Summer Speed Challenge, a li'l midweek update with cramp news! 👾

[roseabi]

Hi all!

★ Just so you know, if any of your challenge runs are a little more or less than your stated distance, let me know and I will include that in the calculations to give you an accurate result. Your data will be presented as the increase (or decrease - it happens!) each week in pace as seconds/km.

★ In running news, here's an article about the latest research into the causes of your old friend the CRAMP! Particularly interesting are the theories about the mechanisms of pickle juice magic

trainright.com/muscle-cramp...

Speedy running, all!

Abix

[misswobble Marathon]

Ta. Pickle juice can be used in bread making too

There’s a use for everything 😁👍

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

... except for those tiny little cycle paths that don't go anywhere

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Titter 😃

The dog and I followed a bogus trail which landed us in some wild roses at the end of a point of no return The dog looked at me with disgust 🙄

All good fun though ey. Although it is easier to turn a dog round in a confined space than a bike ☺️

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

True dat

[Maddee_6333 Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

You’ve been to Burgess Hill then 🤣

[Rignold]

How bizarre, I have been having a conversation about the merits of pickle juice on Facebook last night.

Great album choice btw

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Ha, yeah I saw that, and then this article coincidentally appeared in the Ultramarathon Daily News blog I was catching up with.

I thought the Smell seemed appropriate, as I would like to give the pickle juice a try but I'm sure I'll just end up with it all down my top...

[ju-ju- Marathon]

The American ultra running group I am in on FB bang on about this all the time and they have flavoured drinks and god knows what else embelished with it... I love a nice gherkin but I cant say I have ever drank its juice.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to ju-ju-]

Mmmm gherkins...

I need to join that group, they sound funny

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

I grow cornichons and eat them as is. No pickling em here. Yum 😋

Got loads at the mo 😃

[Whatsapp Half Marathon]

Prevents cramp and and chance of getting kissed too!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Whatsapp]

Oh no! But then again I don't usually get many offers when I'm out running...

[Whatsapp Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

No me neither, not since I was a kid and played kiss-chase!

[Decker Ultramarathon]

My wife and children laugh at me for my fondness of things pickled. Especially picked onions which are really hard to come by here. But even I draw the line at drinking the juice. Cant see that going well on a hot marathon day 🤢😊

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

I love pickles too! Maybe you should get into pickling?

I think pickly things could make a nice change from all the sweet stuff during a marathon...

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

My family may disown me if I did that. 😳But after all this pickle talk, Maybe we should try some baby dill pickles on our next long run? If we can take cheese then why not pickles? There’s no bad time for a pickle after all. Not the juice tho, I can’t endorse that message...

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Do you know Branston Pickle? Ima take a cheese and Branston sandwich with me

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

I’ve heard of Branston but never actually tried them. It sounds good to me though 👍🏼

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

It's a sort of chutney. My brother lives in the US and he tracks it down wherever he can, so it's probably addictive...

[APScotland in reply to roseabi]

You could be right ... I lived for 2 years in the USA and the only two foodstuffs that I craved were Branston pickle and steak pie. I never did find a pie but was ecstatic to track down the Branston - even at 4x the UK price

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to APScotland]

There you go then

Americans love their pies, but they do tend to favour the sweet ones...

[APScotland in reply to roseabi]

Indeed ... cherry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, key lime pie - anything but steak pie

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to APScotland]

I thought I would die of pie last time I went over there - there was this Pi day party...

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Thats my kind of party. I love me some pie 🥧

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

There was this chocolate pecan pie, oh my ears and whiskers.........

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Good gravy! Sign me up!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Looks like I can get it on Amazon. And they have my Marks and Sparks pickled onions too! Going to place an order once I get enough stuff to qualify for the free shipping

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Pickle heaven!!!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Yes! At this rate I will be living on the front porch soon!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to Decker]

I grow dill and cornichons. dill has to be the best scented plant, ever

Put them together and mmmmmmm😋

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Beetroot. Carnage 😁

[Rignold]

I used to get debilitating calf cramps on obstacle races. Then I discovered pickle juice and it worked a dream. I did a 32 mile obstacle race and had a small bottle of it in my water belt. I ended up administering it to (and curing) so many other runners , including a whole team of Italians, that I got the nickname Dr Pickle (which sounds better in a flamboyant Italian accent)

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

The liquid from a supermarket jar of pickles? The "juice" part confuses me

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

Well home pickles are better as less artificial additives etc obvs but supermarket at a push. I would go for a proper kosher brand rather than a supermarket own brand. But yes, it is the pickling liquor that is the magic.

Have a read of any of the works of Sandor Katz

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Can see no artifice mentioned on my Polish gherkin jar label - other than that of the pickling itself I suppose!

Thanks for the tip! As an ex-microbiologist this fascinates me, although I'm still not sure about drinking that kombucha stuff

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

what troubles you about kombucha?

