Hydration and energy are essential for successful Trails Runs, but is yours being sabotaged by sports drinks?

Sports drinks were originally developed by scientists at the University of Florida in 1965 to help the school’s football players perform better during their 3-hour long games in 100-degree heat. Sound like your Trail Runs? Didn’t think so. Most of us have trail runs that last from 1 to 1 ½ hours at a moderate pace. The American Dietetic Association explains that unless you are an elite athlete or engaged in vigorous activity for more than 1 hour, plain water works perfectly for hydration.

There are two main components of sports drinks that aid in performance and hydration: carbohydrates and sodium. The carbohydrates come in the form of sugar to sweeten the drink and to add calories for energy. The sodium works to replace the sodium lost in sweat. However, neither of the components are necessary in drinks used for thirst and hydration for moderate runs that last less than 1 hour. In fact, drinking sports drinks when they are not necessary can add extra calories to your diet. The usual size 20-ounce bottle of a sports drink has an average of 140 calories, which means that you will have to run an extra 15 minutes just to burn it off!

Instead of drinking regular sports drinks, here are some healthy options:

– Flavor regular water with lemon, lime or orange slices

– Use lower calorie versions of sports drinks such as Gatorade G2 (71 calories per 20-ounce bottle), Propel Fitness Water (25 calories per 20-ounce bottle) or Powerade Zero (0 calories per 20-ounce bottle)

– Dilute your favorite sports drink with regular water

I know what you are thinking. “But I always drink Gatorade during races. It makes me feel better.” And you are right! There are instances when you do need to replace needed calories and energy during or after trail runs. I know that when I am training for half marathons, I tend to get leg cramps at night. What does that say to me? I am losing too much potassium through my sweat and need to replace it better. Ways to do that are through potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, oranges, or sports drinks! Consequently, I usually end my long runs with a large glass of Propel, berry flavor to be exact. The 45 minutes directly after your run is the best time to replenish the body’s losses.

Essentially, think of your body as a night club. As the night goes on, more and more cabs line up to take people home. Just like as your muscles work, they need to be replaced by what they lose, so transporters in your body line up to bring those lost elements from your bloodstream to your muscles and tissues. After the night club closes, people linger for awhile, so the cabs stick around for another 45 minutes or so to assure that everybody is brought home safely. Similarly, in your body, those transporters stick around for about 45 minutes to bring every needed mineral and nutrient available to replenish the muscles and tissues, which help to prevent soreness and cramping.

Moral of the story: Sports drinks work magnificently to replace your body’s losses if you are trail running for longer than 1 1/2 hours, hit that wall during a trail race when you feel your energy bottoms out, or are in need of extra calories and electrolytes. Otherwise, water is your best bet. It will quench your thirst without adding excess calories that you just worked so hard to burn off.

Happy Trail Running and Hydration!

-Lanier Thompson, M.S.

Most trail runners have experienced it, some run just to attain it, while others have no idea what a “Runner’s High” is.  If you are a trail runner and have never experienced a Runner’s High then you need to run faster, push your body harder, and attain the point where you lose conscientiousness of what your body is feeling.

A Runner’s High can be described as an elevation of the senses while running, typically long distances and in a natural environment.  It is difficult for trail runners to describe the exact feeling (much like drug users) they get from a Runner’s High, but many equate it to the feeling of an orgasm.  Another good reason to go trail running.

Technically, a Runner’s High is associated with the release of endorphins in the brain.  Endorphins are any group of opiate proteins with pain-relieving properties that are found naturally in the brain.  The word endorphins comes from two parts: endo- and -orphin; which are short forms of the words endogenous and morphine, intended to mean “a morphine like substance originating from within the body.”  Knowing that human cells have receptors for this drug suggests that the body produces its own morphine like substances which it is believed can be released into the body by running long distances and gives trail runners the feeling of a Runner’s High.

While it is difficult to quantify exactly what feeling different trail runners get from this release of endorphins, it is agreed that there is a definite mood change.  The difference in Runners’ Highs can be a positive or negative one with differing levels of intensity.  Maybe that is why many trail runners become so Serious about Running, because they are the type of runners that get this intense positive feedback from running.

Whatever the science is and however your brain reacts to trail running, one thing is certain, there is a typical emotional feeling derived from trail running.  Everyone records their feelings differently but there is always a point during a trail run that your body changes.  So go out for a long trail run, and push to attain a close connection between your mind and body.  Let your mind take over while your feet are still moving, one in front of the other, and you are only aware of one thing…yourself.  Trail running is a free self-awareness seminar!

So say no to drugs and help keep the kids stay off the streets.  Get them running on the trails instead and let’s get hiiiiiiiigh together….on Trail Running.

For many running related injuries, a good regiment of RICE techniques (rest, ice, compression, elevation) can cure the aches and pains without having to see a doctor.  The only problem is finding the time to go through the entire RICE routine after every run.  The answer is to multi-task with Moji compression and ice products!

The use of ice, or cryotherapy, for musculoskeletal injuries has been a primary treatment approach by health care providers and runners for many years.   Today, cryotherapy use continues to be a proven and beneficial adjunct to manage soft tissue injury.  When used in the proper clinical situation, cryotherapy can diminish pain, metabolism, and muscle spasm, thus minimizing the inflammatory response and improving recovery after soft tissue trauma from running.  Research has shown that icing is one of the simplest, safest, and most effective recovery techniques for muscles, helping runners recover faster from training and injuries.

In conjunction with cryotherapy, effective compression lowers the temperature of local tissues, resulting in reduced local blood flow, inflammatory markers, cellular metabolism, and nerve transmission.  Moji uses a body-part-specific cold compression product that allows you to have both ice, and compression on your ailing joints, giving you the maximum effectiveness for your recovery time.

Moji products are able to make icing and compression more effective, easy to use, and comfortable through their patent-pending two-peice construction, which incorporates the Moji Cold Cell and the Moji Compression Wrap.  The Moji composite of individual cold cells that conform to the body provide maximum flexibility and comfort allowing freedom of movement.  The Moji Cold cell is a soft, pliable ice pack that attaches to the Moji compression products with Velcro.  The Compression wrap is made of stretch fabric which is adjustable so you can control your compression and freedom of movement.

Moji products include both a knee and back wrap to cover all of your recovery needs.  The wraps are very comfortable and easy to use when doing any normal activities around the house.  The cold cell is easy to use too.  It only takes throwing it in the freezer in order for the cold cell to be ready for use.  The individual cells work well to cool the areas that need cooling without freezing your entire body.  If you are looking for a easy, convenient way to practice RICE techniques then give the Moji products a try!

Some runners are intense about their training and racing, some runners run more for recreation or health reasons, but all runners develop the habit which can become what many refer to as a “Running Problem.”  I’m not a doctor, but if you have experienced any of the symptoms below you may have a running problem, and the only cure is:  more running of course!  And being able to laugh at yourself…

You Might Have a Running Problem if…

…you try to guess runners’ ages as you pass them

…say the words “easy” and “10 miles” in the same sentence.

…have heard the phrase “Run Forest Run” at least 100 times.

…spit on yourself sometimes.

…choose your hairstyle based on aerodynamics.

…wash your shorts in the shower.

…correct people when they say a marathon is 26 miles with that it is in fact 26.2 miles.

…no longer laugh at the term “fartlek.”

…tape your nipples.

…constantly get high…off running!

Feel free to comment with any other symptoms you’ve experienced!  You could save some one’s life…

In 2004, a study was conducted by The American Physiological Society in which they studied 10 different cyclists’ performance on a 6K course with a simulated altitude of 12,700 feet and found a 45% improvement in performance for most cyclists.  Runners, especially ultra distance runners, are now beginning to see the benefits of taking Viagra when exercising and racing.  Viagra’s use for increasing exercise performance originated with body builders, who it is hypothesized, started using Viagra to offset the side effect of impotence from steroid use, and found its benefits for increasing exercise performance.  Weight lifters began using it before work outs, using Viagra’s ability to dilate blood vessels to help deliver anabolics to various muscle groups.  The objective of athletes is to get the nutrients to the muscles as far ahead of time as possible in order to perform at optimal levels.  Body builders claim Viagra expands the muscles and pounds the nutrients in them.

As the study of cyclist shows, Viagra is also useful for other, more aerobic sports, like running.  Viagra increases stamina for endurance athletes by increasing blood flow to the lungs.  Viagra is a vasodilator which means it helps relax blood vessels to allow for increased blood flow.  This increase in oxygen in the blood flow to the lungs can be most helpful when running in high altitudes or oxygen poor climates.  The improvement in which the blood pressure is elevated in the arteries that supply the lungs is known as pulmonary arterial hypertension.  Runners of all types, at any altitude, can benefit from pulmonary arterial hypertension.

However, like many scientific studies, the interpretation of the results are mixed.  Some experts claim that the increase in performance by the use of Viagra could be due to athletes increase sex drive, which may lead them to have sex close to race time and therefore, increase their performance because of the euphoric state they are in after having sex, rather than increase oxygen to the blood flowing to the lungs.  Either way, Viagra is not currently a banned substance for most endurance races so it does not hurt to try.  The World Anti-Doping Agency is funding studies to detect whether the drug gives athletes an advantage or not.  If it does, it could be banned in future endurance events and running races.

So while it is currently legal, you can try to see if Viagra helps improve your athletic performance; however, like any medication, test at your (and your partner’s) own risk.

Studies have shown that 1 out of 55,000 to 88,000 marathon finishers die during or after the race.  Unfortunately, this occurred to three different individuals competing in the half marathon race of the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon this weekend.  Temperatures were not out of the ordinary that day, floating around the 30s, and doctors do not know the exact causes for the deaths of these three men.   Each of these three runners pasted away of apparent cardiac arrest; but all of the runners were people whom one would not think would have an issue with the strenuous conditions runners put on their body running long distances.  One was a 26 year old that was active and enjoyed playing soccer who collapsed and died shortly after crossing the finish line.  Daniel Langdon, 36, and Rick Brown, 65, both collapsed between mile 11 and 12 of the half marathon race.  Our hearts go out to the family and friends of these individuals.

As runners we need to remember that we are not as invincible as we would like to think.  Running is a gift that we should not take lightly.  Please keep these three people in your heart and minds on your next long run.

For more information visit the Atlanta Journal Constitution news story.

A couple of years ago a study was conducted at the Western States endurance run by David Neiman.  He set out to determine the influence of Ibuprofen in 29 ultramarathon participants.  In this study, Neiman had anticipated that the rigorous distance and altitude would surely affect the runners immune systems.  But how exactly?  Would they be able to perform better by feeling less pain while racing?

Neiman found that the runners who took the pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medicine were supplying their own physiological stress by taking these tablets.  The athletes who took the Ibuprofen actually displayed significantly more inflammation and other markers of high immune system responses during and after the race!  Consuming pain reliever during the race actually gave them more pain!  In addition, the pain relievers didn’t seem to add any benefits for reducing pain.  Nieman placed researchers at water stops during the race who found that there was no difference in pain for those who took painkillers from those who did not.

So why do so many runners take pain relievers?  Most point to pain prevention.  No runner wants to feel pain?  This has lead to a widespread use of pain relievers with very little understanding of the consequences.  First, if you are taking pain relievers while working out, you are masking the pains that are occurring which can lead to more serious injuries.  Runners typically get injuries from long-term, overuse of the body, which they are able to continue to do while taking pain relievers.  Pain is a signal to your body to slow down, take it easy, and rest.  Runners who take pain relievers regularly are more susceptible to overuse injuries.

Physically, pain relievers can mitigate the bodies process of building strong tissue and bones.  The stresses of exercise activate a particular molecular pathway that increases collagen, and leads eventually, to creating denser bones and stronger tissue.  If you are taking Ibuprofen before your work-outs then you lessen this response and do not let your body build this important tissue needed to lessen the pain of future intense runs.

So when is safe to take pain relievers as a runner?  If you have pain from an acute injury it is fine to take medicine to relieve it, but you should not be taking pain relievers before every work out or race.  It should be taken to relieve small pain symptoms, not as a precautionary measure.

Alright Stop, collaborate and listen, RICE is back with a brand new addition.  (Please read out loud so you can “listen” like the lyrics suggest)  That’s right, RICE is back.  Not in the eating, carbo-loading, easy to cook way that you enjoy so much, but for treating injuries and pain.  Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  RICE is a great way to ease your pain without having to visit a doctor.  PhDs are for suckers.

Rest:  Don’t run while it still hurts.  Let the injury heal itself without you pounding more pressure on it.  I know, not running is difficult, but rest is important.  Relax and take a chill pill.  Like ice for instance…

Ice:  You want to place ice directly on the injury.  Do not exceed 15 minutes at a time.  You can repeat as desired every hour.  Wrap ice in cold paper towels, put ice in sandwich bags, or duct tape frozen pea bags to your body.  You can figure out what works best for you.  I recommend finding an ice cold mountain stream to lay in like this guy after the XTERRA Bull Mountain Trail Run.

