Hi all,

This Napa Marathon and weekend recap is brought to you by our very own Vera who graciously provided details on the weekend. A couple of notes:

1. Jacob ran his fastest marathon at 4:21 and I believe Art may have PR’d at 4:23 as well. Considering the rain and all, that is pretty cool.

2. Maha also provided some feedback on the race as she had a pretty good race and was able to finish strong despite the weather. The 800’s seemed to really help her stay focused towards the end of the marathon.

Here is Vera’s recap of the weekend.

Well, the Napa Valley Marathon is behind us.
Jacob and I drove to Sunnyvale on Friday to visit with Jacob’s sister. We
took our time driving, stopped at various places like  Harris ranch for a
coffee break, went to Gilroy to smell the garlic and shop at the outlet.
On Saturday, we drove for about 11/2 hours to the beautiful Napa valley.
We went straight to the expo.  The merchandise were overpriced , so we did
not buy anything. We picked up our bibs and disposal chips and were
given one duffel bag and one backpack as a souvenir.  That day we had a
great lunch and dinner , Napa style minus the wine which was a torture for
me.
We took the shuttle on Sunday to Calistoga  @ 5:15am.  It was a cool rainy
morning.  We arrived around 6 and waited in the bus for about an hour .  We
also hooked up with Maha, Rosie and Art.  Everyone was quite at the start
line, waiting impatiently for the Marathon to start..  We did not even
noticed when the race started!
Jacob an Art took off right away.  They started together and finished
within couple minutes of each other.
Us ladies started together, but by mile 3 , I sped and left Rosie and Maha
behind.
I was surprised at myself for doing this race and finishing it.  I did not
train properly this year.I spent almost one year nursing me knee.  I had no
pain the whole way.. So, I think that I am back in business.  Only time and
patience healed my injury.
The marathon route was extremely scenic.  We ran from Calistoga to Napa
along the beautiful Silverado trail where many famous wineries like
Rutherford are located.  It was a rolling course, we started at an elevation
of 365 and ended at 94.  It was raining, non stop, the whole time.  We had
water/ gatorade and bathrooms every 2 miles. After mile 17, we had also
bananas  and oranges .  All together the marathon  support was great.
At the finish line, there was hot soup  and food for the finishers. There
was also massage service  and hot showers  for the runners, but I did not
take advantage of these services because I could not wait to go tho the
hotel and get rid of my wet soaking clothes.
I checked on the Internet our finishing times, only the clock time results
are posted:
Jacob 4:26
Art     4:28
Vera   5:46
Rosie 6:02
Maha 6:02
I don’t know why the chip times are not posted.  We also lost few minutes
because we did nor realize when the race started!
Jacob and I went to a nice Italian/French restaurant that evening and
celebrated with a great Pinot Noir.
We drove back to La yesterday in the rain storm.
Despite the rainy weather, I recommend this race. Go and enjoy it, don’t
worry about race time  and make a vacation out of it.
That’s all, hope to see you soon
Vera

Hi all,

We have a short 9 weeks to train for any of these four races which fall on May 2nd and May 3rd. All of them are in California and two are local to LA while the other two are a bit of a drive. The two local ones both have Half Marathon distances so keep that in mind if you are not up to doing the full monty. Also, if you haven’t been running a lot lately, take all runs pretty easy. You can push a bit on the 800’s when we do them, but everything else should be in your happy zone.

Below is a PDF of the schedule or for the PDF challenged there is a JPG of it also. Enjoy

may-2009-marathons

Rodney

Well our long runs are now upon us as we draw ever closer to the LA Marathon. In the coming months we have several long runs scheduled and you will now more than ever need to listen to your body for signs of oncoming injury. Here are some ways to help you through an injury:

  Any time you do on an activity that requires significant motion, such as training for a marathon, pain may not be too far behind. The key factor in analyzing this pain is whether the pain is related to an actual injury or is just a by-product of the activity itself. For example, after running for several hours, it is quite normal to feel stiffness or pain in various areas of the body such as the knees, ankles, feet and lower back which is a “good” pain. In most cases this type of pain is not indicative of an actual injury or the onset of an injury, but instead, it merely indicates extreme effort. It is an important part of marathon training to learn to distinguish “good” pain from “bad” pain. Bad pain is often the beginning of an injury and you should deal with it as son as possible. Obviously, if the pain persists beyond a couple of days and is not related to muscle soreness, then an actual injury may have, in fact, occurred and it is highly recommended that you seek professional medical help as soon as possible to lessen the downtime required for the injury to heal successfully.

  We can classify pain into two categories. (1) Sharp pain that comes on very quickly and is quite intense and localized to a specific area is usually a good indicator that an injury has occurred. Common examples would be pulling a hamstring muscle, twisting an ankle or other readily apparent and obvious damage. (2) Pain that started out as a minor annoyance and has built gradually over time into significant discomfort, such as ITB, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis or stress fractures, can only be healed by reduction, or in the case of a stress fracture cessation, of training. Such this type of pain should not be ignored and should be properly diagnosed by competent medical professionals.

  Any of the above types of injuries can really curtail your ability to exercise; therefore, prevention and early identification of these injuries and associated pains is essential. Good form, proper stretching and strengthening exercises, common sense, and adherence to proper training and recovery guidelines goes a very long way towards preventing injuries.

  Most minor injuries respond well to RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation). Let’s use the typical twisted ankle as an example. You twist your ankle. If the twist is not severe, you may be able to continue, albeit at a slower pace as needed to get back to the start.

Upon arrival, apply ice to the area damaged by the twisting. Using an ACE bandage, one can adhere the ice pack with a little bit of compression onto the injured area. The bandage should be wrapped firmly but no so tight that blood flow is inhibited. One then should prop the foot up so that the injured area is higher than the heart. You may need to lie down to achieve the proper position. The ice should be left on for no more than 20 minutes at a time, and there should be a thin piece of material between the ice and your skin to prevent ice burn. The process can and should be repeated throughout the rest of the day and at least twice a day until there is no more pain and you have resumed full training. It is important to continue to ice for a few days after everything seems fine since inflammation can easily reoccur.

  Elevation is also quite important and is often overlooked in the healing process. Elevating the injured area above the heart slows the normal blood flow to the area, which reduces swelling and allows the body to heal the tissue faster.

  When using an ACE bandage, one needs to make sure it is not wrapped too tight or this will restrict blood flow to the rest of the limb or in this case the foot. The bandage should make X’s when wrapping around the foot, and it should be snug, but not so tight that the skin color of your toes is different from the skin color above the ankle.

  Rest the injury. If you have consulted a doctor, wait for your doctor’s okay before resuming your training. Starting back too soon can cause a reinjury.

  Anti-inflammatories (such as Advil) are quite useful as well. The big caveat here is not to become dependent on their use in order to continue your exercise program. Always follow the directions on the bottle, and do not exceed the maximum dosage. While these drugs can relieve the pain temporarily, their primary use with respect to exercise and related injuries is to minimize inflammation to the injured area. During the injury/recovery period, it has been shown that taking these drugs prior to starting to exercise greatly enhances the anti-inflammatory affect, which can speed the healing process. In addition to this, one can also use these drugs, again always following a doctor’s advice and/or the directions on the bottle, throughout the course of a day to create a systemic anti-inflammatory effect.

  If the injury does not respond to anti-inflammatories and/or RICE treatments as recommended by a health professional, then it is imperative that you stop working out, and seek further professional medical help.

For certain injuries and muscle pain after runs you can try some gentle massage as well as RICE. Be sure to not massage the area too hard and inflame the injury further, nice and easy does it. Massage can be done with the usual fingers etc., a frozen Dixie cup of ice or a foam roller or any number of massage devices.

Hey there everyone. As I’m sure you all know, the date of the LA Marathon has been moved a couple of weeks earlier to Monday, February 16th. So in light of the change in date we made a few modifications to our training schedule. So here it is. Be sure to update your calendars accordingly. Just click the image below to take a look at it.

 Here are some long run tips in kinda random order:

 If you haven’t started already you should develop a ritual for long distance training days, like laying out all your clothes and necessary equipment the night before and eating the foods the night before that help you perform at your best.  When you find the best pre-long run dinner or the breakfast foods to eat for your long distance training, always eat the same things, that way you won’t be surprised by extra bathroom sightseeing trips or showing everyone what you ate that morning.

  You should do nothing but rest the day before the long distance training. Okay, you may need to go to work, but otherwise take it easy. If you absolutely need to work out, you can lift weights for your upper body only. Don’t do heavy weights and low reps. It is better to do a light weight, higher rep workout instead. No leg activities. Give ‘em a break.

  Nice easy stretching the night before really helps limber up the body and provides good relaxation. You’ll sleep better and feel better when you get up the next morning. Take your time with this, and don’t force any positions; instead, try to melt into the position.

  Try to get a good night sleep for the two nights prior to the long distance training.

  You’ll need to eat during the run approximately every 45 minutes or so. You can try things such as GU gel, Blocks (sort of like gummy bears) or Powerbites (chopped up bits of Powerbars). All of these things can be found at your local running store. Eating keeps your energy levels up; the body can’t function properly without enough fuel. Also make sure some of the food you eat on the long run includes something salty like pretzels or potato chips. The salt helps your body retain water to aid in hydration and also counterbalances the sugar in the other foods that will help prevent nausea.

  As far as hydrating during the run, don’t wait until your thirsty to drink. Take a little water when you stop for a walk break. Take small amounts of water often as opposed to a gob of water at the end.

  If your stomach is not sensitive to anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil, you may want to try taking 2 or 3 capsules before starting out.  You should experiment with this on shorter distances to find out if this works for you. Use good judgment here, always follow the prescribed amount and don’t exceed the maximum dosage.

  Don’t lace your shoes too tightly. Your feet will swell. Shoes that are laced too tightly will become painful and hinder your form and speed.

  You may want to bring some change for a bus or to make a phone call if you can’t make it back to the starting point or finishing point. Make sure you wrap the change in some foil so it doesn’t jingle for the whole run. Oooooh that is so annoying!

  Always carry some form of ID and any other specific medical instructions.

  Bring a dry shirt and some comfortable slip-on shoes for afterwards.

  Lube up!  Make sure you take the time to cover those areas where you chafe with some type of lubrication such as Vaseline, Body Glide, Sportslick, etc. Some common places to chafe or blister are: nipples, feet, underarms and around the sports bra and especially the inner thighs. It is not a bad idea to carry a small tube of this stuff with you in case you need to reapply or you missed a spot. It is much better to take a couple of minutes to reapply than to run with blisters for several miles.

  Arrive early so you can take a few minutes to gather your thoughts, visit the bathroom and perhaps a gentle warm up so you can be ready to have a good run that day.

  Make sure you use waterproof/sweatproof SPF sunscreen to protect against sunburn — anything above 30 SPF should be fine.

  It is necessary to keep your sugar level up.  An easy way, in addition to taking gels or energy bars at regular intervals, is to eat some kind of hard candy.  Low sugar levels affect mood levels. If you notice you are dragging, you might try some hard candy. It gives you something to do by playing with it in your mouth and it is a nice psychological treat you can give yourself.

Don’t get locked into your walk break ratios. If you feel you need to walk before your upcoming walk break you can alter the ratio. For instance: if you are doing a 5:1 walk to run ratio and you are feeling like that next walk break is just never going to come, you can adjust to 2:30 running and: 30 sec walking. You still are doing 5:1 overall but you get a break sooner.

  All of the above are physical ways to deal with the rigors of long distance training but the mental side is just as important.  Here are some mental tips to help you get through this training:

  Maintain a positive outlook. Avoid negative talk in your head as you can talk yourself into a bad day. To help avoid negative talk, the use of mantras such as “Strong, light, smooth” repeated over and over in one’s mind can bring the words of the mantra into focus and allow them to happen. Using visualization techniques such as picturing yourself running strong and fast.

  It may sound silly but, SMILE, it really does help. If you look and act happy your body will soon be fooled into thinking you are happy.

  Talk to the person next to you. Conversation makes the time go faster and the training seem easier (but remember not to get so involved in conversation that you forget to look at the road). Come prepared to tell an involved story that you can share with the group to help pass the time and keep the mood of the group high.  If the majority of the group has a good attitude, it will rub off on everyone.

Relax. This goes for your body as well as your mind. If your body is tight and worried you waste energy your body needs to keep going. When your mind isn’t relaxed you can talk yourself into feeling worse than you really are. Try at the end of every walk break just talk a few deep breaths in and exhale deeply to relax.

Seven of the Twentysixers ran the Long beach Marathon on Sunday.

We had trouble finding Art before the start but somehow he found us around mile one and Olga was trying to qualify for Boston so we didn’t see her, she must have been up near the front jockeying for position. It was a swell day for nice long training run where you get a medal at the end; the six of us were using the race as a long slow training run for another race. It was a bright and sunny morning and the sunshine lasted all day long but thankfully it never got too hot due to a nice cool breeze. The support for the race was quite good although the sign we saw at mile 5 was kind of demoralizing.

It was one of those sign that tells you how fast you’re driving and it said: 06 miles per hour. Not a bad 10 minute pace but when you are used to seeing them say 40 miles per hour you feel kinda slow! Anyhow it was a little crowded here and there until we reached the turn off  where the full marathoners separate from the half marathoners which is where the men are separated from the boys.

Art and I picked up the pace a bit at this point. Art felt great the entire race and I hit a rough spot around the 18 mile mark but then felt fine again around mile 22 or so. It’s interesting how you can feel lousy for a while and then feel good again during a race. All four girls running with us, Laura, Laurie, Kerry and Phyllis had near perfect splits for the whole race and finished feelin’ great.

All in all a great run for us all.

   Since some of us live near hills and might do our weekly runs on hills we thought it was high time to dole out some information on running hills.

  Hills are an excellent way to improve speed and strength, as well as confidence. Hill work is “speed work in disguise” because after running or walking hills, the muscles in your legs get significantly stronger. Stronger legs allow you to go faster with less effort. In fact, hill training is the most sport-specific form of strength training that a marathoner can do. You should run the uphill portion under control and as relaxed as possible as you can and then you can generally make up the time difference on the downhill.  In other words, don’t fight gravity.  You will lose, we always do.

Some tips for up hills are:

1.   Shorten your stride. Don’t try to bound up the hill.

2.   Keep yourself perpendicular to the ground. Don’t lean too far forward or back.

3.   Stay relaxed in your upper body, which means shoulder down, neck and arms relaxed.

4.   You should not be gasping for air. Try to maintain a conversational pace, your running rhythm should stay the same as running flat.  If you can’t talk, slow down.

5.   If you can, do the entire hill in one continuous motion, up and over the crest.  Don’t stop at the top.  Instead use your rhythm which will help you keep your form on the downhill.  You’ll find it easier to pick up the pace from a running start than a walking start.

6.   If you need to walk part of the hill, do so, but start running before you crest the top as this will make the transition into the downhill much easier and more efficient mechanically.

     7. Try and find a comfortable rhythm with which you can run the entire length of the hill. If the hill gets steeper simply adjust your rhythm so that you maintain your original pace. If the hill starts  to flatten out then you can adjust your rhythm to pick up the pace to maintain the original pace. 

Some tips for the downhill are:

1.   Don’t step out on your stride. Instead, either step straight down or think about picking you feet up as quickly as possible. Keep your stride short. By default, gravity will tend to lengthen your stride so you don’t need to actively do so.

2.   Stay perpendicular to the ground. Don’t lean back or forward.

3.   Controlling speed on downhills is a matter of hip turnover.  Instead of leaning back and breaking to slow down which puts a great deal of stress on the joints and muscles, one should think of a shorter stride and slowing down how fast your legs are moving. A good habit to get into is to start the downhill slower than normal so as not to pick up too much speed too quickly and get scared and start breaking which wastes a lot of energy and is hard on the body. 

4.   Don’t try to go too fast to make up time as quads take quite a beating going down hill. When going downhill, you should be as light on your feet as possible. Let gravity just pull you down at a faster and faster rate to the end of the downhill so that you finish with a nice little bit of speed to use to ascend the next hill or cruise the flat.

See ya out there on the hills.

  Because eating habits vary greatly from person to person, culture to culture and season to season, the following recommendations are to be used as guidelines:

  Everyone needs protein, essential fatty acids and carbohydrates along with vitamins, minerals and other assorted naturally occurring chemicals that help the body repair and protect itself from the stresses of exercise, work, play and life. Eating foods that are closest to their natural state is the most beneficial as these foods tend to have the highest concentrations of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, proteins and healthy carbohydrates.

  These days protein recommendations are all over the place depending on which expert you talk to, etc. One expert may say .6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, and another may say 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. All athletes need significantly more protein to repair muscle than do sedentary individuals. The amount of muscle mass an individual is carrying, and whether you are trying to add muscle as part of your exercising goals will also affect the amount of protein you need. Finally, everyone absorbs proteins at different levels of efficiency; therefore, experiment a bit, and settle on a level of protein intake that keeps your body working at optimal levels. Keep in mind that the body has a hard time

handling more than 30 grams of protein at a single meal so you need to eat a little protein with all meals.  Some good food sources of quality proteins are eggs, lean meats, fish, dairy, legumes (beans), soybeans (tofu), rice and some vegetables, such as corn.

  Carbohydrates are an important source of energy that the body uses to fuel absolutely every single process that occurs in the body. It is the preferred fuel source as it breaks down into sugars very easily, and the body and especially the brain need sugar to function. Some confusion may come in as to how much of our diet should be coming from carbohydrates, which type of carbs are best to eat and when is the best time to eat carbs. Everyone has heard that marathoners need to carbo-load. Carbohydrates are the only nutritional component of our diet that does not have a deficiency disease associated with it.  This means that one could theoretically never eat carbohydrates and they would be just fine. Carbo-loading does not generally make much of a difference to the average runner; however, it is important to make sure that all of your glycogen levels are as full as possible prior to a long distance training or race. This is why people carbo-load. There are several ways to carbo-load. We recommend that instead of trying to cram in as much pasta as possible the night before the race, you add a little extra pasta or other types of carbohydrates to your diet for the entire week before a long distance training or race. This will produce the same effect, and you won’t have the bloated feeling (carbs tend to retain water as part of their storage mechanism) from ingesting too many carbohydrates. The best sources of carbohydrates tend to be fruits and vegetables as these items have

a lot of fiber and other nutrients that the body needs to work optimally.  Pasta, potatoes, rice, breads and starchy vegetables have very high levels of carbohydrates, but they are not as nutritious and aren’t recommended in large amounts for individuals trying to lose weight.

  In terms of diet and daily eating, we all have busy lives and sometimes we don’t eat the way we should. When we do eat fast food or something that is not consistent with our training or good healthy eating in general we do know that we should be eating better. We all do know intuitively the proper way to eat. Just try to minimize the fat and sugars and try your best to eat in a balanced way. Generally, 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat will provide a nice balanced diet for an active lifestyle.

It is necessary to keep your sugar level up during long runs.  An easy way, in addition to taking gels or energy bars at regular intervals, is to eat some kind of hard candy.  Low sugar levels affect mood levels. If you notice you are dragging, you might try some candy.

Be sure during the long runs to not forget to take in salt. If you feel nauseated or feel cramps it could be a lack of salt. This can be avoided by taking salt /electrolyte pills or simply eating something like a handful of chips.

Prior to training runs and races you should try and have something to eat that your body can use during the run such as a bagel, Powerbar, banana or oatmeal. Basically something with some carbs and a little protein. You should experiment and try to find out what works best for you. The longer the distance the more food you’ll need.

  All of the above is only a guideline; you need to do what works for you. So you should use the short runs to work out what works best for you and try different things until you find the right things to make your run the best it can be.

see ya out there kids

Stretching is a vital part of marathon training as well as overall fitness. For most of us our days are spent sitting in front of a computer screen in a crappy chair, which kills the lower back. When we work at our desks we usually are trying to see what the heck we’re working on so we crane our necks forward in an attempt to see better. Don’t get me started on the shoulders. The shoulders are almost always rolled forward to access the keyboard better. And sitting a chair all day wrecks havoc on the hip flexors. So after all this abuse we hit the road and run, run, run. What often occurs is, you guessed it, injury. So the following is a brief “how to” on stretching.

Running is basically contracting and relaxing a series of muscles to propel us forward. If the contraction of the muscle is inhibited by the muscle being too short this is when injury can occur. So the point of stretching for runners is to lengthen the muscles to increase range of motion allowing for proper contraction.

When you begin a run you’ll need to do a few warm up stretches to loosen up tight muscles, which have been abused all day at work. These stretches are not like the static type of stretches you see people doing they are active stretches. A few examples are: trunk twists, knee circles and even easy jumping jacks. These types of stretches will loosen the muscles as well as get the blood flowing and “wake” your body up so it is ready for the effort to come. This type of warm up stretching should be done in a controlled comfortable way.

The other more common type of stretching is called static stretching. We have all seen and done this type of stretching. Static stretching is best used after a run as a cool down of the muscles. When the muscles are already warm they respond to lengthening by stretching best. The muscles are kinda like leather, if it is cool outside the leather is much stiffer than if it has been left out in the sun to warm up. This is probably why yoga studios always seem to be so damn hot.

As with everything in marathon training, stretching should be done gradually and built up over time. Whenever you stretch you should only stretch until the muscle is tight, trying to really stretch the muscle until you’re grimacing in pain will only cause you to injure yourself. Here’s how it works: when the muscle senses that is it being stretched beyond it’s limit it reacts by violently contracting in the opposite direction and bingo, ya got an injury. When you have “pulled” a muscle what that really means is that your muscle is in constant contraction. That’s why the doctor gives you muscle relaxers. So although we all love muscle relaxers, they are not that great for our training. So stretch easy my friends.

