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Breathing Techniques While Running

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

I know, you’ve been breathing your whole life, what do you need to know about breathing? You usually don’t even think about it, you just breathe…all the time. Guess what? We all breath without thinking, it’s involuntary. I bet you beat your heart without thinking too. Come on. Nobody likes a show off.

While breathing may be involuntary, it is still very important to your running. Plus, if you don’t do it, you’ll die. I tried to see if this was true once, but I took a breath before I could find out. Apparently I’m not as mentally tough as I thought I was. Seriously though, poor breathing techniques can have an adverse effect on your work-outs and runs. Poor breathing leads to a quicker loss of breath and puts a great stress on your body. Remember, you are running to relieve stress, not create more.

Not everyone agrees, but most running experts suggest breathing from both your mouth and your nose, allowing your body to get the most oxygen possible. The most optimal style is to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. One reason for this is that when you inhale through your nose, you expand your lungs more than when breathing through your mouth. Another reason to breathe through your nose is because it is able to filter the impurities in the air. The more nose hair you have the better! Finally!

You know you are breathing well when you can feel it in your belly. Or in layman’s terms, your gut. Lay down on some grass and breathe deeply, you’ll see your belly expand and then retract. That’s what you want to see when you are running. If you are breathing improperly while running you will feel the strain on your shoulders and your upper body tighten. Tell the oxygen to get in your belly.

Also try to prepare yourself for your run by concentrating on your breathing during your warm-up routine. Do a slow jog, concentrating on a steady rhythm. Inhale, take a full pause, exhale, and then top it off with an empty pause. This will help increase your oxygen and get you ready for that strenuous run. Or you can just stretch before you run like everyone else. Follower.

Like usual, every runner is different so do what feels best to you. I’m a mouth breather. When I was younger I had a lot of allergies and often had a stuffy nose, so I just breathed through my mouth. Solved that problem. Now I’m a 100% mouth breather and very proud of it. Develop a breathing technique you can be proud of. Go and do some heavy breathing! Just try not to be creepy about it.

Tags:breathing, mouth breathing, nose breathing
Posted in Health, Running | Comments

Running Down a Dream (Part 3 of 3)

Friday, February 20th, 2009

…to work at a small firm. I learned a lot about the whole real estate development process and feel that I am more knowledgeable than many of my peers. The risk was that a slow down in the market affects the smaller firm more than a larger, diversified firm. Honestly though, in this market and economy, I don’t know if it really matters where you work. I may have taken another offer at a larger firm and had been laid off recently since I was the newest hire. Who knows? I enjoy real estate development and continue to be somewhat involved in it, but it doesn’t excite me as much as running and working on this website does. I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life and enjoying it. I am excited to learn, build, facilitate, and create. And continue to do something that I love…running.

But honestly, even though this post is about me, it’s not about me. It’s about creating something that may inspire people to become more mentally and physically healthy. To motivate people to push themselves to their limits in accomplishing anything in life. Running is what brought clarity to my post-Army life. While I had to come back and resume my life with so many changes in it, running slowed things down and put the world in perspective for me. It simplified it. Made it clear. It has lead me to overcome, grow, mature, and understand myself and my surroundings better than ever before.

So I’ve been writing this blog for about a month and a half now and I can tell you what I tend to write about. I usually analyze the psychology of running. Sometimes I equate running to some sort of social issue. Sometimes I write a review on a shoe. Maybe I’ll tell you about something we’ve added to the website. A lot of the times I’ll talk about the medical side of running, like nutrition, injury prevention, how to make a turni-kit out of sticks, whatever. I talk about my military experiences and how they relate to running. I don’t write anything political. I try to motivate. I make suggestions. I tell you about cool new running gadgets that I try. I add humor whenever possible. I find I make a lot of references to movie or TV show quotes. I think that is because humor in the written form is different than in person, the readers have to understand your intent to humor. I discuss the economy and how running relates to it. I run races and tell you about them. I run trail runs and tell you about them as well. I won’t give you updates on my training schedule or PRs. I don’t find doing this is very useful and quite frankly, boring. Unless you ask me to do it. Then I’ll talk about it. This blog is whatever you want, I’m here for you. One thing you can count on is I will always talk about one thing:…running…seriously….I’m serious.

