A common fallacy of over-zealous runners is to focus on keeping to a certain speed and trying to run a personal best timing everytime. This may contribute to some of their feel-good factor. Looking at it closely, if every training run is focused at speed, would the runner have sufficient time to adapt or recover for the later stages of training?

When training, u should work towards clocking your desired mileage eventually. That would ensure that u finish the race, at least. Ultimately, your training is to prepare u to finish the race in good stead.

Your trainings should provide gradual increase in distance until u have reached your target race distance or more. The increase is progressive, not abrupt. For 5 to 10km, progressive fortnightly increase of 2 km is good. For 10 to 20 km, fortnightly increase of 3 to 5km is average. Beyond 20 km, it would depend more on individual fitness and limits, usually capped at 7 km maximum.

The build up of mileage is important as your body needs the time and experience to acclimatise to the intensity and raise your endurance. That should be the baseline and foundation u aim for when training. As u get used to running the distance, your body can then channel more energy towards strengthening for speed. U can start working on pushing your muscles to go faster and recover in a shorter time. As u continue this repeated overloading routine, your leg muscles gain the power and efficiency to propel u at higher speeds.

Remember: Only when the foundation of mileage is met, u can think of achieving more speed. iJooX - Discover, Connect and Share Websites



Daily hydration of a runner

Posted by geoge soros | 9:15 AM






Water is a crucial substance in the body. It is needed as a solvent for other biological substances to dissolve and react. These reactions help keep us alive. Water is also a key component in sweat, which helps remove excessive heat generated during exercise.

As with all rugged sports, perspiration is mandatory and unavoidable. The intensity of running makes it a sport that involves large amounts of fluid loss from the body. To stay at the optimal level of fitness and recovery, replenishing this loss is critically important.

Many healthcare professionals advocate drinking at least 8 glasses of water everyday for normal adults. This is the bottomline for inactive persons. Imagine the prolonged perspiration during a race. It is not difficult to imagine our body yearning for more glasses of water than usual.

On normal sedentary days, try to drink at least 8 to 12 glasses daily. To facilitate this, u can bring a water bottle or flask to your desk or workplace. Building a habit of drinking during meals or when u take a break can also be useful. The key is to tag drinking to some activities or time or place that u will never miss. For instance, if u tend to stay in front of the computer, place a water flask next to it for easy access.

On active days, u should drink more, depending on the duration of exercise and weather too. It may sound absurd to remind ourselves to drink a certain amount of water, like, wouldn't our body tell us to be thirsty? The truth is, under the conditions of fatigue and physical stress, we tend to neglect signals that our body is sending us. A good rule of thumb is to hydrate before, during and after a race or training.

A good guideline is to drink at least 500ml of water for every 1 hour of physcial activity. This can be spread into a few portions if you don't have a tolerance for such volume. For more effective hydration, u can put electrolytes into the drink. The isotonic drinks are a good source of this. This is 2 benefits, increase hydration and replenish lost body salts.

Apart from direct hydration through drinking, runners can also get a good supplement of water from diet. Fruits and vegetables do aid in providing some fluid to our bodies too. In particular, juicy ones like celery, oranges, watermelons, apples etc all make good water supplements. Put in the effort to remind yourself and hydration will come as a natural gesture to u soon! iJooX - Discover, Connect and Share Websites


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Runners' Snack - Pasta

Posted by geoge soros | 3:24 AM


Building up to your marathon race and want that carbo-loading session? A wide range of diet options are available. One good option will be to eat pasta. U may ask, why pasta?

The purpose of carbo-loading sessions is to stock up a large reserve of energy in the body so that the runner is able to meet the high energy demands of an endurance, long duration sport. These reserves are in the form of glycogen stored in the muscles and liver. Hence, carbohydrates that can increase body stores of glycogen are preferred.

Amongst the rich spread of staple diet carbohydrates like rice, potato, bread, noodles, pasta etc, the effectiveness of each at increasing body glycogen levels actually vary. Dieticians usually compare them on a scale called Glycemic Index (GI), which is a measure of how effective a carbohydrate is at increasing blood glucose levels. A low GI would mean the food is slow to release its energy and the body is able to derive a constant source of energy from it over a longer period of time. This is exactly what marathoners or endurance sportsmen need! Among the staple carbohydrates, pasta has a fairly low GI of about 40. Other carbohydrates like potato and rice may have up to a GI of 90, which means they quickly release all their energy and cannot supply a runner with energy for long.

If it is any added bonus, pasta is easy to prepare. Just boil and add ready-made sauces of your choice. Voala! And u have a sumptuous carbo-loading session! iJooX - Discover, Connect and Share Websites



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Dear Readers,

as a passionate running enthusiast, i've formed Runners' United to share useful tips and insights on running. The vision of Runners' United is to reach out to the GLOBAL community and encourage the sport of running!

