The photo page is finally up. I had a bit of a delay because I recently made the switch to Linux and I did not know how to use a photo editor that was really easy in the end. This was a really fun event. It was great to see all of the new people out on the trails this time around. I am proud of you guys who just got out and did it.
I hope to see everyone at Bear creek in Briones on 6/26/10.
Drinking and eating the right foods and supplements after a hard effort out on the road can lead to faster recovery and less muscle pain. The biggest problem many people have involves trying to figure out what works the best — and what is the easiest to chug down after a workout. The kind folks over at Active.com listed 10 different post-run drinks that help “fuel fast recovery.”
I’d like to single out a single drink idea that many people likely overlook as a post-run recovery drink: chocolate milk.
Why: The drink you loved as a kid has the ideal amount of carbohydrates and protein that tired muscles need for recovery, says Joel Stager, Ph.D., director of the department of kinesiology at Indiana University. According to a study Stager led, drinking chocolate milk postexercise speeds up recovery and increases the time it takes to reach exhaustion during a subsequent exercise session better than sports drinks. And a 2007 British study found that regular milk is better than water or a sports drink at restoring fluid levels following a bout of exercise in the heat. Plus, milk contains bone-strengthening vitamin D and calcium. Sipping Points: Single-serving containers are handy for tossing into a cooler for a postrun treat and for portion control.
Chocolate milk is an excellent way to recover, and can be mixed with whey protein and other recovery drinks. Ted likes mixing chocolate milk with some of his recovery drinks, which helps make the taste a bit more bearable.
The taste of chocolate milk is good, the science behind it has been proven, so what’s your excuse? Got milk? 😉
Of the “road tested” products listed, including Powerade Ion4, Clif Quench, Gatorade Powder Pack, and Accelerade Hydro, I’ve had the most success with the Clif Quench drink. I posted a review of the Clif Quench in late February, which you can read here.
Editor’s Note: I’d just like to thank @Cool_running on Twitter, who originally tweeted a link to the article. 🙂
While reading an ongoing published feature posted on Nature.com, I stumbled upon a series of articles on doping in sports. It started out with a blurb about the 1976 East German women’s swim team that won 11 of 13 gold medals. Then it moved in to the realm of professional cycling where the probability of the winning cyclist at the Tour De France doping is believed to be 100%.
My first thoughts after reading something like this is something along the lines of, “Those dirty rotten cheaters”! I read on. The German women may not have known they were doing something wrong.
I am fairly certain they did not know of the problems they would have later in life as a result of the steroid use. I am fairly certain the cyclist knew they were and are doing something wrong. When elite athletes die from heart attacks at age 30, something is wrong.
Reading into doping in sports, it makes me wonder what is really right or wrong in sports. Take a look through this web site and you will find that it is loaded with information on better living through chemistry. Do I really know what is in a protein mix? What about the instant energy in a bag that I carry around for long runs? What is a BCAA or an amino acid compound? They seem to work for me and they don’t seem to have side effects. Where do we draw the line? Who am I to say my line should be the same as everyone else’s?
I will put my line in the sand as something that does not cause adverse side effects or harm others as fine for use. Anything that has a risk of adverse side effects or causes harm in others is bad. I am sure that I can find thousands of reasons why both my standards are wrong.
Reading the articles gave me a lot of insight into doping in sports and I found that I really like the Scitable web site.
It seems that half the runners in the Bay Area raced in a half marathon someplace this weekend. There were three half marathons in the EBRPD alone.
It was uncharacteristically hot this weekend. Drink a lot of water for a few days after the event to help recover. An 8-ounce cup of an electrolyte drink for a couple of days will help too. Bay area runners have a unique problem where we are not accustomed to the heat and using up lots of fluid when we train. If we wind up in an event where it is really hot we can wind up getting light headed and having cramps the week after an event. It is very important to hydrate, get electrolytes and potassium into our bodies.
Water and ice are the best things for a sore body. An ice bath does wonders for the legs. It is a bit aggravating to go buy ice then fill up the tub and jump in. That first step is into the ice water is horrible. Your legs will soon go numb and your body will thank you for it later. I put ice packs all over my legs. I even have ice packs for my feet. I look for those big buckets in the dollar store so I can just stick my whole foot into a tub of ice water but I never seem to find them. Remember, no stretching after ice.
A half marathon does not usually put a tremendous strain on our bodies
where we have to be overly concerned with rest the following week. You will have to gauge how you feel afterward and go from there. I had a
really tough day on my half marathon on Saturday so I am going to rest up a
bit until my legs feel better. Here is my post half marathon week:
Saturday – hard half marathon, ice on legs, nap, lots of water, ice on
legs, more water and some chicken noodle soup and light food.
Sunday – Ice on legs and lots of water. Eggs and bagel for breakfast,
chicken salad with bread for lunch, fish and vegetables for dinner.
I added my meals so you can see what I eat after a hard event. I usually listen to my body after a really hard day. As you can see, I am taking it easy all week with the running. If you don’t go all out in the half marathon and you feel good, there is no reason that you can’t continue to train as you normally would.
Another day, another Brazen half marathon in the East Bay Regional parks. I had a solid top 10 going for the whole race but the wheels fell off the bus at mile 10. My heart rate was up but I was just slowing down. I carried a bottle of water today as I usually do for trail half marathons. There were plenty of water stops along the way but I drink the water I carry. Today, I emptied my bottle on the first of two laps so I ditched it at the start/finish line. I should have stopped at an aid station to fill it up. The sun shine and 80 degree weather took a toll on me. My second lap was 7 minutes slower than my first and I suffered mightily.
