admin

You’ve got a solid training plan and maybe even a coach. The summer heat and humidity are no match for your all-season motivation, and somehow you’re finding time to get enough rest and recovery time. Good for you! (And do you mind sharing your secret?)

Even if you’re that “together,” there’s one place most all of us can find room for improvement: the kitchen. As your runs get longer, or you’re putting more of them on the calendar each week, getting enough to eat – and the right stuff – helps your hard work pay off.

So what can runners add to our grocery lists to get the most from our training and racing? We checked in with Ashley Muschiatti, Performance Specialist and Dietitian with Joe Gibbs Racing and Novant Health Sports Performance. She recommends runners try these staples for pre- and post-run success.

Fruit Gels: While these may seem like a treat that’s just for your kids, fruit snacks and sport gels or chews are a great carbohydrate-based snack that contain readily-accessible sugars to provide your body with glucose for your long runs. These quick, easy-to-carry and easy-to-eat snacks are great for quick energy during a run. They’re pretty tasty, too.

Dark Leafy Greens, Red Meat, and/or Iron Fortified Cereals: Iron deficiency is one of the highest-occurring deficiencies in runners due to many reasons including loss of iron in sweat, increased iron needs of athletes, altitude training, and blood loss through exercise’s effects on the digestive tract. Due to those reasons, and more, iron-rich foods should be a staple in the runner’s diet. Red meats and animal proteins like egg, poultry, beef, and fish are high in heme iron, which is the most bioavailable. If you are vegetarian or vegan, plant sources like spinach, kidney beans, and iron-fortified cereals are also great sources of iron. These are non-heme iron sources, so add a source of vitamin C to boost non-heme iron absorption.

High Water Content Fruit: The longer the run, the warmer the weather, need for hydration increases. While hydration is important year-round, during the summer you’ll sweat even more. Along with making sure you get plenty of water, you can also lean on fruits with high water content for additional hydration. Peaches, berries, watermelon, and cantaloupe, are all easy to find during the summer months and can help keep fluid intake high.

Pickles or Pickle Juice: We know that we lose electrolytes in sweat, and we hear all the time about the importance of replenishing sodium. One of the most common ways to do so is through sports drinks with electrolytes and carbohydrates. If all that sugar isn’t your game, consider this: a pickle spear surprisingly has the same or slightly more sodium than a single serving of most sports drinks. Try 1-2 pickles or a shot of pickle juice as a great electrolyte replacement food that also contains other electrolytes to help prevent cramping.

Bananas: Bananas are high in potassium. Along with sodium, potassium plays a big role in muscle contraction and fluid movement in and out of the body’s cells. Potassium usually is intracellular, while sodium is extracellular, but post-exercise (especially running) more potassium is outside of the cell wall wanting to get back in. That’s the science behind the fluid (water) and bananas you find post-race. Consuming both helps return electrolyte balance and get potassium back into the cell to prevent cramping. Nectarines, baked potatoes, and yogurt are also high potassium food sources.

Running is a great workout, a stress reliever, and (most of the time) is an all-around great time. But, sometimes we run into issues when we are pushing our mileage. We all know the feeling as soon as it starts, our toes, legs, chests, or underarms start warming up, we try to change up our form to fix it but… here comes the chaffing! Why does our skin do this?

Chaffing is nothing to be ashamed about and we guarantee you that every runner you know has had an experience with it. So let’s talk about what you can do to fix it before your skin even starts heating up.

What Causes Chafing While Running?

The main cause of chafing is friction. Think about it, all of the places that we mentioned chafing and the places where you get it are places where your skin moves back and forth against itself or your clothes. If you go for, let’s say a 5mi run and you take the average 2,000 steps per mile, each step for 10,000 steps is another opportunity for more rubbing of skin and skin/ skin and clothes.  And did we mention that the presence of heat and moisture makes chafing worse by making your skin more susceptible to it. Running is the perfect storm of factors to create uncomfortable chafing. But how do we stop it?