So that’s it. That’s me. I’m an open book and open to any suggestions about what you want to hear about or how much my grammar sucks. Whateves. I’m just Running Down a Dream. Workin’ on a mystery; goin wherever it leads. Thanks TP.

I’d also like to thank my brother Jeff who actually created the concept for this website and began building it using an awesome software program he developed: review app. Check out his other websites too: singletracks.com and tripleblaze.com. Very smart guy; not as good of a runner. And he’s not as good looking, but you would already know that if you read the blog yesterday.

Alright that’s enough about me. Now you know who I am. I’m actually tired of talking about myself and look forward to getting back to my normal blogging. I recently read in Chris Brogran’s blog that the smartest, most successful people in the world are those who always want to know more about you rather than tell you about themselves. I think that is true. I’m going to try to do that from now on. And yes, I was reading someone else’s blog. I guess I’m a blogger now, but it’s not official because I haven’t added it to my “interests” on Facebook yet.

Word,

Chris Barber

Tags:blogging, review app, Running, running down a dream, singletracks, tripleblaze
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com, Shoes, trail running, Uncategorized | Comments

Running Down A Dream (Part 1 of 3)

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

We have recently added an “About Us” section at the bottom of the webpage to explain our backgrounds here at seriousrunning.com. So, I thought this would be a good time to introduce myself as the blogger as well. I am a runner, just like you. All of us are the same, but here is my background, which may or may not be different than yours, or maybe it’s the same as yours, which is great. Maybe we’ll be BFFs! All of the people who read my blog are my friends. Thank you, friends.

I’ve toyed with this title for a blog for some time now and have found the perfect fit for it here explaining myself and my background. Please do not confuse the title with Tom Petty’s popular song, “Runnin’ Down A Dream.” Notice my title has not abbreviation on the -ing; very different. So what is the dream I’m running down? This website, but read more to fully understand.

I started running competitively in the 6th grade on my middle school track team. I was one of only three 6th graders to make the team that year and to my surprise, placed in the top 15 out of 80 runners in the mile run at try-outs. Since I hadn’t been a spectacular baseball, basketball, or football player, I decided maybe I was just a runner. I ran for three years in Middle School, becoming the Captain of the team by my 8th grade year and participating in the maximum number events allowed at track meets, including the 1-mile, 800m, 4x400m relay, disc, and hurdles. Our team won first place that year, probably from all the garbage points I earned for finishing 4th or 5th in the disc and hurdles at the meets. From there I ran cross-country and track for four years of High School, transferring schools between my Freshman and Sophomore years. I was always a good runner, running Varsity on a team that finished 3rd in the state in the AAAA division, but was never a star. My state race time was faster than the A and AA state cross-country winners’ times and good enough to have finished first on my previous AAAA team; however, I was still middle of the road on my Varsity team. I was kind of like Derek Jeter on the Yankees. And no, I never juiced.

From here I went to college where my running revolved mostly around ROTC training. The first week of college, us new cadets took a PT (Physical Training) test which consisted of evaluating the amount of push-ups and sit-ups we could do in two minutes and then a 2-mile run. I was the only person who passed the PT test overall (I had been practicing my push-ups over the summer) but placed 2nd in the 2-mile run. The whole week prior we had been wearing our brand new Army boots around campus and I am blister prone. My feet were covered in them. I asked my superior before the race if I could run the 2-mile run barefoot but got a stern “NO” answer. Little did I know, this would not be the first “No” answer to a logical and legitimate question I received in the Army. I still think I would have run better and faster barefoot and beaten that kid who ran faster than me that day. From his first showing of running stamina, the other cadet received the nickname “wheels” but never beat me again on any other run (we took a PT test once a month) for the next four years. I was later dubbed nicknames such as, “Top Cadet”, “Outstanding”, and “Above His Peers.” So it was fine with me. Who needs “wheels” when you have really fast legs anyways? What you think about that Mar-cheesi?!

Upon graduating I began my four year commitment to the Army. My fun college experience along with my new found Army salary lead me to add about 30 pounds to my body. No. I’m not the one on the right in the picture above. I still maintained a good running fitness during that time, being a better long distance runner than most of my peers in the Army, but this was due more to my mental toughness and experience than level of fitness. I was stationed in Ft. Bragg, NC in the 82nd Airborne Division where I jumped out of airplanes over 30 times. These not so soft landings definitely took a toll on my knees. I now have to pay attention while running but I’m still a young man. While serving as an Officer in a Field Artillery unit I deployed twice. Once in a no-notice deployment to Afghanistan and again for a 15-month long tour to Iraq where I served as a Platoon Leader and a Logistical Officer. While serving the 15 month deployment I began to focus on my fitness level again, starting by lifting weights daily and then running. The weather and terrain weren’t very motivating or conducive to running so I was in the gym a bit more. I also began eating healthier and was able to shed that excess 30 pounds to come back down and now maintain my “playing weight.” Game on.

Although most people find me very interesting, you’re probably tired of reading about me for today. I’ll discuss more tomorrow about my post Army and college career, life philosopy, and why I’m “Running Down A Dream.” Now get back to work!

Tags:about us, Army, cross-country, track
Posted in Health, SeriousRunning.com, Uncategorized | Comments

How Do You Rate Your Work Out?

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

I give your running work out a 7 out of 10. Does that rating of your run make you feel better? Do you need someone giving you positive reinforcement? That’s fine, we all love some positive reinforcement but do you need it during or right after your workout? You should be doing it for you and how it makes you feel afterward.

I have found that the things that make people the most happy in life are achieving goals they set for themselves. Maybe your goal is to run a marathon and accomplishing that will give you great sense of achievement. A more fit body is good goal to have. You can get pretty good positive reinforcement from other people with a fit body. Make achieving your goals your positive reinforcement. But how do you determine what your work out should be in order to achieve those goals? Make a training plan, track it, and accomplish it. Tools to help you along the way are coming soon to this site! Be excited.

Your daily workout and run is your own workout and run. You set your daily goals, but the only person that can tell you whether or not you really achieved them is your body. Someone recently told me that non-verbal communication was more important than verbal communication, which I agree with; however, they told me this over IM, right after arguing the value of text messaging over speaking over the phone. I’m not sure how reliable the source is.

So how do you rate your workout? You can post your workout on the web and wait for comments from other runners. Or you can find your target heart rate and monitor it as you exercise with neat-o gadgets. I however am of the old school line of thought and agree with Mr. Tom Petty when he says, “You Gotta Listen To Your Heart.”

So what are you listening for? Muscle soreness. Muscles soreness comes from minor tears that you get from intense work outs. Runners usually feel muscles becoming sore 12-48 hours after their run so it looks like you are going to have to wait a bit for the daily rating. What happens is that the tearing of your muscles is part of an adaptation process which leads to you being able to achieve higher stamina and strength. These improvements in your level of fitness come from the stressing of the muscles and then them recovering. So push yourself in your intense runs then make sure that you take enough “rest” days to allow them to recover. When in doubt, listen to your heart…which is a muscle of course…a love muscle. Happy Valentine’s Day!

To Be Stong You Must Feel Strong…well, really you need to feel sore.

Tags:muscle soreness, rating workouts
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com | Comments

Running Outside of Your Comfort Zone

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

I like “being in the zone” just as much as anyone else, but we all need to challenge ourselves in order to learn and grow. When I am “in the zone” you will usually find me on the basketball court, on the golf course, or maybe even conversing with someone of the opposite sex. If you want to find me “zoning out” just look to my comfortable leather couch and no further. I’m probably watching some pointless reality show; but enjoying it nonetheless. So obviously there are many types of zones to be in but today I am challenging you to get out of a zone; your comfort zone?. Where is your comfort zone? Check somewhere “inside the box.”

Every time I go for a run over 10 miles I try to run somewhere new. Whether I am starting from my house or traveling by car to a trail-head, I try to experience a new environment on my run. This weekend it only took 4 miles from my house to get out of my comfort zone. I ran to a lower socioeconomic area of town early on a Sunday morning where I did not see one person that was the same race as I. Being around people that don’t look like you is one way to get out of your comfort zone. Here are some of the things that I noticed in this zone that I was not used to: a quick handshake on a corner with the two parties retreating quickly in opposite directions, presumably an illegal transaction. A makeshift soup-kitchen which consisted of a van, a couple of tables, and huge metal container of soup in an empty parking lot with a lot of people happily being served. A man yelling at a woman walking behind him in a crosswalk saying, “I’m yelling at you because you won’t hurry up. I’m late to go see my girl!” She responded with, “I wouldn’t be walking this slow if you hadn’t gotten me pregnant, (explicit name)!” She looked to be about 8 months pregnant so was understandably walking slowly. So what does this mean? It means that in order for us to grow and understand ourselves we must go out of our comfort zones and experience things we may not ever experience.

Running can take you out of your comfort zone. Not necessarily by traveling to a different place than you are used to but the fact that you are constantly pushing yourself and challenging yourself to achieve new things you have never attempted. Every time you think about slowing down but instead keep running is moving outside of your comfort zone. People generally put a lot of effort into keeping their lives constant, but I challenge you to push closer to the edges of “your box.” I’m always trying to stay edgy, that’s why I watch MTV sometimes to see what the kids are up to. You have to make a conscious effort to break down your comfort walls. Although I am a strict proponent of running, try starting with changing up your exercise routine with other activities other than running. Better yet, try other exercises while still visiting seriousrunning.com and reading this blog daily! Talk about edgy!

Just like we strive to diversify our investment portfolios (I’m risk-loving so I don’t adhere to this mantra) and our diets we need to diversify our exercise. I know what you are thinking, ‘I run 5ks and marathons. I diversify my work-outs.’ Sorry, that doesn’t count running man. While running is great for the overall health of your body, it does puts stress on the same joints and builds particular muscles more than others. That is why I recommend adding some other activities to your training. Some suggestions are mountain biking, hiking, or kayaking to work out different muscles which will actually help to improve your running. If you are an avid runner, I understand, try changing your running patterns by running on more trails or running steps. Obviously, I think just by running a different route you are getting outside of you comfort zone so try that at the very least. Exercising outside of your comfort zone prevent injuries (unless you fall off your mountain bike or something) and will leave your body more balanced. Now you don’t have to drink as much V8! Sweet!

Please stop being a square (box) and become a well rounded individual like our ancestors, the original “Renaissance People.” No, I don’t mean showing your wealth by being rounded (fat) or eating so much that you throw up because you can afford to. Don’t waste food, there’s soup kitchens in parking lots!

Tags:Health, running for a cause, thinking while running, trail running
Posted in Garmin Forerunner, Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com, Shoes, trail running, Treadmills | Comments

Exercise Induced Asthma? Then Stop Exercising.

Monday, February 9th, 2009

The first time someone told me they had exercise induced asthma I said, “Yeah. Everyone has trouble breathing when they exercise. That’s what’s suppose to happen.” I equate exercise induced asthma diagnoses the same as ADHD diagnosis by saying the child has difficulty paying attention in class. Every kid has trouble paying attention in class, class is boring at that age. When I was in school my teachers used to tell my parents that I had trouble paying attention in class and determined it was because I was too smart for the speed of the normal classes; therefore, I did not pay attention. I may have had higher intelligence than my peers, but for instance, I didn’t already know my multiplication tables before attending class, they were just boring, that’s why I didn’t pay attention. Who needs multiplication tables anyways? I’m going to be a cartoonist when I grow up!

Even though I was skeptical, I now know that exercise induced asthma is a real problem for many runners. Exercise induced asthma is when you get an inflammation in your breathing passages, making it more difficult to breathe for a period of time. There are many possible triggers and each runner has their own, but some are contaminants in the air such as smoke, pollution, vapors, or dust. If you have exercise induced asthma try not to ever run in a Middle Eastern country like Iraq; it’s pretty dusty. Other things that can induce the asthma are respiratory infections, cold and flues, humidity, and even emotional stress; however, once you begin running you relieve stress so don’t worry about this one.

EIA can not be cured but it can be controlled by medication. If you think you may experience EIA contact your heathcare provider and schedule and appointment…or stop exercising. Something you can do until then is breathe through your nose when you are resting after a long run. When the air goes through your nose it warms and humidifies the air before it reaches your lungs allowing for clean breathing. When you meet your doctor discuss different types of inhalers that may help you and work out a program for how often and when you should use the product. Some healthcare professionals recommend using inhalers before or after a run depending on the severity of your symptoms. Try a couple of different routines and see which one works best for you.

