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1. Why do runners get night sweats?
If you're waking up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, your new training program could be the reason
With the virtual race calendar filling up (and a few hopefully in-person events on the schedule) you may have started to increase your mileage in preparation for your next big race. As your volume and intensity have been going up, you might have noticed a weird side-effect: night sweats. While night sweats are a fairly common issue that runners deal with, we often don’t talk about them because we tend to chalk them up to something else (like menopause, our room being too warm, etc.) rather than our running. If you are consistently waking up in the middle of the night because you’re over-heating, it’s time to look at your training as the possible culprit.
While there can be underlying medical reasons why someone is routinely waking up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night, if it coincides with an increase in your running volume, this change in training is likely the reason. Night sweats associated with changes in fitness aren’t typically cause for concern, but they can be very uncomfortable and can interrupt the precious sleep you need for recovery.
More...from Canadian Running Magazine.
2. Why Eating Protein Before Bed May Benefit Your Workout:
5 reasons why you may want to try incorporating a pre-bedtime protein snack to aid your running performance and recovery.
You may have heard that snacking after dinner is unnecessary and will only lead to weight gain. But, there’s another side of the story we’re not used to hearing - there may be a performance benefit. The caveat is that you must include adequate protein in that snack.
As an intuitive eating and sports nutrition dietitian, I’ve always seen major holes in these arguments - the most obvious being that foods don’t suddenly increase in calories after dinner, and your body does use energy while you’re sleeping. However, there is now recent research showing that eating protein before bed can actually benefit your training and physique goals. While this is true for various types of physical activity, I’ll focus on endurance athletes like runners.
More...from Podsium Runner.
3. Puma Velocity Nitro Performance Review:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 9.1 oz. (258 g) for a US M9.0 / 7.4 oz. (210 g) for a US W7.5
The most versatile trainer of the entire Puma lineup
NITRO midsole and PUMAGRIP outsole are a perfect pairing
Releases March 4 for $120
Grips so well you can probably use it as a golf spike, or to steal golf balls from a driving range
ROBBE: I’m gonna be real, I haven’t run in or worn a Puma shoe since around 2001, when I had some clunky-ass shoe that I used primarily for tennis, fishing, stealing golf balls off driving ranges in the middle of the night, food running (which was only walking), and one intense run of around 2 miles. I honestly don’t think I ran for another 5 years after that.
Needless to say, my expectations were low coming into this absolute onslaught of Puma 2021 running shoes. Of the batch, so far I’ve received the Velocity NITRO and Liberate NITRO (speed shoe) for testing, and boy, am I glad I did.
More...from Belive in the Run.
4. How to Avoid Hyper-Hydration:
Drinking the right amount of water can help optimize blood sodium levels, which is a vital component of athletic performance. Sports scientist Abby Coleman explains why - and how to best hydrate before a race.
Nervously drinking too much water before a race or a taxing workout could put you at risk of developing low blood sodium levels — otherwise known as hyponatremia — which can have a negative impact on your performance and health. Here’s how to avoid hyper-hydration so that you can perform your best.
What happens when you drink too much water?
Hyponatremia occurs when sodium and fluid in the body are out of balance. In other words, there’s either too much water or not enough sodium in your blood. Normally your blood sodium levels should be between 135 and 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). Hyponatremia occurs when your sodium level falls below 135 mEq/L.
In most cases, hyponatremia is a result of hyper-hydration, or water intoxication (i.e., the overconsumption of water). According to Precision Hydration, the initial symptoms associated with drinking too much water can include nausea, lethargy, muscle cramps, weakness, fatigue, and headaches. Whilst few and far between, severe cases of hyponatremia can be fatal.
More...from Training peaks.
5. How to stay hydrated during indoor training:
Indoor training can be viewed as an unfortunate but necessary evil by some athletes, while others relish the opportunity to get in the ‘Pain Cave’ and log those hours on the turbo trainer or treadmill.
There's often an impressive (and slightly dangerous) pool of sweat on the floor whenever I've finished an indoor training session. So, does that puddle mean I sweat more when training indoors than outdoors? Let’s find out…
The effects of heat on sweat rate
The body controls core body temperature (CBT) to keep us alive and functioning, and we sweat when our CBT rises above a certain point.
The heat given off by working muscles has the greatest influence on CBT when exercising, so how hard you’re working has a massive impact on your sweat rate and more so than body fat, weight and overall size. This was emphasised by the findings of a recent study.
More...from Precision Hydration.
6. The Effects That Two Weeks of Detraining Can Have on Your Body:
The good news? It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker for your fitness.
According to new research, taking a couple weeks off from running may decrease your heart and lung power.
However, to ensure your time off from running doesn’t turn into complete deconditioning, make sure you cross-train.
Depending on your injury or reason for not running, most likely some kind of non-impact exercise will work, from swimming and biking to yoga and even housework.
Between school, work, or family obligations, life can sometimes get in the way of our training without us even realizing it. Other times, you may want to step away from logging your miles because you feel an injury coming on and don’t want it to develop into something more serious.
More...from Runner's World.
7. Key Markers of Highly Effective Training:
What’s effective training? What workouts are the best for improving endurance, speed, fatigued resistance? In this episode, we dive into how to determined what effective training is, and how we define effective training.
Listen to the podcast on Science of Running.
8. Recent Headlines Suggest Being Both Fat and Fit Is a Myth. It’s Not That Simple:
One study isn’t enough to resolve this 20-year debate.
A new study of data from 527,662 adults reports that those who are overweight or obese are at a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular disease regardless if they are otherwise "regularly active."
This is the latest study in a 20-year medical debate over whether someone can be both "fat and fit."
This study did not actually measure or look at fitness, however, but rather if people reported meeting the minimum exercise requirements. Other studies that have measured fitness have found that being fit has significant health benefits regardless of weight.
"‘Fat but fit’ is a myth." "verweight and healthy is a big fat lie."
Those and other headlines rang out recently as mainstream news outlets picked up the latest study on BMI, physical activity, and risk of cardiovascular disease. The researchers’ goal in this study, which was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, was to examine the notion of whether one can be “fat but fit,” a debate that has raged in the medical community for more than 20 years. And the study concluded that a physically active lifestyle cannot protect your heart against the negative impact of being overweight.
More...from Runner's World.
9. Unraveling Lactic Acid: Debunking the Myths Part I:
Anyone who has ever picked up a magazine or watched a broadcast of a live sports event has undoubtedly heard of lactic acid. Lactic acid is often considered an athlete’s worst enemy. But in reality, it is one of the most important substances in our metabolism, actually delaying fatigue rather than causing it.
This post marks the start of our first series - Unravelling Lactic Acid, in which we will dissect the physiology behind its production; separating facts from fiction and discussing its practical relevance in training.
MYTH # 1: LACTATE IS PRODUCED WHEN OUR BODY RUNS OUT OF OXYGEN
Lactic acid, more correctly termed lactate, is a product of our anaerobic (glycolytic) metabolism, a sequence of chemical reactions which partially break down glucose without the use of oxygen. Contrary to popular belief, and for reasons which shall be addressed later in this series, our bodies are constantly using our anaerobic metabolism and therefore constantly produce lactate.
Given that lactate is produced when we use our anaerobic metabolism, the more anaerobically reliant we become, the more lactate will be produced. At times of rest, lactate will therefore be low, but as exercise becomes increasingly intense and anaerobic metabolism pulls more slack, lactate production increases.
More...from Running Science.
10. Do Women Have an Inherent Physiological Advantage in Ultrarunning?
Over the weekend, elite ultrarunner Ruth Croft won the coveted Tarawera Ultramarathon in course record time and in the process, beat out the entire field of men and women. As is the case whenever a female ultrarunner bests the entirety of the field, the age-old debate has re-emerged over whether women can outperform men in ultrarunning. Already, articles across the globe have lauded the accomplishment and rehashed the arguments for and against women’s superiority in ultrarunning. For her case, Ruth has had a very balanced reaction to her overall win (see Instagram post here). Nonetheless, it won’t stop the peanut gallery from opining on the issue.
In the paragraphs that follow, I will give a brief background on how we got here, a short summary of the research pertaining to biological differences between men and women as it relates to ultramarathon performance, and finally, provide some color commentary. Before we get into that, some quick ground rules:
More...from CTS.
11. There’s a Legit Reason Why Running in the Cold Is Easier Than Running in the Heat:
Once the temperatures rise, you seem to fatigue much faster. What gives?
According to new research, there’s a legitimate reason why running in the heat is harder than running in cooler weather.
Higher body temperatures are associated with an increase in perceived exertion, as well as an increased cardiovascular and metabolic strain, which is influenced by an increased core temperature and dehydration.
In order to make the best of hot-weather runs, it’s important to drink enough water and even dial back your intensity.
When you are running in the cold, it’s all about wearing the proper layers to keep you comfortable. But once the heat hits, and you’re wearing nothing but shorts and a tank on the run, you seem to fatigue much faster. What gives?
More...from Runner's World.
12. The carbo-loading question: Who should avoid it?:
Most people are familiar with the notion that increasing carbohydrate intake before competition can increase energy stores. But for some there may be real dangers to carbo-loading. Here are eight good reasons to question this time-honored but potentially damaging tradition.
Risky behavior dies hard. So do dangerous sports traditions. Put them together in a no-pain no-gain society, spurred by media and advertising campaigns encouraging people to stuff their faces with sugar and other junk food, such as unhealthy carbs, which work well during competition but not as a meal or snack, and you risk poor health and declining fitness in those who exercise.
Can carbohydrate-loading be one of those dangerous routines that add both excess body fat and slower endurance performance? Most certainly, yes. And the studies show this trend: In the U.S., for example, exercise rates are increasing while the overfat pandemic continues growing. Plus, performance rates (road running finish times in all but the lead packs) have been declining during the decades-old carbo-loading trend. But we can’t run away from a bad diet.
More...from Dr. Phil Maffetone.
13. Sleep better with U.S. Montmorency Cherries:
New research highlights how the nutrient-packed fruit can be a potent weapon in your training armoury
In recent years, U.S. Montmorency Cherries have attracted an increasing amount of attention concerning their many potential health benefits.
A considerable number of academic studies have been undertaken, with the majority concluding that this bright red, tart tasting and nutrient-dense fruit does indeed make a difference when it comes to sport and exercise.
In a bid to fully understand the bigger picture, however, research teams from both Northumbria University and St Mary’s University recently produced what is known as a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, which essentially means that they assessed all studies which met a set criteria to come up with an overall conclusion.
The findings have just been published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism and are unequivocal – you really can put a cherry on top of your training.
More...from Athletics Weekly.
14. How to Eat When You’re Injured:
Dialing in your nutrition when you’re on the couch can be hard, especially for an active person. Here’s what you need to know.
Injury recovery is an uphill battle. You’re burdened by pain, isolated from training partners, inundated with appointments and rehab, worried about your diagnosis (or lack thereof), and sidelined from a sport that you love. On top of all that, you might feel the need to rethink the way you eat, since your level of activity is lower than normal.
There are conflicting schools of thought when it comes to how to best fuel up while you’re in recovery mode. If you’re training less, it might seem logical that you should be eating less. On the other hand, maybe you’ve heard that you should err on the side of more calories, since even a small nutrient deficit can impede your healing. Research suggests that the sweet spot lies somewhere in the middle. Below, three registered dietitian-athletes share the latest findings in injury nutrition, plus actionable advice, so that food can be an asset and a source of pleasure—rather than a source of stress—during an already trying time.
More...from Outside Online.
15. How Much Exercise Do You Need for Better Heart Health?
The more you do, the better, but even mild exercise like walking produces benefits for cardiovascular health, a large new study found.
If you want a healthy heart, the more you exercise, the better, according to an encouraging new study of the links between physical activity and cardiovascular disease. It finds that people who often exercise and stay active are much less likely to develop heart disease than people who rarely move, whether that exercise consists of a few minutes a day of jogging or multiple hours a week of walking.
The large-scale study, which relied on objective data about exercise from more than 90,000 adults, bolsters the growing evidence that almost any amount of physical activity seems to be good for cardiovascular health, with no apparent upper limit to the benefits.
For generations, of course, we have known that active people tend to have strong hearts. Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Jeremy Morris, a British epidemiologist, famously found that British bus conductors, who spent their days strolling aisles and climbing steps on the double-decker vehicles, were about half as likely to have a heart attack as the buses’ drivers, who sat all day.
More...from the NY Times.
FEATURED EVENTS:
*Please verify event dates with the event websites available from our FrontPage.
Upcoming Races, Marathons, Races, and Triathlons
February 19, 2021:
RAK Half-Marathon - Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirate
Tel Aviv Samsung Marathon - Israel
February 20, 2021:
The Ten
February 20-21, 2021:
Gasparilla Distance Classic - Tampa Bay, FLA
February 26-27, 2021:
Texas Qualifier - Austin Texas
February 26-28, 2021:
Adidas Indoor Track & Field National Championships - Virginia Beach, VA
February 27-28, 2021:
Atlanta's Marathon Weekend - Atlanta, GA
For more complete race listings check out our Upcoming Races, and Calendars.
Have a good week of training and/or racing.
Ken
Email: webmaster@runnersweb.com
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