Grasshopper New Media Presents...

When I decided to really focus on getting into shape about a year ago, I had a hard time finding media support.  Perhaps that sounds weird.  Surely there are more fitness magazines and exercise blogs out there than one person could read in a lifetime.  That’s not the problem I had.  It seemed like people were already diveded into two groups:  those who were fit and those who were not.  What about those who were somewhere else on the spectrum?  I had already been lap swimming, lifting weights, and using the elliptical trainer for 4 months.  However, I wasn’t super fit and frankly I enjoyed eating Double Stuffed Oreo cookies.  Also quite frankly, I still do!

I am in much better shape than I was a year ago, and I thought everything was going fine and dandy with my training.  In fact I even kept running with a friend when I was on vacation.  It was really hot out, and we were in the Catskills so needless to say the roads were pretty hilly.  I drank all my water and when I got back to the house my clothes were soaked.  Shortly after, I spent some quality time in the bathroom being sick.  I remembered the same thing happening once before, also when it was warm out, I had gone through my water, and finished my run with damp clothes.

When I got back home, I made an appointment with my doctor to find out what had gone wrong.  That’s when I had the “Why didn’t anyone tell me!” moment.  Get ready for this one.  Drum roll please…There is something called Runner’s Gut or as I like to joke Runner’s Runs.  To sum it up, your body becomes dehydrated causing your electrolytes to be thrown off and you have to well…run to the toilet because you literally and figurively have the “runs”.

Excuse me?  When I sign my life away on these crazy triathlon registration forms which seem to list every possible health risk from heart attack to broken nails, I have never seen anything called Runner’s Gut listed.  Yet, after sharing my shock and surprise with every runner I know, I have learned that a lot of my friends already knew about it from personal experience.  Now you know too.  Of course, if you have intestinal issues, see a doctor.  Don’t diagnosis yourself with Runner’s Gut.

Once I recovered from the shock, I tried to think of any other situation where I had been surprised by a disgusting health concern that everyone must know but no one talks about.  Prepared childbirth class! I remember wondering how I had gone my entire life without knowing that some woman void their bowels  when giving birth, for example?  Why doesn’t anybody talk about that?  They should have told us that in sex ed!  Of course my friends who gave more than birth tend to react to sharing these stories the same way they react to admissions of runners gut.  We get embarrassed and change the subject.

by Alex Elliot

Photo graciously provided by adropp, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved