Ok--confession time. I read an article last week about things one could do to improve your chance of a PR. One of the suggestions was to use this particular lotion to combat lactic acid buildup in your legs in the last half of an endurance competition: I found the article on Wednesday, so clearly there was not enough time to get some before Saturday, so I read a little further. The active ingredient in the lotion was sodium bicarbonate. For the dietitians and the chemists in the group, that is common baking soda. I had an idea! On race morning, I got out my baking soda and sunscreen and mixed myself up a potion and spread it on my skin. At first, it felt really itchy and I almost washed it off except I remembered that people often use baking soda to combat pain and itching on rashes. After a few minutes, the itching went away which I attributed to the fact that my skin is so dry. The race went very well. I wonder if it had anything to do with my special lotion??? I'll probably try it again before another long run to see. It certainly doesn't hurt anything to spread baking soda on one's legs.
Back in high school, a dietitian had told me that it was very important to get enough fructose prior to races to build up my stores. The product of choice was high fructose corn syrup and it was quite hard to find in products. There was a certain brand of flavored seltzer water that had the treasured substance and Mom bought it so that I could have one the day before each race. WHAT!?!? Fast forward 30 years and we can't seem to avoid high fructose corn syrup in almost everything and certainly no one is talking about it as a performance enhancer. Have you tried anything somewhat unusual to gain an edge in athletics, beauty or academics? Please share with us in the comments so we can all learn what things we should really try or save our time and maybe our money. Happy running--Missee
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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