Roundups

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

It’s hot out there. Here in Wisconsin, it’s been unseasonably hot for a while now and it’s not letting up yet. To the east, the heat has been settling in and, if what we’ve experienced in Wisconsin is any indication, I’m sorry to report that you might have a while to go.

So what do we do in the heat? Well, the usual things apply. Slow down, drink plenty of fluids, try to run during the early morning or late evening hours. What else should we keep in mind?

Well, for one thing, know what your medications might do to you. This is good advice any time. You should always be aware of the side effects any medication you’re taking, prescription or non-prescription, may have. As the heat bears down on us, remember that certain medications can cause heat sensitivity or exacerbate dehydration.

What’s another thing? Well, a piece of good news. I’m sure we’ve all heard about how dehydration affects our cognitive function. It turns out there may be more to that story than previously reported.

As usual, Alex Hutchinson does a great job explaining where the research is right now. Previous studies on dehydration and cognitive function were not all that well designed and performed. A new study, more well performed, suggested that cognitive function actually improved after dehydrating exercise but returned to normal during recovery and rehydration.

Does this mean that dehydration improves cognitive function? Absolutely not. In fact, some research shows that exercise improves cognitive function. If I were to hazard a guess, that’s where the post-exercise gains came from. However, more important, the results of this study call into question the results of the previous studies and at least suggest that, if there is decline, it may not be as significant as some have wanted us to believe.

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

Does caffeine help? It depends…

Many years ago, I played around with caffeine before a couple of low key races. The results were not good. I just wasn’t myself on the course and couldn’t really seem to push. I didn’t know what was wrong but I never tried caffeine again. I figured maybe I had done something wrong but, even if I did, the stated benefits just weren’t worth it for me.

Well, maybe I didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe I’m just a slow metabolizer.

But the interesting results came when you break down the results by genotype. The fast metabolizers (GG) rode 1.2 minutes faster; the intermediate/slow metabolizers (GA) rode 0.5 minutes faster (not a statistacally significant change); and the slowest metabolizers (AA) rode 2.5 minutes slower.

So if, like me, you find that you just can’t run well after taking caffeine, there might be a reason for it other than you’re doing something wrong. The solution? It should be obvious: don’t bother with it.

A way to prevent overeating?

Whether it’s a long day at work or some other mentally challenging task, have you ever noticed how you get the munchies? Well, there may be a simple solution: exercise.

In this case, the exercise was an interval workout. However, at this point, I’m not aware of any reason to believe the intervals did anything special that a simple aerobic workout or any other type of workout wouldn’t do.

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

What’s the best way to cool down at the aid stations of races? Do you have trouble sleeping? Read on for the tips.

Drink or pour to cool down?

I and many runners I know have for the longest time liked to pour water from aid stations over our heads at warm weather races. Whether there’s benefit or not, it sure feels good.

Well, there’s now evidence that pouring over your head is more effective for cooling down than drinking.

Note: Alex Hutchinson also wrote about this at his Sweat Science blog.

Obviously, you have to drink in order to prevent or delay hydration but, if the issue is cooling down and you’re not concerned about hydration such as if you’re running a shorter race, then pouring over your head might work better. Also, if you are concerned about both, you might want to get enough water to both drink and pour over your head.

Sleeping disorders

We all know how important sleep is to our athletic success, right? It’s critical. Training is all about stress and recovery. You stress to stimulate an adaptation but it’s during the recovery that your body actually adapts and gets stronger. There is no more critical time to our recovery than our sleeping hours.

Well, no surprise in our modern world, a lot of athletes have trouble getting the sleep they need.

Fortunately, sleeping disorders can be dealt with. If you’re having trouble sleeping, don’t hesitate to seek out help. Getting good sleep will likely help a lot of aspects of your life, including your running.

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

We know ice baths help us recover, right? Is it the cold helping us or the compression from the water, though? That’s a good question.

Also, what’s a good way to prevent blisters? There are a lot of ideas out there. Some might work, some actually are counterproductive.

The cold or the water?

To be honest, I’ve long suspected both. The compression of any water has been shown to reduce blood pooling and aid in recovery. At the same time, we know cold does the same.

Well, now I have a study to back up my suspicion.

The study basically tested cold water therapy against cold air therapy. If cold water works better than cold air, then the compression of the water does help.

The key takeaway:

The findings suggest the combination of hydrostatic pressure and cold temperature may be favourable for recovery from strength training rather than cold temperature alone.

Blister prevention tip

There are many theories out there on preventing blisters. I recall Vaseline being a popular theory for a while. Now, we know it can actually be worse than doing nothing.

So what does work? Back when I was in college, I would sometimes put athletic tape over areas of my foot that would be blister prone. Obviously, a study of one is not scientific evidence but it worked reasonably well for me.

It turns out a study was done using paper tape and the result was that the tape worked for as long as it would stick.

I do wonder if athletic tape would stick better than the paper tape used in the study. However, for wrapping toes, I’d be hesitant to use the athletic tape unless wrapping all the toes because the paper tape offers a more smooth outer surface that would be easier on neighboring toes.

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

I’m having some computer problems at home and I have a backlog of articles I’ve wanted to write out. So, as I’m in the process of ditching my old computer for a new one, it seems fitting that I write about a couple things runners may soon consider ditching.

Ditch the ice bath?

Who likes ice baths? I’m going out on a limb and guessing nobody. Those of us who use them don’t do them because they are enjoyable. We do them because they help us recover.

I do question whether that’s always what we want (see here and here). However, more importantly, can bigger gains be made by taking a hot bath or, better, hitting the sauna after your workout? Maybe.

It’s not the same effect. In short, this is heat training, not a recovery aid. It’s similar to why some cold climate runners overdress when preparing for warm weather races. You can increase your blood plasma volume, which helps performance. In this case, a hot conditions (90+ degrees F) 5K time trial improved by 5% on average. Unfortunately, in more moderate conditions (just short of 65 degrees F) performance didn’t improve. I do wonder if it might be more beneficial in more moderate conditions if the distance were longer. 65 isn’t all that taxing when running a 5K, it can be when running a marathon.

I’m not saying we should all jump on the hot bath or sauna train. However, if you’re training for a race in hot weather or I’d argue a longer race in more moderate weather, this is a result worth considering.

Ditch beet juice?

Most of us have probably heard of beet juice as a performance enhancing supplement. The nitrate in the juice is converted into nitric oxide, which has been shown to improve blood flow and delivery of oxygen to the muscles.

However, beet juice tastes…well…not so good. What if you could get the same effects by having something more appetizing? Such as, let’s say, some dark chocolate.

As noted, this isn’t perfect because you can’t guarantee a consistent dosage but it sure sounds better than the alternative. This seems worth keeping an eye on at least.

I’ll hopefully be back with some more original content next week once the new computer is up and running.