Ryan

Sugary fruit can lower your blood sugar? When to take ice baths?

/ Roundups / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Coming to you a day early so we can all enjoy our Thanksgiving.

Sugary fruit can lower blood sugar?

Even though most Americans get way more sugar than we should, we all know the importance of reducing sugar intake to lower our blood sugar and reduce our risk of chronic diseases.

What if some sugary foods actually lowered our blood sugar levels, though? That doesn’t make much sense, does it? Well, it might actually be true:

Fruits such as blueberry and mango may help with blood sugar regulation, even though they contain sugar. They may not have very strong effects like medications do, at least in isolation, but a diet rich in different plants may compound the benefits of any one single plant food.

It seems crazy on the face of things but, in a way, it makes sense. We evolved to eat natural foods like fruits. It makes sense that the sugar in fruits would not be harmful to us like the sugar in unnaturally processed food is.

So now we have another reason to enjoy fruits as a great snack or dessert.

When to take ice baths?

We have known for decades now that ice baths are good for recovery. However, as with many other methods to speed recovery, we now know that they may actually be detrimental during training because they will reduce the training response. In other words, you recover more quickly but you don’t gain as much fitness.

However, there are still some cases, such as shortly before a race, where ice baths can still be beneficial. Shortly before a race, you’re not trying to get additional training benefit. Your primary focus is on max recovery.

So when to take the ice bath and when to skip it? Here’s a handy cheat sheet.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. As always, I’m incredibly thankful for your support.

Running during the holidays

/ Training / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Image

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away. Stores already have their Christmas products out. It’s the holiday season, a great time of the year but also a time of the year when keeping your running on track can be a challenge.

With travel, family events, and plenty of tasty but not necessarily healthy food, how do we keep our running on track so we can hit the new year ready to run strong?

I have a few practices I use to keep my running on track during the holidays.

Always take your gear with

Even if you’re not expecting to have a chance to run, take your gear with. An opportunity may present itself.

Plan to run early

As I’ve gotten older and had more responsibilities, I’ve found that the earlier in the day I plan to run, the better chance I have of getting the run in. The later in the day you plan to run, the more opportunity there is for your plan to get derailed.

Be flexible

While you should plan to run early in the day, don’t tie yourself down. Maybe a family breakfast will happen, maybe you have to hang around on Christmas morning until the kids open their presents. Whatever the case, be flexible both in the time of the day you run and in how much time you need.

Don’t be hard on yourself

It is the holidays. It’s a special time of the year. You might be seeing family you only see once a year. There are special events going on that only happen once a year. You have running every day. If you miss one run, it’s not the end of the world. Just get back on track as soon as possible and figure the once a year experience is worth it.

Taking a break

/ Training / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

It’s that time of the year again. Some of us have already finished our fall racing seasons. Some will be soon. All of us should be thinking about taking a break.

Why take a break, especially if we finish our racing season and are feeling good and highly motivated? Because your mind and body need it. If they don’t demand it now, they will. Nobody can keep going forever. It’s far better to take a planned break when you have no races on the immediate horizon than to take an unplanned break when your body or mind gives out as an important race is approaching.

What should you do for your break? It depends on you. Personally, I think almost everyone would be well served by taking some time completely away from running but, as most of you are probably are aware, I don’t do that myself. Running is such a big part of my life, far beyond competition, that I need to have it there. I’d probably have a mental breakdown if I was forced away from running for any significant period of time. So I keep running, short and easy. No “training” allowed, though. I’m just running because it’s what I love to do. If that’s what you need, then at least do that. If you can take some time away from running, all the better.

How long should the break be? Again, it depends on you. I think everyone would benefit from at least 4 weeks once a year with a true break from training. I usually give myself 4 weeks with no training, then tell myself I’ll start training when I feel ready again physically and mentally. That means I’m both physically feeling good and mentally feeling motivated to do the work that comes when training starts.

Once your racing is done, give yourself a break. Your body and mind will thank you with better training and racing next year.

Running: good for fighting colds, also good for the knees?

/ Roundups / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Running is good for a lot of things. We already know that, right? Well, here’s a little on the positive aspects of running.

How exercise may help us fight colds

Have you ever noticed that fit people are sick less often? You’re not imagining things.

Working out could help us fight off colds and other infections, according to a timely new study. The study, which found that regular exercise strengthens the body’s immune system in part by repeatedly stressing it, was conducted in animals. But the results most likely apply to people, the researchers say, and could offer further incentive for us to remain physically active this winter.

Is running good for your knees?

I’m sure we’ve all experienced people telling us that we’re ruining our knees. The interesting thing I’ve noticed recently is that, lately, people who are younger than me will say this while complaining how their knees ache. What’s up?

There has been some research suggesting that, much like stressing our immune systems to build them up stronger and stressing our muscles to build them up stronger, running can do the same for various structures of our joints.

Well, here’s another study that attempted to address a possible reason running might be good for the knees. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive. There were some interesting results but there simply wasn’t enough data to say anything conclusively.

That said, we already know that, regardless of what your non-running friends tell you, running is definitely good for your knees. So keep it up.

Race report: Shooting for 21 years

/ Race Reports / 6 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

As most of you probably know, one thing I take great pride in is my consistency. I may not have the great peaks that some runners around me have had but I keep plugging away all the time. The best representation of that is my streak of consecutive years having run at least one sub-17 5K.

I never broke 17 minutes in high school. My first ever sub-17 didn’t come until I was about a month shy of my 19th birthday. However, once I went sub-17, I haven’t looked back. No, not every 5K I’ve run since has been a sub-17. However, for every calendar year since my first time under 17 minutes in 1996, I’ve managed to go under 17 minutes at least once. This year, as has been the case a handful of times recently, it all came down to my last planned race of the year.

Coming off subpar performances in both of my prior races this fall, my confidence was a little shaken. I’ve done this every year for 20 years, I know how to do it. However, do I physically have what it takes this year? Going into the fall, I felt my training was slightly better than last year but both races I ran were well off what I expected of myself and I just didn’t feel that quickness on race day.

After Al’s Run (I still owe a report on that, it’s mostly written up, I’ll post it soon) I was very concerned about the streak but I also quickly formed a plan. My endurance isn’t my limiting factor, my ability to get up to a quick speed isn’t my limiting factor. It’s my ability/confidence to hold that speed that’s lacking. So I set out a training plan with lots of half mile repeats at or close to 5K pace.

I started this plan 3 days after Al’s Run and ran enough half mile repeats over the next month that I think I burned myself out a bit. That said, I now had the confidence that I could hold pace and I could feel that pace in my sleep. With a taper, my legs came back to me and I was feeling ready. Mostly confident but not quite as sure of myself as I usually am.

On race day, I was still telling myself I know I can do this and my legs just know how to run sub-17 in October. The weather was nearly perfect. I convinced myself it was going to happen. It would be close but it was going to happen.

After a longer than planned warmup, it was race time. There were a couple high schoolers there. The grandson of the race director has been gunning for me for a while and he’s been getting closer every year. Another high schooler I talked with for a while before the race is a sprinter who does cross country for stamina training in preparation for the 400. He wasn’t expecting to be much competition for me. As always, though, this is where I go to run fast. I don’t care what the competition is. I’m going to run hard gun to tape and see what happens.

At the start, the director’s grandson went with me. I expected him to gradually drop back pretty early but he held on. And he kept holding on. I was a little worried that I might not be going as fast as I expected but I just focused on keeping a quick rhythm. I was trying to get out hard but, obviously, I don’t want to take off sprinting in the first half mile of a 5K.

Shortly before the half mile, we take a turn and leave the park where the race starts and head out to a bike trail. About this time, I noticed I was getting separation. OK, if things go to plan, I’m running the rest of this by myself. Just keep pushing. Up an incline to cross a highway, then back down the other side. I see the people who will be giving mile splits ahead and just keep pushing toward them.

As I approach them, the guy calls out 5:25. Given the fact that I thought I heard a 5:34 split last year and ended up with a 16:45, this means I’m either in good position or going to pay for the faster start later. Either way, the only thing that I can do right now is keep being aggressive. I keep pushing with the empty trail ahead of me to the turnaround and get around there while losing as little momentum as possible.

On the way back, I can see I have a respectable lead on second, the race director’s grandson, and he has a solid lead on third, the sprinter. I give both a thumbs up as I run by them, then try to draw on some inspiration from seeing the other runners go by. I keep pushing, reminding myself that every step counts, but feel like I’m fading just a bit. I remember that I have some cushion so that fade isn’t the end of the world but I can’t keep fading. That gets me going again.

Into the third mile, I keep fighting this. I feel like I’m fading but I keep pushing harder. If I am actually fading, it’s not much. I believe I can do this.

After crossing the highway, I’m back on the course with the 1 mile walkers heading out. They are using the whole trail but most see me with plenty of time and give room to pass. I’m a little worried at a few points about kids who seem to be all over the trail getting very close to me but, fortunately, there aren’t any incidents. At the turn into the park, I had to find my way through a bit of traffic but did so fairly easily and without incident. Then I have the park to myself. With about a half mile to go, it’s me against the clock. I push harder, harder, feel like I’m speeding up a bit. I see the mark I picked out as 1/4 mile to go during my warmup and push more. I get off the trail and know I’m at the 3 mile mark. I try kicking but I have nothing left. All I can do is hope that, when I see the clock, I like what I see.

Then I see the clock. Low 16:40s and I know I have less than 10 seconds to go. I did it! Even after the tough fall season I had, I came through again with another sub-17. I keep pushing to see how far under I can go but my legs are shot. I pretty much just maintain pace and end up crossing the line in 16:51.

That’s 6 seconds slower than last year after I believe being 9 seconds faster at the mile. I’ll take it, though. It’s a sub-17 and I really think I needed a fast start this year given how my past two races went. I needed to get the legs fired up, then just do what I can to hold on.

If the mile split was accurate, I did something else interesting. It looks like I averaged 5:25 per mile, matching my first mile split. I knew I didn’t fade much, if at all, when I felt like I was fading. I knew I managed to get the pace back up. I didn’t realize it all worked out to be overall such an even race.

So the streak lives on. 21 consecutive years with a sub-17 5K. Now, it’s time to start planning my path toward my 22nd consecutive year. Maybe I’ll come up with a strategy that won’t have me waiting until October.

Scroll to Top