Survey the start line at any road race these days and more and more knee socks are popping up.  Compression socks are one of the most popular new accessories for distance runners of all speeds.  Look more closely, and compression clothing of all kinds are now found on athletes of all ages and abilities.  Are they for you?

 

For decades, compression socks have been recommended by doctors to help with circulatory problems, including varicose veins, diabetes, and deep vein thrombosis / blood clots.  The increased elastic strength of compression socks, particularly around the ankle, acts like a pump of sorts, elevating the amount of pressure on veins and therefore decreasing their diameter and increasing the blood flow velocity.

 

While these benefits were previously sought by individuals who were forced to sit or stay put for long periods of time, non-active individuals with these circulatory concerns, and even post-op / bed-ridden patients in needs of some assistance with blood flow during recuperation, over the past several years, compression socks have become popular among runners who seek these benefits as performance aids.

 

Belinda Byrne of Melbourne, Australia, along with many colleagues in various studies conducted over the past fifteen years, has provided much cited research supporting the conclusion that compression socks aid in preventing deep vein thrombosis (a worry for those runners who travel home via long airplane rides soon after marathons).  Byrne has more recent work that also suggests compression socks aid in recovery by helping muscles clear more blood lactate faster, and that socks worn below the knee are also effective, compared to the previous model of medically prescribed compression socks that extended up through the thigh.

 

These recovery benefits appear to be generally accepted and are backed up with other research finding self-reported post-run/ race soreness decreases with the socks.  However, those looking for a mid-race performance boost from compression socks find a more limited field of supporting evidence.   A few studies suggest an increase in anaerobic threshold of a couple percentage points (Scanlon, et al. 2008; Kemmler, et al 2009), but many more studies found a lack of distinct or statistically significant performance advantage by wearing the socks.

 

Like many other distance running accoutrements, the usefulness of compression socks is defined by a combination of personal preference and experience, coupled with scientific evidence.   In this particular case, compression socks can cost as much as $60, so their use might require a bit of an additional investment as well - a financial commitment to be balanced with the enjoyment found in running and the importance of that experience going well.  The field of compression garments and their use by endurance athletes is a continually growing business, where new information (much with direct commercial motivation) continues to evolve.

 

If you struggle with delayed onset muscle soreness after long races, or wish to assist your legs in their efforts to recover quickly and train hard again, compression socks are a worthwhile tool with which to consider and experiment – how you feel they help you is often the most important variable.  However, it is also worth remembering that the most crucial aspect of your race plan is the training you put in, and compression socks won’t take the place of that.  Stay focused on good habits, and hard work, and perhaps compression socks will provide the opportunity to recover in time to go for it more often.

 

 

Everything on your runcoach schedule has a purpose, and the long run is no different.  In many half marathon and marathon training cycles, the long run seems like the tent pole of each week, the looming square on the calendar, by which the week is assessed as successful or otherwise.  When asked about how our goal race training is going, we as runners often respond with data on our long run progression.  Those numbers play a huge part in how prepared we feel for the big day, but what other purposes does the long run serve?

 

Increased Capillarization

Long runs increase mitochondrial production and the distribution of capillaries (small blood vessels) in your muscles.  Mitochondria take nutrients and convert them into fuel that can be used by each cell.  Increased capillarization means a growth in the surface area of a muscle assisted by the network of small blood vessels.  We all know what it feels like to wish we had more energy and oxygen delivered to our leg muscles.  Long runs help achieve that exact aim.

 

Efficient Storage and Burning of Energy

Long runs typically are done at a non-hurried, aerobic pace of approximately 65-80% of your maximum heart rate (note that your pace chart might list “easy” and “long” as the same pace).   Running for long periods of time at that effort level and approximate heart rate can both teach your body to store more energy (glycogen) because of depletion caused by previous long runs, and burn more fat as a percentage of energy used than shorter, harder runs.

 

Race Simulation

Long runs teach your body to prepare physiologically for the stresses it will undergo on the big day, but they also are an opportunity for increasingly realistic dress rehearsals for things like mid-run fueling (Which drinks or gels work with your stomach?), and race day clothing (Will these shorts chafe?).  Other than successfully receiving a chip time, there should be very few things you do on race day that you have not yet practiced on a long run along the way.

