So where is the sun? It's awfully dark and dreary here in St. Louis these days! The Beatles had it all wrong when they came out with the song "Here comes the Sun"! They should only reserve that for warm tropical locations or summertime. So how does this correlate to swimming, biking or running? Good question...
For the obvious reasons: longer days to enjoy biking and running outdoors and vitamin D. The latter is what I have more of an interest in at the moment. I just recently became more informed on the benefits and pitfalls of having low amounts of vitamin D in your body. How? Craig has a fractured fibula...again!
The fibula is located in your calf and carries about 10% of your body weight as opposed to the tibia, or shin bone, which carries about 90% of your body weight. Needless to say, having any bone that is fractured is not good. So after a sports medicine physician visit, the doctor had Craig's vitamin D level tested. Craig tested at an 18. Where does this rank according to the doc?
<20 = extremely low. Take 50,000 IUs of vitamin D supplement once a week.
20-30 = low. Take 2,000 IUs a day.
>30 = Take an over the counter vitamin D supplement once a day.
>50 = Optimal.
So his doc told him that as a runner and with his previous fibula fracture he should be at an 80! I decided to get mine tested. It's just a quick blood test and they have the results back within a day. I tested at 34, which is on the lower side of normal, so my doctor told me to take 2,000 IUs a day.
It's been awhile, so I decided to brush up on my vitamin D knowledge. This is what I've learned-
1) Vitamin D can be found in fish, cheese, milk and the sun.
2) There are several people out there that are vitamin D deficient and are unaware, so it's good to be tested.
3) Vitamin D comes from the sun. Sun without sunblock. 15 minutes a day is all you need!
4) Vitamin D deficiencies can cause depression, bone weakness (hence fractures), as well as heart arrhythmias.
5) According to the Vitamin D Council, a healthy adult shoud take 5,000 IUs a day.
So as vitamin D increases, we all become happier. Funny that we all seem a lot happier in the warm summer weather! So happy running and biking this winter. Take a vitamin D supplement and enjoy the great outdoors again!
