Runner's Web Digest - May 7, 2004

The Original Runner's and Triathlete's Web was founded in January of 1997 as a
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The TRACK PROFILE Reader 2004, an in-depth review of the 2003 season
by Bob Ramsak, is now available. Selected from
hundreds of reports filed by the Track Profile News Service last
year, The TRACK PROFILE READER provides a unique look
back at the personalities, stories and events that defined track and
field in 2003. With in depth profiles of the
sport's biggest stars and comprehensive on-site reports from major
competitions, this annual review takes the reader
beyond the results, providing a perfect companion for casual and
diehard fans alike. Check out the book at:
http://www.booksurge.com/author.php3?accountID=GPUB00341&affiliateID=A000497

The Stretching Handbook:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cgi-bin/at.pl?a=286905


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New This Week:

The winner of our May Pegasus Quiz was Ed Whitlock, the world's 70+ marathon
record holder. It turns out that he had run with Chris
Chataway who was the runner in our mystery photo.

How To Run and Enjoy the Marathon - (A Practical Guide To The 26.2- Mile
Journey) By James Raia
Chapter 12. Runner's Creed: Share Thy Space
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20040507_Raia_Marathon12.html

We have NO personal postings this week.
Personal Postings, when available, are located after the Upcoming Section
towards the bottom of the newsletter.

Our latest column from Carmichael Training Systems:
Five Ways to Relaxing on Your Next Run
Relaxing while you run conserves a great deal of energy. Try these tips the next
time you hit the road or trail:
Use a natural arm swing. Do not try to muscle your way through the arm swing.
The bend in your elbow should be around 90 degrees.
This way your hands swing somewhere near hip height.
Try not to grip your shoes with your toes. Don’t fix the ankle in one angle;
instead keep your ankle as relaxed as possible.
Relax your shoulders. Try to keep the tension out of your upper back so you can
save your energy. You may find that you repeatedly
tense your shoulders as your run, so every few minutes, shake your arms and
shoulders out to relax them.
Imagine that you are carrying eggshells. Many runners tend to clench their fists
as they run, and this wastes a lot of energy. Your
wrists and fingers should be held loosely, as if you are holding on to something
fragile.
Keep your jaw relaxed. Try to stay away from clenching your jaw or grinding your
teeth. It is impossible to whistle with your teeth
clenched, so every once in a while whistle a few bars of your favorite song to
make sure you are not grinding your teeth.
For more articles from Carmichael Training Systems:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/cts_columns.html


The Tour Within the Tour de France by James Raia:
The Tour de France is the world's greatest cycling event. As the bicyclists
climb into the mountains and quickly pass through the
rolling countryside, many other postcards of life occur away from the
competition - the ambience, the restaurants, the uniqueness of
the villages and the people who live and work among fields of sunflowers, near
ancient castles and among fields of expansive
vineyards. The Tour Within The Tour de France includes 24 essays about the
author's first six years of attending the race.
This ebook cost $7.95.
Order now with your check or credit card at:
http://www.clickbank.net/order/0.cgi?ii=343039393832373631303837353131372e302e65\
6c746f6d616a612e3030312e30&&c=6bkjfzp7&t=tourbook&
[Multi-line URL]


Digest Article Index:

1. The creatine edge
It's popular with young athletes but long-term effects are unknown
2. What's in it for me
Choosing the right energy bar means weighing its contents vs. your fitness goals
3. Science of Sport: Fitness Testing - It's For Everyone
4. Going Beyond Atkins
There's No Question That Carbs Can Make You Fat. But Are Bunless Burgers the
Best Alternative?
5. Keeping the Forces of Decrepitude at Bay
6. The Carb Question
Dispelling some myths about low carb diets.
7. Training partners: A key to your success
8. Vitamins may be bad for your heart
9. Flexibility, sure, but fitness? It's a stretch
Limbering limbs goes just so far, experts say
10. Getting Back in the Game
The Link Between Asthma and Exercise.
11. Bill Rodgers' tips to beat running boredom
12. Coke, Pepsi to Face Off in Carb Battle
13. Ask the tri doc: altitude training
14. Amby Burfoot's Enduring Questions
Runner's High - Like so many of the other firsts in my life, I remember my first
"runner's high" as if it were yesterday.
15. From Runner's World
16. The problems with male pacemaking
17. Achilles Tendonitis & Achilles Tendon Injury
Prevention & Treatment Strategies for Achilles Injury
18. Cyclists: Working with your center of gravity
19. Don't Let Dehydration Dampen Your Workout
20. Actively fighting cancer
Exercise not only offsets some of the ill effects of treatment, such as weight
gain and depression, but also appears to reduce the
rate of recurrence
21. Focus On Fitness - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: When Exercise Makes You Feel
Worse
22. Take it away: why fitness machines turn into clothes hangers
23. Interview with Lori Bowden
2-Time Hawaii Ironman Winner.
24. Mother's Days
Joe Henderson's Running Commentary 517
25. News Scan


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:

This week's poll is: "Do you believe Marion Jones has taken illegal performance
enhancing substances?"