The suffering was fine because most other people were suffering with me. I managed a top 20 and placed second in my age group. At the finish area, a lot of people were stretching their calf muscles out. A sure sign of dehydration. As much as I preach to you guys about paying attention to your surroundings, I still go out and make the same mistakes. I am just now starting to recover 6 hours later.
The EBRP district is awesome. If you live in Northern California or come out here to visit, I encourage you to visit the parks. We had the trail run that I did in Point Pinole and the See Jane Run Half marathon in Alameda, mostly on the EBRP trails.
Today was a great day. I am proud of everyone who got out and enjoyed it. For the rest of you readers who are on the fence about the activities, just get out and do it. Love life and enjoy your surroundings, where ever they are.
Today is the day before a trail half marathon that I am going to run alone. I am going to run with 700 other people but I will not be accompanying anyone as a pacer. It is the first time in more than a year, if ever, that I plan on going as fast as I can. I am usually concerned about other people, an injury or a bigger event (marathon) when I do a half marathon.
It is a strange feeling when you plan on giving it your best for the day. I wonder if I can deal with the pain for a whole two hours. Did I eat too much meat this week? Am I drinking enough water today? Did I drink enough all week? All of my little injuries seem to hurt. I wonder if one of them will cause me to stop. Will I make my planned time? Is my planned time feasible? Did I rest enough? Did I rest too much?
Everyone has the same questions when they plan on doing a hard event. It does not matter if it is your first event or you are just planning on picking up the pace like I am. We get nervous and wonder what we should do. I have a good base fitness level so my taper is a little different from someone with a lower base. I will call day one the Saturday before the race.
Most lunches come with fruit and jello. All dinners come with vegetables. I would have planned a lighter dinner last night but the roast beef was good and I don’t want to be too demanding on the family for my hobbies. I do demand pasta on Friday nights because I always doing a long or hard event on Saturday morning. I make my own pancakes on Saturday mornings.
None of my sedentary friends know the difference between a 1:45 and a 2:30 half marathon. I am doing this run for me alone, not my friends and family. As long as I have fun, it is a successful taper week.
See Jane Run is going to go all along the shore line of Alameda tomorrow for a ladies only half marathon.
Tomorrow is the big day. Good luck ladies!
It’s common to see cyclists in the ProTour peloton use power meters to help monitor performance while out on the road, but regular athletes are still unsure if it’s worth the investment.
You can find power meters starting at $200, but it’s not uncommon to see some models top $4,000 — and the power meters used by the pros are obviously top notch.
If you’ve been thinking about investing in a power meter but don’t know the basics, I’d recommend reading this article written by the fine folks at Fit Werx (article originally posted at BeginnerTriathlete).
The power meter doesn’t care about hills, wind, temperature, indoors, outdoors, or any environment you’re riding in. It will always measure the actual power you’re producing on the bike regardless of the conditions. Most power meters will include heart rate straps so you can watch your heart rate response compared to power. Go out and ride at a constant power level for 20 minutes and heart rate can climb nearly the entire time. Harder intervals such as three minute intervals at VO2max power will see heart rate climbing quickly the entire interval and never leveling off.
I find myself dragging people through the wind quite a bit, and I’ve always been curious about wattage and overall power, so a power meter is the ideal tool. I’m still unsure if I’m willing to spend a few hundred dollars just to see how much harder I’m pedaling than Ted when we’re riding in Coyote Hills — but it could be very interesting to use one of these gadgets some day.
If I could ever learn how to avoid sinking like a rock in the pool, I’d probably be more willing to one day get a time trial bike and attach a power meter. Until then, I’ll just have to keep dreaming…
Editors note: That is an engineering marvel!
Most of us use GU, Clif Shots, and similar energy gels when we’re exercising — but what about when we just need a quick burst of energy? I recently was asked about the nutritional benefits of eating one of these gels even when not exercising.
I don’t eat these products when I’m not working out, but reached out to a few different companies to try and learn if this is something that would actually provide a boost.
“Of course it is fine,” I was told by a GU R&D person. “It is 100 calories of carbohydrates, there are vitamins in there, amino acids. In any case it’s going to increase blood sugar and those with caffeine may give you a little perk.”
Good. We know it won’t cause any weird issues. The GU employee also added:
“Sometimes when I don’t have time for lunch…I’ll eat a Vanilla Bean…or two….or….. Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you’re hungry and you like GU…eat it.“
Optimum Nutrition (ON) Very Vanilla is my favorite recovery drink of them all. I like to mix two scoops with 16 ounces of whole milk and a heaping teaspoon of chocolate milk mix. This is less of a review of the ON 2:1:1, but is more of why I choose to drink it.
It is a calorie bomb loaded with 35 grams of protein, 79 grams of carbs, 23 grams of amino acids and 36 grams of sugar plus the chocolate milk. I only use it on very hard days. I use it after a cardio workout of at least two hours, a second workout of the day, or a hard session in the weight room.
It is so rich, it covers the taste of the whey. I usually recover well after the ON 2:1:1. I drink it after hard workouts so I still get sore but it is not as badly as if I were to drink water. I sometimes drink the chocolate flavored mix with water on lighter workout days. It does not taste as good with water but I can keep it at work. I don’t like the vanilla in water at all.
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