Or you can do like our forefathers did: don’t run if you are sick and don’t run when the air quality is so bad you can’t breathe outside. Well, I guess they didn’t have to worry about poor air quality like we do now; unless they were sending smoke signals or something.

Tags:breathing, exercise induced asthma, inhaler, long runs
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com | Comments

Running to Lose Weight or Running to Not Gain Weight? That is the Question.

Friday, February 6th, 2009

The other night a friend of mine was hungry after a late night at work where she hadn’t eaten dinner so she ordered a plate of french fries. The time of the order was actually at 1 in the morning. My first reaction was, “that sounds great! I wonder if they have any honey mustard here?” But then I thought, “wait, a meal of just fries? Aren’t fries supposed to be a side?….of course they have honey mustard, it’s a restaurant.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for breaking the social norms when it comes to eating; I used to put sprite or orange juice on my rice checks cereal when I a kid, but a fried side as a meal? That was a bit too much for me to swallow…literally. Ok, so it wasn’t that hard to swallow. I had some of them without being offered any at all. No honey mustard though.

I have found that there are two types of eating habits of runners. There are those who run to be able to eat whatever they want and those that eat whatever they want and THEN decide to lose weight so they start running. The first group is typically the more serious runners. I am a member of the first group. That doesn’t mean I can eat any type of food after a long run, it’s just that I don’t have to worry about the portions and can cheat a little bit on the types of food I eat. A good treat after a long run would be a humongous burrito, chips and salsa, and a couple of Dos Equis. However, although I have always been a runner, I haven’t always been a runner of the first group. I haven’t ever run to necessarily lose weight either, I just didn’t coincide my eating habits with my running calorie burn. About 2 years ago I weighed 30 more pounds than I do now. Although I was still running, and doing about the same distances that I run today, I was doing all of the other things that would immensely offset my intense workouts, helping me maintain a more roundish figure. Now I’m more like a V! I’m thinking of changing my middle initial to “V” but keeping my same middle name; which doesn’t have a V in it at all. Don’t think that’s impossible. Let’s just say it wouldn’t be the first time that I have successfully had everyone refer to me as a name other than my legal one. I am the proud owner of a successful alias!

I used to eat fast food at least 10 times a week. It was good, cheap, and convenient. I don’t cook. I still don’t cook but I don’t eat fast food either. I eat meals out about 2-3 times per week, depending on what my coupon situation is. When I eat at home, I eat mostly cereal, soup, Spaghetti O’s, tuna and other items that come out of a can or box and you can eat in a bowl. I honestly have not had one plate in my dishwasher in the past month. Not one. I’m thinking about investing in some more bowls. I’m a simple man, that’s probably why I enjoy the simplicity of running.

So I decided I needed to shed the extra weight I was carrying around. It actually wasn’t as fun being large as I thought it would be. I thought I would be a lot more jolly. So what did I do about it? How have I been able to lose 30 pounds and keep it off? Well, I took my simple style to my diet. I don’t eat fast food and I don’t drink soft drinks that are not diet. Plus I keep running. Same distances, same schedule, same speed as I did before; the difference is what I put into my body. If you are seeking to lose weight, running or other exercise won’t do it alone. That is why runners who are looking to merely maintain their size, running and eating unhealthy becomes a zero sum game and you remain the same size. So, if you want to decrease your size, you MUST eat healthy.

I’m not a nutritionist, so I can’t tell you want to eat, but I can tell you to eat healthy if you want to lose weight. From my experience, if you are tired after you eat, you either ate too much or ate a lot of fat. Wake up and eat a carrot! Then go for a run and burn that carrot plus some!

Tags:eating, nutrition
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com, Uncategorized | Comments

I Have a Fever and the Only Cure is…more Running.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

dad-on-couch1 You’ve been running a lot lately. You are training for a big race and more importantly, you are a runner, that’s just what you do. You run; everyday. Even if you are feeling a little sick or maybe tired, you still go for a run. Running cures everything. “I have a fever and the only cure is…more Running.” Sorry Christopher Walken, but that’s just not the case.

Many runners hate taking a day off from running; conversely, skipping rest is the most common over-training injury. Weird. Your muscles need rest. Running puts strain on your muscles which causes microtrauma and small tears. Your muscles gain strength when your body is able to rest and repair them. Without recovery, these tears become more susceptible to injury and over-training. We as Americans never over-eat, over-analyze, or over-heat (I’m a blog artist, interpret “over-heat” however it strikes you) so why do we over-train?

It is because we live in a go fast, work-hard society which I am all for, but we need to have some perspective on this. For instance, if you are sick, it isn’t a good idea to exercise heavily. A good rule of thumb to keep you from overextending yourself is if the symptoms are from the neck up, like a head cold, you are fine to run. If the symptoms are below the neck, like a chest cold or diarrhea, it’s better to not exercise and stay inside…perhaps close to a toilet. If you are sick, you need to rest and get the sleep you need. One common mistake is to give up sleep to exercise when you are feeling ill. It has been proven for centuries, the best thing for any illness is sleep and rest. I mean, we all know that “Doctors” were created by Universities who just wanted to charge students tuition for 12 years rather than the standard 4. It increased college tuition revenue by 200% but it didn’t change the fact that the universal cure for any illness is rest. So rest.

Believe it or not, you don’t have to run everyday. I read a runner’s blog today who had been running for 6 years and a month straight, without one day off. His 1-mile PR was just under 7:00 min and his other PRs were about at that same level of accomplishment. According to these PRs, I think he would have benefited from a day off. Give your body a rest and take the day off. A good alternative is to stretch or do some light exercise. You can go for a walk with your significant other or children, play a friendly tennis game, or play some B-ball down at your local YMCA. You can still exercise without straining the same muscles you do everyday when running.

I know you are a Serious Runner. You’re on this website aren’t you? It’s fine though. Swallow your pride, put on your comfy pants, sit on the couch, make a bowl of peanut butter and take a rest day. It’s really not that hard.

If it makes you feel better, do like this guy did. Put on your running shoes and clothes and fall asleep on a palm tree patterned couch. Then, wake up and tell yourself you just came back from a 6 mile run! Repeat as necessary.

Tags:recovery, rest
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com | Comments

Drink Up! Water’s on Me!

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

side-water On my long run this weekend I ran up behind another runner, in a less than desirable part of town, which made it obvious that we were both on a very long run. As I approached the other runner I could see her waist band full of water bottles and thought to myself, “How far she is going?!” I was personally on a 14 mile run in which the only stop I had planned to make was to release some hydration not to add to it. However, I do have a running friend that has constructed a map of every water fountain, hose, cooler, and runner friendly establishment in town and plans his runs accordingly. Now that’s serious. Maybe I’ll get him to post the map. I bet mapmyfun doesn’t have this capability. I wouldn’t know though, I never go to that lame website.

The other runner and I began talking. She was going about 14 miles as well and asked me the question, “You don’t have any water?!” She was amazed that I didn’t have any for a 14 mile run which lead me to thinking, how come I didn’t have any water? I did know of two water fountains along my route but I didn’t stop at them. What makes me different? What are techniques that may allow me to go a little farther without water? It is surely not due to my genetic make-up. Just ask anyone who has had to post up on me in a game of basketball or sit in a chair I have recently sat in after a long run, I’m a sweater. To put it in perspective, it takes me about a 4 mile run in 70 degree weather to make my whole outfit drip with sweat. Some say it’s heredity, I say it’s body efficiency. Don’t be jealous that my body knows how to cool itself off better than yours. My body is a machine, not to mention, my future is so warm, I gotta stay cool…that was lame. Probably the opposite of cool.

At any rate, not being properly hydrated can lead to fatigue, decreased coordination, and muscle cramping, not to mention more serious implications that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Hydration is something everyone who is active needs to monitor. When running long distances over 8 miles it is best to start hydrating a few days prior. I have found this is the best way to make sure you are ready for your run. I constantly make sure I am well hydrated. When I think of my hydration for the day I don’t consider any liquid intake other than sports drink or water. I have found the best thing to pre-hydrate is to make weak sports drink. You can buy the powder based sports drink (this is cheaper too) and mix it at half the recommended amount or even less. This beverage tastes the same, well weaker, and while you are not exercising it allows you to intake more fluids without giving you unnecessary extra calories or electrolytes that you don’t need during the day. My pre-hydration is why I require less liquids while running. Don’t hesitate, pre-hydrate.

Consuming large amounts of fluid directly prior to your run is not a good way to hydrate. You should only drink about 16-24 ounces of fluid before every run. During your run it is a good rule of thumb to try to drink 6-8 fluid ounces per 20 minutes; however, every runner is different and only you know your body. I don’t bring water with me on a run unless I am going to run more than 14 miles in a moderate weather day. However, that’s just my preference, but I don’t even like bringing a house key with me or a even a shirt, they’re just so constricting. Bring whatever amount of water you feel comfortable with. Also remember to not let the weather fool you on how much water you bring on your run. Too often runners think because it is cooler out that they will not sweat as much and therefore do not need to hydrate as much. This is a misconception which can lead to serious dehydration. A good rule of thumb is for every pound of weight you lose from sweat (weigh yourself before your workout, then after) amounts to 1 pint of water. So figure out about how much water you usually lose when exercising and hydrate accordingly. After your run you should drink from 20-24 ounces, or more simply, until you aren’t thirsty anymore. Try not to “gulp” down any water but drink it slowly to give your body time to disperse the liquid efficiently. Just like oil makes an engine run efficiently, water makes a body purr.

Your race hydration amounts are more intense than your normal run but it is good to practice your race day hydration. Just like your practicing your race pace, practice your drinking rhythm for race day. Where do you plan to stop for water? It is good to view a map of your race’s water points so you don’t get caught needing water when it is not available. Also, when you do get your water I have found it is more beneficial to slow down or walk when you drink it. It doesn’t take that much time and your body with thank you for not giving it a shockingly huge gulp of water as it is banging itself up and down on the pavement. Slowing down also gives you a chance to make sure you are drinking the correct liquid that you chose to. I ran a marathon that had red bull girls handing out red bull at the water stations. The problem was that Red Bull’s hired help was a lot more attractive than the race volunteer staff. It took about 4 cups of red bull for me to realize that none of the good looking girls had water or sports drink. Did that mean I stopped getting red bull? No, I just stopped drinking it. Drink up!

Tags:hydration, races, road races
Posted in Health, Running, SeriousRunning.com, Uncategorized | Comments

You Don’t Have to Stay Off Your Knees

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

We all know running is plain, old healthy living; but it can also eventually take a toll on your body. No matter how young or lightweight you are, everyone needs to be cautious of putting too much strain on their muscles, joints, and ligaments when running serious mileage. One of the injuries that arises from running long distances is impact on the knees. After jumping over 30 times out of a fast moving aircraft, flying less than 1000 ft from the ground, loaded with gear that matches my body weight, I have to be careful about the further impacts I put on my knees. Here is what I have learned.

First line of defense is prevention. As soon as you feel any pain in your knees you should begin to alter your running. Some prevention methods are buying running shoes with more cushioning, running routes that do not have as much downhill, or changing the surface that you run on. Get off the pavement and on the trail! To keep your knees pain free after runs, many people choose to place ice on them. It helps the pain plus you look like an aging but still high preforming athlete! At least that is what movies have shown.

If you have had sharp pains in your knees for a while now then these preventive techniques won’t work for you; luckily, you don’t have to stop running all together. First, try to understand what is exactly wrong with your knees. The easiest way to identify this is to identify where the sharp pain is exactly. If you are not sure, consult a doctor for more specific knowledge and possible testing. After you identify where the problem is you need to search for the knee brace that is best for your injury. Knee braces are a great way to reduce stress and impact on your muscles and ligaments while allowing you to still run close to your pre-knee injury abilities. Knee braces are made to keep your knee and knee cap aligned and come in bulky, flexible, or sturdy models. Everyone’s knees are different so either consult a doctor or try out different knee braces before deciding on which one is best for your knees.

So relieve some mental stress and get back on your knees!

Tags:knee braces, prevent injury
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