Here’s one big athletic event coronavirus couldn’t cancel: Global Running Day and related activities this week.

In countries around the world, the annual event celebrates and encourages running and physical movement. The focus is online this year, of course – but the point is a good one any day.

“During these challenging times, many people are turning to running as a solution to help release anxiety, gain perspective, cope with cabin fever, and keep up wellbeing,” organizers say on their website.

Here’s one example among the countless: Chuck, a 56-year-old business consultant in London, who has enjoyed gym fitness and swimming over the years.

“Of course, it took a pandemic to get me running,” he says. “My gym closed, and that forced me to realize that the only gym I had was the one I could lace up on my feet.”

Join the Virtual Race This Year

This year’s event will be celebrated digitally because of the health crisis. “It’s important that we all keep active in a safe and responsible way,” organizers say.

Indeed, a new study shows that people who exercised during the early stages of the coronavirus lockdown were less prone to depression and the effects of stress.

We’ve said countless times that exercise is the best medicine for mood, anxiety, poor sleep and countless other wellness issues. But this pandemic is unprecedented, with millions of people staying home and exercising less. This study is one more reason to get off the couch and take care of yourself now (and after the pandemic).

People everywhere can join the free New York Road Runners virtual race now through June 7. Just run or walk a mile anywhere and share the news on social media.

Organizers hope that, after you complete your mile, you will tag a friend on social media with #Run1Tag1 and encourage them to do the same.

“Together we’ll create a worldwide game of virtual tag,” they say. “Although we’re running separate routes, we’re all in this together to stay connected and healthy.”

Staying Active for Mature Adults

In non-pandemic times, the NYRR Striders offers free, coach-led walking sessions every week in senior centers, neighborhoods and parks.

Nowadays, the group offers online workouts and resources: “We believe in the power of fitness to keep adults physically and mentally strong, especially in the wake of COVID-19.”

The group is encouraging mature adults everywhere to enjoy walking or running – both excellent forms of exercise, regardless of age.

Wednesday, June 3 is Global Running Day, but this year more than ever, the date is just a way to raise awareness and encourage people of all ages to be physically active. Around the world, millions over 50 run on a regular basis, with countless more out there walking.

Their numbers have swelled this year with people like Chuck in England, who haven’t been able to go to the gym or studio.

“This has been a very stressful time,” he says. “And at the beginning of London’s lockdown, I was eating myself into a very fat comfort zone.

“Once I started running regularly, my appetite came back under control, I kick-started my metabolism, and I gained a notch back on my belt.”

That’s good motivation to make every day a global running day.

Here at Your Personal Best, we’re often asked about proper sports nutrition and pre and post workout foods. With Conquer The Coast happening tomorrow, we felt it was a great time to address some of these questions. Proper nutrition, like anything else, takes a bit of training before you’re ready go for the “long haul”.

Often times, we are concerned with event-day fueling and can neglect our day-to-day training diets. You’ll find that you can compete at your best only if you train at your best!

Your intestinal tract needs to be trained as well as your heart, lungs and muscles. Each person has a different tolerance with pre-exercise food. You need to practice not only what you eat but also when and how much to eat before your exercise.   From the beginning, train your intestinal tract by nibbling on a pretzel, cracker or other fuel that will enhance stamina, endurance, and enjoyment of exercise.

You don’t need to wait around for pre-exercise snack to digest. You can grab a small snack just five minutes pre-exercise and the food will get put to good use–as long as you are exercising at a pace that you can maintain for more than half an hour. That is, you might not want to eat much more than five minutes before a hard track workout, but you could enjoy a banana before you put on your jogging shoes. Research suggests you can eat an energy bar either 15 or 60 minutes before moderate exercise and gain a similar energy boost.

All athletes also need protein after vigorous exercise. Protein helps repair and rebuild muscle tissue that is broken down during hard exercise.  Because protein is the basic building material for muscle tissue, if you strength train, or want to increase muscle size, you need to consume more protein than sedentary individuals or non-athletes. However, most strength athletes may overestimate their protein needs.
In general, most active people prefer to wait two to four hours after eating a full meal before they head to the gym or prepare for a team practice. The meal will have plenty of time to digest and empty from the stomach, particularly if they don’t stuff themselves with high fat foods (cheeseburgers and fries) that take longer to digest than a carb-based pasta-type meal. The rule of thumb is to consume:

Time pre-exercise             Grams carb/lb        Calories/150-lb athlete
5-60 minutes                      0.5 g/lb                             300 calories
2 hours                                  1.0 g/lb                            600 calories
4 hours                                  2.0 g/lb                         1,200 calories

Here are some great recommendations we offer at Your Personal Best Training Studio:

Hydration is equally as important as fueling. Be sure that you are keeping yourself well hydrated for your exercise or event.   In addition to the regular eight glasses of water every day, you need to drink to replace fluids that are lost during exercise. To be confident that you are well hydrated before workouts, drink 2 cups of fluid 2 hours before exercise. During your workout, drink 4 to 8 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes. After exercise, replace any further fluid losses with 16 ounces of water. If you want to be precise, you can weigh yourself before and after workouts. For each pound lost during exercise, you should be drink 16 ounces of fluid. Sports drinks can be helpful to athletes who are exercising at a high intensity for 60 minutes or more. Fluids supplying 60 to 100 calories per 8 ounces helps to supply the needed calories required for continuous performance. It’s really not necessary to replace losses of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes during exercise since you’re unlikely to deplete your body’s stores of these minerals during normal training. If, however, you find yourself exercising in extreme conditions over 3 or 5 hours (a marathon, Ironman or ultra marathon, for example) you may likely want to add a complex sports drink with electrolytes.

For more information about fueling your workout visit the Active website.

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