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If you’ve ever run a marathon, half-marathon, or any other long race, you’ve undoubtedly had a hydration plan: a detailed assessment of what you intend to drink, when you intend to drink it, and how you intend to obtain it. But a paper in tomorrow’s issue of Science may cause you to rethink exactly how you do this, suggesting that to a larger degree than people have thought, you may be able to trust your sense of thirst to tell you when you are and aren’t getting enough fluids.

While some runners have cast iron stomachs and few concerns about what and when they eat before they exercise, others live in fear of pre-exercise fuel contributing to undesired pit stops during their workouts. Be it stomach rumbling, a need to urinate or defecate, reflux, nausea, heartburn, or side stitch, how to prevent intestinal distress is a topic of interest to athletes with finnicky guts. Here are tips to help you fuel well before and during runs, races and workouts while reducing the risk of gastro-intestinal (GI) distress.

As I write this column, the date is April 10th, 2020, three weeks into the coronavirus shut-down here in Boston. I continue to counsel clients from my virtual office. I am talking with runners and other athletes who are stuck at home, hating what they see when staring at themselves during Zoom meet-ups, and are spending too much time fighting with food (Do I eat? Don’t I eat? Am I hungry—or just bored?). They are feeling anxious and self-critical.

Colorado Runner recently posted an article on running with your dog. As someone who has logged many miles, especially during the Great Colorado Sign Challenge as Team Pitsky, I had a few tips to add. Disclaimer: I’m just a runner that runs a lot of miles with his pups. I’m not a dog trainer.

Running and foot pain don’t mix well. And plantar fasciitis might be one of the more dreaded ailments to plague runners. The pain from plantar fasciitis can defeat the purpose of running and make it an awful experience. Heel pain is one of the more common foot pains, and plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain.