The Science of Cold-Weather Running

Dan has a PhD is Exercise Physiology from Penn State University, a 2:26 marathon PR, and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder. He also happens to be a good friend of mine, and on long runs, he always has interesting scientific info to share as the miles fly by. He is no stranger to NeelyRuns.com as he wrote a guest blog called Train Hot Race Cool and now he is back with more insight on how climate affects running.

Cold temperatures are on the way for runners all over the country. While humans are very good at acclimating to hot weather (we increase our sweat rate and skin blood flow), we are relatively poor at acclimating to cold weather. Because of this, cold weather poses a unique challenge for runners. Here, I’ll tell you why the cold slows you down and what you can do about it.  

One way the cold temperatures can negatively influence your running performance is by decreasing muscle force production. Cold muscles contract with less force than warm muscles. The cold also changes the neural recruitment pattern of muscle fibers (basically, the brain changes the way it signals muscles to contract), which results in less efficient contractions and further reduces muscle force. This means you’ll have to increase your effort to maintain the same pace, which isn’t ideal for performance-oriented runners. How can you counteract this? First, do a dynamic warm-up (lunges, squats, clamshells, donkey kicks, etc.) indoors before going out and running in the cold; this will increase muscle temperature and blood flow. Second, wear running pants or tights when the temperature drops to near- or below-freezing levels. Sure, it might look tough to run in shorts when it is zero degrees out, but you don’t get a bonus in races for being a dumbass.

Another way the cold can affect your running is by changing metabolism. In the cold, your body uses fewer free fatty acids and more glycogen for energy. In long races, like the marathon, running out of glucose and glycogen results in hitting the wall. So, in cold weather you’re likely to hit the wall a few miles sooner than in warm weather. Be sure you start your run well fueled by eating plenty of carbs in the preceding 24 hours. Also, be sure you are fueling during any long run or race in the cold. Drinking too much cold liquid while running can lower your body temperature, so I recommend using gels or chews that can be carried with you and kept warm by your body heat (note: you’ll still need to drink enough to maintain hydration, however this will be much less than what is required when it’s hot outside).  

To summarize, in cold weather be sure you:

1.     Do a dynamic warm-up

2.     Dress in warm clothes

3.     Consume carbohydrates 

Do these three things and you’ll be ready to conquer to cold weather and your competition.

Cold weather fun fact: Ever wonder why you have to pee as soon as you go out in the cold? The cold causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels in your periphery, which redistributes more blood to your core, including the kidneys. The increased blood flow to the kidneys increases urine production, which makes you pee.

Happy Running!

The Importance of Hydration Before and After Running: A Guest Blog

This guest blog is by Harper Reid, a freelance writer from Auckland, New Zealand who is passionate about healthy living and fitness. When she's not writing, you'll find her sweating it out in the gym, practicing yoga or checking out the latest fitness trends. You can find more of her work on her Tumblr.

Photo Credit: Alan Carrillo via Unsplash under License

We can all appreciate, in theory, how vital water is to our health and wellbeing – but do we know the specifics of how H2O interacts with exercise? If you’re a runner, keeping hydrated will prove an integral aspect of your active lifestyle – and here’s why.

It starts beforehand
Hydrating for exercise doesn’t start the moment you run out the door; rather, you should prep for a good workout far in advance by regularly drinking H2O. It’s especially important to keep tabs on your hydration during the warmer months, as hot conditions will put extra strain on your muscles and vital organs - most of all your heart - while running.

The good old urine test is a sure-fire way to check your internal water levels. The darker and yellower, the more water you need to fuel your body with. Aim to drink regularly through the day, and consume an extra half a liter of water a few hours before you set out for a long run.

Photo Credit: Maarten van den Heuval via Unsplash under License

 Running depletes your stores
When we’re dehydrated, the amount of water in our body decreases to the extent that we can lose up to 2% of our sum body weight. This loss of water wreaks havoc on our cardiovascular system, energy levels, and the efficacy of our muscle function. We tend to forget that our muscle cells are made up of 75% water, so it makes sense that if we’re losing fluid through sweat, we’ll feel weaker pretty quickly.

But don’t go too far in the other direction: too much fluid can be detrimental not only to your running performance (hello, water bloat!) but to your overall health. In the worst-case scenario, severe over-hydration can lead to hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when salt levels in the blood reach a life-threatening low.

Remembering to drink
Keeping hydrated isn’t a case of just remembering to drink when you’re bone thirsty. As a general rule, drink around 100ml of water every quarter of an hour that you exercise (this amount may need to be increased or decreased depending on your body size, the temperature outside, and the intensity or length of your run). If you need to set a watch alarm to remind you, then do so, and make things easier for yourself by investing in a hydration pack that you can easily pound the pavements with.

When doing an intense activity like running, you may want to switch out water for a sports drink with added carbohydrates and electrolytes. The kinds of chemicals and minerals contained within electrolytes (like sodium, potassium, and chloride) will replace the nutrients you lose by sweating, which will then help you to fend off the runner’s enemies – dizziness, leg cramps, and racing heartbeat. To DIY your own drink, mix a cup of water with a cup of orange juice and a pinch of salt – easy, effective, and tasty.

Photo Credit: Dominik Vanyi via Unsplash under License

The benefits of hydration
So: why is drinking water so important during, before, and after a run? Well, aside from keeping our bodies functioning at the cellular level, water can actually improve athletic performance. Studies have proven that running endurance and speed is enhanced significantly with proper hydration – we’re talking minutes off of your 10km time!

And since all that sweat loss can lead to very dry skin (something you’ll want to avoid if you suffer a skin condition like eczema), runners should keep in mind the benefits of hydration for skin health. Skin is an organ like any other, with skin cells mainly comprised of water. If you’ve been feeling a little dry around the edges lately, you may want to start taking hydration during exercise more seriously.

Christmas Gift List for Runners

Are you like me and find it tough to get just the right gift for the runner in your life? Here are some ideas to make it easier!

1-Massage Gift Card
What runner wouldn't love this gift?

2-Running Warehouse Gift Card or Merchandise
Using my code ATHLETEBIZ at checkout, you will get 10% off on most products. Click this link for a list of my favorite Adidas gear and learn how your purchase helps support my goals! (I recommend cold weather gear, new shoes, and a new gym bag!)

3-Coaching Services
Give the gift of coaching to show your support! Check out my coaching page for more info or just email me at neelyruns@gmail.com

4-Get Running T-Shirt
Support Team Get Running by wearing these super comfy v-necks.

5-Trust The Process Bracelet
Momentum Jewelry and I partnered to create a wrap bracelet with my favorite mantra.

6-Sunglasses
I can't run without them! So many cool options to choose from on the Adidas website!

7-Compression Sleeves
Practical, but a very useful item for all runners!

8-A Training Log
I use the Final Surge to upload my watch data... but I still record my complete day in the Believe I Am training Journal.

9-Nutritional Product
BeetIt shots, PowerBars, HotShot, and Sword Caffeine Tabs are all part of my training and racing protocol. Your runner might appreciate some new products to try out!

10-Training Tools
Some of my essentials are the Proform 9000 treadmill, 8c ElliptiGO, TRX straps, R8 Roll Recovery, and R3 Roller.

Train Hot, Race Cool: A New Way to Improve Running Performance

Most runners are aware that when summer rolls around, their body needs to acclimate to the rising environmental temperature. The human body will respond to a couple weeks of running in the heat by delivering more blood to the skin, increasing sweat rate while retaining electrolytes, and increasing plasma volume (the liquid component of blood, which allows more blood to be pumped to the skin for cooling). These physiological changes help to prevent hyperthermia and improve running performance in the heat.

In most of the country, the heat of summer is quickly giving way to the cold of winter. This means fewer sweltering, sweaty runs and more hats, gloves, and jackets to keep warm. It also means that runners will start to lose their heat acclimation.

Recently, exercise scientists have started studying whether heat acclimation can improve exercise performance in colder weather. Why is this? Well, expanded plasma volume is one of the main ways the human body responds to training, regardless of temperature. The idea is that training in the heat will cause the largest increase in plasma volume and cause a bigger improvement in running performance than training in cool to cold weather.

A preeminent researcher in this area is Dr. Christopher Minson; he and his colleagues at the University of Oregon have been studying the effects of heat training on cool weather exercise performance in endurance athletes (mostly cyclists). They’ve found heat training improves cool-weather VO2max, lactate threshold, and time trial performance compared to the same training protocol done in cool temperatures. Other researchers have tested the benefits of exercising in cool weather but then keeping core temperature high by immediately sitting in a hot tub or sauna after exercise. This post-exercise heat stress has been shown to elicit similar improvements in running performance compared to exercising in the heat. All these results suggest that heat training would improve running performance in cold-weather races.

