Run to the Finish Line - Jeff Horowitz

Training Tips

Hydration

What Is Dehydration?

Dehydration occurs when your body loses sufficient water to affect performance and health. Your body uses water, in the form of sweat, to shed excess heat during hot-weather training. This water comes primarily from blood plasma. Unless you replace this water, your blood will thicken. This makes it harder for your heart to pump blood to your muscles, which deprives them of them oxygen that they need to perform. It also makes it harder for your heart to send blood to the capillaries near the surface of your skin, so your body has a harder time cooling off. The result: you slow down and heat up. As this occurs, you can move into heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke, which can be fatal.

Keep in mind that researchers are finding that over-hydrating can be an even more serious problem, called hyponatremia, or salt depletion. I recommend that you weigh yourself before and after training to see how much sweat you’ve lost – and how much fluid you need to replace – so that you can plan your training accordingly. Also, see my webpage on hyponatremia for more information.

What are the signs of dehydration?

1. Dry skin. You should always be sweating during exercise, particularly in the summertime. If your arms are bone-dry, you should take that as a warning sign that you need to start drinking more.

2. Cold or clammy skin. There's no reason why you should be feeling cold on a hot summer day, unless your body is stressed from lack of water.

3. Nausea. A big warning sign!

4. Disorientation. This is a tough one to spot, but here's a tip: try to think of some fact or list you should be able to remember, like your home address when you where growing up, your high school teachers, or your favorite cousin's phone number. During your run, see if you can still remember your chosen fact. If you're having trouble recalling it, you might be on the road to dehydration.

How Do I Stay Hydrated?

Proper hydration occurs slowly, so the best strategy is to drink regularly, both during training and throughout the day. To get an idea of how much fluid you can lose during training, weigh yourself before and after exercise to see how much weight you've lost. You might be surprised to find that on a hot day, it's not unusual to lose five pounds of water. And remember: a 2% loss in body fluid can seriously affect exercise performance, and further loss of fluids can be dangerous. So your strategy should be to drink regularly before and after exercise, and to replace lost fluid by taking a sip every five to ten minutes during exercise.

So, what should you drink? Water is the old standby, but a sports drink, such as Gatorade, not only replaces lost fluids, but also essential minerals that are crucial to proper muscle function and health.

What Can I do if I Get Dehydrated?

Remember: heat stroke doesn't suddenly happen. Before you hit the danger zone, there are warning signs and a progression of symptoms. The earlier you spot these and react to them, the better your chances of staying out of trouble.

The first thing you need to do once you recognize that you're experiencing one of the signs of dehydration is to slow down and take in fluids as soon as possible. Get something to drink wherever you can: a fountain, a friend with water to share, or a convenience store. Don't be proud: you can slurp water from a garden hose, or knock on someone's door and explain the problem. You might be surprised to find that people are usually happy to help out.

Also, try to cool off as quickly as possible. Pour cool water on your wrists, and over your arms and head. Wet your cap or sweatband and put it back on your head. If you don't feel better, sit down in a shady area and rest until you do feel better.

And finally, if you still don't feel better, seek medical help. Call 911. Don't be brave; this is a potentially dangerous situation, and if you're still not feeling well, emergency medical care can save your life.

If you follow these tips and keep aware of how you're feeling, there's no reason why you need to be afraid of the hot summer days. Train smart, and have fun!

Nutrition

The best approach to eating well as a runner is to just eat a balanced diet: plan for about 65% of what you eat to be complex carbohydrates, such as rice, grains, pasta, fruits and veggies. Another 25% should be protein, from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, or soy products, and 10% or so should be from fat, preferably unsaturated vegetable-based fat, like olive oil.

All the general rules that you've heard over the years about eating healthy are still true: the best way to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, as well as to maintain a healthy body, is to reduce your consumption of saturated fat (that is, animal fat), and processed sugar. I'm not saying that you must eat only grass and tree bark, but avoid fried foods, cut away all visible fat from the meat you eat (if you eat meat), and cut down on candy and other sugary foods.

Try to eat a good variety of food. Pay special attention to eating fruits and vegetables; your mother was right: they're very good for you -- all filled with anti-oxidents and phyto-chemicals, which are both being proven to fight cancer. Aim to eat at least two different kinds of fruit and three different kinds of vegetables every day.

Rice, cereal, bread, and pasta are also good for you, but if you're trying to lose fat, you should limit your intake of these foods, since they are packed with calories and don't have as much nutrition as other foods. Don't have more than two slices of bread each day, and limit the amount of these other foods as well.

Nuts and seeds are also good--yes, they have fat, but it's UNsaturated fat, which is actually good for you, and they also have protein and minerals. Fish is another great source of protein, and also has a type of fat -- omega 3 fatty acid -- which scientists believe reduces the risk of heart disease. Calcium, from dairy and green leafy veggies, is also important for strong bones.

Many people have been asking me questions about high-protein diets, whether it's the "Zone" diet, the Adkins diet, or some other plan. I DO NOT recommend this for you. The body does need quality protein -- somewhere around one half gram of protein per pound of body weight -- but it doesn't need as much as these diets recommend, especially not at the expense of complex carbs. You also need carbohydrates for fuel. Protein is a lousy source of fuel; its best use is to repair tissue. And a high-protein diet puts strain on your kidneys.

When you eat can also be as important as what you eat. The best way to eat is to graze; plan on having many small meals throughout the day. If you give your body a regular supply of food--say, at least a little something every 2 hours--you body will be happy and secure. If you skip meals, your body will panic, since it thinks that the famine might be coming. The body will react to this by making a bigger effort to save calories as fat, which we don't want and don't need! So eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but also have a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon snack, and even a late-night snack if you want one.

People also ask me about supplements. If you have a good, varied diet, you don't need supplements, but how many of us really have a good varied diet? I bet there aren’t many hands in the air out there right now. So as a catch-all, if you want to take something -- and I'm not saying you must -- a general one-a-day type vitamin would be fine.

For breakfast before a training run, you’ll want to put some fuel in the tank, but you shouldn’t eat anything which that be hard for your body to digest. So plan on having something light, like a banana, apple, cereal, toast, oatmeal, muffin, or bagel.

Also, watch your portion size. Over time, the average portion size for many foods has grown significantly, making it difficult to not overeat. You can lose weight and still eat your favorite foods by decreasing your portion sizes by half. When dining out, ask for a to-go container at the beginning of the meal, and place one half of the meal into the container. At home, measure out a small portion of your snack rather than eating out of the bag. Eating slowly will help prevent you from eating past the point of fullness, since it generally takes 15 or more minutes for you to feel full.

Another way to look at serving size is to use your hand. A serving of protein should be about the size of the palm of your hand. Green vegetables and salad greens could be the size of two fists and starchy items like potatoes or pasta should be served in a portion about the size of one tightly clenched fist.

Finally, eat every two hours or so. Skipping meals will only result in overeating later.