Here’s how to Stop Chafing While You Run

• Lubricants: The Holy Grail! Body Glide, Squirrel’s Nut Butter, or even Vaseline, and other products like this create an instant barrier between your skin and the things rubbing against it. Sport-specific products like Body Glide and Squirrel’s Nut Butter and others are specially formulated for athletes and can hold up to friction, rubbing, and the heat. All while being invisible and not making you feel oily. We swear by the stuff!
• Moisture Wicking Materials: No Cotton Socks! When you go on runs you want to make sure that you are wearing clothes that are made for working out. They usually provide some kind of moisture wicking and heat dispersion that your normal clothes do not. As we mentioned, getting rid of that moisture and heat as quickly as possible will lower your chances of chafing.
• Properly Fitted Shoes: Having extra space in your shoes can lead to more space for your foot to slide and create friction and heat. Not having enough space can lead to your toes rubbing against each other. The moral of the story is be like Goldilocks and choose the shoes that fit just right!
  • We suggest visiting your local running store so that they can make sure you find the right shoe for your body and the way you run
• Bonus: Toe socks are a great option for people that still need a little more help keeping those toes safe from chafing and blisters. Toe socks, from makers like Injinj and others, allow for each of your toes to be separated by their moisture-wicking fabric to help cut down on moisture, heat, and friction build-up.

We’ve all dealt with it at one time or another, when you feel that heat start to build you know you are starting to chafe! But there are things we can do to stop it before we even get to the run. Make sure that your running kit is giving you the best chance possible to have a great run, with zero chafing.

Shoot this article to a buddy because like we said… everybody chafes!

A Runners’ Guide to Ticks

Even with all the things to worry about, ticks are still pretty high on our list. For starters, anything that wants to ruin our run AND requires a “blood meal” at our expense … let’s just say we’re not fans. Looking at you, mosquitoes and vampires. But let’s just stick with ticks here.

No argument here; ticks are super gross. They go through several stages during their lifecycle to adulthood, requiring a blood meal at each stage to survive. Ticks can feed on mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. In the process, they can also pass along potentially serious or even life-threatening infections, like Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, bartonella, and viral encephalitis. As an added bonus, they’re active practically every month of the year.

“Ticks are a routine problem in Charlotte and the surrounding area since we have such mild winters,” says Dr. Sloan Manning, a family physician at Novant Health Salem Family Medicine. He says he sees ticks and tick-borne illnesses regularly at his practice in Winston-Salem.

Ticks can’t fly, run, or jump, so they hang out in places they’re likely to find a host, ready to climb aboard. They identify well-used paths and potential feeding grounds by detecting all of the signals we or another host might broadcast; like breath and body odors, body heat, moisture, and vibrations. If that’s not nightmarish enough, some species can even recognize a shadow. From there, they’ll perch on the tips of grasses and twigs, waiting for their hosts to brush by.

While researching ticks is not far from the stuff of Jordan Peele movies, Dr. Manning says ticks shouldn’t scare you from getting outside and enjoying a run in the woods, the park, or family time outside. And yes, a little prevention will go a long way.

Before and during your run:

• Choose bright colored clothing. That may help you more easily see ticks before they get a chance to latch on.
• Use a tick repellant. It can be sprayed on clothing and exposed skin.
• Stay in the center of the trail or path. Remember; ticks hang out at the edges waiting to hitch a ride.

After your run:

• Get out of your running clothes as soon as possible. For lots of reasons, actually.
• Give yourself a full-body inspection. Pay particular attention to underarms, between legs, behind the ears, at your waistband area – even under your watchband.
• Take a shower. No, you can’t wash off any attached ticks, but you may feel some you missed and possibly rinse away any that may not have latched on.

What if you find an attached tick?

• Don’t rip the tick from your skin. Using tweezers, forceps, or a tick removing tool to grab the tick as close to the skin as possible and gently pull straight up and out.
• Wash your hands, clean the bite area and the tools used to remove the tick.
• Save the tick in a plastic, sealable bag and date it with a permanent marker. This can help your doctor identify the tick and, should you get sick, diagnose any possible tick-borne illnesses.
• Report any fevers or rashes to your doctor.

Some tick bites can go unnoticed, reminds Dr. Manning. Ticks may bite, feed, detach, and disappear without you even knowing. Even if you’re not in the woods or on the trail, your lawn or pet can present an opportunity for exposure.

“Tick-borne illnesses should be on the mind of your health care provider,” reminds Dr. Manning, “and they should be on yours if you are active outdoors.”

If you’re anything like us, you’re rushed and seemingly always tight on time. When you get time to run, you want to get out the door and go. But making time for a good, dynamic warmup will make sure your body is just as ready to go as your mind. That’s where the perfect warmup comes into play! Your perfect warmup doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. 

We checked in with our partners and coaches at Forward Motion and asked for their input. So without further ado here it is: your perfect warm up! 

