Hydration

     It's a given that water is probably (and totally should be) your number one choice for hydration, especially as a runner. It's pure, calorie free, and most of the time it's free simply coming from your own home. Lucky for us, there's more than one beverage that can do the trick for what you want your body to do.

     As I said, water is perfect for before, after, or during runs. But sport drinks (such as Gatorade) are awfully wonderful when your workout is longer, and you begin to feel tired and like you're losing some energy. That's because sports drinks contain electrolytes, and carbs that will help your body absorb water, all together helping you in preventing fatigue. Personally I recommend going for a grab at a sports drink if your run is sixty minutes or longer. Water is always okay, but a sports drink will get you that extra support you may need.

     Second, is beet juice. If you're like me you probably thought "ABSOLUTELY NOT" as you read that. But hear me out. Beet juice has this magical power that gets that nitric oxide production of yours going, and along with that it'll improve your blood flow. As your blood flow increases your muscles will preform more efficiently. I recommend drinking beet juice before a run (obviously, so your muscles are all good to go). Along with that, don't drink it right before. If you're like me, you'll have to take it like medicine. Beets are exactly my favorite thing in the world to eat, let alone drink. The thought actually makes me a little nauseous. But drinking beet juice will make a difference for you. Don't drink it right before you run, either. Drink it about an hour or more before your run, especially so you won't still be gagging when it's time to workout! It's totally worth it, though-especially during weeks or days of intense training.

     Last thing I'll touch on is coconut water. It's very similar to the sports drinks I had talked about a few paragraphs above. The difference between the two, however, is that coconut water has fewer carbs than sports drinks too. If you think about it, though, that 's sort of obvious, since it's much more natural. (377)

When Runners Lose weight

     As a runner, it can be easy to want to lose some unwanted weight. Face it, the less weight you have to carry on runs will translate into a much happier run. The less weight you have to carry, the better.
      If you're like me, you probably thought that running on an empty stomach was the way to go. I was thinking that because there's no food that can be taken in as fat, when I'm running, any fat I had would be targeted, therefore I'm burning off all that fat simply running. It's a win-win. Not. What's really happening is your muscles are looking for the carbs stored in your very mucles as glycogen. Eventually, those stored carbs will run out. And you'll start burning fat once those carbs that were stored in your muscles run out. But once that fat starts burning, you're going to lose energy really quickly. You'd think this would be good that you're burning fat, but by losing that energy you won't be able to help but slow down, therefore burning fewer calories than you would have if you had eaten a proper meal/snack before you began running.
     Along with not eating before running, not eating after a run is just as bad for weight loss. I get that you're probably not hungry after you run. If you're like me, you feel like you're going to do nothing but throw up, and food is the last thing you want. But referring to my previous paragraph, the glycogen in your muscles has been all used up. So thinking (not literally) your muscles are hungry. When you finally settle down and are no longer in your running zone, you're going to realize you're super hungry. This is how you can tell you're a runner! And this is by far my biggest problem, because I absolutely pig out. This will most definantly not get you the results you want. It's hard, becaus you're probably feeling like you're going to starve. But you will not lose any weight this way.
     Here's the tricky thing with running and weight loss. The more weight you have to lose, the quicker you'll lose it. That's a scientific fact. And it's wonderful at first. But as you lose more and more weight, it'll be trickier and trickier to lose weight. Your body will adjust to your new weight loss tactic and as you begin to slim down it'll be harder than it was before when you were trying to lose weight. (420)

Wind Burn

     If you're super dedicated to running and choose to run even in the harsh winter weather, then good for you! Lots of people take winter as their time off, or as I refer to it, their hibernation from running. But if you're like me and need to run in the winter in order to prepare for a spring sport, you probably have noticed that when you get back from a run and strip for your shower, you look as if you have a massive sunburn over about eighty-five percent of your body, along with an uncomfortable itch. I refer to this a windburn.
     I never really don't expect to get windburn during my winter runs. It's kind of just something you have to put up with. And you don't notice you have it until the running has stopped and you've cooled off a little bit.
     So you're probably wondering what it is that causes this strange, itchy, sunburn looking reaction on your skin to such a simple action as running. It's not the running itself, but the enviroment. It's the wind. No matter if it's windy or not, you'll probably notice that you'll always get windburn in the cold. This is because you're still creating a "wind" yourself when you're running. Your body (specifically, legs) is still creating a non-existent impact against the cool air, so you're still going to experience windburn
     You'll probably notice that once you shower and get warmed up again the windburn you're experiencing may worsen. But if I were to break it down scientifically, your skin after you run in the winter is cold. That's pretty much a no brainer. So when you begin to warm up, this is when you'll notice the windburn's presence. That's because as you warm up, blood will flow to your legs (generally when windburn hits the hardest) and your skin will most likely begin to turn red, giving the look of a nasty and way too large sunburn. What causes the itching is when your body releases some of its natural chemicals, like cytokines and leukotrienes. Don't worry, it's not dangerous and it's most likely not going to hurt your skin.
     To prevent and lessen the presence of windburn just remember to put an extra layer on next time you're going to go running. Just be patient and try to suck it up a bit, there's really not a whole lot you can do once you get it. After about half an hour it should go away! (418)

Fixing the Knees

     The knee is basically the main target of injury for runners. Nobody intends to hurt their knees (or any part of their body) but it just simply happens to about half of us. No doubt, it's super frustrating, and seems like it'll never end. I have patellofemoral pain in my knee, which is basically identified to runners as "runners knee". It just happens. There's not a whole lot you can do for it either.
     If you have this too, I'll give you some tips and tricks as to how to fix it (as I am starting to do). First, reduce your mileage. It may suck, and if you're anything like me, you weren't running all that much in the first place, so decreasing any more in milage is basically nothing. Even so, take what you can get. If that still doesn't help, stop running for a bit. Give your knee a chance to simmer down a bit and see what happens next.
     You may cross train if your prefer, especially on bikes, but once again, I found this only worsened the pain and if anything made it worse. It depends on the type of pain and injury you are suffering. Some are able to bike with it, others are not. No two human bodies are the same.
     Here's what really helped me out. Improving the muscle tone of my quads. By increasing the strength of my leg muscles I found that my knee began to improve. Not all at once, but over the course of about a month and a half. I focussed a lot of doing lunges, front squats, and back squats. My knee didn't become perfect, and it still isn't. But it's improved tremendously.
     To take it one step further, I began running again. Sometimes with tape, sometimes with not. I've found that my knee has done the opposite of what it was doing, and has improved! Especially running hills, I have no idea why, but I recommend those to anyone who is in my position. I am unsure of the science kept behind my wacky theory, but I no longer need tape on my runs (but it does help).
      Lastly, don't put un-needed weight on your knees. For example, kneeling on my knees at church on Sundays made a bigger impact that I thought it would. By simply sitting instead of kneeling, it made all the difference. (400)

Nothing But Blood Runs- Heart Failure

     Lately I've been pushing myself pretty hard in my running workouts. Hills have been my best friend and worst enemy. And today, I tackled my worst enemy, the hill I haven't been able to get up without stopping to walk for two years. Not only did I make it up it, but I ran up it. Finally, this is a marvelous day. Sadly, this hill was about half a mile into my run, so it was only the beginning. I was absolutely beat when I made it to the top, and the rest of my run was just miserable.
     Here's the strangest part to it all. I could taste nothing but blood as I reached the top of the hill and for the rest of my entire run. And this wasn't the first time. I noticed a correlation between the more strenuous the workout is the more often I can taste nothing but blood in my mouth.
     I did my research, and what I found made my heart sink into my stomach. I'm still not over it. Tasting blood while you're running or a metallic taste is actually a mild form of heart failure. So that's great to know, right? Not! If you're anything like me you're probably really scared. You're not alone, I was terrified when I learned this.
     But heart failure isn't really the correcting wording for what's going on. What it is, is simply your heart not being able to keep up with the rest of your body. So basically, it's when you're pushing yourself too hard and your heart can't keep up with your body. Better yet, it's common. So you're not alone. And you shouldn't be worried.
    So if you took Biology (as I did last year) and remember anything about blood cells, you may understand this better. But basically our red blood cells carry hemoglobin. Hemoglobin gets carried by central iron. When you're pushing yourself too hard (such as those nasty hills) fluid tends to accumulate in your lungs (nasty, right?) and that's where some of your red blood cells can accumulate. Even better, we cough that fluid up into our mouth, where we pick up the taste of iron, or blood. Yuck.
     Lucky for you, you don't need to be worried. Your heart is simply having trouble keeping up with the physical activity you are doing! You're good to go! (397)

Race Distance

     If you're in cross country, you've probably heard that the state of Iowa has eliminated running a shorter distance than boys in cross country races. Instead of running a 4K, girls will now be racing a 5K, which is the same as the boys.
    To simplify that a bit, girls used to run two and half miles during a race, while the boys would run just over three. Girls now will be racing just over three miles to determine the winner.
     After doing some reading, I noticed that coaches were either strongly for or strongly against having girls race the same distance as boys. By increasing the race distance for girls, coaches began to fear that there would be less participation (let's face it, running two and half miles as fast as you can is hard enough, but now over three?!) and that fewer girls would decide to join cross country just out of fear for the weekly races. I have an argument to that, however. And that is that during practices alone most girls run more than 3.1 miles, usually a minimum practice will have four miles, but average will have about six or seven. Putting it into perspective, the distance of the race will still be less than what the girls are used to running everyday. Yes, it will be physically taxing, and the time that a runner wants will depend on how hard they push themselves, but it won't be an entirely huge stretch.
     Some claim that girls were being discriminated when not being allowed to race the same distance as boys. And I'll admit, last season, I was all talk. If you asked me, I'd totally agree that any girl could and can race just as far as the boys. And by having the race distance for girls be shorter than the boys it did feel as though whoever was in charge of the race distance was discriminating against the girls. And speaking for girls overall, equality would be nice (I mean, we still don't get equal pay to the man even if it is the same exact job). But here's the thing. Just because I believe girls can do it doesn't mean I personally want to!
     I have no doubt that a girl could beat a boy in a race, and this doesn't mean that girls and boys will be racing together. But what if it did? Would boys still be laughing that girls were "asking for it" when a girl beats their time? (420)

Patellofemoral Pain Sydrome

    My most recent diagnosis. It's a funny name, isn't it? Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. That doesn't even sound like a real thing. It's sounds like something doctors made up for patients that whine too much but don't have anything actually wrong with them. Upon hearing this, I felt stupid. Really? I went all the way to see an orthopedic surgeon for him to tell me my knee hurts? I left the office feeling really dumb, like I wasted my money and the surgeon's time.
    So here's what Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is. It's pain in the front knee. That's really simple, pain in the knee can have more than one diagnosis. It sounds like something the elderly might develop, right? Wrong. It's actually common in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes. This, at least, makes me feel a little better.
     If you'd prefer me to get more in depth, sometimes, and note that I say only sometimes, it is the cartilage under the kneecaps fault. It wears down, softens, or gets rough. This can be caused by many things. Overusing your knees could be the problem. Especially intense training (such as cross fit, which happens to be the first time I saw this "syndrome" peaking around the corner at me) can be the cause. Another can be excess weight. Typically, athletes and excess weight don't really align, but if this is the case, an easy fix may be in place, and just try to shed a few pounds.
    And finally, and this is what's causing my problem, a shift in the knee cap. Yes, my knee cap is shifting to the left (my left, your right) and it is as painful as it sounds. I can't tell you what the direct reasoning for this is, but I might guess overuse. This developed during this previous falls cross country season. I wasn't running (surprise, surprise) but biking. This is strange, considering that the biking I was doing was far less physically taxing than the running workouts.
    The pain only accelerated once I tried running again. At this point, I recognized that there was a more serious problem at hand, and decided to mention it to my physical therapist, who then sent me the the orthopedic surgeon. My anger intensified as I was sent away with a laugh and a snort and told that if it hurts me, just quit. Or, if I'd rather, they could give me monthly Cortisone shots. (406)

Taking It One Step Further

     Once you're able to run without walking, things will get interesting for you. You'll realize that you have certain areas, trails, or streets that your body prefers when it comes to running. This will either help or hurt you. Some may have reached their goal at this point, with being able to run without stopping and are simply getting into shape.
     For those who have picked up running and intend to put that skill to competition, this may hurt you. I'm not saying you personally preferring one area or trail to another will hurt you, but your body preferring one to another will.
     My body doesn't like hills. When running hills too often on my running course my hip flexors will become intensely tight and will start to cause problems for my entire body. Heck, I can't even put on pants and need to get my hips professionally fixed. I feel most would agree with me that my body naturally preferring one terrain to another will hinder my racing performance. And it does. During cross country races especially, I find myself slowing down naturally going both up and down hills while others take advantage of the downhill time. It's always been my weakness, and I know it.
     Part of the battle itself, however, is knowing your own weaknesses, and kicking your weaknesses butt. As a runner, you may already know that just because you feel like you're going to die or you're the most miserable you've ever been doesn't mean that you will not be okay. In fact, it's been scientifically proven that runners develop a higher and stronger pain tolerance. Use that as your excuse to keep going, to tell your body not to give up. Of course, take care of injuries, but you have to be mentally tough as well.
     By running different terrains and such, your body will adjust to all types and become stronger overall, which in the long term will improve your races and competitions. This is important because you cannot expect every race your run to be the same, and you have to be prepared for every obstacle that will be thrown at you.
     Every runner has some type of weakness, but that doesn't mean you should ignore it and let it control your running experience.

If You're Ready to Start Running

     After you have been walking and exercising for a while you may feel (as you should) that you're ready to take a step up to the next level- running.

     Here's the thing: don't just randomly start running one day. Yes, it's what I did, but I didn't find it all that great. I recommend that you begin with walk/runs, which is where you'll run a bit and walk a bit for your workout so as to not put a load on your heart and muscles directly all at once. I'll admit, it's tempting to just go running once you feel fit enough, but adding bits of running onto your walks will make you stronger, healthier, and will help you prevent from getting future injuries.
      If I were you, I'd make it your goal to run without stopping for an hour. That is, if you're looking to become a distance runner. If you average about ten minutes per mile, which is a nice and steady pace that won't be too physically taxing and won't kick your booty, you should end up with about six miles total once your run has ended.
      With that, listen to your body. It knows you better than anyone else (wink wink) and can tell you when something's not right. You must pay attention to aches, soreness, and cramps. As you increase your mileage, you'll notice a difference. Every day can be much more difference than the day before. It either gets harder or easier. Along with increasing your mileage, as you naturally increase your time and pace per mile, you may notice new pains and aches. Don't ignore those. Pain is a way of your body telling you to stop doing whatever you're doing. That doesn't mean quit, necessarily, but take note and try to fix whatever is bothering you before it intensifies.
     Lastly, and I'm sure you've seen me blog about this before, get the correct shoes! Just because your shoes have a fancy brand such as Nike does not mean that they are going to do what you need them to do! Running is different than walking. You rely on different parts of the foot and put stress on different types of body parts. Find a store that specifically focusses on running and running equipment with specialists that will be focussed on getting the correct shoe based on your foot type. (398)

Getting Into Running

     For everything that you do, there's a beginning. You obviously knew that and didn't need me to write that, but sometimes you need a reminder that everyone starts somewhere. So maybe you're reading this and are extremely unhappy with your weight, or your fitness level, or sit on the computer literally all day reading things and have no motivation to get up and get moving. Like I said, everyone starts somewhere.
     If you're reading this blog it's likely you may have a slight interest in running or working out. Good for you! But maybe you don't run, and you want to. You may be curious as to where to start or how to begin.
    After being out of running due to an injury and spending all my time at physical therapy, I became panicked as I realized I would have to jump right back into running and practicing with my team the very next day. Aside from that, it was the middle of the season, so my team-mates fitness levels were out of this galaxy compared to mine. Going from light workouts and healing to harsh and taxing running is terrifying. That's one thing I don't recommend you do.
     If you're not in any sport and you want to pick up running simply as a hobby then (once again, good for you!) you'll have a much more pleasant experience.
    I recommend you begin with walking. Try to walk at least four times a week. Note that there is a difference than just walking around and walking with a destination. Walk so that your heart rate is up and you may even break a sweat. I'll admit: I absolutely hated doing this. When all you want to do is run and your doctor hasn't given you the okay to do this it's almost embarrassing. Along with that, being a teenager and having to power walk around your neighborhood can make you feel as if you've gone down a notch on the cool scale. It's easier to be an adult power walking than a teen. And if you are a teen and you are embarrassed by simply walking, you can walk on a treadmill or a more private place than out on the streets.
     Begin with a fifteen minute walk. It doesn't need to be too physically taxing, but put some effort into it. Enjoy what's around you, but don't forget your goal. Each walk you take, increase either the time or speed, but don't break into a jog. By the end of a maximum of seven weeks you should be at a time of sixty minutes per walk. If you can do this with ease, it's time for you to jump up to run/walks. (454)