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Newsletter: Volume 50, August 2003

And the winner of the FREE trip to Athens, Greece is.... E. Kizawa, pending final details!
For more information on this trip go to www.athensmarathon.com.

Durango Marathon—the town cheers for you!

While the big marathons have their own excitement, several small town marathons give a special experience to runners. For Durango, the marathon is like the World Series. There is a festival in the restored authentic frontier town in conjunction with the race, and townsfolk are excited to have the marathoners around. Come and join me for the weekend whether you run the marathon or not—attend my running school that weekend.

Avoiding Hyponatremia

If you are sweating heavily for more than 4 hours you may be prone to hyponatremia. Symptoms include (but are not limited to) salt evaporate on your skin, hands that swell up significantly, extreme sweating and then cessation of sweating. Of great concern is vomiting or diarrhea after sweating for more than 4 hours. See a doctor if this happens during a long run or afterwards and monitor your running partners (IV’s work wonders when given before the condition gets serious). Here are other tips:

1. Don’t take medication before or during long runs. For example, ibuprofen has been linked to at least one hyponatremia death. If you are taking general prescription under a doctor’s orders, be sure to explain to the physician that you are concerned about hyponatremia.
2. Drink between 14 and 27 oz an hour. This range of fluid intake has been recommended by several race productions organizations. So if you are running a 12 minute mile, drink between 3oz and 5.5 oz a mile. That is about half a regular size paper cup. A “sip” is about an ounce.
3. Take salt during the second half of long runs and for 2 hours afterward. This can be done in the form of salt packets put into water, eating salty pretzels (about 17 small pretzels. Those who have experienced hyponatremia should consider taking a product called Succeed, which has been effective in preventing this problem in long triathlons and ultra marathons.

Recovering quickly after long hot runs

Reference: GALLOWAY’S BOOK ON RUNNING 2nd Edition
NEW MARATHON!

1. Within 60 minutes after finishing your run, soak your legs in cool water for 5-10 minutes
2. Pour water over your head, regularly, during the hour after running—you lose up to 70% of the heat you can lose through the top of your head.
3. Eat a cool mixture of Endurox R4 during the first 30 minutes, and drink 6-8 oz of water every 30-60 minutes for the rest of the day. Both have a ratio of 80% carbohydrate to 20% protein, which has been shown to speed recovery.
4. Walk around in a cool environment for 10-20 minutes an hour for the 3-4 hours after a long run.
5. I have had great success with taking Endurox Excel tablets an hour before the start of a long hot run.
6. Keep Grazing! eat small meals every 30-90 minutes, the rest of the day.

Catching up with your schedule

Almost everyone who trains for a half or full marathon misses a run or two. Even if you’ve missed more than this, it may be possible to get back by race day. Here’s how:

1. Get a reality check on your time goal. Run a 5K race (or run 12.5 laps around a high school track fairly hard), and then use the “prediction chart” in GALLOWAY’S BOOK ON RUNNING 2ND EDITION or NEW MARATHON. Next, see what your 5K time predicts in your goal race. For example, in GBR 2nd Ed (p 269) you’ll find that a 25:30 5K predicts a 54:05 10K and a 4:18 marathon. Using this example, an aspiring marathoner would see that pace is just below 10 minutes a mile. To almost eliminate the chance of injury, then the marathoner in this example should run the long runs at 14 min/mi.
2. In addition, walk breaks should be taken much more frequently, from the beginning of long runs. After adding the 4 min/mi to your projected marathon goal, use the walk break formulas for the comparable pace on pace 42 of NEW MARATHON.
3. By slowing down and taking significantly more walk breaks, each long run can be increased by an additional 2-3 miles, than is recommended in my schedules.

Burning fat while you sleep!

Running regularly for more than 45 minutes at a time (even with walk breaks) trains our exercising muscle cells to be fat burners at all times of the night and day. After months of regular distance running, you will have transformed a vast number of running muscle cells into fat burners that prefer fat as a fuel, even when you are sitting around all day or asleep at night. Long runs that exceed 90 minutes, when done every two to three weeks, transform the muscle cells from sugar burners to fat burners.

From Galloway’s Book on Running (Shelter Publications, 2002), p. 237

The Day Before A Long Run—Primetime for Drinking

The best way to avoid serious dehydration is to drink a good hydration drink like Accelerade the day before long runs. This product has been formulated to help restock your fluid levels, usually, when drinking about 6-8 oz an hour. During the 2 hours before the start of a long run, you can experiment with the amount of Accelerade that works best for you. Most of the runner’s I’ve interviewed about this, find that 12-20 oz seems to work well. Use your long runs as your dress rehearsal for the big race, and replicate what works. Accelerade is the best product I’ve used for getting my fluid levels where they need to be the day before. Jeff Galloway

Black Toenails

1. They are caused primarily by the swinging of the foot forward, slinging a bit more blood into the toe region with every step.
2. The clawing motion of the toes aggravates the toenail further—so keep your toenails clipped.
3. Foot powder in the shoe will reduce friction.
4. Oxysox (a new brand of socks) has significantly reduced foot inflammation on long runs for me and a number of runners who have reported back to me. The compression band keeps the inflammation from forming in the foot. I recommend this sock for those who suffer from swollen feet.
5. Heat increases the swelling. Soaking feet in a cold bath for 3-5 minutes at 2-3 times during long runs can reduce foot fatigue and swelling.

From Nancy Clark...

MUSCLE
Consuming inadequate calories and protein reduces the body's ability to build muscles. Hence, dieting athletes should be sure to have a strong protein intake (at least 0.5 g pro/lb). Yet, if you are severely undereating (such as an athlete “making weight”), choosing a protein-rich diet will not protect your muscles. Soldiers who did exhaustive military operations while eating inadequate calories lost the same amount of muscle regardless if they ate a high (0.5 gm/lb) protein or lower protein diet.

