Thursday, May 26, 2011

Bottoms Up: Part I

I thought I'd do a series of blog entries on hydration. As the temps pick up-especially here in the desert- it's essential for me to stay hydrated in order to survive my runs (literally).

In fact, I just checked the forecast. It's supposed to be 101 degrees on Friday. Boo. Glad that's a rest day for me!

So let's talk about hydrating before your run.

Ok, so this is a given.


More often than not, however, I feel like a need a little something more. 

I have three small children. I waved bye-bye to a solid 8-9 hours of sleep per night a long time ago. My 2-year old refuses to stay in his bed and usually rolls into our bedroom at some point between the hours of 11pm-3am. I'm too tired to care anymore, so into our bed he goes. And off to the computer room futon my husband goes after he gets punched/smacked in the face by Colin a couple of times.

It's such a clown show. 

Anyway...

Back to needing more than H2O. 

I posted a picture of my new love recently in another blog entry: Click Espresso Protein Drink. Really yummy. I discovered Click from SkinnyRunner.  She likes to use Click to refuel after her runs. I've found that it also works great before a run. Gives me a big boost seeing as how there's a double shot of espresso in each serving. Woo hoo!! I like to drink one of these before a mid-morning run. For example, when my husband is out of town, I can't get up at 0-dark-thirty for my run. It has to wait until after the kiddos get dropped off at school/preschool. So I'll have one of these bad boys enroute to Operation Drop-Off, then I'm good to go for my run. Full 'o Energy!



I have the Vanilla Latte Natural on order and it should be here soon. Yay! I had tried the regular Vanilla Latte but then noticed that it contained sucralose. Hmmm...I'm not big on the artificial sweeteners, so I thought I'd go for the Natural flavor.

For something a little heartier, I like this stuff that one of my online buddies sent me.



It's called Biogenesis UltraLean and you can order it on Amazon. This is probably more of a "meal replacement" shake or something that you'd like to refuel with post-run (although I did have one the other day before run/yoga). It's more calorie-dense, and I think it has about 6g of fat per serving. I just whipped up a shake after my five-miler. I added a small packet of:


And voila! A nice post-run coffee protein shake. Yum!

Some other lighter options for pre-run hydration that I've found that I really love include:

Arbonne NRG GO3! Fizzing Beverage Tablets. Delish. While they are part of Arbonne's Figure 8 weight loss line, I don't so much care about the weight loss factor. I just love the fizzy flavor and energy boost from the guarana in it. The tabs also contain chromium and green tea. I pop half of a "Pomegranate Splash" and half of a "Citrus Surge" in about 8 oz. of water, let it dissolved and then chug before a run. 


Please Note: You have to purchase these through an Arbonne distributor. I can hook you up with one if you're interested.  

I'm also a big fan of the Emergen-C vitamin drink mix. You can pick these up at any local supermarket. From what I understand, it's really easy to get sick during a marathon taper. When I was tapering for the Derby Festival Marathon in April, I bought Emergen-C and would drink one before a morning run and then one before I went to bed. Each packet provides 1000 mg of vitamin C, 24 nutrients, 7-B vitamins, antioxidants and electrolytes. Personally, I prefer the "Super Orange" (YUM!) over the "Raspberry" (kind of ick).  



So that's how I roll with my pre-run hydration needs! I'd love to know what others do because I'm always trying to mix it up. Next post, I'll talk about what I do during runs... which honestly, I think I need to improve. 

What do you like to drink before your runs?   






4 comments:

  1. Hmmm, water is pretty much the big thing for me. And coffee...I know, not so good. But after my runs I have a whey protein shake. Oh and I was using this stuff called Fitness Edge sports drink!

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  2. I'm a creature of habit, so I stick with water, almond milk (really satisfying in the morning), cherry juice, and occasionally coconut water. the legit vietnemese kind in a can, not the kind marketed to white athletes... ;)

    I love the emergen-c stuff. WHY is it so expensive!?!?!

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  3. Allison, I'm so with you on the clown show during the night... except it is our 7 year old!! I have no idea how he sneaks in our bed with out me knowing half the time!! I'm going to have to check out click...I saw it on SR and it does look like a great protein option with caffeine. I have put VIA packets in icecream shakes before---i don't know why I haven't thought to put them in my protein shakes??...I'll have to pick some up. Great idea. I drink a SPARK by advocare before my runs. I couldn't live with out it. Basically an energy drink but doesn't make me jittery and stuff like the other stuff.

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