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Sounds horrible!

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

lolwut? It is delicious. It takes on whatever flavour you make it with.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Over and above the general sweet-vinegary-tea-ness?

It's fizzy though, right? I can get with that.

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

Yes.

And you can terrify children and some adults with the mother Scoby. My children and GF will not go in the same room with the ‘organisms’ in jars.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Win-win!

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

And when the mother has too many offspring you can either cut them up and put them in smoothies or dry them to a semi jelly/jerky consistency and have them as running snacks

[Maddee_6333 Half Marathon in reply to Rignold]

This is fermenting, you’re talking about, yes?

Would you what I’d need to ferment milk? I quite like Kefir, but everywhere I go it’s pasteurised, which I think defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

[Maddee_6333 Half Marathon in reply to Rignold]

But... kombucha is fermented isn’t it? That’s not the same as pickled...

[Rignold in reply to Maddee_6333]

We digressed into fermentation as Abi mentioned kombucha. Pickling and fermenting are different yes, although some pickles are fermented so they are not mutually exclusive.

To make your own kefit, all you need is some kefir grain as a starter (you can get them on Ebay) and some milk and a clean non metallic vessel. You can also make water kefir.

[Maddee_6333 Half Marathon in reply to Rignold]

I love a good digression 👍

Thanks 🙂

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Maddee_6333]

I went to Sandor Katz's website and got all excited by all the fermentation

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Someone's freecycling a kombucha SCOBY in Brighton

[Rignold in reply to roseabi]

Grab it! An exciting new life of fermentation and enhanced gut biomery awaits! Surely this is fate calling?

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

Argh!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

i worked next door to microbiology, in histopathology. Different hospital to yours though 😁

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

I worked in a factory

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

😁

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

That’s amazing! So it actually works! It sounds like you need just a little at a time?

[Rignold in reply to Decker]

yes,

a couple of sips.

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Rignold]

I don’t currently run long enough to get serious cramps but it is good to know there is a solution for them

[C3PO Marathon]

This explains the pickles being served at the very hot Helsinki Marathon/Street Run.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to C3PO]

I need to run that marathon.

[Sqkr Half Marathon]

Man I love drinking the juice from cornichons and such, when I was little I used to steal vinegar from the cupboard and drink that too. At last! I have a good reason for doing it!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Sqkr]

[APScotland]

Cider vinegar is reputed to have all sorts of health benefits - would this prevent cramps too? I give it to my pet hens in their drinking water every day, and once used it to treat an acute snotty nose/cold in one of my cats - amazingly effective!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to APScotland]

Unknown - perhaps you could give it a try!

[Whatsapp Half Marathon in reply to APScotland]

Have your chickens have ever complained of cramp?

[APScotland in reply to Whatsapp]

No! It obviously works!

[misswobble Marathon]

The ACV with the “mother” in it from the pet shop is fine for us to drink. Not sure it helps with cramp 🤷‍♀️ It’s said to lower cholesterol 😁. Good for hard skin on the feet too 😁

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

The pet shop sells it?

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Yup, as it’s in additive for poultry water. Keeps them laying yer see, and in all-round tip top health It has to have the “mother” in it which gets killed off in the pasteurised supermarket version, eg wine vinegars

You can buy it for humans, unpasteurised but safe for human consumption from Aspalls and the like, but it’s dearer than from t’pet shop. You can see it online for more info

[APScotland in reply to roseabi]

... and most decent grocery stores, for humans too Organic with mother is the best.

[misswobble Marathon]

Right then. Is this where we are posting run times ? If,so, for my 8 k last night my time was 50:02. Dang! 😬

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

Aw Well, next week is a new week!

[misswobble Marathon]

I am a bit done in this week. My calf is complaining bitterly. I blame the cross trainer 😁. The PT fella got me going on it, doing fast 400 km intervals

It’s new to me so a bit brutal I thought 😃. Great fun though. Who knew 😁

I wore my new Nike’s last night and they were fine. Bit hot though with my new free Karrimor socks ( 2 pairs)👍. No, I,didn’t wear two pairs 😁😁😁🙄

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

Sorry to hear about the calf. I guess it's getting stronger though!

Thank goodness you didn't wear both pairs Hoorah for Nikes!

[APScotland in reply to misswobble]

Wow! Not surprised you're done in! 400 km intervals??? You could paddle in the sea if you live near enough ... very good for sore calves / feet. They do it for racehorses too

[misswobble Marathon in reply to APScotland]

400 metres I think I should have said ☺️😃

[misswobble Marathon]

Nikes seem well made compared to the Saucony. The last pair of Saucony I bought, and sent back, were like a composite felt rather than a woven mesh. Hmmm. Paper shoes! I am still trying to find the elusive Kinvara 5 though. Sigh