Is better hydration the secret to improving my running performance?

For most of us, the answer is a resounding yes. 

[EDIT 2019: current research shows loss of body weight is not a great measure of dehydration and it’s effect on your performance]

A conversation with a client the other night prompted me to analyse my own fluid intake during races. It was surprisingly little, even though I’m well aware of the value of hydrating. It’s interesting how you can overlook the little things.

Dehydration resulting in a loss of just 1% of your body weight can cause a loss in performance. Levels of up to 3% are quite common in sports of around 1 hour duration, and you can reach this level quite quickly if you go into an event under hydrated. Studies have shown when dehydration causes a 3-5% loss in body weight, work capacity decreases by as much as 35-48%. One of our runners weighed in before and after the SMH half marathon to find she’d had a 2% loss of body weight-probably more as she was weighed in the clothes she ran in, which would have retained some of her sweat, therefore weighing more.

To find out how much fluid you lose during an exercise session you need to weigh yourself naked before and after the session, or if not naked, in the same dry clothes before and after.  Weighing yourself before you exercise, then weighing yourself afterwards in the same clothes will give you a false reading, as the clothes you run in will most likely retain some of your sweat, giving you a heavier reading. Take the difference of your pre-exercise and post exercise weights, then add 100 gms for every 100mls of fluid taken in whilst exercising. This will give you the amount of fluid you have lost during exercise. Each kg of weight lost represents 1 litre of fluid lost. You should measure this long term, and take note of temperature and humidity as well as exercise intensity, and use it to predict how much fluid you should take in during the course of an exercise session.

How do I know if I am  dehydrated?

If you’ve lost more than 2% of your body weight using the method above, you’ve definitely moved into a dehydrated state, and remember just a 1% loss of body weight can cause a loss in performance. Other signs and symptoms include

  • Thirst/dry mouth
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Fatigue and tiredness. Literally feeling like you could just stop running and go to sleep.

Other more serious signs and symptoms include vomiting, tingling of the limbs, muscle cramps, difficulty breathing and death.

Most if not all of these could be put down to something else, but if you get a few of the symptoms, it’s worthwhile doing an analysis of your fluid intake during a race. Think about how much you drink prior to the race as well as during. You’d be lucky to take in 150mls from each of those little plastic cups you scoop up at the water stations (I have just measured one about 3/4 full).

How much fluid should I take in to perform at my peak?

This depends on a number of factors. To get a true idea of how much fluid you should take in during a race, you need to go through the pre and post workout weighing procedure over a period of time to predict how much fluid you are going to lose, given a certain set of circumstances. Things that effect your dehydration rate include:

  • temperature and humidity
  • exercise intensity
  • how used you are to the conditions
  • clothing
  • baseline hydration status
  • individual differences

Pre-race hydration

You should go into an event well hydrated. The colour of your urine is a good indication of your hydration status. If it’s clear, you’re well hydrated. If it’s like tea, then start drinking. For a week or so prior to your event, be very conscious of the colour of your urine, and adjust your fluid intake accordingly.

Fluids on the day

Keep in mind that each person’s needs will be different, but as a rule of thumb you should go for:

  • 500-600mls of water of sports drink 2-3 hrs before the start. In reality, this means having about a glass and a half of water when you get up. This will give your body time to pass any excess water out of your system before the race.
  • 200-300mls 10-20 minutes before the race
  • 200-300 mls every 10-20 minutes to maintain fluid loss at less than 2%

If you don’t normally drink before the race, be a little cautious about going all out on these recommendations first up, but you should be working towards around about these amounts over a period of time. Practice on your long runs first, then try it in a race.

If you don’t normally grab a drink at every stop, do so. Even if you just take a couple of mouthfuls each water station, that will help, but taking in a couple of cups would be better.

If you’re a bit scared of changing what you consider to be a proven formula, even if on analysis you realise you’re not taking in nearly as much water as indicated above, at least make sure you go into race day well hydrated. Do the wee test. Make sure you drink enough water for your urine to be running clear the day before the race. Even if you do nothing else, you will most likely see an improvement in your performance through this alone.

