Hyponatremia and other fun words

So yesterday was the sports nutrition clinic, and I don't think I've had a better presentation of health and healthful eating in all my countless heath classes. Seriously, it was so informative and helpful. A woman named Tricia, currently studying to be a Registered Dietitian, and who is also a Triathalon coach with Team in Training, gave the presentation. We learned all about the additional calories we'll have to take in every day to make up for everything we're burning while training. I'll have to get around 429 extra calories in each day, which may not seem hard, but it goes against all that is the female psychie! We also talked a lot about what to eat before, during, and after the long workouts. Yup, we have to eat during the workouts too, which is where the gel packs and electrolyte/sports drinks come into play.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm actually a little nervous about this part. I knew of, but had never really experienced the science of running before my training began. Let me explain- your muscles use up glycogen when you workout (this is the stuff in your body that your muscles use for energy), but the glycogen is gone in about 90 minutes. In order to keep going, you have to somehow replace the glycogen. So, if you're working out for anything more than 60 minutes, you really have to replenish with things like the gels and sports drinks. I have to start playing around with the timing (i.e. whether I need to fuel up every 40 minutes or if I'll need it earlier of later than that), and products. I'll have to test out different gel packs and and bars, as well as drinks. Up until this point, I have been a hydration purist, just water for me. Unfortunately, water has no electrolytes, and too much water can cause hyponatremia, basically flushing your body with water and dumping sodium and electrolytes in the process. (Confused yet? Welcome to my world, haha!) During the race, I'll only be able to drink about a bottle's worth of water, everything else I hydrate with will have to contain electrolytes. It's a little mind boggling, but hopefully I'll find something that works well pretty quickly.

Luckily for me, the Saturday runs I have coming up this month will be the perfect time to try out new products. They are long enough to need fuel during the run, but short enought that if I try something that doesn't work I won't be miserable for too long either. Apparently, at every marathon there is quite a crowd around all the porta potties, and I have been warned that I do not want to be one of them. Gross, I know, but that's why experimenting and finding exactly what works for you is so important. Maybe my stomach can't digest protein while running, and it's in one brand of gels. Unless I figure that out, I could be doomed on the course, and I can't think of anything that would be worse on the day of the race.

So, that's my life currently. Lucy, a fabulous girl on the team, and I are going to get together and run on the greenway this Saturday. Since it's a holiday weekend, we're on our own to train. It's six miles on Saturday, so it should be a good one. Today I had to cross train, so I went to an hour-long body sculpting class with my mom, and even though I was the only person there under the age of 50, I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow :)

TNT is going to be sending out some of the formulas and spreadsheets that tell you how many calories you should be taking in, how much you should be hydrating during your workouts, and other fun things like that. If anyone is interested in looking at those, just let me know and I would be more than happy to email them to you. Also, you can create a personalized daily "diet goal" of sorts, telling you how many grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and proteins you need each day at www.mypyramid.gov. Pretty cool stuff!!

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. - Alan Cohen