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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sugar Hangover

Wow, another dreary day today. This weather is so bizarre. Record heat, severe storms, now it’s back to being cool and damp. After an off day yesterday, back to training. In fact, I had a “really off” day. It was Evan’s birthday and I ate way too much cake which resulted in me waking up with a headache today. I actually felt hung-over, even without drinking alcohol.
Have you ever had a sugar headache? I know that my body went into meltdown after having cake and cookies. Yes, okay, I had cookies too. The average American consumes 2-3 pounds of sugar a week. In large doses, especially if you are not used to eating a large amount, sugar can have the same affect on a person as alcohol. A sugar headache is caused by dehydration from dilution and urination: Water is pulled from other areas of the body to address the higher sugar levels in the blood stream. Because of the high blood sugar, a person urinates more. As a general rule, I only eat food that has less than 10 grams of sugar per serving and I prefer complex carbohydrates versus simple sugars. Sugar from complex carbohydrates can be found in whole grains (high fiber), fruits, vegetables, and oatmeal.  To my detriment I likely exceeded the simple sugar food consumption 20 fold yesterday. You can look at any food label to see how many grams there are per serving. Here is a decent article about sugar:
This will be a recovery week, when my miles are reduced, but not the intensity. I think I’ll hit the track today and complete mile repeats or maybe I’ll run hill repeats for strength. Oh boy, I’m indecisive again. Being indecisive is so out of character for me. Oh well, I’ll figure it out when I walk out the door. Even though I’m training for an ultramarathon on a flat course, speed work and hills are still important. It will make the slower paced 50 mile run feel somewhat easier because I trained at faster rates. There will be nothing worse than feeling like the 50 mile pace is too fast. It’s already a long distance so I want to feel and finish strong. An ultramarathon is any distance more than a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. Repeats are a training routine when you alternate faster runs with rest periods. I find repeats to be particularly tough; they hurt when done right.
Here’s a creepy story: Yesterday morning a man walking his dog found a body buried in a shallow grave right near where I ran early Sunday morning. That’s a little unnerving. You never know who is out there, so I’m always aware of my surroundings when running, especially when alone. No ear buds for me. I ditched them ever since my Ipod was destroyed by rain during one of my runs. I believe that was a sign.
The Children’s Home completed the “Golf for Kids” event last Thursday. From what I heard the event went well. Hopefully they dodged the afternoon thunderstorms.
I am waiting to get feedback from the Cromwell Police Department regarding the 50 mile route. I shared the map with you in a previous post. From what I gathered from the High School Cross Country Team’s tentative schedule, it does not appear that there will be a conflict using the track. We are waiting to get confirmation from the Athletic Department to use the track for the day. I really like the two mile loop to include one lap around the track each time. This will bring everyone closer together. I Tweeted the Cromwell Cross Country team to see if they would be interested in participating. I hope that they will consider it. If anyone has questions or has a suggestion for a post, let me know.
To healthy living and happy running!

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