Reference: National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for Athletes J Athl Train. 2000 Apr-Jun; 35(2): 212–224.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1323420/ sited June 24th 2013
 Image courtesy of Marcus / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

DISCLAIMER: Any information contained in this document is obtained from current and reliable sources and is solely for the purpose of interest and information.  Individuals receiving this information must exercise their independent judgment in determining its appropriateness for their particular needs. The information and training advice is general in nature and may not be suited to the recipient’s individual needs. Medical advice should always be sought when starting an exercise program. As the ordinary or otherwise use(s) of this information is outside the control of the author, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to the effect(s) of such use(s), (including damage or injury), or the results obtained. The author expressly disclaims responsibility as to the interpretation of the views contained in this article, ordinary or otherwise. Furthermore, the author shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. The author shall not be responsible for any damages resulting from use of or reliance upon this information. Readers of this document are solely responsible for compliance with all laws and regulations applying to the use of the information, including intellectual property rights of third parties.

 

Gold Coast Marathon 2013

One of the major events we’ll be focusing on next year will be a trip to the Gold Coast for the Gold Coast Marathon (and half marathon, 10km, 5km, and 4km and 2km kids’ dash)

Early in the New Year you’ll be given an opportunity to join our private Gold Coast Marathon Facebook page. We’ll also be putting together some complimentary training programs for each of the distances for you, which will include fun runs in Sydney we’ll be targeting leading up to the event.

Keep your eye out for more info in the New Year.

Take a look at the Gold Coast Marathon site.

If you’re interested in any of the races, particularly the longer distances, use the next few weeks to make sure you are training consistently. Set aside 3 or 4 days of the week that you will train, and stick to that. You should be aiming for 1-2 interval training sessions/week, 1 session/ week which will be a longer run, or become a long run, and 1-2 shorter runs per week.

For anyone just starting to think about stepping up to a longer distance (which could be any distance really, depening on where you are with your training at the moment)your training up until the New Year might look something like:

 

Day one: interval training group session

Day two: 10-20 min run @ 5-6/10

Day three: 20-30 min run @ 3-410

Day four: 30 min run @ 3/10

Day four will gradually build up to a much longer run, so you need to pick a day on which you can spend up to a couple of hours training, and keep that day for your long run. Whilst it’s not a long run yet, it will be.

 

We love the Gold Coast event because:

  • You head north for the sun in the middle of winter
  • The temperature is great for running. Not too hot, not too cold
  • It’s a pretty flat course, so if you can mentally handle the out and back nature of the course, you are likely to do a pretty slick time
  • It’s well organised
  • It’s a great opportunity for a road trip
  • There are lots of distances, so everyone can have a go. If you set your sights too high, you can always drop down a distance
  • An easy, flat course for kids in the 2km and 4km
  • Lots of theme parks (though I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing)
  • Lots of inexpensive accommodation

 

Favourite Interval Training Session

Richard, what is your favourite interval training session?

“That depends on what I’m training for, and what stage of my training I’m at. My main focus is usually a 10km race, so I like to pull out this session every so often. It’s a great speed endurance workout, and terrific for helping you to run on how you feel, rather than any set time. The key is to really take notice of how you’re feeling in your warm up”

Warm up

10 min easy jog followed by 6 * 100-200m run throughs at the desired pace for the session. The main part of the session is run at perceived current 10km pace – ie the pace you could race a 10km fun run right at the time of the training session.

You can use these run throughs to help you determine how fast you should do the main part of your session. Either use a Garmin to measure your distance and pace, or do the session on a track.

Run through a couple of 200’s at an effort that you feel you could run your 10km at. After the first few, you should have a good feel for what sort of pace you’re on for the session. Then you can assess what pace you’re running at, and apply that pace to the main part of your session.

So, to clarify (hopefully).

Easy run for 10 mins

2 -4 * 200m run throughs at a pace that you feel you could race a 10km in, based on how you feel right now, when you’re running, NOT based on previous times, PB’s, or times you’re hoping to achieve in the future. In fact, not based on time at all, just on how you’re feeling.

Once you’re comfortable that you’ve got the pace you can race 10km in, have a look at the actual pace you are going. Do another 2 or 3 * 200 and either using a Garmin or other GPS device, look at the pace you are going, or time the 200m and multiply by 5 to get your KM pace.

Core Session

10*1km @ perceived 10km pace (as assessed in warm up)

30 sec standing recovery between each 1km interval

Cool down

10 min easy jog followed by some stretching.

 

Tell us your favourite running session.

Running With The Kenyans

Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn, is a great read, and is now one of my ‘Top Shelf’ books.

Despite his rather “un-anglo” name, the author is an anglo-saxon English guy who felt he never quite reached his potential as a runner and is keen to find out ‘the Kenyan secret’. Even though he’s not what you would call a top runner (38 min for 10K), he and his family move to the town of Iten, in Kenya, to live and train with some of the fastest distance runners on earth, Finn’s keen to see if he can work out exactly what makes the Kenyan’s so good. As you’d expect, it’s not a simple answer.

One of the keys to the success of Kenyan running, is Brother Colm, who Finn spends some time with. Brother Colm is an Irish priest, who came to Kenya in the 1970’s to teach at a local school. He inherited the athletics coaching position, even though he knew absolutely nothing about the topic, but he has since produced dozens of Olympic Gold medallists, World Champions, and World Record holders from 800m to the Marathon. You could say he has an abundance of ‘fairly’ good talent to choose from, however he’s obviously used it wisely.

There are plenty of great anecdotes throughout the book. A favourite of mine is when the author is trying to phone a 2hr 4min marathoner..He happens to call the wrong number, but not to worry, the person who picks up the phone is a 2 hr 5 min marathoner, so he’ll do. In most parts of the world, 2 hr anything marathoners are fairly hard to come by! Talk about a concentration of champions. Of the 4000 people living in and around the town of Iten, 1000 are full time athletes!

I found this book very easy to read. It flowed along nicely without getting bogged down in the detail of his daily life. Throughout the story the author gradually builds the relationships he is developing with his ‘team’ of Kenyans who are training for the Lewa Marathon with him, Finn’s first. Running your first marathon is intimidating enough, but add to it the hazards of running through the open African savanah (read: LIONS!), and you’ve got a real challenge on your hands.

Finn’s descriptions of his early morning runs evoke wonderful images of runners making their way to the meeting spot in the pre-dawn African light. Nothing needs to be pre-arranged. Everyone knows where to meet. You just show up at 6am, and (if you’re a white guy), hope you can keep up the pace.

Anyone interested in running and/or wishing to improve their running will get a great deal from the book, through inspiration, some technical advice, and finding out the secret to what makes these Kenyans so good.

Happy Reading

You can grab a copy of Running With The Kenyans from the Book Depository. Right now the soft cover edition is 40% off, at $18.71. And you receive free shipping worldwide.

Running is good for me! I can feel it in my bones.

Oesteoporis and osteopenia are often considered to be diseases of post-menopausal women. Sufferers of these diseases that don’t fall into that category are often assumed to be exceptions to the rule. However, bone density is an issue which affects both men and women.  Did you know that 1 in 3 men over 60 years will have an osteoporotic fracture in Australia, as will 1 in 2 women? [1]

There are countless studies evidencing that regular physical activity on a long term basis has an important role in maintaining bone health, but when it comes to maintaining bone health, all exercise is not created equal.

 

 

Running vs Cycling as a Bone Builder
In 2007, a study from the University of Missouri-Columbia[2]  found that men participating in predominantly low-impact forms of exercise have an increased incidence of oesteopenia, resulting in two times the risk of bone fracture.

The study measured bone mineral density in forty three competitive male cyclists and runners ages 20 to 59. The study found that:

  • The cyclists had significantly lower bone mineral density of the whole body, especially of the lumbar spine, compared to runners.
  • 63 percent of the cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip compared with 19 percent of the runners.
  • Cyclists were seven-times more likely to have osteopenia of the spine than the runners.

Quite staggering results considering the subjects of the study were competitive cyclists and runners aged under 60.  Even the runners had a relatively high incidence of oesteopenia of the hip and spine!

Some Bone Density Facts.

  • Studies in pre- and post-menopausal women show that bone mineral density will increase 2 percent to 3 percent after six months of resistance training three times per week. These small changes are quite significant, as a 1% increase in bone density reduces the risk of fracture by 5%. [3]
  • Low bone density in males often remains undiagnosed and inadequately treated and, after suffering a fracture, men are less likely to receive follow-up care than women.
  • Bone loss in women is approximately 1% – 5% per year after menopause
  • When they occur in men, fractures due to oestoeporis or oesteopenia are associated with higher disability and death, than in women.
  • Every 5-6 minutes, someone is admitted to an Australian hospital with an osteoporotic fracture. This is expected to rise to every 3 – 4 minutes by the year 2021, as the population ages and the number of osteoporotic fractures increase.
  • About 50% of people with one fracture due to osteoporosis will have another. The risk of future fractures rises with each new fracture. This is known as  the ‘cascade effect’.
  • People who have had two or more osteoporotic fractures are up to 9 times more likely to have another fracture The risk increases to 11 times for people who have had 3 or more fractures compared to someone who has not had one.
  • Two thirds of fractures of the spine are not identified or treated.

Risk Factors for Oestoporis

  • Family history of osteoporosis and fractures
  • Women are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis than men, mainly due to the rapid decline in oestrogen levels after menopause.
  • Men also lose bone as they age, but their bone mass generally remains adequate until much later in life
  • Use of cortico-steroids (commonly used for Asthma)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Over-active thyroid or parathyroid glands
  • Coeliac disease and other chronic gut conditions – which effect the absorpotion of important nutrients such as calcium
  • Chronic liver or kidney disease
  • Smoking
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • Diet lacking in calcium
  • Lack of sunlight exposure, which may cause vitamin D deficiency
  • Sedentary lifestyle over many years

In Men

  • Symptoms of low testosterone levels such as impotence  and lack of libido

In Women

  • If your period has stopped for 6-12 consecutive months (excluding pregnancy, menopause or hysterectomy)
  • If you experience early menopause
  • Consumption of more than 4 cola drinks per week in women (cola drink consumption does not seem to have an impact on bone density in men).

What can you do to reduce the risk of oesteoporisis?

  • Choose your parents wisely
  • Include weight bearing exercise such as running, resistance training, stair climbing, skipping, hopping, as a regular part of your life.
  • Be aware that any positive gains in bone strength are lost when you stop exercising, so that it is important that your exercise is regular and ongoing.
  • Ensure you receive adequate amounts of sunshine to boost your vitamin D levels. “To get enough sunlight to produce vitamin D, a person needs to expose their hands, face and arms (around 15% of body surface) to sunlight for about 6 – 8 minutes, 4 – 6 times per week (before 10am or after 2pm Standard Time in summer, for moderately fair people).” [4]
  • Ensure your diet includes an adequate intake of calcium, as calcium is vital to maintain bone strength.

Your daily calcium needs depend on your age and sex.

Children 1-3 yrs 500mg/day
4-8 yrs 700mg/day
Girls 9-11 yrs 1000mg/day
12-13 yrs 1300mg/day
14-18 yrs 1300mg/day
Women 19-50 1000mg/day
51+ 1300mg/day
Pregnancy 14-18 1300mg/day
19-50 1000mg/day
Boys 9-11 yrs 1000mg/day
12-13 yrs 1300mg/day
14-18 yrs 1300mg/day
Men 19-70 1000mg/day
71+ 1300mg/day

Be aware that dairy is not the only good source of calcium. Tahini, nuts and salmon (with bones) are also great sources. See our Calcium Rich Foods table for some more ideas.

Barefoot Running: The Bare Facts

 

Vibram 5-fingers
The Vibram Five Fingers is perhaps the most minimalist of the minimalist shoes.

Catalyst (ABC TV 6th September) ran a story on barefoot running with some interesting analysis of barefoot and shod strides. When a runner shifts from running in shoes to barefoot running, the gait pattern changes from landing on the heel to landing on the whole foot or mid-fore foot. There is greater ground reaction force when wearing a running shoe, and the calf muscles work very hard with barefoot running. The metabolic cost of running increases with barefoot running.

 

There is some great analysis in the Catalyst piece, of the way different muscles work when running barefoot compared to running in shoes, which serves to highlight the fact that you can’t just throw away your shoes one day and start running barefoot, and expect not to get injured. Like anything new, you should ease into it slowly. And by slowly, we mean gradually increase your barefoot mileage over a period of six months or so, and don’t do all of your running in bare feet or in minimilist shoes.

 

The increased demand on your calf muscles means it would make sense to include calf raises in your strenth training for at least 6 weeks prior to starting to run barefoot, along with some good calf stretching and strengthening when you start to leave the shoes behind.

 

Is barefoot running for you? Not necessarily. It really depends on the structure of your foot and your biomechanics, and your willingness to make gains little by little. It certainly does feel great running in barefeet or with minimal footwear every now and again!

 

 

Go to the Catalyst article, and also take a look at some of the links provided at the end of the transcript. It makes for interesting reading regardless of whether you are an devotee of the barefoot or minimalist approach.

 

Tell us your experiences with barefoot running and minimalist running shoes. Do you love it? Do you hate it? If you think you’d like to try it, ask us for advice.

Downhill Running

 

Fall gracefully. That’s about it really, but hard to achieve when you fear you might fall flat on your face at any moment. Firstly, before you do any significant amounts of downhill running, you need to prepare your body for running downhill.

Downhills are often preceded by uphills, so first thing to remember is to leave something in the tank for what’s coming after the uphill part of your run. If you get to the top of the hill so spent you can hardly stand up, your downhill form will be somewhat less than perfect, and you won’t be able to reap the benefits to be gained from running downhill well. See our article for more on uphill running technique.

 

And now for the downhills.

Gently lean your body into the hill. Relax and it’ll gently pull you down. Don’t lean back and try to brake yourself. Fight it and you’ll end up with sore quads and frustration when you see people powering past you on the downhill-those very same people you just overtook on the uphill!

It’s tempting to take huge leaps when running downhill, but do try not to overstride. Keep your feet low to the ground, and stay light on your feet. Your leg turnover should pick up. Keep your steps quick. Your stride will naturally lengthen a little as the ground drops away beneath you, so to keep your steps quick, you may have to try to shorten your strides up a little. Each footstrike should be very light and very short. With shorter, more frequent steps you absorb less shock per stride.

Lean forward into the hill. The lean should come from the ankles, not the hips. Shoulders should be slightly in front of you. Land with your foot just a little bit behind your hips, not directly underneath you.

 

Practice makes perfect.

The more you practice running down hill, the more confident you will get, the more relaxed you will get, the better you will get at it, the more confident you will get……Take every opportunity to focus on your downhill form when you are out running, and include some specific downhill sessions each week. Start out with a short gradual slope perform 30 second downhill intervals at race pace. Gradually build up the length of your intervals and your speed down the hill, to about 20 secs faster than your goal race pace.

The most important aspect, as with any training plan, is to avoid overdoing it. It’s normal to be sore as you adapt to downhill training, but too much downhill running can be detrimental, leaving you overly fatigued and prone to injury.

Lastly, don’t expect to get the hang of downhill running on your first attempt. Like most thing, it’ll take a bit of practice before you have that light bulb moment. When you get it right, you’ll know.

 

View this video for more on hill running.

Watch the Video