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Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

Low Blood Sugar Causes Mental Fatigue During Competition

Posted November 23rd, 2007 at 3:45 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Nutrition, Race Prep & Recov, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Athletes can expect to feel fatigued when their blood sugar levels drop. Researchers at Loughborough University, UK showed that athletes who did not take sugar during soccer competition lasting 90 minutes felt more tired, had less competitive desire, and had far lower blood sugar levels than athletes who took a sugared drink every 15 minutes during their game (Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, October 2007).

Your brain gets more than 98 percent of its energy from sugar in the bloodstream. However there is only enough sugar in the bloodstream to last about three minutes. The liver must constantly release sugar into the bloodstream, but there is only enough sugar in the liver to last eight hours during rest and far less than that during exercise. So athletes who do not take a source of sugar during events lasting more than an hour can suffer the psychological effects of low blood sugar levels what include a mental feeling of fatigue and lowered competitive desire.
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Q & A: Does it matter when I drink during a long race?

Posted June 8th, 2007 at 7:15 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: Nutrition, Hydration, Health & Fitness, Exercise

A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that drinking fluids earlier can improve performance more than taking them later (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, December 2006).

Seven highly-trained male triathletes, aged 18 to 35 years, were tested during two simulated Olympic-distance triathlons. They took a full glass of water at 8, 16, 24, and 32 kilometers, and this was compared to taking the same drink 2, 4, 6 and 8 kilometers later in the event (at 10, 20, 30, and 40 kilometers).

As you would expect, opening swim times for 1500 meters were similar between trials; as were the second event (40-km cycling) times, but the third event (10-km run) times were faster when the athletes took food and drink earlier. Dehydration does not harm an athlete’s performance until he lacks a large amount of water and his blood volume is depleted significantly. That explains why the athletes’ performance was not harmed until the third event of the three-event competition.
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Rono makes his return to racing at Carlsbad 5000

Posted March 27th, 2007 at 3:14 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

With his four world records in 81 days (still one of the greatest feats in distance running history), Henry Rono will celebrate and even greater achievement when he lines up for the Carlsbad 5000 road race on Sunday: his return to sobriety.

Rono, 55, who now lives in Albuquerque, N.M., was brought low by his dependence on alcohol, and slipped quietly off of the world stage into poverty. He moved throughout the U.S. from city to city between 1986 and 1996, at times living in homeless shelters, before settling in Albuquerque.

Contributing to his downfall was Kenya’s boycotts of both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games, meaning one of the greatest figures in Kenyan athletics never represented his nation on the biggest stage in the sport. He also said, in a statement on his website, that he was taken advantage of by “greedy agents and meet directors as well as the corrupt Kenyan athletic officials…”
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Effects of alcohol on your performance & health

Posted January 1st, 2007 at 3:30 PM by Jonathan Faccone

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

There are many studies that demonstrate alcohol’s negative effects on health and physical performance, but the good news is that avoiding it may not be the best idea either.

Believe it or not, athletes used to consume alcohol prior to competition to improve performance. The thinking behind this idea is that alcohol could alter energy metabolism, improve physiological processes, or modify psychological factors to help the athlete. Unfortunately this idea no longer holds as more research is demonstrating that alcohol by no means should be considered a performance-enhancing supplement.
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