We know you won’t be doing all of them before every run, but adding a handful of these to your pre-run routine is sure to improve your workout.

Encyclopedia of Perfect Warm Ups

Grazers: These wake up that whole back chain of things, starting with the lower back and continuing through the toes. Put one foot forward, pointing your toes toward your shin. Bend from the waist with hands down reaching toward that outstretched leg and graaaaze that leg. 

Step, switch, repeat 10 times each side. 

Hip Openers: Standing straight up with your hips facing forward and shoulders over them, lift one out and to the side, gently applying some pressure to feel that adductor wake up. Bonus for rolling your foot around to warm up those ankles. 

Take a step and do the other leg. Repeat ten times with each leg.

 

Hip Closers: Just do the opposite of the above and feel the abductors say hey. 

X10 each leg 

 

Hurdlers: Stand with hips steady and pretend you’re going over a hurdle with one leg—swing that baby over in a slow, relaxed movement for 10 times and then repeat on the other leg. 

Skips: Lift one knee up and forward to waist height while keeping your back leg straight as you come off your toe in a skip. Keep it going alternating legs. Keep those arms loose and your posture tall.

Swings: Find something to stabilize you, like a wall and keeping everything above the hip still, including that booty, gently swing the leg forward and back —don’t overthink this one, and don’t over-swing. 

Keep your foot flexed on the swinging leg X10 each leg

Now, turn to face the wall and swing your leg horizontally, in front of you. If you keep those hips steady and facing forward, which you want to do, it won’t be a huge range of motion. That’s ok. 

X10 each leg

Wrap Up

Life keeps getting busier and there are no signs of things slowing down. However, making time for a quick warmup is always worth it. Ten minutes on the front end could very well save you from injuries later which will cost much more money and time. So really you can’t afford to NOT warm up! 

Let us know which of the Forward Motion warmups is your favorite!

Running can be a time to zone out, recharge, and reboot. A good run should leave you feeling tired, but energized (if you know, you know)! But what about those long runs or the ones where you just aren’t “feeling it”? How do you get through those? You could try running with a buddy, or listening to music, but have you ever tried listening to a podcast? A good podcast just might become your new running obsession!

Better Than Music?

Could listening to podcasts really be better for your running than listening to music? Well of course, everyone is different so it’s very subjective, and what works for us, might not work for you. However, there are definitely some benefits to listening to podcasts over your regular music playlist.

• Pacing: Podcasts don’t have a beat that you can get swept up in, making it easier to maintain your pace
• Tough Runs: You are unlikely to have heard the episode of the podcast before (unless you like to re-listen lol) so your attention will be focused on the story and not on a potentially difficult or boring run
• Motivation: For those of us that need an extra reason to get out of the door for a run you can restrict your podcast listening to runs only. That way if you want to know what happens in the next episode you’ll have to get your miles in.

Podcast Recommendations

Which podcasts to listen to though???  It seems like everyone and their brother are hosting a podcast these days. Come to think of it, we have a podcast too, Running Around Charlotte Podcast. With so many options we decided to ask the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors which podcasts they like to listen to on and off the road. Here are some of the top contenders:

• Running Around Charlotte (of course)
• Normal Gossip
  • Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Check out S1E7 for a tale of a marathon PR that may or may not have happened.
• The Popcast
  • A weekly podcast educating you on things that entertain, but do not matter.
• Ali on the Run
  • Every week, Ali talks with inspiring people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond, from the fastest runners in the world (Des! Molly! Aisha! Emma!), to the runners who make up the middle and back of the pack. Here, every runner is seen and celebrated, and we all get to pick up the pace together.
• Morning Toast
  • Take a bite out of The Morning Toast, weekdays with Girl With No Job & Jackie O.
• Armchair Experts
  • A podcast that celebrates the messiness of being human.
• Jocko’s Podcast
  • Retired Navy SEAL, Jocko Willink and Director, Echo Charles discuss discipline and leadership in business, war, relationships and everyday life.
• Bare Performance Podcast
  • The Bare Performance Podcast is a weekly show focusing on topics around fitness, nutrition, peak performance, and more.

The Wrap Up

Podcasts could be a great addition to your workout routine and your life in general! There are definitely some benefits that podcasts give, over listening to your same old running playlist. Give some of the podcasts that our ambassadors suggested a try and let us (or even better, them) know what you thought about them.

We can’t wait to see you out on a run listening to podcasts really soon!