Cast your vote at: http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
Post your views in our Forum at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/runnersweb_forum.html
[Free Registration Required]

The previous poll was: "Do you stretch?"

The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Before exercise. 9 7%
2. After exercise. 33 27%
3. Before and after exercise. 53 43%
4. On occasion only. 22 18%
5. Never. 6 5%

Total Votes: 123

You can access the poll from our FrontPage as well as voting on and/or checking
the results of previous polls.

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Five Star Site of the Week: Brenda Halloran - International Professional
Triathlete.
Belinda is a professional triathlete, based in Sydney, racing on the worldwide
Ironman circuit. Under her maiden name of Cheney, she
has been one of Australia's prominent triathletes since 1995 when she won Bronze
at the World Junior Championships. Belinda turned
to endurance triathlon in 2000 and has had 9 'top-ten' finishes (4 podiums) from
10 international Ironman finishes to date. Most
notable of her recent performances was winning Ironman Malaysia in January 2001.
Belinda married Grant in February 2002 and you will now see her racing around
the world as "Belinda Halloran".
Visit her website at:
http://www.belindahalloran.com/

Send us your suggestions for our Five Star site. Please check our list of
previous Five Star Sites available from the Five Star
Window under
the link "Previous Five Star Sites" as we do not wish to repeat a site unless it
has undergone a major redesign.


If you feel you have something to say that is worthy of a Guest Column on the
Runner's Web, email us at
mailto:webmaster@... or leave your comments in one of our Forums at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/forum.html or from our FrontPage.

Our Photo Slideshow is updated on a random basis. Check it out from our
FrontPage.

Book of the Week: Training for Young Distance Runners-2nd Edition.
By Russ Pate and Larry Greene.
Race your best this season with science-based training specifically geared for
teenage runners. Your performance will soar when you
follow the proven guidelines on designing customized daily, weekly, and seasonal
programs.
Running experts Larry Greene and Russ Pate combine the latest research with what
works in the most successful high school and
college programs throughout the country. You’ll learn how to optimize
performance through tempo running, interval training,
technique drills, circuit and weight training, and flexibility exercises. And
you’ll gain a competitive advantage by applying
guidelines for choosing the best foods and nutritional supplements, developing
mental fitness, and preventing injuries.
Training for Young Distance Runners has everything you need to build a winning
training program for cross country, track and field,
and road racing events. Get this book and get ahead of the pack!
Buy the book at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736050\
914

More books from Amazon at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/amazon.html
and Human Kinetics at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/human_kinetics.html

This Weeks News:

Articles:

1. The creatine edge:
It's popular with young athletes but long-term effects are unknown.
At John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, Mitch Olson warns football players
and other athletes that anyone caught using a
performance-enhancement product will be barred from playing. The rule goes for
everyone — and it includes creatine, a legal but
controversial dietary supplement.
Olson, the school's athletic director, knows students could use creatine without
his knowledge, perhaps even with the blessing of
their parents. "I'm not naive enough to think that some kids aren't doing it,"
he said, while expressing hope that none of his
athletes are doing so.
It's easy to see why many young athletes might feel tempted. Advertisements
promoting creatine are everywhere, from bodybuilding
magazines to the local pharmacy and nutrition store. And if not swayed by ads,
athletes probably have heard friends' claims that
creatine makes you bigger, stronger and faster. Some young athletes may not
recall the controversy that surrounded creatine in the
late 1990s, when the substance was briefly implicated — though later found not
to be a factor — in the deaths of three college
wrestlers.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-creatine3may03,1,7621979.story?coll\
=la-headlines-health


2. What's in it for me:
Choosing the right energy bar means weighing its contents vs. your fitness
goals,
What's good and good for you, and guilt-free?
If you said energy bars, you might be right: They can taste good, and they can
be good for you. And they actually can qualify as a
guilt-free lunch. But you've got to eat the right bar at the right time for the
right reason.
"The value is there if a person uses them properly," says Liz Applegate,
professor of nutrition at the University of
California-Davis. "A bar can replace food on occasion. The problem comes when
people overconsume them. I've counseled a lot of
people who have moved away from real food and are eating just bars."
My first encounter with the food of the future was the PowerBar, a rubbery brown
slab of virtually inedible don't-ask-what that
emerged from the California kitchen of marathoner Brian Maxwell in 1986.
"It was really an idea to try to create a silver bullet or an advantage in my
own racing," the PowerBar inventor once said.
Maxwell's silver bullet tasted like molasses-flavored Silly Putty and upset my
stomach the minute I bit into it.
I liked it a lot.
I wasn't alone. Ten years after that first PowerBar was born, Maxwell's company
was selling $150 million worth annually. The
energy-bar pioneer died of a heart attack last month at age 51, four years after
selling his company to Nestlé SA for a reported
$375 million.
More...from the Rocky Mountain News at:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_and_fitness/article/0,1299,DRMN_26_\
2820294,00.html
[Long URL]


3. Science of Sport: Fitness Testing - It's For Everyone:
The most popular poster in the UC Davis Sports Performance Program office is a
freeze frame of cyclist Andy Hampsten. While cresting
Gavia Pass, he's riding alone en route to gaining the race leader's jersey and
his eventual Tour of Italy victory.
The image spotlights performance in dramatic form. The now-retired cyclist is
positioned slightly erect and forward as he progresses
on a slick and slushy mountain road on a dark June day. His face, uniform and
bike are covered in snow as he reaches the 8,500-foot
summit.
Massimo Testa, M.D., an Italian native, was the team physician when in 1988
Hampsten became the only American to win the three-week
event.
As the former sports medicine specialist for several international cycling
teams, Testa helped Hampsten, Lance Armstrong and Dr.
Eric Heiden, now his colleague, optimize their abilities through physiological
testing. It was Heiden who several years ago
persuaded Testa to move to the United States.
Testa's office and the walls of the UCD facility in midtown Sacramento have a
dominating cycling motif, mostly posters and computer
screensavers in homage to the sport's finest.
The Hampsten poster hangs on a wall parallel to the lab's treadmill and between
two pro cyclists' signed jerseys. It's where Testa
and his physician and physiologist co-workers work daily on a medical concept
prevalent in Europe but fledgling in the United
States: Optimal performance is for everyone.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20040503_Raia_FitnessTesting.html


4. Going Beyond Atkins:
There's No Question That Carbs Can Make You Fat. But Are Bunless Burgers the
Best Alternative?
A middle-aged man, tired of being fat and having trouble losing weight, happens
on a low-carbohydrate diet. He tries it for a few
months and watches happily as the pounds slip away without the gnawing hunger
and cravings that other diets have caused him. He
writes a book that is a huge hit with the public, even though the medical
establishment scorns it. The book is William Banting's
"Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public." It was published in London in
1863.
Imagine Banting's delight if he could listen in on a 21st-century cocktail
party. We're still duly obsessed with our corpulence. And
thanks to Dr. Robert Atkins, the cantankerous cardiologist who revived Banting's
theories in the 1970s, most people now assume that
carbohydrates are part of the problem. We don't "diet" anymore. We "go on
Atkins," trusting that bunless burgers will do for us what
fat-free doughnuts never did. Our faith is not entirely misguided. It's now
clear that carb-rich foods can inflate appetite and
foster type 2 diabetes, and that low-carb diets --promote short-term weight
loss. But healthy eating is not quite as simple, or as
boring, as living on fat and protein. The truth is, you can have your carbs and
eat them, too. You just have to know how to choose
them.
More...from the Washington Post at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A13059-2004J\
an13&notFound=true


5. Keeping the Forces of Decrepitude at Bay:
am lying in bed, reading Dr. Gerald Imber's ''Youth Corridor,'' a friendly and
sagacious book with helpful drawings and a clearly
laid-out text, about the whys and wherefores of plastic surgery. I am reading
this book because in another minute I'll be -- but can
this be? -- 50. It's actually more a matter of weeks than minutes, and yes, I'm
keeping count, but the particulars don't make much
difference because it's clear to me that whenever 50 shows up -- it could be
tomorrow or two years from now -- it comes as a blow to
one's perennially youthful psyche, as impossible to grasp about one's own
sprightly self as it seems perfectly plausible when it
comes to other people.
Reaching one's 50th birthday is no longer a feat the way it was in, say,
Montaigne's time, when the odds were against reaching 60
(Montaigne didn't) and ''death of old age'' was ''a rare, singular and
extraordinary death.'' Although it pains me to my contrarian
core to have to admit to being part of a national trend (or, as some view it, an
epidemic), my birth date marks me inescapably as
part of the graying herd. I am just another face in a crowd of aging baby
boomers, demanding the best golden years money and a
well-developed sense of entitlement can buy. It may be true, as Francis Bacon
observed, that age will not be defied, but that
doesn't mean we're prepared to yield to its advance either. Who, I might ask,
ever feels 50 inside? Like the proverbial thin person
stuck inside every fat person, inside every 50-year-old is nestled a 30- or
25-year-old -- if not an even younger ghostly self, an
adolescent habitue of dreams and fantasies who haunts the sites of ancient
traumas, replaying juvenile regrets or hopes, failing the
chemistry final or bedding the crush-object who never gave you a second look
back then.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/magazine/02BEAUTY.html


6. The Carb Question:
Dispelling some myths about low carb diets.
It's tough to find a person who has not heard about the miraculous weight loss
secrets of a low carb diet. From the Atkins Diet to
the South Beach Diet, everyone seems to be going low carb. And for most, the
results seem to be a success - at least the ones we
hear from. Even medical research seems to be supporting some of the claims of
low carb followers that this type of diet, which ends
up being a rather high protein and fat diet initially, reduces a lot of the
markers of heart disease such as improving blood lipid
profiles and reducing triglycerides.
But not everyone is torching the potatoes in the pantry. In fact, some research
indicates that a low carb diet can actually cause
some negative responses in the body similar to that
found in a person who is under constant long-term stress. And for an athlete,
especially someone who is training for any kind of
endurance event, the effects of a low carb diet leaves him or her feeling
sluggish and unable to recover or perform at any level
that would be considered optimal.
Let’s look a little deeper into what is going on in the body to find out what
gives the health improvements people are after. At the
same time, let’s look at what might be behind some of the negatives showing up
in athletes who do not have a good enough base of
health to undertake such a regime.
More...from BeginnerTriathlete.com at:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/MarkAllen/carb_question.htm


7. Training partners: A key to your success:
By Luis Vargas
If you ever wondered why is it that you can keep up with certain training
partners in training but they always finish ahead of you
in a race then read on. I will offer a possible explanation.
When I joined the sport I was just like any new athlete to the sport. I became
friends with triathletes who apparently had been
around the block and knew what to do. I was always asking questions and joined
them in their training sessions. I figured if it does
not kill me it will make me stronger. This strategy worked for a while. I was
determined and I felt like I had talent.
My body was very good at assimilating training and improving, it did over my
many years of swimming and of high school running. This
strategy worked to get me to the finish line of my first triathlon the Bud Light
USTS Houston 1986 but my big improvements came once
I moved and luckily I found some great training partners that I was more
compatible with. By the way, Dave Scott won my infamous
first Olympic distance race. Dave gapped the competition in the 2-mile swim
never to be seen again. The swim buoys drifted overnight
and no one noticed until after Dave completed the swim in 45 minutes. First time
the swim took longer than the run I am sure. This
was great for me given my swimming background.
More...from InsideTri.com at:
http://it1.insidetri.com/train/tips/articles/1332.0.html


8. Vitamins may be bad for your heart:
MILLIONS of people who take vitamin supplements in the belief that they protect
against heart disease may be wasting their money.
New research suggests that far from reducing the risk, vitamin pills may
increase the levels of the “bad” form of cholesterol by
interfering with liver function. Since this form of cholesterol is strongly
linked to an increased risk of a heart attack, the
effect of the vitamins may be the precise opposite of what people hope for.
A team from New York and Philadelphia, led by Edward Fisher, of New York
University School of Medicine, found that vitamins C, E and
beta-carotene, far from boosting the body’s defences, undermined them.
The liver is the main source of lipoproteins — fats found in the bloodstream —
including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol,
which is implicated in blockages of the arteries. Vitamins are supposed to help
to defeat the damage done by cholesterol by acting
as antioxidants. In the normal processes of metabolism, the body produces
short-lived oxygen radicals, highly active chemicals that
are believed to react with LDL cholesterol, causing changes that lead to the
artery-blocking plaques found in patients with heart
disease.
More...from the Times Online at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-1097937,00.html


9. Flexibility, sure, but fitness? It's a stretch:
Limbering limbs goes just so far, experts say
They can be spotted in gyms and on ball fields, on running paths and biking
trails: people reaching into the air, bending down to
touch their toes or grasping their ankles behind their backs.
Stretching before exercise is routine for many recreational and professional
athletes. But researchers have grown increasingly
skeptical about its merits.
Now a major study is stirring renewed discussion about when stretching is and is
not beneficial.
The study, a review of six decades of research by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, found that stretching does little
to prevent injury during exercise when done outside as a warm-up. In some cases,
the increased flexibility that stretching promotes
actually might impede performance.
The researchers analyzed 361 scientific articles on stretching published since
1946. The findings, in the March issue of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, suggest that athletes who devote
pre-exercise time to stretching might be better served with a
warm-up that prepares the body for activity and regular exercises that build
strength and balance.
"The idea of loosening your joints up and muscle stretching makes sense, but the
problem is that it really hasn't been shown to
prevent injury," said Dr. Stephen B. Thacker, director of the epidemiology
program office at the CDC and an author of the study. "If
you put on your sweats and simply start stretching, your muscles are not
necessarily warmed up."
More...from the Lexington Herald Leader at:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/living/health/8564789.htm


10. Getting Back in the Game:
The Link Between Asthma and Exercise
If your child often ends up watching his or her sports team from the sidelines
because breathing during play is a struggle, he or
she may be one of the more than 6 million children with asthma. Exercise is a
common trigger for chronic asthma, and there is
another condition called exercise-induced asthma, where people feel good during
exercise but experience typical symptoms of asthma
such as wheezing, cough and chest tightness or pain within about 10 minutes
after finishing strenuous exercise.
Failure to diagnose either of these types of asthma can cause children, and
adults, to skip out on the exercise they need for a
healthy lifestyle. And in rare cases, untreated asthma can lead to death. Jack
M. Becker, MD, chief of the section of allergy at St.
Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and his colleagues studied
asthma death during sports in the study published in
the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Below, Dr. Becker talks about the importance of
recognizing and treating asthma so that these individuals can get out and
exercise.
More...from SignOnSanDiego at:
http://signonsandiego.healthology.com/focus_article.asp?b=signonsandiego&f=fitne\
ss&c=asthma_exerciselink&spg=FIA
[Long URL]


11. Bill Rodgers' tips to beat running boredom:
Expect a little boredom now and then -- we all experience it. The way I get
around my boredom is to race.
Racing adds a dimension to running that a regular runner who is always on his
own can't experience. Almost everybody who races would
tell non-racers they're missing out, that this is what it's all about.
Fitness and health are running's great bonuses, but racing adds excitement
that's hard to get elsewhere in your life. You can test
your very limits. You can discover things about yourself that your regular life
would never have revealed to you. You can be your
own hero -- it's hard to do that on a daily training run.
And you don't have to become a hardcore racer to get these benefits. One of the
best ways to beat boredom is to run with others. If
you usually run three miles a day, why not run at your normal pace, but in an
organized 5K race? See what it's like, and if this is
a dimension of running that you want to include in your program.
You're likely to meet other people of your level of fitness, and maybe meet some
potential running partners. A good running partner
can go far to relieve some of the tedium.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=10670&sidebar=13&category=running


12. Coke, Pepsi to Face Off in Carb Battle:
CHICAGO (AP) -- Coke and Pepsi, trying to put more fizz into their soda sales,
are about to launch new brands that taste like their
flagship drinks but contain half the sugar, carbs and calories.
Coke's C2 and Pepsi's Edge are to hit the market nationally this summer. In
advance, the companies offered tastes to supermarket
executives, restaurant owners and other potential retail distributors at the
Food Marketing Institute's annual trade show in
Chicago.
The new sodas are targeted at people who don't like the calories in regular
colas but are dissatisfied with diet versions.
These midcalorie sodas may work, said Donna Albertson, who co-owns The Good
House, a steak and seafood restaurant, with her husband,
Buck, in Ragersville, Ohio. Sipping Pepsi Edge from a paper cup, she said the
soda tasted as good as regular and did not have the
aftertaste of diet.
It could be a hit with people concerned about their weight, especially women,
she said: "It's going to be a gal thing. Gals are
always watching their weight."
More...from JS Online at:
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FIT_HALF_CARB_COLAS?SITE=WIMIL&SECTIO\
N=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
[Long URL]


13. Ask the tri doc: altitude training
Dr. Sankoff,
There's always lots of talk about the benefits of altitude training, but how
does it actually help/affect your fitness and race
performances? Many athletes use altitude tents to sleep in, others sleep and
train at altitude, while still others live and train at
altitude but use supplemental oxygen for certain workouts?
Can you make some sense of it all?
The short answer: Living at altitude definitely causes changes in human
physiology. The effects of these changes on athletic
performance remain controversial and for the most part unproven.
The long answer: The environmental stresses associated with high altitude
include: lower ambient temperatures, lower atmospheric
oxygen concentration, decreased humidity and increased exposure to solar
radiation. Each of these causes physiological changes in
the body, but it is the decrease in oxygen concentration that has the most
varied effect and is of greatest interest and importance
to the endurance athlete.
More...from InsideTri at:
http://www.insidetri.com/train/tips/articles/2201.0.html


14. Amby Burfoot's Enduring Questions:
Runner's High - Like so many of the other firsts in my life, I remember my first
"runner's high" as if it were yesterday.
Like so many of the other firsts in my life--first prom, first kiss, first
bump-bump in the night, first child--I remember my first
"runner's high" as if it were yesterday. It came on a perfect October afternoon
while I was running near Clyde's Cider Mill in Old
Mystic, Connecticut. A warm sun dappled through the oak leaves, roadside twigs
crunched lightly under my feet, and the smell of
apple cider vinegar spread sweet and heavy through the air.
For a mile, maybe two, I slipped into another world, a timeless one where there
was no effort, no clocks, no yesterday, no tomorrow.
I floated along for 15 minutes, aware of nothing, just drifting. Then a big
truck thundered past, and the spell was broken. Goodbye
runner's high. Hello noxious fumes.
Recently, I added up my lifetime running miles, and found that I'm hovering
around 108,000. That distant October turned out to have
been my only serious encounter with runner's high. It might have been vivid, but
it hasn't happened again. By my math, this means I
have experienced the rush on .00185 percent of all my miles. Or, to put it
another way, I get high on one out of every 21,600
workouts. Not very impressive.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-78-0-0-1102,00.html


15. From Runner's World:
*" The characteristic that separated Pre from the rest of the world was his
pride. To be the best was his only goal. Man imposes his
own limitations. Limitation was not in Steve's frame of reference." -Walt
McClure, Prefontaine's High School coach

* Keep an ice pack handy. "After your run, ice-massage any spot that's tight or
tender so it doesn't become an injury. Ice for 15
minutes. If the spot is still painful after 3 days, consider seeing a
sports-medicine professional." -Matthew Linde, RW online
Producer

* "The process of becoming the best runner--or the best at any other pursuit,
for that matter--involves discipline, dedication, and
mental fortitude. One of the benefits of pursuing serious training is that it
helps develop these attributes, which can in turn come
in handy in other areas of life." -From the complete book of Women's Running by
Dagny Scott