Compression:  You can alter compression with ice.  It is done to lower the blood irrigation in the area.  Try wrapping a bandage around the injury at your desired compression level.  Or buy a compression sleeve and look like A.I.  I wear a compression sleeve around my left bicep just because it looks cool.

Elevation:  Elevating reduces blood pressure in the injured area.  And it completes the name RICE instead of RIC.  Makes the term a little more consumable.

Along with these methods take anti-inflammatory drugs to ease the pain.  If the pain persists see and doctor and find out what’s really wrong with you.  They have fancy machines that can help sometimes.

For years runners have thought about lactic acid as the cause for stiffening and soreness of muscles.  Some treatments have been stretching and massaging the muscles along with rest and recovery to get all of the lactic acid out of the runner’s blood.  However, recent studies have shown that this is not the case.  Lactic Acid may have been getting a bad rap this whole time!  Our society is always so quick to judge.

Actually, lactic acid doesn’t exist as an acid in the body at all, but exists in another form called “lactate.”  Lactate is measured in the blood to determine “lactic acid” concentrations.  So lactic acid really isn’t a substance in your blood stream.  Even so, this substance was blamed for soreness and stiffness in muscles which is actually due to the small damages and micro tears we do to our muscles while running.  In fact, lactate is released from the muscles, then converted in the liver to glucose to be used as an energy source.  Lactate is actually good for you!  Lactate is actually produced at all times of the day, even during rest periods, so the overuse of your muscles running didn’t bring on the lactate, resting did.  I guess rest and recovery aren’t the best ways to avoid lactic acid, not that lactate is a bad thing.  You should love lactate.

Don’t you feel bad now for all those horrible things you used to say about lactic acid?  Don’t worry about it.  Go for a run, it’ll make you body feel a lot better.

Everyone has encountered it before while running, the dreaded side stitch.  I remember my first side stitch.  It was the first pain I ever felt when running.  I was running around a track at the age of 5 and remember thinking, ‘Why was my body feeling this way?’  Well, apparently my 5 year old mind wasn’t the only brain that couldn’t figure out what this side stitch was and why it occurred.  Scientist and doctors still debate the exact cause of the side stitch, but there are some agreed upon possible causes.  We at SeriousRunning.com and the community of runners will figure it out.

Side stitch, or often referred to as ETAP (exercise related transient abdominal pain), are an intense stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage.  It may be caused by internal organs, like the liver and stomach, pulling down on the diaphragm as you bounce up and down while running.  This makes sense because runners are constantly bouncing up and down.  However, a more agreed upon theory, is that side stitches may be caused by the contraction of the liver or spleen, which squeezes extra oxygen-carrying red blood cells, leaving this area of the body without the proper amount of oxygen.  This is why many runners get side stitches when they are having more than usual difficulty breathing.

When you feel the side stitch, keep running.  Slow down a bit to a jog and concentrate on your breathing.  Take deep breathes in the belly (medical term) first to get the oxygen pumping in your blood again.  Then start taking shallow breathes, pushing as much oxygen into your blood as quickly as possible to get it moving in your side again.  Then start running again.

Runners typically get the side stitch on their right side because that is the side of the body that their large liver is on.  Your liver enlarges, squeezing the extra oxygen-carrying red blood cells, causing you to get a stitch.  One way to try to avoid this is to concentrate on breathing when you strike your right foot on the ground instead of your left foot.  This will allow more oxygen go to the ailing side of your body.

In order to avoid side stitches before you even start running, strengthen your core muscles like you abdonimals, lower back, and obliques.  Stretching before your run helps too.  Raise your hand above your head and lean to one side stretching out your side muscles like you are on an 80s aerobics video.  Add a head band and ankle scrunchies to get a full stretch.  Also it is important to eat properly; try to avoid eating 2 hours prior to working out.  Eating just before running can give you cramps that may put more strain on your oxygen flow.  An old wife’s tale that has worked for me is to avoid carbonated beverages.  I used to not drink any carbonated beverages while in track and cross-country season; but that is tough now that beer and I have become acquainted.  This theory makes sense because carbonated beverages make it more difficult for oxygen to move in your blood stream which is the cause of side stitches.  It worked for me, I never got side stitches during the season.  Plus I had a cool red mustache from drinking so much Hawaiin Punch!

So don’t let a side stitch slow you down.  Do these things to avoid getting them in the first place and keep on a runnin’.