SUPPLEMENTS
Should you take vitamins C and E to decrease the inflammatory response associated with muscle damage caused by exercise? No. A study with healthy athletes who did muscle-damaging exercise suggests 400 mg. C and 800 mg. E generated no protective benefits. Ultramarathoners who took 1,000 mg. C and 400 mg. E also experienced no benefits in terms of severity of muscle damage and recovery rates. Eating wisely works.

Nancy Clark, MS, RD offers personalized nutrition consultations at SportsMedicine Associates in Brookline MA (617-739-2003). www.nancyclarkrd.com

From Runner's World Training Extr@: July 22, 2003

Ladies Tip: Ladies - are you experiencing jog bra chafing? Try this: turn that bra inside out so the seams are on the outside. It just might help ease the friction and prevent that nasty chafing.

Q: I’ve recently increased my mileage. And while I’ve made great progress, I have one problem: I’m hungry all of the time. What’s up?

Sound familiar? Check out the September 2003 Runner’s World (p. 20) for some practical ideas on how to keep yourself fueled up from “Don’t Go Hungry,” by Chris Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., nutritionist, College of Health and Human Services, Georgia State University. You might be surprised.

For some other nutrition tips from Dr. Rosenbloom, take a look at http://www.runnersworld.com/home/0,1300,2-53-84-5244,00.html

Lycopene: A good reason to eat tomatoes

Tomatoes are loved for their fresh taste and the versatile role they play in cooking. But research indicates there may be another reason to love them — they're loaded with lycopene (LY-ko-pene). Lycopene is a plant chemical (phytochemical) that gives tomatoes their red color. It also appears to offer potential health benefits.

Inside your tomato
Tomatoes contain many nutrients, among them vitamins C and B complex and the minerals iron and potassium. Also in the mix are carotenoids (kuh-ROT-uh-noids). These include lycopene and beta carotene, which are converted into vitamin A by your body.

Lycopene gets high marks from researchers for its apparently potent antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are thought to neutralize harmful substances in the body called free radicals. These molecules, which result from normal cell metabolism as well as other causes, may increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Possible health benefits
Research into dietary lycopene suggests it may lower risk of:
Heart attack - A study of more than 1,300 European men suggested that those consuming the most lycopene from foods had about half the risk of heart attack as men who consumed less.
Prostate cancer - A 5-year study of 48,000 men found that those eating 10 servings a week of cooked tomato products had the lowest risk of prostate cancer. Their risk was one-third that of men eating less than two servings a week. Other studies suggest that lycopene may play a role in reducing the risk of other cancers, including colon, rectal and breast cancers.

Add heat and eat
Fresh tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, but cooking tomatoes makes lycopene easier for your body to use. For instance, your body will absorb five times more lycopene through tomato sauce than through an equivalent amount of fresh tomatoes. Evidently, heat breaks down tomato cell walls to free lycopene that otherwise would pass through your digestive system.

Including a little fat when you cook tomatoes can further improve absorption of lycopene. Use a monounsaturated fat, such as olive oil.

Getting your share
No one has determined just how many servings of lycopene-rich foods you should eat each week for health benefits. Some studies suggest 7 to 10 servings a week. A serving is equivalent to a half cup of tomato or spaghetti sauce, a quarter cup of tomato paste, one medium tomato or one slice of pizza with tomato sauce.

You can obtain that amount in any number of ways, including tomato-based sauces, such as those found on pizza, pasta and other foods, canned tomatoes, soups, salsas, juice, ketchup and from whole tomatoes as a salad ingredient. Other good lycopene sources include watermelon and pink grapefruit, although their lycopene content is only about one-half to one-fifth that of canned tomatoes.

A package deal
While researchers continue to study dietary lycopene, keep in mind that foods are complex nutrient packages. Researchers, therefore, are reluctant to label lycopene as the sole means of attaining nutritional benefit from tomatoes. Lycopene may simply indicate the presence of other protective substances in tomatoes that have yet to be identified or isolated.

As for lycopene supplements, any possible benefits or risks are unknown. For that reason, dietitians generally recommend eating lycopene-rich foods instead of taking a supplement.

Related Information :
Food & Nutrition Center
Zesty tomato soup
Curried cream of tomato soup with apples
From http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=16AF558A-A470-4E1B-BF5CC8746AE497DF

Jeff's Picks

August 23 – Crim Festival of Races http://www.crim.org/
September 7 – Chicago Half Marathon http://www.chicagohalfmarathon.com/
September 18 – PROMINA Corporate Run/Walk in Atlanta – http://prominacorporaterunwalk.com/
September 20 – Al’s Memorial Run in Milwaukee – http://www.alsmemorialrun.com
September 21 – The Home Depot Governor’s Cup in Denver – http://www.bkbltd.com
October 11 – Akron Marathon - http://www.akronmarathon.org/
October 12 – Durango Marathon - http://www.durangomarathon.com/
October 26 – USMC Marathon - http://www.marinemarathon.com/therace.html
November 3 – Athens Marathon - http://athensmarathon.com/
December 6 – Enmark Savannah River Bridge Run 5K & 10K http://active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1041897
January 18 - Lost Dutchman Marathon http://www.lostdutchmanmarathon.org/
June 6 - Deadwood Midkelson Trail Marathon & Half Marathon http://www.deadwoodmickelsontrailmarathon.com

Upcoming Running Schools

* NYC – September 6 – McBurney YMCA
* Denver – September 20
* DC – September 27, Metro Run & Walk
* Durango – October 11
* Atlanta – January 3
* Orange County – January 25, Chapman University
* Monterey – January 31
* San Francisco – February 1