16. The problems with male pacemaking:
The world marathon record by Paul Tergat in Berlin brought into sharp relief the
issue of male pacemakers in women's marathons. This
may seem strange. I will explain. There were two designated pacemakers in the
Berlin race, Sammy Korir of Kenya, with a personal
best of 2:08:02 from 1997 and Titus Munji of Kenya, 2:16:58 in his marathon
debut in Zurich this year. From the 30 kilometer mark it
was clear the pacemakers were going to race Tergat to the finish. Munji dropped
off with approximately 5k to go (37k), however
Tergat only managed to hold off Korir to the finish line by a few feet winning
by a second. The designated pacemaker, Korir, broke
the old world record by 42 seconds.
Designated pacemakers actually winning races has been happening for years - Paul
Pilkington won the 1994 "Los Angeles Marathon".
More recent examples include Simon Biwott (Berlin 2:07:42 in 2000), Josephus
Ngolepus (Berlin 2:08:47 in 2001)and Ben Kimondiu
(Chicago 2:08:52 in 2001). It can be seen from this that a male pacemaker in a
male race is an integral part of the race. Although
he sets the pace for the lead runner(s), he is also part of the race dynamics,
he has the potential to win and must be taken into
account by the leading runners. A male pacemaker in a male race cannot distort
the running of the race because he is part of the
race.
More...from Run the Planet at:
http://www.runtheplanet.com/pages/refer/articles/pacemaker.php


17. Achilles Tendonitis & Achilles Tendon Injury:
Prevention & Treatment Strategies for Achilles Injury.
Every week I get asked for information on Achilles tendon injury. So instead of
constantly referring people to other sites, I
thought it was time to write an article on Achilles tendon injury myself.
Achilles injuries are commonly associated with sports that require a lot of
running, jumping and change of direction. Excessive
twisting or turning of the ankle and foot can result in a rupture or strain. The
sports that are most susceptible to Achilles injury
include running, walking, cycling, football, basketball and tennis.
What is an Achilles tendon Injury?
Firstly, let's take a look at where the Achilles tendon is located and what it
does.
As you can see from the diagram to the right, the Achilles tendon is located at
the rear (posterior) of the bottom half of the lower
leg. In the diagram it is represented by the thick band of connective fibre that
runs from bottom of the Gastrocnemius muscle to the
heel bone.
The Achilles tendon is used to plantar flex the foot, or point the foot
downward. This allows a person the run, jump and stand on
one's toes.
More...from the Stretching Handbook at:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/achilles-tendonitis-pt1.htm


18. Cyclists: Working with your center of gravity:
When descending and cornering, it is very important to be aware of the position
of your center of gravity.
Most people's center of gravity is located just below the navel. By correctly
positioning this center over the bike you will be able
to maintain stability and control in tight corners and on steep, fast descents.
You need to think in three dimensions: forward and back, up and down, and side
to side.
While riding straight on flat ground your center of gravity is most likely a
little forward of the bottom bracket. As you go into a
corner or a downhill, slide back to position the center over the bottom bracket
to increase stability. Lowering the center will also
help in this regard.
While cornering, especially if you use the counter-steering technique, your
center of gravity should be positioned outside of the
turn, toward the contact of the tires to the ground. Remember to always keep
your outside pedal down and weighted in the corner.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=10670&sidebar=13&category=running


19. Don't Let Dehydration Dampen Your Workout:
The federal government and health professionals nationwide are encouraging
Americans to exercise more in order to combat obesity and
to prevent chronic health conditions. But both experienced athletes and
beginning exercisers need to be careful about exercising in
hot weather conditions. Even though sweating profusely may make you feel like
your workout is in full swing, severe dehydration can
be dangerous because the body can't function without a certain amount of water
and electrolytes, which are minerals such as sodium
that are lost in sweat and urine.
People need to apply common sense in order to stay hydrated during or after
exercise, and serious athletes should take extra
precautions. Below, Michael Sawka, PhD, chief of Thermal and Mountain Medicine
at the US Army Research Institute of Environmental
Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts, discusses the effects of dehydration and how
it is best avoided.
More...from SignOnSanDiego at:
http://signonsandiego.healthology.com/focus_article.asp?b=signonsandiego&f=fitne\
ss&c=xml_yourworkout&spg=FIA
[Long URL]




20. Actively fighting cancer:
Exercise not only offsets some of the ill effects of treatment, such as weight
gain and depression, but also appears to reduce the
rate of recurrence.
Although it may seem cruel to ask people in the throes of cancer treatment to
hop on a treadmill or lift weights, Julie Main has
long believed that exercise can play an important role in helping patients to
heal.
"Surgery cured my cancer, but exercise got me through the whole process," said
Main, who is general manager of the Santa Barbara
Athletic Club.
Now scientific research is supporting her view. Physical activity, scientists
are finding, can offset some of the debilitating
effects of cancer treatment, including fatigue, weight gain, anxiety and
depression.
"Patients who exercise report less fatigue, more energy and a better feeling of
general well-being," said Dr. Anne McTiernan,
director of the Prevention Center for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
in Seattle.
In a study published in Cancer Practice in 2001, researchers at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore found that breast cancer
patients who exercised three or more days a week for a total of at least 90
minutes reported significantly less fatigue and
emotional distress, as well as a higher quality of life, than women who did no
purposeful exercise.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-cancerexercise3may03,0,5362\
890.story?coll=la-health-fitness-news
[Long URL]


Such findings are holding true for patients undergoing treatment for other forms
of cancer too.
21. Focus On Fitness - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: When Exercise Makes You Feel
Worse:
The television advertisement shows a young woman running hard and sweating
profusely, smiling but appearing rejuvenated. You might
go out and try this yourself. Rather than feeling great, you may find that you
are pooped later that day, and still tired the next
day. "Just do it" didn't do it.
Not everyone gets a boost from strenuous exercise. This is especially the case
for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Instead of positive physical and emotional sensations, any overexertion often
makes their symptoms temporarily worse.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome is more than a persistent lack of energy. The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines
CFS as a disorder with at least six months of such intense fatigue that it
substantially reduces the person's level of activity. The
fatigue must be of new or definite onset and not relieved by rest or getting
more sleep. In addition, the person needs to have at
least four of the following symptoms associated with the severe fatigue:
Sore throat
Tender glands
Aching or stiff muscles
Painful joints
Impaired memory or concentration
New headaches
Unrefreshing sleep
Feeling unwell after exertion, lasting for 24 hours or longer
People can have chronic fatigue as part of another illness or condition, but to
meet the criteria for CFS a thorough medical
evaluation must be performed to exclude other possibilities.
More...from InteliHealth at:
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/35320/35322/378080.html?d=dmtHMSCo\
ntent&k=wellx7165x35322
[Long URL]


22. Take it away: why fitness machines turn into clothes hangers:
Martin Mooradian meant to use his exercise machine. He really did. But you know
how it goes.
"You need to stop what you're doing for the day, change your clothes and go," he
says. "It's like getting ready for a social event."
And?
"I don't have the time."
And?
"It's boring."
So, the Johnston, R.I., man ended up using the giant contraption, which he
bought used from a friend for $800, "maybe" once. This
month, he put it up for sale, for $375.
"This is not the first time I've done something like this," Mooradian says,
remembering a bench press he bought and never used.
"Maybe it's just me."
Hardly.
Doug Belyea makes a living selling used exercise equipment on eBay.
"How many times have you gone to someone's house and seen a stairstepper or
something like that in the corner?" he says.
"It's more of a towel rack than anything."
So, why are so many well-meaning people stuck with these ugly, hulking machines?
The exercise scholars have the answer: people
really want to exercise, but they're just not ... ready.
"Sometimes, people think that by buying the equipment, that's going to motivate
them to exercise," says Prof. Deb Riebe, of the
exercise science and physical education department at the University of Rhode
Island. "They say, 'If I spend that money, of course
I'm going to exercise.'"
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=10588&sidebar=576&category=healthclub


23. Interview with Lori Bowden:
2-Time Hawaii Ironman Winner.
Transition Times (TT): Lori, how does it make you feel to have won 2 titles in
Hawaii?
Lori Bowden (LB):
It actually doesn't feel all the different to have won 2 Hawaii titles. Probably
the first one was the most special, as it makes you
feel like you actually belong in with the group of your peers at the top of the
sport, however, you still seem to put them on a
pedestal above yourself and are in awe of THEIR accomplishments.
TT: How old were you when you started competing in triathlon?
LB: Not sure, just finished high school and wanted a change from running every
day.
TT: How did you get started?
LB: My parents and a lot of their friends were doing triathlons and it looked
like a lot of fun, the atmosphere at the races was
really positive and full of energy - there were so many people of all ages and
everyone was having a great time. I watched a lot of
the races and was in awe of all the participants and wished that I could
actually complete something like that....I didn't know how
to swim, so it seemed even more overwhelming!
More...from Transition Times at:
http://www.transitiontimes.com/viewstorylocal.cfm?ID=4596&ett2local=Washington


24. Mother's Days:
Joe Henderson's Running Commentary 517
(rerun from May 2002 with updates)
No matter how old we get and how far we stray from the family nest, we never
leave our parents. And they never release their hold on
us. They stay forever in our actions, if not always in our hearts.
I'm both my father's and mother's son. My late father, Jim, was a sprinter and
jumper good enough to compete in college, but was
retired by age 20. I wasn't a sprinter, but was a fast starter too, setting my
last mile PR at 20.
From my mother Virginia's family, the Kings, came the gift of endurance. She
never ran a distance race, and couldn't imagine her
ever wearing running shoes, let alone shorts. But she had stamina.
She never learned to drive and did much of her daily commuting on foot, always
hurrying. I recall her near-running everywhere in our
hometown -- in dresses and high-heeled shoes.
Mama's official sports-playing was limited to the only sport available to girls
of her youth. She played center in basketball -- at
four-feet-10.
This was the era of the three-court game -- with forwards, guards and centers
occupying separate zones. Coaches put the shortest
players in the middle where they never had to make baskets at one end of the
floor or rebound at the other. Centers weren't shooters
or jumpers, but runners.
My dad grew to normal height but always seemed a little smaller. He was the
quiet one in the couple, seldom starting a conversation.
Mama never seemed small. Both of her feet reached the ground, and that was good
enough for her. She has always been big in
personality and voice, and in her persistence.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/435.html


25. News Scan:
* The cure-all acronym RICE — rest, ice, compression and elevation — is great
for ankle sprains. But other ailments require targeted
treatment.
Here is some guidance from the website http://www.sportsinjuryhandbook.com .
• Muscle pulls: Rest and apply ice (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off) until pain
and swelling subside. As soon as tolerable, begin
gently stretching the muscle.
• Lower back strains: After a week of rest, start a workout that strengthens
the lower back plus the hamstring and abdominal
muscles, which help support the back.
• Runner's knee: Strengthen the quadriceps muscle, which helps keep the kneecap
centered. Use isometric exercises at first, then
progress to partial range-of-motion leg extensions. Do not attempt full leg
extensions.
For mild injuries, try to regain full range of motion as soon as possible, and
try not to limp.

*Buddy Up!
Struggling to stick to your exercise program? Try working out with a partner.
Adding a social aspect to your workout helps keep you
both motivated and makes sessions more fun. Training with a friend provides
mutual support for keeping a regular schedule and pushes
you harder to meet your goals.

*Q: Taylor of Elkhorn - I am a vegetarian who is getting ready to run a marathon
and I want to make sure that I am eating right. Any
suggestions for maintaining a proper diet, or things that I need to be aware of
while training?
A: Barb Troy - Hi Taylor, Congratulations on that training! Super! As to your
diet...you failed to mention what type of vegetarian
you are so my answer will be pretty generic. First & foremost, stay hydrated.
While training, stay on a water replacement schedule.
Second, you must consume enough Calories, and depending on the type of
vegetarian you are, this could take a considerable amount of
work! It is my experience that the most common mistake athletes make is not
eating enough food to fuel their sport. To keep your
glycogen (glucose)stores high for the marathon, eat extra amounts of pasta,
bread, cereal, fruit, veggies, milk, yogurt, gatorade,
energy bars, during the week before the marathon, and completely rest the day
before the marathon. Third, be sure protein is
adequate. Hopefully, you are a milk drinker and consumer eggs, which make
protein quality easier. But if not, be sure to eat a
variety of veggies, nuts & seeds, legumes (pinto beans, garbanzo beans, etc.),
breads, cereals, every day. Good luck for a
successful, enjoyable marathon, Taylor!
(Barb Troy - Marquette University nutrition specialist)

*Compartment Syndrome Primer
The muscles of the lower leg are divided into four (some experts say five)
compartments. Each compartment is composed of several
muscles, a nerve, artery and vein. A tough membrane known as fascia surrounds
the compartments.
During exercise, muscles swell; if the swelling is greater than the fascia can
accommodate, the fascia acts as a tourniquet,
creating pressure on the nerve and blood vessels. This causes severe (ischemic)
pain, which is relieved by rest. Once the exercise
has ceased, the swelling and pain resolve. This condition is called Chronic
Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS).
Usually when the runner visits a physician, the exam is normal. X-rays, bone
scans and MRIs are typically normal also. If the
history is suggestive of CECS, measuring the pressure within the compartments
confirms the diagnosis. The skin is anesthetized and a
needle is inserted into each of the compartments. The pressure is recorded. Then
the patient runs on a treadmill until the pain
develops and the procedure is repeated. If the pressures following exercise
remain elevated, the diagnosis of CECS is made.
Physical therapy, orthotics, and other non-surgical treatments are usually not
helpful.
Surgery involves one or two incisions in the lower leg. The fascia is cut to
release each compartment. When performed correctly,
this procedure is very effective.
Following surgery, the patient may bear weight, using crutches. Crutch use is
discontinued within the first week. During the first
week, gentle stretching is initiated. By the end of the second post-operative
week, a more formal stretching and strengthening
program may be started. Usually, by two weeks, comfort and healing are at a
level which allows a return to running.
The major points regarding CECS: the correct diagnosis must be made by measuring
pressures pre- and post-exercise; the appropriate
compartments must be released and the release must be adequate. If these
criteria are met, the success rate for this surgery is
outstanding.
--Cathy Fieseler, MD, From Running Times Newsletter
(http://www.runningtimes.com)


This Weeks Events:
*Please verify event dates with the event websites*

Coming Up:

May 8, 2004:

BUPA Great Caledonian Run - Balmoral, Scotland
http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=8

Cracovia Marathon - Poland
http://www.cracovia-marathon.com/

Fifth Third River Bank 25K - Grand Rapids, MI
http://www.53riverbankrun.com/

Gulf Coast Triathlon - FL
http://www.gulfcoasttri.com/main.asp

Journeys Marathon - Eagle River, WI
http://www.journeysmarathon.org/


May 8-9, 2004:

ITU Triathlon World Championships - Funchal, Madeira
http://www.trimadeira2004.com/22
ITU Site
http://www.triathlon.org/world-champs/wch-2004/events/madeira/index.htm

For more complete race listings check out our Upcoming Races Check
the Runner's Web on Sunday and Monday for race
reports on these events at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html

This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:

We have NO personal postings this week.

Television and Online Coverage:
[Check local listings as event times are subject to change]

Check out our new Runner's Web Television Links page at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_television.html

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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

Ken Parker
Runner's Web
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http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html