When you are stretching a muscle try to focus on only stretching that muscle. With certain muscles it is best to achieve the best stretch you should contact the opposite muscle. For example: when stretching the hamstrings you should flex the quadricep to force the hamstring to relax and therefore stretch more efficiently. The fancy term for this is called reciprocal inhibition.

And lastly, the muscles that you need to work on are most likely the ones that you enjoy stretching least. Yup, that means for most of us, the hamstrings and hips, what with all that sitting at the computer and all.

So that’s it for now. We will be having a stretch clinic this Sunday, where we will go in to more detail and show you all how to stretch properly for a healthier happier you.

 Hello again everybody. This week’s topic for marathon training is hydration. I guess everyone knows the importance of drinking plenty of water but there is so much more, so much more. What follows is a series of guidelines for being properly hydrated for not only the Sunday long runs but your mid-week runs as well.

  Get plenty of water the day before long distance training or a race.  Do not over-hydrate. Yes, it is possible to over-hydrate. It is recommended that people start hydrating a couple of days before the race or long training run and keep it until the night before the run.  This way the body can be fully hydrated at least two days before doing a long distance or a race. One should always be drinking water during the week to stay hydrated, and it is essential to not be dehydrated before starting a long training distance or race.  Therefore, everyone should pay extra attention to the two-day hydration recommendation. Stop drinking water at least four hours before going to bed at night to eliminate annoying bathroom visits in the middle of the night.

  In addition to straight water, drinks such as Endurance Formula Gatorade, which contain electrolytes, should be a part of your hydration plan.

  Eating salty foods the day before will help keep the water in your system thus minimizing cramping.  Don’t go crazy on this one just a little more salt should do the trick. This is not a license to eat an entire bag of potato chips! If you have a health condition in which you need to avoid salt eating a little more salt is not recommended. 

  You should drink 4 to 6-oz. of water and/or an electrolyte replacement drink at least every 10 to 15 minutes during long distance training.  For those who are not used to using an electrolyte replacement drink, a weak solution is recommended. A weak solution means a more diluted concentration of electrolytes to water. Usually, take the manufacturer’s recommendations and double the water amount.  As your system gets used to the electrolyte drink, you may want to increase the drink/water ratio. On long runs/walks, hydration is very important, but replacing the electrolytes, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium can also be of benefit.  A rule of thumb is for every 2 plain waters, you should try 1 electrolyte replacement drink. This is a rough guideline, and one should experiment with the ratio that works best for you. Also, heat and humidity can have a profound effect on maintaining hydration and proper electrolyte balances so be sure to up your hydration as well as electrolyte levels proportionately as the heat rises.

  Make sure you fully replenish your fluids after training, especially the long ones. Drink plenty of fluids the rest of the day and the following day to quickly get your body fully hydrated as this will help with recovery and tissue repair.

  Drinks that contain caffeine act as diuretics and can dehydrate a person quite easily. Additionally, substances in coffee can bind with certain minerals and prevent their absorption into the body. If you drink coffee in the morning, try to drink it alone and before eating foods with calcium, as the coffee will adversely affect the absorption of this very important mineral.

  Urine is a good indicator of hydration both before and after running. If your urine is quite clear, not cloudy or colored, then you are probably pretty well hydrated. Urine that has a strong odor is cloudy and/or various shades of yellow, green, etc., is a good indicator that you need to drink more water. Some B vitamins will turn your urine yellow-green so if you take vitamins, bear this in mind.

  Alcohol also has a negative affect on the hydration levels so it is best to avoid it, especially the 24 to 48 hours before a doing long distances or a race.  An occasional drink will not pose a problem, but practice moderation – you’ll be glad you did.

  The amount of water to drink on a daily basis will vary based on the size of the person, the climate and his or her activity levels, but a rule of thumb is at least 64 oz. or 2 Liters (for the metric folk) of water a day. Don’t drink it all at once, but get in the habit of sipping water all day long.  If your job is quite physical, you may need to double or even triple this amount. Listen to your body. If it is telling you to stop drinking water for a while, then do so. If your stomach is sloshing around with water, you probably have drunk enough water for the time being.

  Just like anything else in life, start out drinking an appropriate amount of water, and, you will eventually find that you can not only drink more water, but that your body will use this water more efficiently in repairing your muscles, flushing out toxins, and clearing up your skin.  In other words, don’t start drinking a gallon of water a day if you are used to drinking just few ounces a day. Start out slow and over the course of a few days and weeks, you will be able to handle more water that will benefit your training and racing experiences.

That’s it. Later kids.