Snakes Alive!!!

Not in Oregon any more ...

Alright, confession time.  When I finally confirmed our family was moving to Hong Kong Island from Bend Oregon, I was somewhat excited to see that there were no predatory animals on the island.  Snakes, yes, but from what I read, snake sightings are VERY RARE, and besides, they tend to run away.  Although the snakes that are on the island can be venomous (with the two to worry about being cobras and a small green snake that can be aggressive), the other snakes such as pythons and giant rat snakes are non-venomous.  The bite may hurt but they will not (likely) kill you.  But no mountain lions, bears or other large animals that can lurk in the minds of runners, and occasionally show themselves during the most unexpected time of a run.   Don’t read this to mean that I don’t like and appreciate these animals  and their place in the ecosystem, I have just had enough interactions to give a quiet cheer knowing that I probably wouldn’t have to worry about them while exploring the trails of Hong Kong. 

Thinking back to the words that I read that snake sightings are “VERY RARE” I should have known that that applies to the person who spends most of their time in the shopping malls (seemingly the preferred way to spend time off for the average Hong Kong worker), versus the ultra-runner who seeks out interesting, unpopulated trail on a regular basis. 

We moved to Hong Kong mid-August.  My first three weeks in Hong Kong were hot and humid – ugh – I’d come back from a run more drenched than if I had stood in a shower with the water on full blast.  Living in the high desert of Bend, I never had to worry about sweating so much I couldn’t keep my shorts up.  Now I finally know why shorts have the waist cord – that little cord is all that keeps me from certain jail time for indecent exposure.    But, no snake sightings…to that point.

The green in this map of HK island is all park with trails!!

Hong Kong Island is the most densely populated island in the world.  Some 1.2 million people are squeezed onto this island of 31 sq. miles.  So how is this so livable?  Thanks to the visionaries who planned the city development, almost 40% (I've also heard this quoted as 70%, but I'm not sure) of the island is dedicated to green space.  The green space is divided into multiple major parks which encompass the central part of Hong Kong Island. Pretty much from anywhere on the island, one can be on trail or a connector to trail in a matter of minutes.  The trail might be paved, but at least it is car free and usually surrounded by greenery.  Trail running here is a mix of asphalt, stone, stairs, single-track dirt, and technical rock and root running.  And very hilly.  I think last week in my 90+ mile of running, I managed over 17,000 ft. of gain, and that’s without trying to get in hill repeats. 

Once we found a permanent apartment, I started frequenting the trails on the north east side of the island.  Since I hadn’t seen any snakes in my first three weeks, I was growing bolder in choosing my routes.  One morning I spied a marked but not well maintained trail going up a large stream towards the top of Mount Butler.  After about a quarter of a mile off the main track the trail turned into rock hopping up stream.   Water, rocks, sun.  These are the three things I think about back in Bend when I am in rattle snake territory.  It usually is the recipe for snakes sighting, especially in the morning when snakes are out warming up their bodies.  But is that the same in Hong Kong?   I shouldn’t have been surprised when I jumped on a rock, and out of the rock one step ahead moved the largest snake I had seen to date.  Five to six feet long, and with a circumference of my lower forearm.  I think as soon as it felt the vibration of me landing near a rock where it was sunning itself, it decided to get out of the way.  So it moved, faster than I’ve ever seen a snake move, in a direction away from me.   My snake radar was on extra high for the rest of the run…

Similar to first snake I saw - probably Chinese cobra

Three days later, and still with a little extra hop in my step from my snake sighting from a few days earlier, I was out on a longish run.  In my mind, there were two areas to be weary of snakes in Hong Kong, one was rocky terrain next to water, and the other being the very dense rocky, rooting overgrown trails where I would imagine a snake would be happy hanging out under the leaves or terrain underfoot, or better yet, in the trees which are overhanging the route. 

This is the type of terrain I thought I'd see a snake...but I was wrong

In my three hours of running, I had made it through what I thought was the snakiest terrain, the rocky rooty overgrown stuff, and was congratulating myself on not seeing any snakes.  I let out a sigh of relief and checked my watch, thinking I had only about 20 some minutes before I was done.  As I glanced at my watch, I heard what sounded like a large animal moving through the brush on the hillside to my left.  As I turned my head left to see what it was, I saw the mid-section of a snake, the circumference of my calf, shooting out of the brush on the hill about an inch behind my left shoulder.  Three thoughts came to mind in that instant: 

1)      This was a very different snake than what I saw three days earlier – dark greyish green with a light belly versus the solid black color of the other snake, and HUGE;

2)      It was moving really fast;

3)      If the body was at my shoulder, the head was somewhere around my legs…

SPRINT!!!  I had just had a snake conversation with an Aussie friend who recalled an incident from his boyhood in Australia where a cobra chased his friend on the beach. 

Can't get this image to load right, but look at it with your head tilted right...this is where the snake came in - from the left side at shoulder height.

Similar to the midsection I saw near my left shoulder.  Snake I saw was darker - olive/grey with light belly.

I didn’t know if this particular snake was chasing me, or if it was chasing something else and I got in its way, or worse, something else was chasing it…but my feet reacted before anything else, and I sprinted.

About a minute further down the trail, I came to an intersection where there are always people.  I really really wanted to see people.  But there were none.   I stopped, and just stood there, shaking and laughing because I really wanted to cry, but I can’t because I live here now and I can’t just leave tomorrow.  WTF!!!??? was all I could think.    My husband is dying to see a snake, and I can’t keep away from them.  And a huge snake…HUGE…how are the citizens of Hong Kong not terrified???

I still had about a mile and a half of trail before I hit the road that led to home.  To say I shook the rest of the way is an understatement.  I jumped 10 feet at any rustle in the brush.  I finally saw other humans, and they had the look of complacency - - even happiness.  How could anyone on this trail be …just be… with monsters lurking in the brush?? 

I’ve told this story to really anyone who will hear it here in Hong Kong.  I just want to know if anyone has had something similar.  Is this a regular occurrence – giant snakes coming out of the brush??  Two large snake sightings in three days?  Here is the general consensus of those locals who I have polled:

1.        The snake was likely a giant rat snake or a python.  If it was a python I should be “happy” because sightings are very rare.  
 
2.       Large snakes don’t really chase down their prey; they wait for the prey to come to it.  Therefore, the snake was probably spooked by something, and moving in the general direction of downhill.  I was just unfortunate enough to cross the trail at the exact moment it came hurling out of the brush.

 3.       These big snakes will bite when spooked/cornered.  I’m probably luckier than I think I am.

My general conclusion is that I have used up all my snake karma for my time in Hong Kong; therefore, I should not see another snake for a really really long time.  Although this theory was tested, only a week later, when I was out running with a new friend from Hong Kong, Claire Price (ultra runner extraordinaire – keep an eye out for her results).  We were in a dry and sunny section when my foot almost landed on a small snake.  The little snake (6 inches??) was confused and couldn’t figure out how to get away.  My brain registered the snake a second before Claire yelled “snake!”   Then she said she “never” sees snakes in this area.  Her other comment was that my shoes – which are bright green – might be a part of the problem.  She has been running the same trails for years, and has had a few snake sighting, but nothing like my experiences in such a short time.  I have since changed to different colored shoes.  And haven’t seen another snake…

Pickle Juice: A study with a sample size of one

Yesterday I bought two jars of pickles.  And not just any pickle.   I bucked up and paid for the “all natural, no preservatives” kind that set me back $7.99 a jar.  I am not really a fan of pickles, but that doesn’t matter.  Pickles and specifically pickle juice seems to be all the rage of the ultra running world as a way to “instantly relieve” muscle cramps.

I first hear about using pickle juice to alleviate cramps while I was at an ultra in Montana, Old Gabe (beautiful course, one to put on the list!).  At the finish, the RD, Tom Hayes, kindly offered me some pickles.  “No thanks, sounds terrible” is what I said. But curious, I asked why there would be pickles at an aid station, as it seemed like an unlikely food to offer.  Salty yes, but there is where the cravings would appear to end.  Tom told me that there have been studies showing that pickle juice immediately alleviates muscular cramps.    Must be the salt, I said.  But he countered that the research is showing that the pickle juice works at the nerve level, somehow inhibiting the impulse to the muscle to contract.  But since he didn’t have the research paper in hand, this is where speculation started.

Since then I’ve been bouncing the idea off of other athletes – professional mountain bikers and triathletes, fishing for some info and to see if anyone has tried it.  One speculated maybe it’s the vinegar that acts as an alkalizing substance in the body.  Another, because he had heard of using mustard to alleviate cramps, thought it might be a shared ingredient such as turmeric.  But 0 for about 10 on test subjects.

So, being the smart ultra runner that I am, and knowing I had the Vermont 100 coming up three weeks after the Montana race, I did nothing to either research or test out the pickle juice theory until the day before the Vermont 100.  Although I usually don’t have any problems with muscular cramps during races I knew that the conditions at Vermont would be humid and possibly quite hot, I thought pickle juice might be a nice back up strategy.   

With temperatures in the 90’s and the air feeling like you could cut it with a knife, I went to the store in Vermont and stocked up on jars of pickles (dill, not sweet).    I then disposed of the pickles and put all the pickle juice into one large left over orange juice container and instructed my crew to offer a cup at every crew point with my theory being “Why wait for cramping to set in if I could potentially head it off.”

On race day, temps hit a high of 91 with 65 percent humidity.  I stuck to my normal electrolyte routine, but then I added in the pickle juice.  At 40, 50, and 70 miles I managed to get down two, maybe three ounces of pickle juice.    I can’t say it was a pleasant and sought after taste experience.  Then at mile 80 my taste buds revolted.  I took a swig and then immediately spit it back up.  There was no way I was getting any down.  But, I was also not experiencing any cramps.   And I ran a course record on a very hot day with an un heat conditioned body.  Interesting.  I have to say though, I have never vomited during or after an ultra, but after Vermont, there was profuse vomiting.  Don’t know why.    But pickle juice was definitely a suspect.

So, I forgot about pickle juice until this week.  Since my race in France, my legs have not been their normal self.  They have felt heavy and full, even though they seem to be able to run well.  I surmised it must be some level of depletion from my hypothermic episode.  But no amount of hydration or electrolytes seems to address the issue.  To top it off, in Flagline 50k, even though I was following my normal hydration and electrolyte strategy, I experienced some muscle spasms – something that has never happened to me in a race. 

So, I bought two jars of pickles, saddled up to my laptop and started doing research by googling “Pickle juice cramping.”  Frankly, the mystery is still unsolved.  Many articles point to a recent study done on 10 healthy college aged males at Brigham Young University in Utah.  You can read about it here in a NY Times blog.

Basically the subjects cycled until they lost 3 percent of their body weight through perspiration.  Then one big toe was hooked up to a device that sent an electric impulse, which induced a cramp.   In the subjects that drank pickle juice, their cramps were relieved in 85 seconds.  For the poor souls drinking only water, their cramps lasted 134 seconds. 

But apparently scientists are at odds at what in the pickle juice is responsible for the relief of cramping.    After further exploring the issue, there are also many varying points of view as to what actually starts cramping – is it tired muscles, is it dehydration, is it a loss of electrolytes? 

I found one article to be very interesting and in my unscientific mind, maybe a building block for the pickle juice mystery.

According to Health 911 “Cramps are sometimes caused by a deficiency in acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates your muscles to work. Mustard and pickle juice both have acetic acid which helps the body make more acetylcholine. ”  A quick search on the web identifies vinegar as also having acetic acid.   Looking up acetylcholine confirms it is involved in the function of muscle contractions through the nervous system.

In my grand study of one (myself), I decided to see if maybe my body was lacking acetic acid – again in my mind, tied back to my hypothermic experience in France.  So five days after Flagline 50k, I planned on doing a track workout.  I bought the pickles with the intention of drinking the pickle juice the day before the track workout.  My muscles were still funky, so I thought what do I have to lose? 

As I opened the jar and smelled the smell of pickle juice, I had flashbacks to Vermont.  I realized I couldn’t just drink the juice, so I ate two pickles.  A couple of hours later, my stomach wasn’t right.  I felt nauseated and thought I’d have to cancel the workout the next day.  A good nights sleep seemed to help out, but I still could not bear to drink the pickle juice with my breakfast.  So I reached for the apple cider vinegar.  I figured one teaspoon of vinegar was more palatable than two ounces of pickle juice.  So I added some water and down it went.  Horrible.  My eight year old daughter asked me why I didn’t like the wine I was drinking, and I quickly corrected her to tell her it was vinegar, not wine.  I could just see her telling her playmates that I drank some bad wine for breakfast.  

The nastiness of the vinegar didn’t linger too long in my mouth and didn’t cause the nausea that the pickles seemed to cause.  I headed out to the track about an hour later.  Warming up I kept assessing my legs…do they feel normal?…do they feel heavy?…I wouldn’t know until I actually got on the track.  And a pleasant surprise it was.  My legs were back to normal!!!    Solid track workout, no muscle spasms, just smooth contractions.  Very unscientific, no placebos, no control group, just me.  Could it have been coincidence?  Or did the vinegar really work?  Being cautiously optimistic… I vote for the vinegar.