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Over the past month or so, I’ve really cracked down on my diet. Gone are the days (mostly) when I’d snag chips from the kids, polish off the crusts from their sandwiches and other behavior that contributed to unwanted weight gain. Between clean eating and a bout with the flu, I lost 5 pounds and have managed to keep them off.
BUT
Lately, after some of my runs, I’ve noticed a chlorine-like smell. I’d blame it on the pool and all that swimming I do if that were actually true. In reality I pretty much haven’t been in a pool unless it was with a raft and a Mai Tai….or at least some water wings and princes diving sticks.
So, if it’s not from the deep end, where is this curious odor coming from? Like any responsible blogger, I beelined over to our trusty WebMD and got myself a science lesson.
When we do a hard run or workout with insufficient glycogen stores, a chemical reaction occurs where the nitrogen atom is stripped from the amino acid molecule. What’s left is processed into glucose and energy. When the kidneys can no longer process the nitrogen into urea (I’m taking a stab here that urea is part of urine? Einstein had nothing on me), it bonds with hydrogen and is converted to NH3 (ammonia–not chlorine, but in the ball park) and excreted through sweat glands.
There you have it: I’ve been running on insufficient glycogen stores. This doesn’t surprise me, however I was under the impression I would begin burning fat (surely I have copious stores of that) for energy?
Other facts I learned:
- If you’re running 80-90 minutes/day you should be drinking >1 gallon of water. I don’t run this long most days but I haven’t been tracking my water either so my bad.
- Consuming more protein will not spare muscles but will tax the kidneys. I was focusing more on getting protein in post-workout than I was in replenishing carbs. My bad again.
- Caloric intake must be adequate to support vigorous exercise. We all know this, but I admit, except before my half marathon last weekend, I was eating little to no grains and lots of fruits and veggies, which ARE carbs. But still not enough of them for adequate caloric intake.
Overall: I’m feeling like a dunce here. How long have I been running? And I still haven’t found the right balance of energy in and out. I feel like I should know how to do this by now. This is where a nutritionist comes in. Stay tuned.
Have you experienced the ammonia/chlorine odor?
Have you found a balance between ideal weight and sufficient energy? Have you used a nutritionist?
Did you enter my giveaway?
I actually know someone else who has that problem! She’s talked about it before and I kind of thought she was hallucinating when she talked about smelling funny. Now I know it’s a real thing!
I went to a nutritionist when I really started distance running. I was eating well, but she still had a lot of helpful suggestions to make it better.
Yikes – a whole gallon of water? I never get that in and I make a concerted effort to drink more on long run days, too…. before and after.
I do know this… Urine urea nitrogen is a measure of protein breakdown in the body. A test can be done to measure the amount of urea in the urine. It is something you do when you are on a high protein diet such as Atkins….
I have been eating more protein to try to satisfy my hunger levels when I am running more.
Sure is a fine balance, isn’t it?
Wow! I knew none of that! I smell during my workouts, but it’s more just ‘stank’! It looks like you might be back to sandwich crusts and chip snagging to get those extra carbs back!
I find that, for me, the best way to find a balance is to listen to my body and stay away from fad foods and trends altogether. I drink when I’m thirsty and feed myself a variety of stuff when I’m hungry, not when I’m bored, or feel like I “deserve” a feast after a long run.
Hubby kinda eats the same way so we don’t have the temptation you do with pleasing a family’s food taste, so I think it is much easier on us because we don’t actually keep certain things we can’t moderate ourselves with in the house.
Hmmm and I always blamed the skunks!
Oh boy! I’m glad I’m not in your van for Ragnar, Stinky! 🙂
Very interesting stuff though. It’s so hard to find a good balance. I know I am not there yet!
I’ve experienced it recently on two long runs, one 11 miler where I took in no fuel during the run and one 12 miler where I didn’t fuel until mile 8 or 9 (and had eaten breakfast HOURS before). For my next long run, I’m going to try eating something closer to when I run and try fueling earlier to see if that makes a difference. FWIW, this started before I lost a few pounds, so I’m not sure the weight loss is the problem. You likely just need to fuel better before your runs and take those calories into account overall.
I’ve never had the smell, but I’ve definitely not found the sweet spot with eating. I think my weight is staying steady for now, but that’s mostly because I have to wear this belt that makes all my pants feel tight and because it’s Lent and I’m off the sweets. I’m thinking I may have to keep the no-sweets-except-on-Sunday thing going even after Easter. It would nice to eat with “rules,” which I understand are a sign of disordered eating, but I don’t have too many of them and I like eating too much to ever have a real problem in that direction.
I have met with a couple of nutritionists, and I learned tidbits from them, but what I’d really like is a personal chef. I wonder if Mario would come live in my basement….Probably not. Ah well. The learning must go on.
I meant “WITHOUT rules.” Bleck.
Whaaaaa? I didn’t know this but since I sweat so much and usually stink, it might be difficult to distinguish my smells. 🙂
I think now that I am following a vegan-ish diet that I have found a better balance than I ever thought I would. For some reason it has clicked where I see food as FOOD…not as comfort, not as a friend, not as a pick me up etc.
Great info! I didn’t know a lot of that. I don’t know if I could drink a gallon of water though. That’s a lot!
I’ve never experienced that odor before, although I don’t think I’ve run far enough to experience it (but I’m not sure I want to lol).
In my 15 years of running, I’ve never heard of this, so don’t feel bad! How interesting. Well, I guess you have your work cut out for you now. Let us know what you come up with.
When I hit the end of a training cycle (high mileage + intensity) I can get that ammonia smell. I increase my water and carb intake, but sometimes it doesn’t fully solve the problem. Good post!
I’ve experienced this many times and did the same research. I added some calories both in the morning and afternoon which has fixed it most of the time. The afternoon calories (usually an apple, orange or almonds) is for the ammonia smell after evening workouts. The morning calories are to try to not be hungry in the morning. I read (on the internet so it must be true :-)) that if you go hungry to lose weight, your body slows metabolism to conserve calories, which makes sense to me.
I use to skip dinner when I could, and breakfast when I could to try to slow my weight gain before becoming an endurance athlete. I now eat a lot more of both breakfast and dinner and continue to lose weight (slowly) as long as I keep my exercise above 6 hours a week. I don’t count calories either.
Sorry for the long comment. Just thought it might help.
i’ve never noticed myself smelling like that, but josh ALWAYS comes home from a run smelling this way. i will have to google some links to send him (he won’t just take my word for it haha – he’s an engineer afterall, he needs proof!) sounds like i have an argument for him to eat less protein and more veggies. (he claims he eats enough veggies… umm frozen chicken tenders and tator tots are not veggies!) he eats like a 7 year old.
Interesting facts! Thank you for sharing! I’ve never experienced that smell, well except for when I actually WAS coming from a pool workout, so I’m not sure how I’m doing in that department.
Very interesting post. The only smell I have experienced is on the tech shirts if I don’t wash them as soon as possible after the workouts. It didn’t happen with the cotton ones.
I’ve experienced that ammonia odor before, always when i’m not getting enough carbs.
p.s. i’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to follow your new site 🙁
Hydration – still a battle for me.
It’s called ketosis. It sometimes happens to people who eat a high-protein and low-carb diet. There actually nothing wrong with it as long as you are getting enough calories and proper nutrition otherwise.