 

Mental Prep

When your longest lifetime run is 6 miles, beginning a marathon training cycle can seem daunting to say the least.  However, as the distances increase, so will the number of times you have tried something new, endeavored to complete a run longer than you ever have before, and have had to employ belief in the face of an undetermined result.  A race the length of a half or full marathon is guaranteed to include some high points and low points.  Long runs help equip you to weather these ups and downs on race day with the confidence of an experienced athlete even if your marathon bib is your first.

 

Undoubtedly, long runs are a crucial piece of the machinery in your preparation for your goal race.  While preparing your body to handle the physical rigors of race day, they also build confidence and help your mind develop strategies for convincing you to get to the finish line on time.  While the race is the goal, long runs are a fantastic way to measure our growth as runners along the journey, and remind us of the many joys and lessons running can provide on any given day.

 

 

 

Your legs suddenly feel dead, your breathing is labored, the weather seems too hot, too cold, too windy to possibly make the whole distance at the planned pace.  Now here comes a side stitch, and your knee suddenly feels weird when it never has before.  When the watch is consulted, the pace is the regular pace, a pace you know is well within what training has predicted.  Unfortunately, it is still just a few miles in to a long race.

 

Welcome to the rough patch.

 

A “rough” patch or a “bad” patch – whatever word is more familiar – is a common occurrence during a long workout, run, or race.  Sometimes, for various reasons, things just don’t seem to be going as easily as they should, even when justified, late race fatigue is clearly not the reason.  While experienced racers can lean on previous races where they have been able to emerge from tough stretches to have a good day by the end, the rough patch feeling can be scary for a first timer.

 

The first thing to know is that these periods can and will occur, sometimes for a mile or two, sometimes for even 5K.  The second thing to know is that a calm demeanor and confidence in your training will carry you even as you don’t feel as fresh as you wanted.  Afterwards, you’ll realize that 10-20 minutes later, you began to feel like your recognizable self again. Next time out, you will feel better about the eventual passing of these rough patches.

 

While you are “keeping calm and carrying on,” here are a few tips for actions you can take to weather the patch.

 

Reset your posture

If you feel like you are slumping, your core is mushy, and your posture is dropping, raise your hands above your head straight up for a moment, stretching the spine and engaging your core and upper body into a taller position.  Drop your hands back into your normal arm swing, and enjoy a more efficient and taller body posture, and hopefully a few minutes of easier running.

 

Focus on slowing your breathing pattern

Deep breaths from your diaphragm make a much bigger impact on the distribution of oxygen to your muscles than shallow panting.  To calm yourself, and distract from the temporary rough patch, focus on slowing your breathing pattern into a 2 or 3 beat slow and deep inhale (in-in-in-out-out-out) rather than a quick in and out pattern.

 

Focus 10-15 meters ahead of you

When the race suddenly seems way too long for how you currently feel, avoid focus on an intimidating horizon ahead or a mile marker you can barely make out in the distance.  Keep your head neutral (chin is level, neck extending naturally from the shoulders) and focus on the road going by 10-15 meters in front of you.  Before you know it, you’ll be arriving nearer to the next mile marker, where a quick glance won’t seem as defeating.

 

Consume some calories

Sometimes, a rough patch might occur due to a drop in energy or dwindling hydration.  If this is the case and things are going south quickly, it may be tougher to regain your normal energy level in a timely enough fashion to fix things (it may be more than just a rough patch).  However, sometimes a gel packet or a cup of electrolyte fluid can cause significant improvement in how you feel.  Obviously, the best bet is to consume enough on schedule so that type of rough patch can be avoided. If you have missed the mark in your race day nutrition execution, don’t discount the chance to right the ship at least partly.

 

Force yourself to think logically

If you did your longest runs in training at a pace faster than what now feels way too fast at mile 5 of a marathon, remind yourself of how your body is physically prepared to handle the stress of the current pace, regardless of how you currently feel.  You have empirical evidence on your side.  Don't let some nerves, some spotty race day nutrition, some lethargy from tapering, or another reason have you questioning your capabilities.  Remind yourself repeatedly how well you have done in training to lead to this point and how your body has come through before and will again.  By the time you win the argument, you might already be feeling a bit better.

 

Go for the small wins

If you are going through a tough stretch 3-4 miles into a half marathon or 8 miles into a marathon, thinking about the remaining miles can be daunting.  Consciously focus on a nearer term goals to help you build mental momentum.  If you are at 8 miles, focus on getting to 10, at which point you can focus on staying in it mentally until the half, at which point you can remind yourself you are over halfway home.  If you are at a race with a turnaround, commit to arriving at the turnaround before reevaluating whether or not you can continue at your current or planned pace. Many times if you refrain from evaluating your situation (currently a bummer) right then, you will find yourself in a more hopeful spot in a while, after which your desire to finish strong will help carry you toward the banner.

Merriam-Webster defines fitness as a noun with the following two meanings:

 

1. The condition of being physically fit and healthy
2. The quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task

 

Although running can (and we hope it is) a long-term, healthy lifestyle activity with no end in sight, it also encourages the occasional evaluative exercise – periodic tests  where runners can challenge themselves against their expectations for either or both definitions.

 

Occasionally, the average runner will succeed in both, and if you train with runcoach, we want to make sure that success is more than occasional.  Sometimes, we as runners succeed in the first by measurements taken in the doctor’s office, while being held back from succeeding in the second due to forces beyond our control, like weather, hills, or water stations that run out.  Likewise, we can be capable of a certain task or distance, but perhaps not the one we need (fast, but no endurance, lots of endurance, but no speed), or with the health required to actually complete the job on the day (blister, turned ankle, flu).

 

We value being physically fit and our health as important running goals, because they allow for a more vibrant, full, and long live, and provide a broader platform from which to choose our pursuits; race goals included.  Fulfilling purpose in a race allows us to apply the first definition to a specific aim, guided perhaps by workouts geared exactly toward the type of preparation needed. This is where we come in.

 

Runners often approach a fitness goal with both aims in mind.  Unfortunately, these dual goals can be knocked off track by tangential aims which are temptingly close to these core definitions, but which often can draw us away from the mark.  Weight loss can be good for overall fitness if indicated by a medical professional, but is definitely not always synonym for the achievement of fitness.  Likewise, The ability to accomplish a task is not the same as being properly prepared to do it safely.  How many of us have heard of or know people who have completed marathons off of woefully inadequate training.  They have made it, but the next day, we don’t envy their body’s task as it recovers.

 

The good thing about both definition of fitness is that the evaluation of whether or not we have met the mark is completely subjective.  Sure, there are generally understood measures of health, but only we know what aspects of overall body fitness are the knobs we need to twist first and most often.  Similarly, the “task” we are trying to be suited for is completely open for our own interpretation and therefore the accomplishment can be legitimate even if celebrated by us alone.

 

While according to Merriam-Webster, either of these definition are labeled “fitness”, ideally, the goals you choose will incorporate a consideration of both.   If you are able to marry your best interest in the sustainable long-term with a nearer term concrete goal or task, you’ll walk away with not only just fitness, but fitness to spare.

 

 

Marily Oppezzo has her Masters in Nutritional Science, is a Registered Dietitian, and is a PhD candidate at Stanford University. She has years of clinical and research experience, has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in nutrition and sports nutrition, and is committed to sharing accurate health information to the public. She is also a personal trainer and group aerobics instructor.

 In this edition of Ask the Practitioner, we ask Oppezzo a few questions commonly encountered among recreational runners of all levels.

1.  What is carbo-loading?  Also, if I am running a 5K or 10K, is this something I need to be doing the same way as I might for a marathon?

 

Carbo-loading is when runners increase carbohydrate consumption for 1-2 weeks prior to race day in order to “load” or expand glycogen storage in the interest of prolonging fatigue during the marathon. The studies that have found carbo-loading benefits have shown it at levels of 7 grams of carbohydrates per kg of body weight, sometimes even higher. One recent study showed that those runners who consumed 7 g of carbs per kg body weight the day before the marathon ran on average 6.3% faster than those who didn’t carbo-load (Atkinson et al., 2011). Exciting! But be sure if you are doing this to avoid too many high-fiber, whole grain sources of the carbs, especially the day before the race.  While research has shown men to benefit from carbo-loading by simply shifting their calories from fat and protein towards carbohydrate-rich food, women only increase their glycogen stores if they also increase their energy intake (one study specifically had them eat about 33% more calories than weight-maintenance levels).

