Vitamin D

For a long time I have struggled with injuries and muscular imbalances, as well as cramping during races. Sometimes the cramping has been so extreme - total Charlie Horses that send the muscle popping out of my leg in a huge lump - that I have gone crashing to the ground and then been unable to get up for several minutes. This has been the case in every Knee Knacker I've done, as well as my last two races the Dirty Duo 50K and Marathon Shuffle.

After going down probably 15-20 times in the Dirty Duo I was talking to fellow ultra runner Pushpa Chandra who is a naturopathic doctor and she suggested it was due to magnesium. I started taking a calcium/magnesium supplement, but at the Marathon Shuffle I was well on the way to a course record when the same thing happened. Although I also got lost after that which didn't help my cause any.

However I began to investigate other possibilities. After doing some reading I realised that all Canadians are deficient in vitamin D, which helps the body absorb and utilise minerals like calcium and magnesium. I eat a very good diet, so in reality I should be able to get most of my nutrients from food and I don't like to supplement anything unless I have to. Through the reading it became apparent that because latitudes north of 45 degrees are too far from the sun to get enough vitamin D from sunlight at any point during the year, and the Canadian border is at 45 degrees we all need to supplement vitamin D year round. Even people in the northern hemisphere but south of 45 degrees need to supplement during the winter months.

The problem compounded itself when I quit drinking conventional milk, which is fortified with vitamin D (so you can absorb the calcium) and started drinking raw milk. The raw milk I drink, while infinitely superior nutritionally and quality wise, has no vitamin D so I lost that source. Conventional milk is typically fortified with 100 IU per cup. The daily requirement to prevent rickets is around 200 IU, while the amount for optimum health is about 2000 IU. There are other things you can eat that contain vitamin D, but most have very low amounts that would never allow you to reach this optimum level of 2000 IU per day or more. Some even recommend 5000 IU. At very high levels vitamin D can be toxic, although it seems this is only at the extreme. Watch out for anything containing vitamin A with the vitamin D as vitamin A has higher toxicity.

As soon as I started taking the vitamin D I noticed huge benefits. Within hours I felt like I had a great amount of energy and my mood was noticeably improved. The next day, some of my old injuries which had been recurring began to really ache. I read up a bit on this and apparently this is due to the body finally utilising enough potassium, calcium and magnesium for those old injuries to rapidly heal. I had to miss my weekly long interval workout with VFAC and went to do my own workout around Rice Lake Loop. I was running each lap almost 2 minutes faster than the last time I did that workout, and the loop is only somewhere between a mile and 2 km. On Saturday I had my track workout with VFAC. For a long time I have literally limped off the track, unable to even to a cool down due to hip pain. Not only did I have my best workout in a long time doing my coach John's 'suprise workout' consisting of all out 200's, 400's, 800's and a mile mixed up, occasionally with suprise short rest. Not only did I feel fine after I felt like I could go for another run even after cool down.

So if you are reading this and suffering from cramping, muscle soreness, or even stomach issues (magnesium deficiency causes the stomach lining to become inflamed further limiting absorption of minerals) - go out and get some vitamin D. Apparently the best kind is vitamin D drops which I'm going to try next. Lookout for anything containing magnesium stearate as this is a sign of low quality - it is toxic but used as an industrial lubricant.