Danger in Drinking Water

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As a beginner at the distance running thing I find myself doing a lot of research on what I should be doing. There are many different opinions and philosophies and sometimes what I discover totally surprises me, like today.

I was researching to make sure I knew how much I should be drinking for my first ever 12 mile run because after my first ever 10 mile run I had some trouble with severe nausea and wooziness. I figured it was because I under-hydrated but after some poking around today I discovered it could be the very opposite. That runners often over-hydrate putting them at risk for something called hyponatremia which I had never heard of. When runners don’t pay attention to their thirst and they drink more because they think they are supposed to they are putting their health at risk.

Also, things like drinking water excessively in the days before a race, taking NSAIDs for pain before and after your race and drinking lots of fluids immediately after (all things of which I am guilty!) can be dangerous, not helpful. I also learned that sports drinks truly are better for you than water (the doctor said so!) – so there will be Gatorade in my bottle today, not water!

Some info from the article to be aware of:

As marathoners, we’re all exercise scientists to one degree or another. We put a lot of time into our training, but also understand that we need to eat and drink optimally to perform our best.

1) Don’t drink obsessively in the several days before a marathon. Drink when you’re thirsty; that will get the job done.

2) Don’t take NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen sodium before, during, or immediately after your race.

3) Weigh yourself before the marathon, and write your weight on the back of your race number. If you need help at the finish line, the marathon medical staff will find this prerace weight very helpful when they attend to you.

4) During the marathon, drink when you’re thirsty, understanding that water, sugars, and electrolytes will help you feel and perform your best. But don’t force yourself to drink.

5) Be particularly careful if you expect to run over four hours, and if you have an unusually small or large body size. Drink less if you begin to get a queasy, sloshy feeling in your stomach.

6) Drink sports drinks rather than water. But don’t expect sports drinks to prevent hyponatremia. They won’t.

7) Don’t chug fluids immediately after the marathon. This is a time, according to a 2003 London Marathon report, when the risk of hyponatremia can be quite high, as stomach fluids are absorbed into the bloodstream. Nibble on solid foods and sip a variety of drinks slowly until you feel well recovered.

Endurance

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Had my first distance run yesterday. Well maybe not the first, I did run 8 miles last weekend. But I upped the game and went for 10 miles yesterday! Felt like such an accomplishment!

Things I learned:

  • I get really nauseous after long runs.
  • 10 miles is exponentially harder that 8.
  • Stretching works.
  • If you put your mind to something, you might be surprised by what you can do.
  • Super excited by all the extra calories I get to eat on long run days.
  • I feel very lucky to live a half a mile from the beach. Makes my runs so beautiful and enjoyable!

I am actually really excited for my first half marathon on February 5th. Bring it!!

Volunteering Does a Spirit Good

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Want to help out those less fortunate than you this holiday season? Me too! The great news is there are so many great ways to volunteer in the LA area!

Some of my faves:
LA Foodbanks
With high levels of community involvement, a broad base of volunteers, and food industry support, food banks typically leverage many dollars in food for every dollar received.

LA Mission
The Los Angeles Mission is a nonprofit organization serving the homeless living on the streets of downtown’s Skid Row. Faithfully, for 75 years, they have saved many lives and have had a profound impact on thousands of others by providing compassionate, humanitarian services to those in desperate need.

Midnight MIssion
Since its inception in 1914, The Midnight Mission has been providing basic subsistence to the region’s needy. While bringing comfort and arresting trauma is the immediate goal, supplying much-needed services actually starts building the trust necessary to bring people into their life-changing programs and services.

Happy holidays!

Rule of Law?

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15 years ago the state of CA passed a Compassionate Use Act to allow its residents access to medical marijuana. This was something I supported and still do. As someone who has had an eye on the ‘war on drugs’ for many years, I find myself increasingly alarmed at law enforcement’s focus on doctors, dispensaries, legal pharmaceuticals and other ‘light of day’ controlled substance enterprises at a time when illegal drug activity is as rampant and as deadly as ever.

I have recently seen the state of CA move in this disturbing direction as well, acting to close down commercial medical marijuana dispensaries because they are ‘dangerous’ and because the people who frequent them don’t really have illnesses. Really? Says who? This conclusion was reached by what process of investigation? But more importantly, when did illicit and illegal drug enterprises become no big deal? When they figured out there was no way to control them, no way to really stop them most likely. My question would be isn’t that your job? Instead of targeting physician and clinics whose lives are destroyed as they are thrown in jail and dragged though the courts. And all because law enforcement doesn’t agree with how they prescribe – is that upholding the spirit and intent of the law? These drug laws should be enforced as they were intended – not bent to create false winning statistics and target our medical professionals and legal dispensaries.

The California voters passed a measure to ensure that people who needed access to medical marijuana would be able to get it. If the state is unable to police or regulate that industry they should look to improve their policies and methods of bureaucracy – not to overlook state law and the intent of the citizenry who passed it. And we shouldn’t stand for it if they do.

In the era of tear gassing non-violent protesters, invasive security screenings at airports and constant privacy breaches in the name of ‘security,’ rule of law may have passed but I for one, hope not.

To Speak Up or Not to Speak Up

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That is the question!

I travel a lot for work. A LOT. When you spend so much time in airports and on planes you can see and hear some crazy things. And annoying things. Definitely annoying. But you also have the opportunity to experience things so many times it changes your perspective. Or reinforces it. And you always have to make a decision on whether something is so irksome you will suffer in silence or take the chance and speak up.

Kids on planes for example. I used to think all kids on planes were crazy jerks. Screaming and crying their heads off, kicking seats, pulling hair, staring at me with their creepy eyes. Then I started to see so many kids, in so many different situations acting the same way. And I started to understand something. As bored as I am on a plane, devouring magazines, racing through books, watching movies – they have got to be 100 times more starved for excitement. After all, they don’t have the same attention span. And landing? My ears? I can make efforts to manage the pressure, they can’t. They don’t know how. So they just feel the stabbing pain. And sit there and scream. I get it now, it doesn’t bother me anymore.

But outside of that? Well, that’s where the parents come in. I have watched parents deal with their children in a variety of ways. DVD players, books, toys, snacks, walks up and down the aisle. All of them trying desperately to entertain their kids, keep their sanity and avoid the death stares from passengers around them when the melt downs come. And they always come, that is inevitable. I think the art is in how you handle it.

I was recently on a cross country flight (warning, here comes the judgement) with one of the worst behaved children I have ever encountered. And her parents seemingly did absolutely nothing to stave off the awful, ear splitting tantrums that she was hell bent on sustaining for the entire 2,500 mile flight. And most people around them were angry. The woman in the seat next to me started talking to me about it. People turned around and stared, trying to signal to the parents that enough was enough and they should do something about it. And I started to think – do her parents have any obligation to try and manage this so the rest of us don’t have to suffer in silent misery? I think they do.

Now, to set the stage, this girl was one in a million. She screamed – at the top of her lungs – in a myriad of ways and for a plethora of reasons. Screaming because she had to leave her mothers lap and buckle up in her own seat. Wailing because her dad wasn’t giving her enough attention. Just plain screaming as loud as possible for…well, I’m not entirely sure what for – but she was going for the gold. Nothing would stop this girl, not that anyone was trying.

And that was my biggest problem with it, no one was trying. Her parents did nothing. I didn’t even hear them shush her, not once. They didn’t have toys, they didn’t have snacks, they didn’t have movies. Mind you, there was a perfectly quiet child in the row next to her, silently watching his DVD player for the entire flight. One of the flight attendants even gently suggested to the parent the they walk her up and down the aisle to help ease the child’s frustration. I guess they were fed up too. But the parents didn’t and the child continued to scream. Unchecked. For the entire flight. And I said…nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. I know children are a spontaneous and sometimes uncontrollable handful. And while I don’t have any, I try to understand this and be patient. But as a parent, if you are going to take your child on a plane, to a movie or out to eat – you do have some obligation to at least try to keep the commotion from destroying everyone else’s experience, don’t you? I would argue that you definitely do. And if you don’t, I must certainly have the right to express my feelings about it, right? Make the decision to speak up or not to speak up? I am still debating that one. And suffering in polite silence.

