That Wandering Myo

Be like John! 😍

🏃 INCREDIBLE! 9️⃣3️⃣

Proving that age is just a number, 93-year-old John Day completed his 500th parkrun in Cleveland, Queensland over the weekend.

According to Cleveland Parkrun, John's first parkrun was in 2013 (at 82!) and ran a 2024 personal best time of 49.36 over the 5km course on Saturday.

If you're looking for some motivation to get up from the couch this weekend, be like John!

📷 Cleveland parkrun / parkrun Australia

This is a really interesting (but long) read with a heap of science in there!
Essentially they think that cramps are coming from the excitation of the nerve around the muscle (which I think is accurate), but they don’t know why. They also think that it’s controlled by the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), which i don’t think is completely accurate. But they seem very unsure why something like pickle juice works so quickly when swished around the mouth 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
My take, for what it‘a worth: the whole nervous system is electrical. Electrolytes (as their name suggests) carry an electronic charge. When electrolytes and water are unbalanced within the muscle tissue, the body doesn’t just struggle to function, it creates inflammation. This ‘excites’ the nervous system, causing the cramp. The way pickle juice functions: a VERY important nerve in the central nervous system called the ‘vagus nerve’ is responsible for a whole myriad of functions, most notably in this case; the ‘gag reflex’. The ‘shock’ pickle juice gives (or vinegar as some cramp remedies are made of) activates the vagus nerve to action, which creates a cascade of events that temporarily takes down the inflammation in the muscle and decreases the excitation of the muscle nerve fibre (alpha motor neuron).
My take home: Make sure your training is adequate for your event. Stay hydrated, have plenty of salt and electrolytes and if you DO feel a cramp coming on, please remember that pickle juice, or your choice of nervous system ‘shock’ isn’t the complete solution. It may work once or twice, but after that, you’ll be harming your precious insides!!
If you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message! I could talk about this stuff all day! 🙃

Everything You Know About Muscle Cramping is Wrong Cramps are the bane of every triathlete's existence. Scientists are uncovering new reasons why we cramp during races - and what can be done to relieve the discomfort.

Hey there!!
If you’ve stumbled on this page, welcome! I kinda did the same thing 😅

I’m Katie, an everyday triathlete, runner, swimmer, rider, adventurer, traveller and Myotherapist.

Don’t be fooled, this is a business page! But it’s my raw, authentic and natural take on the ups and downs of training and working in sports with some travel thrown in and hopefully a whole lot of laughs.

I’m looking forward to sharing my journey and helping as many people as I can along the way 🥰
Let the adventure begin!!! 😍