The Dangers of "Vitamin I"

In distance running and other endurance events, many people get a little cavalier about taking Ibuprofen, Advil, Aspirin and the like.  (These medications are in a class of drug called NSAIDs - Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.)  Heck... I even have friends who refer to Ibuprofen as "Vitamin I."  The danger is that taking any of the above can result in kidney damage or failure if you're not careful, especially when taken before working out.

I actually had a whole, long schpeal written out that I was tweaking to make less boring when my friend, Grace at How I Complicated My Life Today, came out with her own 2 part post on the same topic.  Rather than re-invent the wheel, I'm going to steal work in concert with (ya like that?) her blog post.  She's a pharmacist and does a great job of talking about how NSAIDs work (Part I) and which might be good for you (Part II).

But there are a couple things I want to add/emphasize:

1.  NSAIDs can be dangerous to your kidneys when you're working out.  I already mentioned that but it should be emphasized.  Taking Advil or Aleeve before or during a long run is a bad idea.  You're likely already dehydrated, putting a strain on your kidneys.  Then you add a drug with potential to damage your kidneys & it gets even more concentrated there because you're dehydrated (and have less fluid in your vessels.)  It's a recipe for disaster.  Just because you've done it before doesn't mean it'll be ok next time.

2.  Another option is Tylenol or acetaminophen (they're the same - just the brand & generic names).  Grace didn't talk about it because Tylenol isn't an NSAID.  It's in a class of its own.  The main difference is that unlike NSAIDs, Tylenol isn't an anti-inflammatory.  (It does, however, relieve pain & reduce fevers.)  The advantage of Tylenol for athletes is that it is processed by your liver rather than your kidneys and it's not associated with kidney damage.  It can cause damage to your liver so it's very important not to exceed dosage recommendations.  If you have any other liver problems or drink a lot of alcohol, this is probably not the right choice for you.  But if you need something to help you get through a race or to relieve some pain afterward, Tylenol may help.

3.  As with any drug you take or pain you might have, ask your doctor first.  They can give you a better idea what might be right for you based on your specific medical history and other medications you take.  More importantly, they should have suggestions on tackling the source of your pain (rather than numbing it with pills.)  If they can't help, get a referral to a sports medicine doctor or find another family doctor who does a lot of musculoskeletal or sports medicine.  You've got options.

4.  Last but not least, don't ignore your pain.  This can sometimes be the hardest thing.  A lot of us don't like taking time off from our sanity sports or asking for help.  We see the warning signs, bright & clear, but ignore them.  Just pop in another couple pain relievers and get back on the treadmill or bike, run just a couple more miles...  Sometimes there's a simple fix.  For example, strength training or crosstraining can often help stabilize joints that are causing pain.  Unfortunately, sometimes it's not so easy.  But most of the time, addressing the problem sooner rather than later is a good idea.  Waiting until you can't walk or sleep or move usually means more time that you're on the sidelines and can even result in permanent damage.  Remember that pain relievers don't address the source of your pain, they simply mask it.

Burfing

I don't think I'm the only one who has this problem.  It's not something that happens on every run.  But if it  happens once I know I'm in for more.  I'm referring to the phenomenon of burping a little vomit.

Ah... the joys of running.

On my 19 miler Tuesday it must have happened a dozen times or more.  Enough times that it was on my mind.  (If it's just once or twice I forget about it pretty quickly.)  All this thought - and not wanting to think about my tired legs - led me to name the phenomenon.  I think it deserves a name, don't you?  And henceforth, I shall refer to it as:

burp + barf = burfing

Sounds better than burmit (a failed Muppets character) or vomurp (a swamp creature).  So burfing it is.  I"ll leave you with a benediction:  May all your runs be free of burfing.

See... even Calvin burfed.

Do as I say, not as I do

If anyone I remotely cared about asked me about what they should do after a couple weeks of missed runs and travels, I would have told them to take it easy.  Ease back into things.  If you jump right back into your routine after missing too many runs you risk injury.

So what did I do?  Ran 38 miles in 3 days.  After missing a gazillion runs, I decided to put my long run & two of my medium length runs 3 days in a row.  What can I say?  I have 12 hour shifts everyday for the foreseeable future and the idea of running a 10 miler after work was less appealing that pushing through today.  My legs are not going to let me forget the stupidity of it, but I think I fortunately avoided injury other than a couple small blisters and some chafed skin.

The best part of my run was when I got the trots.  Yup.  Always an adventure.  Looping back towards a park where there is a bathroom, I started getting increasingly concerned about how much further it was.  My legs felt like lead and my stomach was not happy.  Trying to gauge how much longer I had, I glanced down at my Garmin to see this:

Ahhh!  6.66?  When I've got the trots!?!  I'm not superstitious, but when you've got bathroom on the brain I don't need any bad luck.  Lucky for me, the park was around mile 7 so I pushed my lead legs as fast as they could go and made it in the nick of time.

A little trick I used to get through the run was something I've mentioned before.  Smile!  Every time I felt a grimace across my face I would force a smile.  So simple, but it really works.  You can't help but end up with a real smile.  Especially if you start with a goofy smirk:

Don't try this around small children.
They might cry.

Growing Pains

You know those runs when you hit your distance goal and stop immediately, even when you have a couple blocks left to get home?  Um, yeah.  That would be me today.

The last few months have been crazy.  I've spent less than a week at home since November and have driven & flown thousands of miles around the country for interviews.  I managed to cram a couple runs and walks into my schedule while in Seattle (ouch! hills!) but that was about it.  Now I keep switching night & day shifts while working in the ER and it's messing me up.  Luckily I had yesterday & today off, along with tomorrow.  (Not that I'm counting, but I'll be done with ER in precisely 10.5 days.)  Taking full advantage of the time off I ran 9 miles at pace yesterday & 19 miles today.

How did that go?  Um... You know those runs when you hit your distance goal and stop immediately?  (Did I already ask that?)  I definitely hit 19.00 miles and walked the last few blocks.  And ran into a couple friends on the run & made a point to stop and say hello.  And ask how they're doing.  And chat about the weather.  But other than that, it was awesome.

There's something about being stressed & squeezing a run into your hectic day.  Nothing can compare.  How's your running going?

ps.  You know if you google "zen runner," this is what you get?

Awesome.  Now that's some zen.

Dancing is not running

But they're both great workouts...

In case I haven't mentioned already, I'm an amazing dancer*.  (And singer*.)

*In my head

How 'bout you?