The Chia Seed, Running Shoe & Race Experiment

This week I did an experiment with Chia Seeds (chee-yah seeds) and in the near future I will be testing running shoes and races.

I’m going to start off with the Chia Seed. You may have heard of the name before, because of those catchy commercials on TV singing, “Ch, ch, ch, Chia!” But, did you actually know that the Chia pets are made from Chia seeds? Clearly I did not. These seeds are tiny and come in either black or white. For our purposes, I will be talking about the black ones since I have never consumed the white.

These little black seeds are part considered a Superfood because it has numerous nutritional benefits, but here are a few:

• Nutritionally Dense
  • Chia seeds have an ideal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 (3:1), they are high in fibre, full of protein, an excellent source of antioxidants, full of iron, calcium, niacin (Vitamin B3), Magnesium, Zinc and Phosphorous.

• Energizing
  • The word Chia comes from the Mayan language meaning strength (scientific name is Salvia hispanica L). It has a balanced blend of protein, carbohydrates, fats and fibre. Athletes have reported that Chia seeds help them perform at optimal levels for much longer periods of time.
• Hydrating & Detoxifying
  • Chia seeds are hydrophilic which means they have the ability to absorb and retain water! These seeds can retain up to 9 times their weight in water, which helps keeps you well hydrated, and maintains electrolyte balance which is great for athletes. Chia’s gelling ability soothes and lubricates the digestive tract, helping to preserve the health of cells, as well as eliminate excess waste and toxins.

I could go on and on about these amazing seeds, but if you Google it, you will find a world of information. As we can see, Chia seeds are great for athletes. They were especially helpful to the Aztec warriors who used it as their main source of fuel during conquests. So this brings me to my Chia Seed experiment. I said that these seeds were hydrophilic, so I wanted to test it out.

I went online and found instructions to make chia gel. It’s really easy, they said to use 1/3 cup of chia seeds to 2 cups of water, which makes it an ideal ratio for basic chia gel (i.e. a 6:1 ratio). Since I didn’t have jars big enough, I slashed that in half. See the pictures below from my experiment.

The conclusion, chia seeds retain water and they create a gel! How cool is that?!?!! I have been eating these seeds since August and putting them into many meals such as my breakfasts (see my previous blog for a recipe), salads, and dinners (such as meatballs, quinoa and veggie mixes). You can buy them at any health food store in Toronto for just under $10 a bag.

My next experiment will start this weekend, and they will be with my running shoes. These past two Saturdays, I have planned to do runs between 12k and 15k. Each time I got to the 45 minute mark, my right knee, and my hip would start to hurt, and I am talking seriously hurting. Both times, I had to stop my run, and walk back home since I knew if I kept going, I would injure myself.  On the bright side of things, I had my credit card, so I spent money to make me feel a little better. J

I had issues with my IT band this summer, so I was afraid it was that. However, I did a series of shorter runs, in between the long ones, and I was fine. So when the pain popped back up this weekend, I knew my shoes had to be it. I have been diligent to stretch properly, but this weekend, I will be trying out new Nike Shoes, which have more cushion to them, yet are still water resistant, which will be perfect when Mother Nature decides it is Toronto’s turn to get a good dumping of snow. I will let you know how it goes, but fingers crossed it solves the problem, because I have been pretty disappointed these past two weeks having to cut my runs, aside from the shopping.

Lastly, I will be doing a race experiment this April/May. I have signed up for the Sporting Life 10k (May 13, 2011) and the new Toronto Yonge Street 10k (April 22, 2011).  So you may be wondering why this is an experiment. Well I found out that Canada Running Series organized the Sporting Life 10k for the past 26 years up until 2011, however, Sporting Life ended their sponsorship, and decided to do their own race, on the same course, but with different organizers.  Therefore, Sporting Life 10k is a new race, with an old name, and Toronto Yonge Street 10k, is an old race, with a new name…does that make sense?

So why am I crazy to do both races? Well, the Sporting Life 10k was the first ever running race I did after I got into the sport this year. I finished it in 49 mins and 19 seconds, and it was so memorable, that I want to go back and do it again…each year. Since I have run a half, will be running a 30k, this race will be perfect for me to improve on my time each year. Not only is running down Yonge Street amazing, having the ability to beat my time, and give it hard for 45 mins (fingers crossed), versus 1 hour and 45mins for 21k (fingers & toes crossed), is not that much of a tall order. Asking me to run a ½ faster, well that order is as tall as the CN Tower, but anything is possible.

Shameen