Scary stories

To distract the 1/2 marathon group from the weather this morning I gave them an assignment to do on their run. They were to find out what the scariest thing that another member of the group had ever done and report back in the stretch. The stories ranged from jumping out of a bus that was on fire, to jumping out of a plane, to having to crawl under a rail car that had been derailed, and to explaining to his parents that he was about to be seen on the CBC News streaking!

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Rain, rain go away

I am having a hard time remembering my last dry run, in fact I’m not even sure that I have had one this month. I don’t hate running in the rain, but when it rains so hard that my earbuds don’t stay in, I do feel that I have the right to complain…but I do feel like a bit of a rockstar for running in it.

Notes from Daryl Reynolds lecture “Cryotherapy”

Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is the use of cooling as a means of treating injuries
1. Body tissues will be either stretched or impacted (heal strike) causing microscopic blood vessels to be torn or damaged, during prolonged running activities
2. The extent of bleeding will depend on the vascularity of the tissues involved, and may be increased if injured during high intensity activities such as exercise, due to the increased blood flow to the working muscles
3. The first response will be to limit microscopic blood loss from the capillaries (vessels), attenuated by the body through (vasoconstriction), so preventing further blood leaking into the surrounding tissues
4. This causes cells to be starved of nourishment from lack of blood supply, with tissue death following
5. These dying cells stimulate the release of histamine causing the blood vessels to dilate, thereby bringing increased blood supply and extra nutrients to help repair and rebuild the damaged tissues.
6. The histamine response induces an increased but slower and more viscous blood supply, where the capillary walls become much more permeable and quantities of protein and inflammatory substances are pushed or leaked from the blood into the damaged tissue area causing extracellular swelling.

Treatment
By applying ice or cooling immediately after a so called injury involving damage to soft tissues, the level of swelling and amount of blood allowed to leak out may be substantially reduced.

One should follow the typical R I C E routine

Ice application: When applying ice, never do so directly onto the skin as this may result in ice burns to the skin. Wrap the ice in a damp not wet cloth, a dry cloth restricts heat transfer from the tissue to the ice, and too wet causes burning.

Recommended application times vary depending on the researcher, however the accepted standard currently used is 10 min Max. Any longer than 10 minutes and a reflex reaction occurs, where blood flow is increased to the tissues, causing excessive swelling. (Hunting reflex) Ice also has a second analgesic effect, of pain reduction.

One should avoid application of heat within the first 24 to72 hours (acute phase), the actual time limit depending on the severity of tissue damage, as 1, this will cause extra and intracellular swelling with cellular lyses and second, the body is self heating.

If tolerance to ice is poor, it may be substituted with a cryotherapy device such as a cryocuff or cold pack typically kept in the fridge, as these are more tolerable to those with a high pain response. Water baths are an option also.
Remember, the principle is to draw heat from the body, resulting in temperature variance. The extremes of temperature are not as important as the temperature variance, although not all research agrees.

Contraindications for cryotherapy include sensitivity to cold, diabetes, application to chest area, high blood pressure, nerve damage.

New running pants

This morning’s weather was miserable, 4 degrees and raining…the perfect day to test out my new “run: windsprint pants”. To be honest, I was a little unsure of them at first, the front of the pant is water resistant, wind blocking and breathable, while the back of the pant is made from a thermal stretch fleece. The only time that I ever run in pants is in the snow, I usually wear a “clam digger” (knee length pant) the rest of the year, so I fully expected to overheat this morning. Not so, they were awesome, the rain beaded right off, no cold, red quads here! At the risk of sounding like an advertisement (I don’t care because I love them), these pants are a must have for anyone who runs on the West Coast, add them to your Christmas list ladies

Brrrr

Lots of toques and gloves out this morning for the 1/2 marathon and beginner running groups. The 1/2 marathoners split into 3 groups, running 3 different variations of the Vista’s 10km route,  and the beginner group ran an out and back in the trails of Kanaka Park.

The session ended with a stretch and a very informative lecture from Daryl Reynolds on “Fluids and Foods For Exercise” read the notes

Looking forward to his lecture next week on Cryotherapy.

