Marathon: You Can Do It

Every runner must have at one time experienced some unpleasant and painful sensation in the stomach. The pain is what is called cramps and its caused by the overexertion nature of running.

What causes stomach cramp during running?

1. Dehydration. - For your smooth muscles of the stomach/intestines to function properly they require to be hydrated.
2. Low blood salt - With all the sweating taking place your body will be losing too much salt and your body will soon be starved of salt.
3. Inadequate oxygenation - During running, a lot of your blood will be redirected from the stomach to other muscle. And since your stomach muscles are starved of oxygen they will not work properly.

The above causes are made worse by factors such as a extreme weather conditions. Too high temperatures will increase rate of dehydration.

How to avoid stomach cramps.

Its important to make sure you drink enough water. I experience most of my stomach cramps during my training because in training I don’t have water points every 2K like I find in a marathon.

Drinking water is good but drinking too much is dangerous! Drinking too much water will cause your salt levels too go too low causing you stomach pains and in a worst case scenario death! Every runner should remember to put enough salt in his food. During the the race, Eat salt pallets offered.

Tags: Cramps, diet, Marathon Running, Runnin, Stomach Pain

Barrack Obama regularly runs 3 miles. That is according to Obama medical report from his doctor.

For someone who has his roots from Kenya am not surprised Obama is a runner. This self declared “skinny guy with a funny voice” has another semblance with Kenyan runners, he has a lean body and has no excess fat.

Am wondering what does Obama love more, Basketball or Running?

Tags: 10K Running

For the first six months of your life you survived solely on your mothers breast milk. The breast milk contained enough protein to meet your growing needs.

According to an article on runners world magazine, an Egg is as good as breast milk.

“Egg protein is the most complete food protein short of human breast milk, which means the protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery.”

An egg will give you;

• Vitamin K - Vital for healthy bones
•  Choline - brain nutrient that aids memory (You will never forget your route)
• Leutin - A pigment needed for healthy eyes (For those who love running at night)

See Runners world magazine, best foods for runners

Bon Appetite

Tags: diet, Running, Training

Last week I suffered from food poisoning  and the whole week I struggled with stomach pain. When I woke up yesterday morning the question was to run or not to run. I wasn’t feeling any stomach pain but I had this fear that I might suffer a severe stomach pain while I was out running.

But a Sunday is never a Sunday if I don’t go for my long run. As I was putting on my trainers when I remembered how Paula Radcliffe stopped to pee at London marathon. Paula later blamed the pee incident on pre race pasta meal that was causing her stomach pains. Would I suffer a similar embarrassing fate?

Overexertion causes stomach cramps, so I decided to take things easy. That decision not to overdo the run seemed to have been right because the whole 21k run went uneventful.

Looking back it would have been very easy for me to put off the run for fear of suffering a stomach pain  but as they say “the only thing to fear is fear.”

Have a fearless week

At Bangalore 10K run on 18th May,  Kenya’s  multiple world champion  Paul Tergat  finished 19th.  India’s national daily termed his performance “a forgettable 19th”

Just before Kenya’s Olympic Marathon team was announced Tergat convened a news conference where he withdrew his name for consideration into the Kenya Olympic marathon team. His reason for withdrawal was “I have been there, done that and now I want to give the new young runners a chance.”

While that was a kind gesture from Paul, his performance at Bangalore 10k shows his best  days might be behind him. In Bangalore he was the oldest amongst Elite men at 39 years. The 10K run was won by Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadesse who outkicked Moses Kipsiro of Uganda in a close finish. Both men are in their early twenties.

In the 70s, 80s and 90s, long distance running especially the marathon was dominated by runners in their thirties. The conventional wisdom was that long distance running required experience. Runners started in the middle distances, as they got older they graduated into longer distances and eventually marathon running. That was the route runners like Paul Tergat and Haile Gebreselassie followed.

But that old route is now being deemed too long. In Kenya we are seeing runners just out of their teens running marathons. Samuel Wanjiru at 21 years is the youngest member of Kenya Beijing Olympic marathon team, he holds the world best in half marathon. Luke Kibet was 24 when he won Kenya it’s first gold in 20 years at 2007 Osaka IAAF World championship. As the marathon prize money has got fatter, aspiring runners are aiming for the marathon. It’s the sure route to be a young multimillionaire!

Competitive marathon running is now becoming a young man’s game!

Tags: , kenya Runners, Marathon, Marathon Running, Running