Relationships Matter

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Even though I recently left the recruiting profession it remains a topic on which I have strong opinions. I have worked as a staffing or ‘agency’ recruiter but I have spent the majority of my recruitment career as a corporate or ‘in-house’ recruiter. Greg Savage is a recruitment leader who heads up Firebrand, an agency that is a division of the company I used to work for as an agency recruiter. I follow his blog and he recently had a post that struck a nerve with me.

His post can be found here and was in reference to the ways that corporate recruiters may fall short, hence making things difficult for agency recruiters. You should probably read this first, or mine won’t make much sense.

My response is below, and it helped illuminate for me that almost any problem you have can be traced back to relationships and communication. Of course that is a huge generality and oversimplification of the zillions of details in between, but I think these two lists offer a nice juxtaposition of either side of the story, if I do say so myself.

Relationships Matter!

1.The defensiveness (or rudeness) might be frustration around the many agency recruiters who can give the rest a bad name. If you get 10 calls a week and 9 are painfully bad, then you can get short with people.

2. I know you are not competing with me, there is no competition. If you are quality, service and relationship focused, it won’t feel like a competition, ever.

3. An agency recruiter who feels the need to educate me on urgency doesn’t get it. If you think the 6 week wait times are because I am not looking at resumes, wrong. I look and forward to my hiring managers immediately. And then I wait. And by default you wait. This is a problem that doesn’t go away when you leave agency for in-house, it likely get worse. Strong relationships and communication will solve this problem between the agency and the in-house contact. Not a lecture on urgency.

4. I am paid to keep gates. When I feel there is value for both parties in opening that gate, I will. I want the role filled and I’ll always manage the process to that end. To say that a corporate recruiter lacks the knowledge to fully brief a partner on a search? I think a senior level in-house professional is, at times, better equipped to do this than any line managers would be.

5. Invest time in you? I invest time in relationships with smart, responsive and capable partners. Be that and I will. If you’re not, I won’t.

6. Delegated to the new kid? If we have a strong relationship – you won’t get the junior recruiter, you’ll get me. Focus on that.

7. No response? There is no excuse for not communicating and updating your trusted partners on status and issues. If you aren’t getting this, I’d question the strength of your relationship.

8. Finally and with due respect, listen to you? Ok, but you listen to me, too. While I know that agency recruiters have a general pulse on the market, talent and salaries, corporate recruiters have to worry about things like parity and salary ranges. Benefits and stock and retirement contributions. They have to make sure their junior designers don’t make more than the Sr ADs they work for. And that is important too.

Bottom line, we all have our perspectives and challenges. If the industry keeps high standards of service and quality, strong relationships and open communication – things might go a lot more smoothly. Many agencies tolerate and foster a culture of delivering much less. And that hurts everyone.

Young Guns

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Watched Greenberg with Ben Stiller today and he had an amazing quote about the young guns of today that particularly resonated with me:

“The thing about you kids is that you’re all kind of insensitive. I’m glad I grew up when I did cause your parents were too perfect at parenting- all that baby Mozart and Dan Zanes songs; you’re just so sincere and interested in things! There’s a confidence in you guys that’s horrifying. You’re all ADD and carpal tunnel. You wouldn’t know Agoraphobia if it bit you in the ass, and it makes you mean. You say things to someone like me who’s older and smarter with this light air… I’m freaked out by you kids. I hope I die before I end up meeting one of you in a job interview.”

Things That London Has Taught Me – Language & Understanding

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So you think that living abroad in a country that speaks the same language means you speak the same language?  Think again! I am still figuring out whether Londoners are really rude, I am really sensitive, I am really rude or all of the above. I have been in some situations since being here that have raised my eyebrows.  Communication is a tough thing sometimes, even when you speak the same language.  I think multi-cultural has a whole different meaning in Europe than it does in the States, and it requires different sensibilities.

It seems everything is stated it a way that is much more direct and makes a little more sense sometimes.  If you have to ‘go’ you ask for the toilet, not the restroom.  Who rests in there anyway?  You extinguish your cigarette (or fag – I still can’t get used to that one) in a container for cigarette ‘ends’ not butts and I can’t help but feel that is more straightforward.  It isn’t the exit, it is the ‘way out.’ That seems like it makes sense, right?

But then you get into things like band-aid vs plaster, nappy vs diaper, rubbish vs trash, bin it vs throw it away and don’t even get me started on the food.  Aubergine = eggplant, mangetout = pea pods, sultanas = raisins, courgette = zucchini and I could go on and on. I usually had to use Google while ordering when I first got here.  Seriously. Talk about feeling like a dummy!

And then you get into the way people move and interact in London.  This may be more of a city thing than a London thing, but I lived in New York and would have struggled to find as many eye-poppingly pushy people in such a short amount of time. Or maybe I tolerated it better at a younger age?  I am not a fan of blanket statements about the collective courtesy or discoutesy of any one group of people or geography but through this experience I can almost understand those who are.

For instance: I was at a restaurant the other night. There was a mix up with the online reservation my friend had made and instead of being for that evening, it was erroneously made for the evening before and we were listed as a no show.  Rather than move past that to see if we could be accommodated, the hostess kept harping on it. For an unusually long time.  Then, after my friend was a tad impatient and motioned to the empty restaurant and said ‘can we just eat?’ we were begrudgingly served *if* we gave up the table by 8:30 PM. There were no smiles, few courtesies and then the kicker.  When we requested another (tiny) bottle of sake at 8:15 the waiter responded by saying ‘no, I’m not going to give it to you because I don’t think you can finish by 8:30.’ Um, really?

My friend requested the waiter please honor our request for the additional droplets of sake and said if we couldn’t finish it we would cap it up and be on our way which is (awesomely) legal in London. The waiter acquiesced and we were thankfully able to finish the 4 oz of sake each in 15 minutes and avoided sure conflict.  I will always remember that as one of the stand out failures of customer service I have encountered here and found it shocking but it was one of many.

A coworker suggested most places don’t have the same notion of customer service as the US does.  And given how much I am prone to complain about the service there, I have a new perspective.  Maybe we expect too much?  Maybe we don’t communicate what we need in a way that is well received?  I don’t know.  But living abroad has shown me that the same language isn’t always enough.

The Final Countdown

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It’s here.  After what seems like an eternity and like it flew by in an instant, my time in London is in its final 7 day stretch. It is surreal and exciting, sad and happy all at the same time.  I have seen, learned, grown and done so much in the past few months that it feels like a lifetime.

I have had the opportunity to meet and work with an incredible group of people making things happen against the odds everyday.  I have been faced with new challenges and old ones that felt like new because they looked different.  I came, I saw, I conquered (but sometimes I didn’t and that was ok too).  I think a bit differently, I act a bit differently but I don’t talk any differently.

I won’t say ‘hiya’ or ‘cheers’ or ‘bollocks’ except when I try, but sometimes the voice in my head sounds British which is kinda weird to me.  I love Sunday Roast, Kronenbourg, ancient art & history and mulled wine more than ever before.  I’ll miss the kettle’s everyone has that make water scalding hot in a matter of seconds for instant tea! They’re brilliant! Ok, maybe I’ll talk a bit differently.

The pubs are special here, so beautiful. I have learned to drink a shandy when you need to keep going all night, and when you just want a little more, you can get a half pint. Who knew?  Not me! I have almost stopped over tipping at restaurants just in time to go home and under-tip and I have been to so many amazing places.  And that’s just in London.  Not to mention Paris, Rome and Wales to boot!

The next 7 days are my London swan song. I will be thinking about all the gifts this place has given me over the past 4 months and truly appreciating every one.  England, you rock my world.  Thank you.