Run or Dye: Questioning the Health and Environmental Consequences

Last Sunday I ran my first ever 5K. I am now officially a runner and what blows my mind is that I can actually run for over 30 minutes straight without dying. It is magical.

(Andrew, me and Steph finishing our first 5K last week! What is skill? Taking a photo while finishing your first 5K...)

What I like about running is the fact that it is free (after the cost of shoes) and that it's low impact on the environment. No one needed to heat and light a studio, create a mat, create equipment for us to run to the park and back. Although it will never take the place of yoga (running doesn't even come close to making me as happy), it's a convenient and low-cost addition to my "keeping my body healthy" routine.

Recently my Facebook page has been swamped by local runners promoting the Halifax occurrence of "Run or Dye".

(image from Run or Dye website)

Despite the clever name and the admittedly fun-looking promotion of getting people to run, there are some serious environmental and health issues regarding an event that propagates hundreds of packets of dyed cornstarch "just because".

Firstly, I did email Run or Dye asking for an ingredient list of their dye packets and received this response:

"The dye is made of a colored cornstarch.  It is food grade and is safe for skin and clothes."

My concerns with this statement mostly deal with the inhalation of the powder. Running results in a larger amount of air exchange while breathing- we breathe at a higher frequency and typically longer, fuller breaths. Once we stop running, this breathing pattern takes some time to revert back to typical, at rest, levels.

(image from Run or Dye Facebook Page)

Re: corn starch inhalation:

1. ANY substance other than air should not be inhaled. Our lungs are built to manage and process air and has defence mechanisms built in to handle a certain portion of non-healthy air pollution (and even then, think of air pollution, cigarette smoke- we have limits). Our lungs are NOT made to eliminate solid particles. Part of my training as a Speech-Language Pathologist is to diagnose and treat swallowing disorders, which entails a significant knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of our pharynx and larynx (mouth and throat) and aspiration: what happens when solid particles bypass our vocal folds and enter the lungs.

2. A MSDS for corn starch states the following: "If inhaled remove to fresh air...". It is not recommended to inhale corn starch.

Re: "Safe" dyes:

1. Let's be honest, I don't have a lot of faith in the "FDA" seal of approval. As you can read from several recent scientific articles, despite increasing and strong evidence that "FDA approved food dyes" are linked to behavioural changes in children, the FDA decided there was 'insufficient evidence' and continued to state food dyes were safe for ingestion. (Synthic Food Colors and Neurobehavioural Hazards: The View From Environmental Health Research, Weiss 2012; Diet and Nutrition: The Artificial Food Dye Blues, Potera 2010)

2. Beyond the discussion of what is "food" safe- the participants of Run or Dye aren't actually, for the most part, ingesting the dye, they are inhaling it. A huge difference. The FDA have come to their (dubious) conclusions from research looking at how our digestive systems, equipped to break down and process potentially harmful substances via the digestive acids and enzymes, and not how the bronchiales in our lungs process synthetic, solid, dyes.

3. Further, no one is talking about how these synthetic dyes would impact the soil and vegetation. These Run or Dye events use up a LOT of dyed cornstarch that will be absorbed and left on the soil and waterways.

Re: plastic packets:

The shear waste of the plastic packaging that each participant will receive with their dyed cornstarch is disgusting. Although Halifax does have quite a bit of recycling bins around the city, they aren't always readily available. Also, most residents are aware that it is the law to recycle plastics, that doesn't mean that they do (or that there are any consequences if they don't). Of course, recycling is really not the answer to managing our plastic problem in any case.

I applaud Run or Dye with coming up with a creative, fun way to get people motivated to be physically active. 

It's the obvious health and environmental (which is our health as well) ramifications that have me saying: "No Thank You."

Running Take Two...

I have revisited running.

Yes, after giving up last summer at the three week mark, I have now decided to give this whole running thing another go.

Mostly because Andrew and our friend Steph are doing it. I'm a sucker for peer pressure.

Also because I bought sneakers. It seems like a colossal waste of money not to use them.

Finally, I am revisiting the possibility of becoming a runner because I no longer work M-F and can go running at the same time as Andrew and Steph on Thursdays and Sundays.

Tomorrow is the last day of WEEK TWO OF RUNNING (couch to 5k interval training). We're considering the Zombies, run! running program. Yes you heard me. You can do interval training while running away from zombies, collecting gear and saving the world. BADASS! Andrew feels that the couch to 5k version isn't as good as our regular program... So we're thinking of trying it once we're good to run for longer than 3minutes at a time.

Unsurprisingly to those who know me well, I have an ability to sleep directly after running. The first day I got home, crawled into bed and slept for another hour and a half. No really, I need 10 hours of sleep to be happy.

What I hope running will give me:

• Better cardiovascular health. Yep, this is all about getting the cardio to help keep my heart healthy. Yoga just isn't enough cardio, especially since I'm walking so much less.
• Stamina and strong legs. I really really want strong, muscular, kick ass legs that will be strong foundations for all my yoga asana.
• A relatively cheap way to be physically healthy. I don't need to buy anything new or pay any fees. I just need to be ok with waking up so early...
• Motivation to not quit. I'm really enjoying running with three people- it assures that neither Andrew nor I are easily persuaded to punk out when we know Steph is waiting on us...

What I accept running will NOT give me:

• Happiness. Honestly, running does not make me happy. Admittedly, it makes me feel pretty terrible and a bit angry. I'm going to have to work extra hard to replace sleeping after running with yoga after running. Since yoga makes me feel Le Happy.
• (However, there is something to be said about running with two people who LOVE it- makes the running more bearable. Thank you Andrew and Steph!)
• Meditation and stress relief. This kinda goes along with the above "Happiness". Running makes me tense, out of breath and a bit grumpy. The added upper body tenseness, which coincidentally is where I carry a lot of my stress and anxiety, only adds to feelings of dis-ease. Again- will have to yoga it up to counterbalance this side effect.

I'm fairly hopeful that round two, in a cooler time of day (morning), coupled with the fact that my IBS is under control, twice a week (so not replacing my yoga practice) with TWO people to keep me from punking out will be successful! (croisez vos doigts pour moi!)

Hears to a healthy heart!

I lied about being a Runner

So.... remember when I said I was going to be a runner? Haha, yeah, a total lie.

This is the story of how running entered and left my life in the time span of a blurp. Or blip. Whatever floats your boat.

For the first few weeks we completely stuck to our plan. Twice a week, following the couch to 5k on Mondays and Wednesdays after work. I had cute sneakers, a sports bra (which let me tell you, for those boobally impaired out there, don't listen to them, a sports bra is completely useless when a yoga top does the job!) and a partner. Sure, it never ever made me happy, and I usually hated every second of it, and I was super tense and stiff afterwards, but I was doing it! I think we made it to week three. At least, we made it to the point where we ran for three minutes straight intervals, I was stoked!

And then the heat hit. Every day was high humidity, our apartment never got below 30 degrees (even at night) and the thought of running in that heat made me nauseous. So we took a break for three weeks.

Then August hit and I started the synthetic baby repellent. It was like being hit by a truck. I was exhausted every day, didn't even want to get out of bed and I was ridiculously angry at everyone including myself. My IBS resurfaced so that every meal was a painful experience. I stopped caring and even my yoga practice petered out to almost nothing. I was as close as I can imagine being clinically depressed would be like. Running? Yeah right.

The first day of 'no pill week' was almost shocking. It was like a huge heavy emotional and physical blanket was lifted and I was *myself* again.

(Lawrencetown Beach a few weeks ago right before a rain storm. Interestingly enough, this area 45minutes away from Halifax is internationally renown for 'cold surfing' due to the waves from our hurricane season. It was gorgeous and quiet)

Tonight it's down pouring with fantastic thunder and lightening... so no running. I haven't totally given up on running, it still has a place in my life and I feel like Fall might be good timing. I love that it's free, that it will force us to be outside in the park at least twice a week and that it's so good for my heart rate.

But I don't think I'll ever be a Runner, capital 'R'.

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Eating My Words: "Running is for Suckers"

This used to be me: "Silly people who run. I have no idea what is wrong with them. Running for no reason is for suckers."

Then Andrew decided two summers ago he would do the Couch to 5K program, and every morning at a ridiculously insane hour (5:30am) he'd get up and go running. He loved it. The "he is CRAZY" theme continued in my head as I smugly went along with my yoga practice.

Fast forward a few years, and I've started wondering just how much my heart rate really is increasing while practicing yoga. Sure, I sweat, build muscle mass and generally feel like I've MOVED my body for 60 to 90 minutes... but is my heart rate really up there for my practice 3x (more or less) a week for the entire time?

Heart Rate During a Yoga Class:
Let's just chat a bit more about this: out of 60 minutes of asana, at least 15-20min of that is cool down, warm up savasana or "easy on the heart rate" postures. Yes, it's likely half of the class will make me sweat and build muscle, but I can't guarantee that two or three classes a week will really cover 150 minutes (or 2.5 hours) MINIMUM aerobic activity. I just don't take three classes of 50 minute non-stop surya namaskar or vinyasa-ing one breath per posture (honestly, I have rarely taken such a class- most are well balanced...which is a good thing).

I love yoga and do not feel that this is a negative aspect of the practice. In fact, I feel like yoga adds something more. That said, it would be a mistake to blissfully equate 1:1 a minute of yoga practice to a minute of "moderate to vigorous physical activity".

  I have room for both Yoga AND other physical activity in my life.

Out of curiosity, I decided to take the Heart and Stroke Risk Assessment online screener. Thankfully I only have 4 scary risk factors for Heart Disease. My risk factors are a combo of my parent's family health risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, premature stroke etc) and eating too much salt and not enough veggies in my diet. Five servings of vegetables and fruits per day so isn't happening in this house (and it should!).

According to the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology's Canadian Physical Activity Guideline (which is used by Health Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and ParticipACTION);

Canadian adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity in a week... 

(Check out their other age ranges for children, teenagers and mature adults!)

So. This weekend I bought some running sneakers, fun pink running socks and I mentally prepared myself for my first day of Couch to 5K... TODAY.

Running appeals to me intellectually because it's so minimalist. You don't need the gym, fancy equipment (although a decent pair of running sneakers are worth the money) or special clothing (my yoga clothing worked just fine). You just need running sneaks and yourself. I like that.

As un-eco as this sounds, in order to save our knees from shins splints we decided to run in the park...but if we tried to run TO the park we'd never make it there. So I will be honest and admit we drove there (boo us).

Beyond a softer landing ground for my joints, I'm hoping that three runs a week in the park will also infuse a great big dose of NATURE in our lives. 

After a grand total of 8 bouts of 60 seconds of running and a whole bunch of brisk walking in the horizontal wind and spitting rain near the crash of whitecaps of the Atlantic ocean, I survived! I may have had this weird irrational urge to giggle every single time we started running (anyone else experience this?) and I may have complained once that I didn't really think I could run again ("but I have this STITCH Andrew!") but with Andrew's so excited, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY support (he really likes running) I made it home and didn't feel like throwing up or dying. Bonus!

What I did not feel, however, was the post running high that Andrew was so obviously experiencing. Instead, my body was kinda angry, stiff and cold. It may have been the weather, but since Andrew wasn't experiencing the same thing, I think running just might take some time to grow on me.

In order to fix my physical and psychological state from running, I decided that 20 minutes of yoga was what I wanted. I was right. After moving through various postures (with some help from Rachel's Suburban Yogini post), I was back to being myself.

I'm not going to be running a marathon anytime soon, and I most certainly will pick yoga over running any day, but I'm very glad to be adding something a bit more heart rate intensive to help prevent a disease that is the leading cause of death in Canadian women (Heart and Stroke Foundation).

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com