliflower, broccoli...

Cilantro, grapes, limes, sandwich thins (love em)

Yep, we bought cartons just for our own eggs...people receive them better this way

TWO pounds of butter, nutella, mustard, PB, salsa, key lime juice

Relish, jalapenos, pickled okra, garlic, applesauce, more mustard, more salsa...

Water filter, low sodium soy sauce, raspberry jelly, salad dressing, balsamic vinegar

2 types of ketchup, BBQ sauce, maple syrup, choc syrup, rice vinegar, more mustard

Yes, I store a lot of food in the pantry (pasta, soups, grains, cereals, nuts, chocolate etc) but I'd like to know, how does my food stack up?  Is this a good start for a healthy running diet?  My junk food taste is more savory than sweet (hence all the salsa and chips) but I won't lie to you, those 2 pounds of butter are going to end up in cookies this weekend.  I don't think my fridge is that bad but I admit, we do share a lot of produce with the hens and we eat elsewhere for lunch everyday since we are at work.  Also I was on a big hotdog kick while studying hence the crazy variety of condiments for two people.

Because we eat at work or out for lunch every day, we don't eat a lot of meat or fish at home, and if we do, I buy just what we are going to cook for that particular meal.  With only the two of us, stuff often goes bad before we can use it so it often goes to the hens instead of into my tummy.

Maybe next I'll share the pantry with you but I'm too short to get good pictures without dragging furniture into the kitchen, easier to wait til D is home, eh?

Epsom salts, old timey + wonderful, dust 'em off from under the sink

Over the past few years I have become a really poor sleeper.  That being said, I don't use any prescription sleep medication, and I'm pretty cautious about over-the-counter sleep aids.  My friend Barb (Leah's mom) has moderate to severe arthritis and she suggested an Epsom salt bath to help me recover from races as well as help in the sleep department and so I bought some and tried them and love them and I wish I had started using them ages ago.  I just wanted to tell you about them in case your mom hadn't told you!  Also, it's summer and overexertion is now in season and this might just be the thing to soothe your aches and pains.

Epsom is a town in England with a preponderance of magnesium salt springs.  Epsom salts and bath salts in general are just magnesium sulfate.  Medically, magnesium is very useful.  At home, you can drink it, bathe in it, or you can make it into a paste and apply to bruises and sores joints or muscles.  

I might just move to Epsom, that's some nice running weather!

 A study of people with arthritis demonstrated that a daily 12-minute epsom salt bath greatly improved arthritic pain relief and without prompting, the study participants all commented on significantly improved pain.  

Per the Epsom Salt Council, bathing in magnesium sulfate is also a way to absorb magnesium which is good for our bodies (if we are deficient).  This stuff has lots of good uses in the garden too. I used to have a garden, and then I got some chickens.  These entities are mutually exclusive.

Anyway, Epsom salt also removes "impurities" but my internet research failed to define what those impurities* might be.

For $0.88 at Walmart I bought a carton of Epsom salts which lasted about 3 baths.  I didn't measure it as I poured it into the bath so it may last even longer.  The package suggests 2 cups of salt for a regular bath tub.  Or do it like I do and just dump some salt in the bath until you think it looks good and salty.

To expand my bath repertoire, I next spent $4.88 on this larger bag of scented Epsom salts, also from Walmart.  I like this particular scent, it is fresh but not too minty or eucalyptic so it doesn't smell medicinal.

Yes you can store your Epsom salts on a pile of dirty laundry

 It makes the whole room smell nice, too.  See in El Paso, in our small home, we don't have a bathroom door, I think this is "a thing" here because at friends' homes, there are no bathroom doors either, I mean, the toilet and shower area are separate and have a door but no joke, our bedroom has an alcove with 2 sinks, a mirror, and a bathtub (well, and a giant laundry monster) but still, that's strange, right?  I digress...anyway I for sure pour too much of this scented salt mixture into the bath each time.  It dissolves well and I notice that it effervesces a tad more than the plain salts.

In all honesty I like the store-brand, unscented salts just as much as the scented ones.  They both work the same, dissolve well and I am a sleepy bunny shortly after bath time.  It's nice to have the scent, but it's nice to save money, too.  I choose the salt bath route about once a week, for after longer runs or when I just can't sleep.

Another Epsom fan

 I haven't noticed yet if the salted bath is better than a plain bath for pain reduction in achy joints and sore muscles but I am not yet facing severe osteoarthritis, either. For me this foray into salt baths started as a sleep aid.  Osmotically it makes sense that a salt bath would draw out fluid from swollen joints etc but I am probably not so in tune with my body that I'd notice.

*By "impurities" I think they euphemistically mean doodoo.  Magnesium salts (like magnesium citrate and magnesium sulfate) are laxatives so I suppose if you were feeling a little constipated you could use the plain Epsom salts and mix a magnesium cocktail per the directions on the package.  I haven't tried it...pre-op bowel prep is no party, this is about the same.  Absolutely do not try this if you have kidney impairment or diabetes or high blood pressure etc.  Actually, don't do this at all unless your medical provider suggests it...please...I don't want to lose my job already :)  And I am 80% sure the paper carton from Walmart does not have a medical license.

Does anyone else like these simple salts as much as I do?  Or do you have your own go-to homeopathic remedies?  Or are you from Epsom and can share its history?

Mommy we took care of that pesky garden for you!

International racing...tips and advice?

One of the particular joys of travel to new places is getting to explore while on a run.  

Though I've dodged cars through the narrow streets of Osaka and Tokyo, stopping to do pull-ups at tiny little parks, and nearly died along the banks of the Han River in the August humidity of Seoul, and my brother and I did a sibling jog together in Plitvice, Croatia

Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

by the bluest water you'll ever see, my only international race experience was the 2005 Auckland Marathon. 

A friend and I had two weeks of leave planned in New Zealand and the highlight of our fall trip was a spring marathon!  We arrived the day before the race -- everything was as smooth as could be -- we had fun exploring the city to find packet pick up and the starting line, just as you'd do for any big race in any city that's not home.  Race day, my friend dropped back into the 10K race due to an untimely injury and I spent the remaining 20 miles converting between miles and kilometers and back again while asking some very concerned fellow runners, "how long is this race?" because I hadn't bothered to consider that a 26.2 mile marathon measures just over 42 km, and that a nation on the metric system might not post mile markers.  I admit, the fun of the mental math kept me busy.  To this day, every time I run a race that's only marked in miles (ok, so pretty much every race in the US, even 5Ks and 10Ks) I smile and remember my past confusion...while eagerly waiting for someone to ask me, mid-marathon, "how long IS this thing?"

Running the Auckland Marathon, you won't soon forget that bridge!

In fact, my experience at the Auckland Marathon gave me the idea to do more destination races, combining some vacation time with a running event, which is why I am heading back to Alaska in less than 2 weeks (for the Mayor's Marathon Half) and is exactly how I ended up at the Salt Lake City Marathon in April of this year as well as the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, Florida in 2010.  

In any event, the Auckland Marathon was and still is a PR for me, the highlight of a great trip.  I've gone back to New Zealand since then and it's one of my favorite places on earth and always will be.  I hope to run the Auckland Marathon again; it feels like a hometown race to me now.

I would like to do another international event, any suggestions for great race/vacation combinations?

Product review: PowerBar Energy Blasts

Off day today for me- no running (well, maybe I'll go for an evening run if time allows, no promises though!) as tomorrow is a big day in my career and I have lots of prep to do for it.  Exciting stuff, I'll share after the big day :)

For now, let's talk about sweets!  My favorite type of candy has always been on the "chewy" end of the lickies-and-chewies spectrum...those big bins of candy at bulk stores?  I love me some cola bottles, cinnamon bears, peachy penguins, green apple frogs...really anything made by The Happy World of Haribo is at the top of my list, so it's no small wonder that I prefer gummy-type exercise sweets over gels.  My local grocery store stocks Power Bar Energy Blast Gel-Filled Chews.  I usually find them on sale for $1.00 per bag, and in three flavors each with a different level of caffeine:

Raspberry is my favorite and even has some vit C

So what is the big selling point here?  How are these better than a handful of jellybeans?  PowerBar touts their proprietary C2 Max energy blend...which is just a 2:1 glucose:fructose (fruit sugar, honey, corn syrup) sugar ratio.  These monosaccharides are very similar (in fact, glucose + fructose = sucrose, aka table sugar) but the reason they are included in this proportion in these Power Bar Energy Blasts is all based on these guys and their time-trial of cyclists:

 

Currell and Jeukendrup reminded me that the transporters that take nutrients from your intestine to blood stream come in many different permutations.  In a very simplified manner, when there's a lot of glucose to be put into the blood (ie, after a meal), the glucose transporter (SGLT1) can get backed up with glucose traffic.  When glucose and fructose are combined, the fructose uses its own separate transporter (GLUT5) which is off limits to glucose, and everyone can get out of the intestinal lining and into the blood more efficiently via the backdoor from the intestinal cells into the bloodstream (GLUT2).  This is especially important in exercise as we need energy more quickly and don't want to wait for glucose to file out.

The researchers determined that a ratio of 2:1 glucose:fructose (1.2g to 0.6g) was more effective (an 8% decrease in the amount of time it took the cyclists to complete their cycling time trial as compared to 1.8g of straight glucose (which showed a 10% improvement over the placebo group who just had water without carbohydrate).  The scientists also indicated that the ingestion of the glucose:fructose blend staved off the body's need to use liver glycogen stores, allowing for these stores to be accessed later in the time trial.

So this is maybe how PowerBar formulated the 2:1 C2 Max blend.  I am glad to see there is real science behind it.  Do I personally need a perfect monosaccharide blend?  Nah, I am not nearly on that end of the performance curve.  In my "research" (sample size: me) I do notice that after having some gels or candies after about an hour into a marathon or century cycling event that I perk up a bit.  I also feel more energized after having regular foods, too, like a few graham crackers, or sips of carbohydrate beverage, so I know there's something to it and it's not particular to fancy lab-created food blends- in my case, it's probably a combination of the added glucose/fructose and a placebo effect.

I like a chewy candy while I run.  It fights boredom and doesn't gag me like some of the gels which seem more like a dentist's fluoridated sealant paste.  It's also easy for me to unwrap a few packages of gummies pre-race and put them in a small sandwich baggie and tuck into my sports bra or shorts pocket which doesn't cause the same level of underboob chafe as the scratchy edges of the gel packs.  Plus, it's easy to share a few chewy candies with a stranger, don't get me wrong, I love people and all, but I'm not letting all y'all have a quick suckle on a shared PowerBar Gel as you run past.

I'll continue to buy this type of stuff for my longer runs and races.  On the road bike I can pretty much dig into leftover Kung Pao chicken and not suffer tummy trouble.

Does anyone know more about this fructose/glucose nonsense?  What's your favorite pick-me-up during a run?  I'd love a diagram or at least an interpretive dance of the intestinal luminal cotransporters...