Donating dopamine, burrito miles and a long run streak

I have been noticing a trend that many afternoon exercisers seem to be more exhausted than usual and more depleted, having to push themselves out the door for runs. 

I have long attributed this to running after a long day of life. Studies have shown a connection between mental fatigue and increased perceived exertion from exercise and decline in endurance performance, which makes workouts after a tough day at work feel harder. But now I know there is more to it than being tired from your job. 

After listening to the Fresh Air episode, "The trouble with 'donating our dopamine' to our phones, not our friends" I realize scrolling through social media is also contributing to our sense of exhaustion and feeling like we need to isolate ourselves under the covers to recharge.

"We pull out our phones and we're on TikTok or Instagram, or we're on Twitter and we're flipping, flipping, flipping with our thumbs. And while externally it looks like nothing is happening internally, the dopamine is flowing and we are just thinking, my God, we're feeling outrage, we're feeling excitement, we're feeling humor, we're feeling all sorts of things. We put our phone away and our dopamine levels fall and we feel kind of exhausted by that, which was supposed to be our leisure time." 

I highly recommend listening to the full episode. It has made me realize that the "break" I was taking from work to look at Instagram was counterproductive and in fact robbing me of the energy I can put in to real life interactions and runs, skis or dinners with friends. 

If you are seeing yourself in this and want to work on how to make a change, get in touch. I am trying to change my own habits by taking away unlimited social media breaks and limiting use to only a few times a day and on a schedule. I want to have as much energy as possible for my in person interactions INCLUDING afternoon workouts, like Strength Training for Runners, to which you are invited.

If you want to join Strength Training for Runners, don't scroll on your phone before it starts, instead, pet your dog, send a friend a quick hello message and then join us, every Wednesday night, information here. 
HOW FAR WOULD YOU RUN FOR A FREE BURRITO?
700 miles? If you weren't riveted to the Strava X Chipotle Challenge, that went down in January, check it out now, it is a real feel good story. Basically, two runners in Tempe, Arizona ran a 0.3 mile stretch in front of the local Chipotle to log as many segments as possible for the month to win a year of free burritos. The outcome was that Portland's own Kevin Russ and Aravaipa Running's Jamil Coury went head-to-head with almost equivalent mileage going into the final days. Coury finished with a 41-hour continuous effort on the segment for a total of 700 miles on a 3-block stretch for the month. The prize is mostly bragging rights since a burrito a week for a year is valued at just over $700. Story here. YouTube videos of how it went down here. 

STREAK
World’s longest running streak ends after 20,309 days. That is nearly 55 years, WHAT!!! This article also taught me there is a thing called Streak Runners International. They don't accept streaks unless they are over one year long in case you want to register your own streak. 

SPORTY THINGS I THOUGHT WERE EARLY APRIL FOOLS JOKES

• Hoka is making a dress shoe. It has tassels. I can't look directly at it. 
• There are professional corn hole players, that make actual money. I guess I don't understand anything about sports.
• People are taking hits of Xenon for $5,000 as a way to prepare for climbing Everest. 
• There are rock climbing video games where you control the limbs and reach for holds. Who plays this?

CREATINE
Should Runners Take Creatine? Of course, the answer is maybe. Downsides are potential GI issues that will interfere with your running. Upside is giant muscles and never getting injured. (haha, just kidding, it is never that easy) If you are considering this supplement, read up and decide if it is for you. 

Happy trails!