Here at Runners' United, we pride ourselves with the culture of sharing information about running that aims to help runners from around the world make their running experience an enjoyable one.

We welcome questions about running and feedback on our website. Simply drop an email to us at runners.united.helpdesk@gmail.com Please be patient with us as we do carry out research to bolster our answer to you (and we do hold day jobs as well). A reply to your queries should be posted on the blog within 1 month of your email. It is in our best interest to bring the best experience for you in your stay here at Runners' United.

We will be immensely grateful if you could help spread word about runners-united.blogspot.com to your social circle and family. Know that avid runner next door? Why not tell him/her right away! If it enlightened you, it should benefit people around you too!

Thank You for visiting Runners' United!

Do undies matter?

Posted by geoge soros | 9:55 AM





When it comes to running, we can think of all forms of preparation to aid our training. Has anyone really thought of undergarment as one of the factors? Women perhaps are more knowledgeable than men in this regard. Most women who run would know the benefits of wearing a sports bra. However, less people will think of choosing a suitable pair of panties, boxers or briefs for their run. The fact is, undergarment plays an important role in enhancing our running experience. Let's take a look at some of the common runners' problems that can be prevented or lessened when u choose the right undergarment.


Nipple abrasion is a common ailment that plague long distance runners. The frequent rubbing of your t-shirt or singlet or even bra, coupled with large amounts of perspiration, may cause chafing of skin directly under the clothing. It can get quite uncomfortable and painful. To prevent this, females can pick a suitable sports bra to provide support to your breasts and limit the extent of abrasion. There really is a generous range available for females out there. The general advice is: choose comfort and light-weight. You can look for the aesthetics like colour and design when the first 2 criteria has been met. Most sports bras thesedays come in easy-to-dry material that are a mix of fabric and nylon or polyester. This is good as perspiration dries quickly in these material and helps reduce the abrasive potential of the bras. For males, taping the nipples using cloth surgical tape is the best solution against nipple abrasion. The most simple way is to tape an 'X' on each nipple. Try not to use plastic or elastic tape as these may slip off under the heavy perspiration.

Chafing is also a pain in the ass (literally for some). It usually occurs in regions where there is more contact between body parts. In between the thighs, between the butt, the armpits, the chest and the belly (if you have one) are some of the common places that are susceptible to chafing. For runners who are more chubby, you are likely to experience chafing more often. In this situation, the choice of undergarment would determine the extent of the chafing. For males, boxers are generally a no-no because of the loose flaps of cloth that might exacerbate the rubbing. Briefs that fit well with sufficient breathing ventilation is good. As long as the material is light and allows easy drying, it would increase the comfort during running. For females, pick a snug fit of underwear that is not too large or loose. This minimises excessive 'running' of the underwear during repeated hip and leg movement during your running strides. For both genders alike, g-string is definitely unacceptable for running. The 'string' would become a cutting saw under the wet and hot conditions when u run and the consequent abrasion can be quite bad.


Increasingly, runners are turning to tights as an alternative to undergarment during a race. Tights are basically body-hugging shorts or suits that limits the amount of abrasive contact between the undergarment and your skin. Some prefer tights because the smooth and elastic surface allow more fluid movement of the limbs as you run. A point to note is that tights come in all shapes and sizes. Choose a cutting that is less restraining for you. Paddings and thicker material may be inserted in some tights as well. You should assess if you're used to the feeling of wearing such tights, especially over long periods of time. Some tights are designed for cyclists, biathletes or triathletes. The seams are sewn to facilitate different movement ranges so do check with the store assistants before your purchase!

A handful of the more adventurous may choose not to wear undergarments at all. Well for these runners, the ownest really is on themselves to decide whether the benefits do outweigh the disadvantages. Depending on indivdual skin types, some people might have developed tougher skin that can stand more rubbing. So remember, choose wisely!

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Try recalling those fantastic runs you had. What were your emotions before the race day? How did you feel just before the race starts? What was on your mind during the race? How did you feel at the end of the race? Then try remembering 1 of those horrible races, if you had any, where you thought like its never going to end even from the start. Woah.. not very pretty, right?



Quite surprisingly, no matter how much we prepare, one important thing would make or break our performance on race day... and that is our race mindset. As much as we can prepare our body to cope with the demands of running a race, our mind rules over how our body would work. The kind of thoughts and emotions that go through our mind before the race would tune you to a particular frame of mind to begin the race with.



A good way to harness the leverage that your mind provides is to envisage good things. Have an awesome attitude. Think of all the wonderful reasons. Focus on your passion for running. Here, i would like to share with you some simple yet powerful strategies that have helped me in my races.