Notes from Daryl Reynolds lecture “Fluids and Foods for Exercise”

Fluids & Foods for Exercise

Intake PRIOR TO Exercise
• Consume 100-400 gm of carbohydrate 1-4 hours prior to your event. 1-4.5 gms/kg of body weight.
• Consume 400-600 ml of fluids 2-3 hours before exercise
o For events less than 1 hour water should be the beverage of choice.
o For events greater than 1 hour, a carbohydrate (sports, not meal replacement) beverage with <8% carbohydrate is the ideal choice.
• An additional 300-500 ml of fluid intake is recommend for endurance athletes 15-30 minutes prior to their event particularly if they are exercising in the heat.
• Fluids are absorbed more quickly when they are taken in moderate quantities of between 100-250ml and when cool/cold.

Food and fluid intake during exercise
• Exercise intensity above 75% of VO2max slows gastric emptying and may cause gastrointestinal upset. The higher your heart rate the lower the absorption of food/fluid when you are above 75% of your maximum heart rate.
Fluids
• Empty from the stomach quickest when they contain <2.5% carbohydrate and are cool/cold.
• Those who experience sloshing fluid in their stomachs during long periods of exercise may benefit from diluting normal sports drinks (6-8% carbohydrate concentration) to 2-4% or ½ of their normal concentration. This can allow the fluid to be absorbed more quickly. Note: it also reduces the amount of carbohydrate/salts provided, which can hasten glycogen and salt depletion.
• The average rate of gastrointestinal absorption of fluids is approximately 30 ml/min; however your sweat rate can be up to 50 ml/min.
• For events less than one hour 180-240 ml of water every 15 minutes is recommended.
• For endurance events or high intensity intermittent exercise of 1 – 4 hours in duration 150-300 ml of a sports beverage is recommended every 15-20 minutes.
Foods
• For endurance events research shows that consumption of 30-60 grams of carbohydrate/hour during exercise delays fatigue and improves performance.
• The maximum absorption rate of carbohydrate from the intestinal tract is roughly 1gm/min or 60 gm/hr.

How to figure out your numbers: Questions to self:

How long is your event? Water<1hour vs. Sports drink>1hour
How much do you weigh? Carb intake ~ 1gm/kg/hr before and ½ gm/kg/hr during

Source of Information: Advanced Exercise Nutrition, Human Kinetics ©2002

Thanks Mur!

Thanks Mur for organizing a great trail run this morning at Hayward Lake. 32 runners and 2 four legged friends came out for 60 minutes of trail running at it’s best. The trail was muddy, slick in spots, leaves and branches everywhere…it was great!

Calculating your target heart rate

Here is a quick and simple way to calculate your target heart rate:

Males: Begin with 220
Females: Begin with 224

Subtract your age, which will give you your maximum heart rate.

Multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.60 for your low end
Multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.85 for your high end

Goal is to stay within this target zone for maximum health and physical benefits.

A race day full of firsts

H2H 2009 was a race day full of firsts, with the exception of the weather, in true H2H fashion it POURED! Armed with several changes of clothing, umbrellas, and even a pair of galoshes the Hellbent Milfs and Skullets were ready for anything.

Summary of race firsts…
Leg 1 – This was the first time that D ran and then went to work. Thanks to the many texts that we sent her, she felt like she was she was still out on the road with us.
Leg 2 – This was the first time that Conny ran so close to home and didn’t sneak in a shower, and we drove right by her house, “good for you Conny”!
Leg 3 – This was the first time that we had a team member (Baby Colin) run his leg and then sleep for the next 2 legs.
Leg 4 – Congratulations McColin for placing 1st in the recreational category!
Leg 5 – This was the first time that I visited a port-o-potty while racing.
Leg 6 – This was the first time that Chris saw a bear while he was running his leg.
Leg 7 – This was the first time that Robert saw 5 full moons, and there was no photographic evidence!
Leg 8 – This was Barry’s first H2H experience.

Thanks for a great day team, as always good times, great friends and awesome memories. xoxo

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