Hmmmm...maybe that's my primary issue--the Benadryl. That's really the only thing that sets this past week apart from any other recent training week. Dammit, I hate this time of the year...and it's only going to get worse until after the trees have flowered. I'm still a bit nervous about what Spring will bring asthma-wise. This will be my first full Spring on the inhaled steroids for that. Bayshore is smack-dab in the middle of tree pollen season...so it could be a miserable experience. If so, then I will know better than to do any more Spring marathons.

Oh, I'm on 2 prescription allergy meds (Allegra--systemic oral and Flonase--nasal steroid spray...same steroid in my Advair diskus device) year-round, but come Spring those are not enough for some symptoms. Claritin has never done jack, unfortunately. It works well for my kid, but I might as well eat candy for all the effect it has. I've thought about trying Zyrtec, since it seems to work for so many, but that can also have some drowsy side-effects, so I haven't bothered. Benadryl is great for the hives issues I seem to have every Spring.

Oooh...that recipe looks perfect--especially being able to make it in a variety of flavors (I think the Gatorade Endurance only comes in lemon-lime, maybe?). I LOVE grape Kool-Aid. I just read the recipe to the hubby and he wants me to e-mail it to him to share with his cycling buddies. Gatorade in any variety is $$...making it from scratch would save a ton of cash, too. I'm guessing it wouldn't have any gritty or chalky residue...that's what I have found with opening the Endurolytes capsules into Gatorade...a kind of yucky scum. I suppose I could just take individual capsules, but that requires one more thing to have to carry and deal with...and have to keep free of sweat. I totally get your frustration with the way some topics are seemingly verboten and the way less popular views or training methods aren't respected and/or are downright mocked. I've seen it with the MAF discussions as well as the suggestion by some related to the electrolyes thing that cramping is caused only by overexertion/undertraining (though I have read enough accounts from highly trained and experienced runners who have experienced it to think that some of us are just more prone for whatever physiological reason). This might fly were it not for the fact that I'm one of those people who will occasionally deal with leg and foot cramps in the middle of the night--when I am certainly not overexerting myself (and long before I ever started running). The amount of salty sweat crust I'll have on my face after a race when other runners have none or very minimal salty film also makes me believe that we don't all sweat the same concentration of water or electrolyte minerals. My best friend has run a lot of races with me and is still astounded by how differently our bodies' cooling systems respond to identical conditions. If the salt is all over my face, instead of my bloodstream, then it seems logical that at some point the level necessary to control muscle contractions properly will be diminished. It would be nice if RA had a variety of experts in multiple areas, like what CR had...perhaps that will happen with time. I think a lot of the atmosphere here has been result of "old school" RA members vs. the newer "post-CR apocalypse" gang. Sometimes there still seems to be an us vs. them feeling, even though it's been well over a year since all of that went down. I definitely appreciate the opinions of those who have been running for a long time, regardless of whether they were on RA since the early days or made the move over from CR. It's nice to have a variety of viewpoints and the opportunity to figure things out based upon more knowledge and a variety of experiences, rather than less. SRL and Nobby have both been good about calling people out on things. Sometimes it's kind of fun to sit back and watch them take others to task.

Ooh...jelly beans. When I was training for my first HM I think I used it as an excuse to eat mass quantities of Jelly Bellys (not the sport beans, just the regular ones) during my long training runs. I'm sure I ingested far more calories than I burned. I don't find the thought of oranges appealing during runs or races, but my best friend is a FIEND for them. I also found out the hard way that I can't stomach Clif Bars mid-run even at the easiest pace, but I was craving potato chips something fierce during my marathon, so I've even given thought about trying to eat one of those single portion packs of Pringles during a few training runs to see how they sit with me. My only concern is the fat...I wonder if that would make its way through me too fast. Plus I'm not sure how to transport that--it's not particularly compact unless I crushed up a stack in a baggie. Gatorade has never bothered my stomach, but that's another thing that my best friend can't stomach at all. She and I ran the same first marathon...she on even less training than I and no electrolyte replacement. She finished comfortably in under 4:30 with no cramping issues and hardly broke a sweat...I was soaked. Running really is like one long series of experiments and nothing seems to work the same for any 2 people under the same conditions.

Iron stuff. From thislinky: "Iron and intense exercise: Many men and women who engage in regular, intense exercise such as jogging, competitive swimming, and cycling have marginal or inadequate iron status [1,81-85]. Possible explanations include increased gastrointestinal blood loss after running and a greater turnover of red blood cells. Also, red blood cells within the foot can rupture while running. For these reasons, the need for iron may be 30% greater in those who engage in regular intense exercise [1]. " Source cited for above: Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium and Zinc. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001. Running Times is always good. Click here. When taking iron you need to consider taking calcium as is is needed to absorb iron. Sometimes just calcium helps if your diet is already high in iron, but since you have no stress fractures lately, I am guessing your calcium is ok. Be aware that once I start citing sources, I either link to the thread or just copy/paste my post when I would bring this info into the gsp. I am slowly but surely bringing the good stuff here so I don't have to look through the almost non-existent CR archives any more.

Holy moly...I have been reading a bit online re: running anemia and I had no clue how common it is. Wow. I think I may actually call my PCP and see if I can get in this week to have my levels checked, just to have a baseline. Perhaps I can have my cholesterol checked, too. I think it's been at least a year since I had that looked at. It's always freaky low (moreso since I started running), so it's kind of interesting to see where things are.

Thanks for the feedback, Norm. I'm glad to hear that it helped you. This is what I bought: Ferrous Gluconate was listed among recommended iron supplements and the dosage was lower than all of the other forms Walgreens had (plus cheapest). I don't want to overdo it, just add enough to see if it makes a difference. I figure if I see no change in 3-4 weeks time that there is something else at play. I did read last night that anemia can cause muscle cramping and night leg cramps, though. I had a bit of an "aha moment" when I saw that. Yesterday I also had my longest run since last Fall and drank 20oz of regular Gatorade with 4 Endurolytes capsules mixed in (also popped one capsule before heading out the door). No cramping. Not even a hint of calf twinges (the same mileage last Summer/Fall would have had my calves starting to really tighten-up towards the end of the run). The real test will be once the weather is warmer and my volume of sweat increases.

I found mine at Target. It's ferrous sulfate and only 28 mg. I take it every other day when I am above 60 mpw or so, on alternating days I take 2 calcium fortified Tums. I did not know about the leg cramp thing relating to iron. Since my night cramps show up in the summer while I am eating a ton of tomatoes and drinking tomato juice or Gatorade, I always assumed it was the potassium. Since, cutting out the bananas worked during this time, I never gave it much thought. Interesting. We must be careful, this is starting to become more like a CR thread.

Yeah, the whole mg thing is confusing. 240mg of ferrous gluconate translates into 27mg of elemental iron, which is the number that really matters, apparently. I will probably wait a month or so and then have my PCP check my levels. Once I'm good I will probably alternate days, too, since getting too much iron isn't a good thing. Iron does a # on my stomach and digestion, too, which is the main reason I stopped taking it in my 20s, IIRC. I don't have a hard time cutting bananas...that's one of those foods that I can take or leave. Every once in a while I will crave one, then about halfway through remember that I don't really care for them. I love 'em in pie or bread, though.