Use mental visualization. Run through in your mind, the route you will be taking. Imagine the likely atmosphere. Think about the sensation you will go through and how will you keep yourself recharged. Envision how you will like to finish. Envision a strong, euphoric finish. Think of the roars of cheers and upbeat music that will welcome you. Think of anything that motivates you: your family, your supporters, a good drink, a nice massage or anything at all (even sex!). Mentally run through the things you have to bring for race day, the actions you will take, the pace you want to maintain and all the preparations you will do en route to finishing the race.



Talk about it. Tell friends and family about your trainings. Share your emotions. Update fellow runners and motivate each other along as you train up for the race. The more you let it out, the less anxiety will build. A talk with experienced runners would probably help dispel some worries or give u some tips too. Light hearted chats make good remedy for nervous thoughts of pre-race jitters.



Use positive affirmations. Get used to it. Immerse yourself in confidence and assurance of your own ability and training. Try to start with it as early as you can convince yourself. Repeat the process every week, every day, every opportunity you can. The key to this is to repeat it to yourself so often until it becomes a subconscious reality.



Enjoy the race, that's why you signed up in the first place! Focus on the good, like the mileage you have been building or the nice scenery around or simply congratulate yourself after you cover a milestone distance (like every 5km or something). Take it as a sight-seeing tour. Enjoy the little things... from the gentle breeze to the joy of drinking along the way, everything makes up the race experience. Look forward to the grand finishing line.
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Runners' snack - Bananas

Posted by geoge soros | 9:27 AM



One of the favorite snack of runners, especially for those in the South East Asian region, is bananas. Many are aware of its credibility as a power snack in sports but few really understand what bananas can do for you.



Bananas are a very convenient and beneficial source of energy and essential nutrients for the active runner. It is a powerpack of 3 sugars: glucose, fructose and sucrose. On top of that, the blend of minerals and vitamins in bananas aid the release of energy and contraction of muscles during exercise.

The potassium found in bananas provide good replenishment to those lost during exercise perspiration. It also aids hydration uptake when you drink. The vitamin C in bananas provide around 10 to 20% of the daily needs of your body. This, together with other anti-oxidants in bananas, help in protecting you from falling sick.

Vitamin B6 in bananas are a whooping 25% of daily requirement. This vitamin is key in helping the production of your body's antibodies which fights infection and keep you healthy throughout your intensive training. The production of haemoglobin, the red oxygen-carrying pigment in red blood cells, is promoted with vitamin B6 as well. This is useful because healthy red blood cells ensure good oxygen carriage to your cells to support muscular exercise. The unique blend of essential nutrients in bananas like vitamin B1, B2, B6 and B complex aids in promoting healthy nerve development and function. This improves coordination of your nervous system in general and keeps you at your tip-top condition.

Bananas contain a good source of iron too, which maintains a healthy red blood cell count. This will ensure that your blood can carry more oxygen to serve your muscles while you run. The high fibre content keeps healthy bowel movement that will leave you less prone to constipation.



Don't forget that bananas are a small and portable snack too! You can carry them where you need for an instant nutrition boost. And i'm sure bananas are cheap and easily available too! So, next time when you pass that neighbourhood supermart, why not consider grabbing a bunch of bananas for your boost in nutrition?

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Get that R.I.C.E.

Posted by geoge soros | 7:08 AM


Sportsmen, amateur and professional alike, are constantly engaging their bodies in routine movement. Some point or another, sportsmen would have had the experience of injury. These can range from small things like scratches to bigger ones like fractures. Runners are at least 50% more likely to sustain injuries to the leg region due to the intensive nature of the sport. A sprained ankle, a twisted joint or even a strained muscle can be quite a pain to your running plans. No runner could bare being separated from the sport for too long. The good news is, you can greatly lessen the wait. The only thing you need to remember is R.I.C.E.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating rice as a diet to help recovery. The R.I.C.E. i refer to is actually an abbreviation for a few pointers to help put your recovery at a headstart. To minimise the period of recuperation from injury and maximise recovery, immediate and proper action must be taken at the onset of injury. Sowhat should we do?

Rest the affected area. Immediately stop the activity you are engaging in.

Isolate the injured area by not moving excessively. Roll up any clothing covering the area and make sure it cannot swing around freely. If possible, rest it on a comfortable support, like a sofa or cushion.

Compress the area using an icepack to reduce swelling and alleviate the pain. Typically apply pressure for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on severity and individual tolerance level. This initial step would help slow down the accumulation of liquid that cause swelling.

E levate the injured part and keep it immobilised at that position. Elevation will keep blood from flowing down to the injured part of your leg, hence slowing down the build up of pain, swelling and inflammation.

The above will serve as a quick-fix to tentatively prevent complications and reduce swelling of the injured area. However, remember that nothing can replace professional medical treatment. So please do consult your doctor as soon as possible for further medication and rehabilitation.
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