 

Carbo-loading won’t help you for races less than two hours, so no need to bagel-up on a 5 or 10k.

 

 

2.  If I'm trying to train for a half marathon or marathon distance partly as a effort to lose some weight, what is some advice you can give about how to do this safely even as I am ramping up my training?

 

Good for you! Training for a long distance race is a great way to lose weight, but you’re wise to check on how to safely do this. To lose one pound, you generally have to burn about 3500 calories (ish) more than you eat. Start off by going to a site such as http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598 to get a rough estimate of your caloric needs based on your sex, weight, height, and current activity levels. Then, shave off about 15% of that to achieve a deficit to help you drop the weight. While many weight-loss diets recommend a cut of 500-750 calories to achieve a 1-2 pound weight loss each week, it will be difficult to sustain your training levels for anything more than a 500 calorie deficit.

 

To optimize training recovery and performance, you should consume carbohydrates within 30 minutes after your running workouts. You should still follow these guidelines, but because you are trying to lose weight, you will have to plan ahead to shave the calories from other meals or places in your day. The specific recommendations for carbohydrate replenishment are .7 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight within 30 minutes.  If your run was extra intense or exceeded 90 minutes, continue this carb rule every 2 hours for 4-6 hours post-workout.  For protein, to help with muscle repair, have 20-30 grams of protein within 30 minutes post-run.

 

My recommendation?  The best post-workout drink appears to be chocolate milk, as it has the optimal ratio of carbs to protein, and is quite portable (and yummy to boot!)

 

You should weigh yourself weekly, and aim for a slow progression of the weight loss: 1-1.5 pounds per week. If you stay on top of this, you can tweak your caloric deficits accordingly on a weekly basis, especially as your mileage increases. Rapid weight loss will take away too much of your needed, and metabolically active, muscle tissue, as well as hurt your training. So…patience is key.

 

PS- Weight loss will get harder as you become more fit (what an awful truth that is!) So, as training goes on, you will want to switch up your workouts by incorporating intervals into your routines, where you periodically increase your heart rate to a high level with recovery breaks in between bursts. Research has shown that interval training can elevate your “post-run” metabolic burn more than a steady state aerobic workout. It’s a fun way to spice up your training as well as help overcome any plateaus in your weight-loss progress.

 

3. I used to get up and run right away on an empty stomach.  Why is this not a good idea, and what are a couple tips for improving this aspect of my training?

 

If you are highly trained, you could probably get away with it. But it’s best to have something in your stomach to break the 8-hour plus fast you had during the night.  When you wake up, your liver glycogen is almost “half empty” because of the fuel you used to keep yourself alive throughout the night.  Before you run you should try at least to get 100-200 quick energy calories, something easily digestible such as fruit juice, dried fruit, or even some yogurt.  Keep it right by your bedside even so you can munch or sip while you put on your running shoes.

When one trains for a first-time finish goal, or breaks from a longstanding routine to reach for a time goal, the results can be highly beneficial.  Physical challenges to the body can arise from this new activity, but it can be hard to differentiate between sore body parts that are an acceptable part of the training and recovery cycle, and the start of an injury that should receive a more cautious approach and perhaps professional attention.    When in doubt, runcoach always recommends a visit to a medical professional.   Here are some suggestions for self-evaluation:

 

 

Is it the same in both legs?

After a marathon, or a hilly shorter race, both quads might be very sore.  If that soreness begins to ease in concert or acts the same in both limbs even while acute, there is a greater chance it is a function of a natural recovery cycle.  If instead one side remains abnormally painful, then a specific breakdown may have occurred which recovery alone won’t address.

 

Do you have to limp while running?

If you are literally unable to put full weight on one leg because your body is reflexively protecting it due to acute pain, it is time to stop ignoring it.

 

Does it persist over a week?

Delayed onset muscles soreness often means that our sore muscles get worse before they get better.  However, that process occurs over approximately a 48 hour period following the event.  If your “no big deal” sore body part is still similarly sore over a week after the stress, and your usual rolling, stretching, icing routines don’t appear to have eased the pain, a more involved problem might be at play. Even if that only means extended rest or adjustment to the schedule might be required, assessment for your own peace of mind might be a good idea.

 

Are you stuck in a repeatedly poor, or downward trending cycle of a chronic problem?

If a particular problem continues to reappear on a regular basis, and whereas it used to be fine with ice, now it needs Icy Hot, and requires a mile walk before running and two days off after….well, that no longer is an acceptably resolving issue!  Try to keep track of these types of issues in your log, so you can avoid letting chronic issues repeat to the point where you can’t run at all. Instead, investigate with a professional whether or not rest or other treatment in the short term can prevent more time off in the long term.

 

While these are a few guidelines worth considering, nothing replaces solid medical advice and great preventative care such as regular rolling, ancillary strength work, and adequate rest.  Be proactive and hopefully stay a step ahead of the need to answer the above questions very often!  Remember the body is a remarkably resilient vehicle.  When it is given proper recovery and treatment the results are terrific and a return to running imminent.

The terms “core” or “core strength” are some of the most common words / phrases heard around the gym or track in recent years.  Many runners would accept the idea that it would be desirable to have a strong core, but rarely do we think about what that really means or why exactly it would be helpful.

 

What are we actually talking about when we talk about core?

Core strength should not be confused with having a rippling six-pack like a model on an exercise machine infomercial.  Although many people with very well defined front abdominal muscles do have a strong core, it is not one and the same.

 

The core could be described as your body except for your limbs, but thinking specifically as runners, your core comprises the parts of your trunk that help stabilize you to resist forces of gravity and allow you to effectively operate those same limbs (levers) in the direction and at the speed you want to go.

 

It is all very plane.

The muscles in the core are what we can most effectively manipulate to change how well the core does its job as we stabilize ourselves in the various directions we want (or do not want) our body to go.  If we want a slight forward lean when we run, or efficiently move up and down hill, we need to have some control over our movement in the sagittal (back and forth) plane.  If we want to keep our balance on rocky terrain, stabilize ourselves with cambered roads, or handle the effects of uneven leg lengths or other forces moving us left and right, we need to have a strong muscles that allow us to affect desired movements in the coronal/frontal plane.  If we want to limit or enhance rotation (usually in running, we want to limit trunk rotation), then we need to strengthen muscles that give us control in the transverse plane.

 

All of these directions and alignment / stabilization needs require us to pay attention to much more than what we conventionally think of as our “core” muscles.  Instead of just surface abdominals, runners are well advised to pay attention to their glutes, back, hip flexors, pelvic floor, and deep abdominals such as the psoas.  If we stay aligned and so our stride remains true, we give ourselves the best chance to run as efficiently as our given anatomy will allow.  With strengthening of the muscles that provide this stabilization and control over the non-beneficial movements we might make (especially as we tire) in the various planes of movement, we allow ourselves the best chance to keep that stride true even as we fatigue and dig deep.

 

Time to turn the core-ner!

When the core is weak or inflexible, often the ends of the levers (limbs) attached must take on some of the unassimilated gravitational stress.  Your sore calf, aching shoulders, tender plantar, or achilles might easily be able to count among its assailants a set of trunk muscles that aren’t doing quite enough to dissipate the forces at play.  Whether you currently struggle with an injury or want to proactively get more efficient and improve performance, core strength is always a good priority.

 

There are many ways to address this via gym classes, videos, and other programs.   However, the important common elements regardless of your favored delivery system should be a comprehensive approach that focuses on the wide variety of muscles from chest to upper legs, and a commitment to consistency on your end.   At runcoach, we have compiled an easy to understand Whole Body Workout with a series of demonstration videos for exercises targeting core muscles.  We encourage you to check it out and use it as your routine or as a starting point for a renewed commitment to core strength.

 

This year, get on board with a stronger core.  With some hard work on your end, you may end up with washboard abs in time for summer, but more importantly, you will hopefully be able to run healthy and long well into the future.

What is a Runner’s High?

 

When we exercise, we expect to feel better as a result.  We achieve a fitness or time goal and are fired up by the accomplishment.  We lose weight and like the result in the mirror.  Maybe, we just do something we have never done before and appreciate the new mental or physical dimension in our lives.  Some athletes, however, claim to feel better after exercise because the exercise itself makes them feel better.  Significantly. Commonly, this is called a “Runner’s High.”

 

This “high” has been explained through the years as a rush of endorphins, neurotransmitters secreted by our bodies during things like pain, excitement, and sex.  Endorphins act a bit like morphine chemically, so the conventional wisdom has been that they feel like it as well.

 

On the other hand, Jude Dickson and her University of Edinburgh colleagues, in their paper Does Exercise Promote Good Health, propose three hypotheses about the Runner’s High:  the distraction hypothesis (it takes our attention away from painful things at the time), the mastery hypothesis (we learn new things and achieve a goal), and the social interaction hypothesis (things are often more fun and seem easier in a group). So, is the Runner’s High a chemical reaction via endorphins, or a psychological reaction that is somewhat coincidental to running?  Regardless, all runners have days where we feel better than others, but the feeling of euphoria associated with this phenomenon can be fleeting or nonexistent for some runners, and relied upon as a pick me up for others.  But, can it be captured, quantified, and achieved systematically? 

Although an internet search of “endorphins” and “runner’s high” yields 70,000 results, that close association has been only modestly borne out by research.   For one thing, it is hard to quantify what exactly a “high” is, as the reflections of athletes differ widely as to how a Runner’s High actually makes them feel.  Secondly, although endorphin levels seem to elevate after exercise (likely because of the stress or pain the body has undergone during the exercise), that elevation doesn’t seem to have a uniformly positive result on mood, according to Sarah Willett in an oft cited article from Lehigh University.

 

The strong association between endorphins and Runner’s High in the wider public view persists. However, despite a well respected 2008 study by German researchers which found a strong correlation between endorphin production and the bloodstream of runners during and after two hour runs, not all agree that the correlation equals causation for the elusive high, in part because the large size of endorphin molecules make them difficult to pass the blood – brain barrier.  And, after all, if there was such a strong direct result, wouldn’t we all enjoy Runner’s Highs after / during every hard workout or run?

 

Other relatively recent studies have linked the same type of brain receptors that play well with marijuana use to a naturally occurring endocannabinoid, which appears to be produced in the bloodstream in large amounts during exercise.  A 2003 study with Georgia Tech college students yielded this finding, as have several subsequent similar or related studies with mice both in the US and abroad.  These molecules appear to be much smaller than endorphins. If they can pass the blood-brain barrier, does this mean that all the times we’ve joked that “running was our drug” we weren’t really too far off the mark?

 

Ultimately, questions remain to be answered about how a Runner’s High occurs, why, and frankly, what it is, exactly.  Runners are like snowflakes.  Each of us is at least slightly different from the rest both psychologically and physiologically, and it might not be unreasonable to think that the difficulties science has had in firmly establishing a cause and effect with this phenomenon lies is the infinite amounts of ways in which running can create a positive effect in our lives.  While we wait to find out what the chemical cause is once and for all, we encourage you to enjoy your Runner’s High not because of why you have it, but for the fact you have it at all.

 

 

Will Drinking Alcohol Affect My Running? Yes, We’re Going There

 

Even if your regular schedule doesn’t include significant regular alcohol consumption, around the holidays the chances that you will imbibe definitely rise.  Whether it is the office party, home with the family, or New Year’s Eve, you might want to run well the next day despite having one or more drinks the night before.  Does it matter?

 

Natural ingredients…all good, right?

Alcohol (ethanol), in the form of beer, wine, or spirits, is ultimately a beverage fermented / distilled from natural base ingredients such as grains and grapes.  So, it’s carbo-loading from nature’s bounty!  Not so fast.  The calories (7 per gram, compared to 9 per gram of fat or 4 per gram of carbohydrate or protein) may come in with each drink, but the loss of sodium and potassium via the diuretic impact of alcohol (see below) causes a greater impact.  According to the American College of Sports Medicine, orange juice has four times the potassium as beer, for example – so the electrolyte gain to begin with is minimal.  Further, since there is no essential need for alcohol in the body (unlike carbohydrates, protein, and fat), it is metabolized first, which leads to a quick release into the bloodstream.

 

Alcohol is also an appetite stimulant. Combine the chemical impulse to eat more with the slower and poorer judgment in play due to the quick release of the chemicals into the bloodstream and the resulting actions might not mirror desirable, sane, and temperate eating patterns during the period of time when drinking occurs.  If the alcohol effects don’t have a big impact, the food consumption impact is also wise to be aware of.

 

Alcohol, the anti-hydration beverage

In their oft-cited article Alcohol Hangover:  Mechanisms and Mediators, Drs. Robert Swift and Dena Davidson write that alcohol causes the body to increase urinary output (i.e., it is a diuretic). The consumption of 50 g of alcohol in 250 milliliters (mL) of water (i.e. approximately 4 drinks) causes the elimination of 600 to 1,000 mL (or up to 1 quart) of water over several hours.  Losing 1 quart of water before any serious physical endurance activity is a recipe for major challenges, and obviously at cross purposes with the intent for a successful run, workout, or race.   Electrolytes are often drained with that water loss, and the initial sedative effects of the alcohol can often give way to restless sleep.  The next morning, drained of water, electrolytes, and quality rest, a cup of coffee or two adds another diuretic to the mix, and a hopeful ibuprofen puts further pressure on the liver.  Very quickly, one can anticipate that quality athletic endurance performance is in jeopardy.

 

Alcohol, between the ears

Dr. Conor P. O’Brien of the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin, Ireland, related to the UC San Diego Athletic Performance Nutrition Bulletin that “many studies have shown that alcohol is actually a depressant that takes its toll on several parts of the body, including the brain. It slows reaction times, delays the thinking process, suppresses the immune system, and affects recovery time from injury.”

 

So, a night of a few drinks can leave you dehydrated, depleted of electrolytes, underslept, with slower reaction times, a suppressed immune system, and longer recovery time.  Is there any good news?

 

The good news

Over the past several years, a few studies at Harvard and UC Berkeley among others have indicated a relationship between components of alcoholic beverages and good health. Resveratrol (an antioxident found in red wine) has been shown in some studies to have a health impact on par with general calorie reduction over the long term.  A glass of red wine per day is said to have an impact on heart health through other anti-oxidents called flavanoids. Plant products called saponins also can block the body’s production of bad cholesterol.   Many other green shoots are on the horizon, indicating potential benefits from moderate alcohol consumption.  However, not many of these benefits appear to have immediate benefits – on the other hand, Dr. O’Brien states that consumption of several drinks can leave cellular effects in the body up to three days afterwards, and two nights straight of drinking can leave its mark for five.

 

How to be proactive

Whether drinking is a desired or unavoidable component of the night before running, or part of an unwinding process post-race or run, consider some measures you can take to limit the negative effects alcohol can have on your body and its performance.  Make sure you have eaten before you take the first drink, to slow down the digestive process to a manageable rate for your liver and your brain.  Drink a glass of water before and between every drink to lessen the diuretic effects of the beer, wine, or spirits.  Choose club soda over juice and make sure to include ice in your drink to moderate caloric intake.  Alcohol can inhibit your body’s ability to regulate its temperature.  Anticipate feeling colder or warmer than normal and dress with that in mind.  Practice moderation, stretch out each drink over several sips, and drink at a time of night when you still have a fighting chance for a decent night’s sleep.

 

As yet one more variable to consider at this busy time of year, the effects of alcohol likely will vary from one runner to another.   Remind yourself of your goals before you raise your glass and stay motivated to keep your consumption moderate.

 

 

 

 

AK: Socks are the item actually touching your skin so you want them to be working harder than your shoes at keeping your feet comfortable.  Technical running socks are designed to keep your feet comfortable and dry.  When this happens your feet will have less swelling, fewer hot spots and fewer blisters.

AK: Two of the best innovations are anatomically shaped socks.  This means some socks are made specifically left and right.  This puts the padding and durability in the high wear areas and softer materials in non-critical areas.  Another innovation in running socks is a high stitch count. Basic cotton socks are typically stitched at about 72spi (stitches per inch), but a good technical running sock will be at 174spi with some of the best at 210spi.
AK: Try to buy your socks from a specialty store like On Your Mark in Los Altos, California. The staff will know how each of the socks are constructed and can guide you.  Look for socks by companies that only make technical socks like Balega and Feetures, or running shoe manufacturers that have branched out with socks like Asics and Brooks.  Choose a medium weight sock to start.  As you start to feel the difference, then branch out and try other brands and thicknesses.