Many runners will train through the winter in preparation for a spring marathon. Race-day temperature can vary greatly from year to year and an unseasonably hot day could derail months of dedicated training. You need look no further than the 2017 Boston Marathon, which was run on a very warm, sunny day. Most runners who trained through the winter were not heat acclimated and their finishing times suffered as a result. Heat training can help prepare runners to be able to handle a warm weather race that may otherwise derail a training cycle.

There is still a lot scientists must figure out. For example, might improvements simply be due to the increased stress of exercising in the heat, where the heart must work harder to supply enough blood to the muscles for exercise and the skin for cooling (suggesting the same benefits could be attained by simply training harder)? How long the benefits of heat training persist? What is the optimal exercise protocol (for example, heat training combined with high-intensity interval training has not been studied yet)? While not every study has shown a benefit of heat training, no study has shown that it impairs performance. This makes heat training a low-risk, high-reward investment in your training.

Interested in heat training but don’t have the high-precision heat chambers or ability to constantly monitor internal temperature (rectal probe) like the sports scientists do? Here is how you can make it work for you:

·       Most of the benefits can be obtained with 7-10 consecutive days of exercise in the heat.

·       You should exercise for an hour a day in a hot room. The temperature the room needs to be depends on a lot of things (humidity, airflow, exercise intensity). The simplest rule to follow: it should be hot enough that you sweat heavily.

·       You can also try sitting in a hot tub or sauna 30 minutes after each run.

·       Heat training should be stopped about 3 days before your goal race. This will give you enough time to recover, but you should retain most of the benefits.

·       Hotter is not better and dehydration doesn’t help. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids and stop exercising if you begin to feel any symptoms of heat illness (read about that in detail here).

Hopefully after reading this you are warmed up to the idea (pun intended) that heat training can improve your race performance, regardless of temperature.

Happy training!
Daniel H. Craighead PhD

*Please email Neely if you wish to submit a guest blog at neelyruns@gmail.com

The Coffee Taper 2.0

Utilizing the benefit of Caffeine in Training and Racing

There is just something about the promise of a hot cup of coffee that helps me get out of bed in the morning. If nothing less, the smell of roasted beans brewing is enough for me to be glad I’m awake. Don’t you agree? Even people who hate the taste of coffee seem to love how it smells. Last winter, I did a short blog on the Coffee Taper and how I utilize the benefit of Caffeine during training and racing. It has continued to be a popular subject, so I decided to resurface the topic and share more details.

My weekly routine is caffeine on workout/long run days, and decaf on the recovery days. I follow this for all caffeinated products, not just coffee. The boost on the workout days is 100% worthwhile, and the recovery run days I still get my cozy early morning atmosphere of a warm drink before I head outside. (Because we all know the culture of coffee time is essential to our day). 

For me, a typical day starts at 5:45am. My husband Dillon gets up for work, so I wake up, drink 6-8oz of water, and then lay back down for 15 minutes or so to let myself slowly wake up. I’m not the best morning person. Around 6, I get out of bed, and head downstairs to feed Strider (our Vizsla Puppy) and get my coffee started. I grind my beans of choice, and turn the water on to boil. I am a craft coffee girl… French press or Pour over are my two go-to methods. I don’t actually own a normal coffee maker. I’m not a purest either, and I need my creamer. I sip coffee, eat a light breakfast, and check emails. I am most productive before 8am! Spending some time coaching (I have an online coaching business), posting on social media, and responding to texts is my usual pre-run rituals. I drink some water or electrolytes after I finish my coffee and breakfast and then I start getting ready for my training with stretching and drills. You can see, my routine stays the same, but the difference is in my coffee choice… caffeine or decaf.

The week of a race, this routine changes slightly. According to smart people like my coach, Steve Magness, the body needs at least 4 days off from caffeine to regain sensitivity to it’s ergogenic benefits. Race week, I have coffee before my first workout, but then it is strictly decaf the rest of the week. This gives me 4-5 days to crave the caffeine and helps me get even more excited for race morning!

*Disclaimer: I always feel terrible on the final workout before the race due to no caffeine. But, I have learned this is normal for me and it doesn’t mean I am not ready.

And to finish this discussion, the best video ever (trust me, it's worth your next 53seconds) !

Not a Part of the Plan

I’m a planner. And when things don’t go according to plan, well, I guess no one likes that. I am withdrawing from the TCS New York City Marathon.

After my last race, the arch of my right foot started bothering me. I listened to my body and took a few days off to let healing take place. The swelling went down, and I felt significant improvement but not enough to get back to full training. I knew after two weeks of nagging pain, I needed answers. An MRI confirmed that there was edema (inflammation in the bone) starting to form, and while there is no fracture, continued stress on the bone would lead to that. So I shut down training, cried, and then came up with a new plan.

In years past, I would have cross trained like crazy with an attitude that nothing would get in my way of running the TCS NYC Marathon. I’ve been training for 15 years, and I’ve been the most consistent in the past 3 years. This consistency has come from a more objective approach, one where I look at the long term, and don’t take unnecessary risks. While I am disappointed to not be able to run my goal race of 2017, I feel fortunate that I can take 2-3 weeks to reset and then focus on being healthy and ready to race in 2018. Thankfully, my coaches, agent, and the NYRR staff are fully understanding and have pulled together in support to help me feel confident in my decision. The good news is that I already have a race on my calendar for November 2018, so don’t worry NYC, I will be back!

Cheers to this stupid, wonderful, heartbreaking, and amazing sport.

Enjoy Your Time In The Van

A Guest Blog Post By Karl Rysted

Karl is one of the athletes I coach, and he is racing this weekend in the Wild Rogue Relay. He shares the emotions, community, struggles, and memories of racing a relay. I certainly want to do a relay one day, until then, I will cheer on Karl!

Waiting is hard and like anything that’s hard, requires practice. I was fortunate to have my Dad take me fishing often when I was growing up. Among other things, it gave me patience. Life moves a lot faster now than it did back then and everyone expects instant gratification from their smartphone and so on. As runners, we have our gadgets to give us instant feedback on pace, cadence, HR, etc. So if we expect to have any patience in these times, it requires even more practice than it used to, and yet the opportunities are slipping away.

As a runner, I’m grateful to have been in long distance relays as part of a team several times. Hood to Coast is the most famous of that type of event, but we haven’t done that one. Some have been Ragnar Relays, which are pretty well known among runners, but I’ve also been in smaller, independent ones like the Wild Rogue Relay in southern Oregon where I’m running on a masters team June 16-17 for the second year in a row.

The pattern is the same: run, eat, run, sleep (maybe), eat, run, not necessarily in that order, and your team will probably cover about 200 miles. You run three times unless you’re short one of the 12-team members or you have an “ultra” team of six. If you have a regular sized team, you will be in two vans. Your van could be on duty in the middle of the night so sleep is a big maybe. There’s a long time between your runs, especially when you consider the time when your van is off duty.

Here are some observations, and as a runner, you will understand this easily. It’s common to have a variety of unpleasant physical and emotional responses: you can get stiff because you have very little warm up or cool down, tired and cranky during the night, and maybe that little habit of your teammate that seemed funny at first is getting pretty annoying. Maybe the funky smell of the van is starting to get to you! You just want to get out and run. After all, that’s why you flew across the country, right?

Running can just be a fun hobby, or we can let it teach us things about the rest of our lives. Maybe you fell in love once but that relationship is gone. Now you know love is coming your way again but it’s hard to wait. Maybe you want to BQ and you’re a 4 hour marathoner like me. Be patient and think about athletes like Neely. Their Olympic dreams and goals are on a 4-year cycle. So just relax, be patient and enjoy your time with your friends in the van.

My dream is to be on a team with Neely someday!

An earlier version of this appeared in “The Landrunner,” April, 2013, newsletter of the Oklahoma City Running Club.

1.004

What the heck does that number mean?

The gravity (concentration) of urine for my post race drug test. (I am sure that was your very first guess!)

To rewind and start from the beginning, I raced the USA Half Marathon Championships at the Capitol City Half in Columbus, Ohio. My mantra was 1-Race with PURPOSE, 2-Remain PRESENT, 3-Always PERSEVERE. To run the best race I am capable of on that day, I focus on my breathing rhythm, my form, and find the effort that I can handle no matter the course, the weather, or the competition. For me, I did everything right. I am proud of my race. I was gapped by 40seconds at mile 9, and closed within 9 seconds by the finish... I came up short, 2nd in 1:10:54, but with no regrets. I look at each race as a learning opportunity, I learn about myself, I learn about others, and I appreciated racing the ladies in this field as they helped me get the most out of myself! Kudos to Natosha for a very strong performance.

Back to where we started, thanks to the race organizers and the US anti doping agency (USADA), the top 3 were tested for clean sport! Those of you who follow me, know this is something I feel strongly about and I always appreciate getting tested. I chugged a bottle of water to kick off the hydration process, and then headed back to the hotel to get in a cool down. It was "long run day" so I needed to get in 4 miles to make it a total of 20 miles for the day, but the weather gods had something else in mind. It started pouring. I got in 1.5 miles running back and forth in front of the hotel (because once notified by USADA, you have to remain within eyesight of the chaperone until you provide and process the sample). For the run-nerds, here's the data via Final Surge.

It wasn't worth it, I was soaked, and lightening was making me anxious. I headed inside and got on the treadmill for another 1.5mi. After awards, I was ready to start the process, and then, 1.004 happened... and even though it was tested by the super nice USADA people 7 times, the number didn't change. I needed 1.005 gravity :(

Needless to say, hydration is good, but apparently I over did it. I made friends, joked around to make it less awkward, and eventually processed and checked out once the next sample was completed. Learn more about the process here. Even though spending two hours in drug testing wasn't how I planned to celebrate my runner-up performance, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Race Schedule

I'm excited to announce my upcoming races! I am so grateful for the support and for you following me as I continue to pursue my goals. One of the key things I am doing this spring, is racing more! I did two marathon segments of training in a row (Dec-Apr prep for Boston, June-Nov prep for NYC) which resulted in 9 races total for 2016. Now I am working on speed, racing more frequently, and going after some PR's from 5k-Half Marathon. I've already raced 3 times this year, and I have 4 more in the next few months! Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and FB (my athlete page) to be a part of my journey and to win fun giveaways! With each race, I will be doing a contest where you could win Adidas, LaceLocker, Momentum Jewelry, Roll Recovery, or PowerBar swag! Stay tuned :)

Jan 15 Arizona RnR HM (1st, 1:12-Avg 5:33/mi)
Feb 5 New Orleans RnR HM (1st, 1:11-Avg 5:24/mi)
Mar 11 USA 15k Champs Gate River (3rd, 49:47-Avg 5:18/mi)
April 2 CarlsBad 5k
April 29 USA HM Champs Columbus
May 13 USA 25k Champs Grand Rapids
May 29 Bolder Boulder 10k

As simple as ABC

Sometimes we over-complicate things. Isn’t the beauty of the Sport of Running it’s true simplicity? I have found that focusing on a few key words can help remind me of this when my brain wants to wander, quit, or think too far ahead. Have you had your thoughts get in the way of performing your best? Have you had those moments before or during a race when you doubt yourself? Have you felt scared to push harder because you don’t trust your own judgment of effort? Do you find yourself lacking the ability to stay present and in the moment? If you’re like me, the answer is YES to them all. But this happens in training too… and some days, like an easy solo run, this is fine. On workout days, it’s time to focus and prepare the mind and body for your upcoming goals. To do this, I use trigger words. These specific words, that change for various needs (terrain, weather, workout type, race etc), remind me to keep it simple. Once I practiced in workouts, I was ready to apply it to race day. I like the results, and I plan to continue this strategy.

For the Arizona Rock N Roll, I used the 4 “F’s” Find rhythm, Focus mind, Fight fatigue, Finish strong. The first few miles I set out to Find my rhythm. When the doubts of unknown fitness crept into my mind, I Focused. Towards mid-race, when there were still a lot of miles to run, I was Fighting fatigue. And when it came time to push the last few miles, I Finished strong. Goals accomplished, 1:12:39 and a victory to start of my spring racing season.

In the New Orleans Rock N Roll Half Marathon, I used the ABC’s. Have a race Attitude from the gun, Believe in myself and my improved fitness, and Commit to push hard at the end. I came away with another win and my second fastest half marathon time ever of 1:11:02.

If you’re like me, and need to train your brain to support your performance goals on race day, try this technique and let me know how it works for you!