Runner's Web Digest - July 2, 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:
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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://hop.clickbank.net/?rhianyth/eltomaja

How To Run And Enjoy The Marathon By James Raia:
Price: $7.95
As a practical guide to the 26.2-mile journey, How To Run And Enjoy The Marathon
is a series of 15 self-help and service-oriented
articles about running marathons - the proper shoes to running etiquette - is
written by James Raia, a journalist and veteran
middle-of-the-pack marathon and ultramarathon runner in Sacramento, Calif.
Buy the book at:
http://hop.clickbank.net/?rhianyth/eltomaja

James Raia's Endurance Sports News will be on hiatus until Aug. 1, 2004. He'll
be back then with the 100th issue special edition.
In the meantime, if you're not a subscriber to Tour de France Times, please
consider signing up for its daily publication from
Belgium and France during the Tour de France, July 3-25.
Tour de France Times, which is also free, will cover the three-week event, Lance
Armstrong's attempt at a record sixth consecutive
victory, and all the pertinent sights and sounds as the race progresses from
Liege, Belgium, to Paris, France.
Please visit James's web site: www.byjamesraia.com to subscribe.

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New This Week:

Our latest column from Carmichael Training Systems
Cycling: Leaping And Bounding For Speed, Using Plyometrics to Gain Balance,
Speed, and Power
http://www.runnersweb.com/runing/cts_columns.html.

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


This Week's Digest Article Index:

1. Experts slam low-carb trend as rip-off
2. Why runners should do weight training
3. Surgery Not Always Needed for Achilles Tendon Tear
4. There's nothing artificial about runner's heart
Man of challenges, faith, Roberts, 58, tackles 30-day marathon across state
5. Select few redefine human abilities
6. GPS for fun and games
7. Sports pain may outweigh the gain, even in yoga
8. Reshaping her life
Tanya Sloan transformed her body - and her life
9. The dangers of EPO
10. Novel Remedies for the Aching Knees of Summer
11. Asthma Emerging as Genetic Disorder
12. How to work out safely during sweaty summers
13. Fat lot of good that'll do
14. Hangover helper: An extract of prickly pear cactus
15. Get your antioxidants from food, not vitamins, for best results
16. A Healthy You: Athletes need high-carb diets
17. How We Grew So Big
Diet and lack of exercise are immediate causes—but our problem began in the
Paleolithic era.
18. Alcohol may protect women's bones
Moderate alcohol consumption could help protect women against brittle bone
disease, according to a new study.
19. Virtual relief: Taking your mind off pain
20. From Runner's World
21. Beyond Winning
Joe Henderson's Running Commentary
22. Stay ‘Cool’ When You ‘Warm Up’!
23. Staying on the straight and narrow
24. The Truth Behind Drug Testing
25. News Scan


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
This week's poll is: "Will Lance Armstrong win his sixth-straight Tour de France
this year?"

Cast your vote at: http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
Post your views in our Forum at:
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The previous poll was: "What are the odds for terrorist activity at the
Athens Olympic Games?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. 0 - 14% 24 25%
2. 15 - 29% 16 17%
3. 30 - 49% 7 7%
4. 50 - 64% 14 15%
5. 65 - 79% 9 9%
6. 80 - 100% 25 26%

Total Votes: 95

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Five Star Site of the Week: Outside Online.
Adventure travel & outdoor recreation from Outside Magazine: travel, outdoor
gear, and fitness advice.
Outside editor-at-large Hampton Sides recently spoke to Lance Armstrong as he
was kneaded, buck naked, on a massage table in the
Hollywood home of his rock-star girlfriend, Sheryl Crow. Here, read an exclusive
excerpt of the interview from Outside's July 2004
issue, available on newsstands now!
Visit the site at:
http://outside.away.com/index.html


Send us your suggestions for our Five Star site. Please check our list of
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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 Laurence Greene, Russell Pate
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 Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736050\
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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. Experts slam low-carb trend as rip-off:
Popular low-carbohydrate diets are leading Americans to poor health and spawning
a rip-off industry of "carb-friendly" products,
health experts and consumer advocates have said.
They announced a new group, called the Partnership for Essential Nutrition, to
help educate Americans about the need for healthy
carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains.
"When unproven science becomes a sales pitch, some people get rich and the rest
of us get ripped off," Jeffrey Prince of the
American Institute for Cancer Research told a news conference.
"Eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, which are all predominantly
carbohydrate, is linked to a reduced risk of cancer,
heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a range of other chronic diseases."
Prince said low-carb diets that advocate piling on the animal protein and fat
are "increasing the risk of developing cancer, heart
disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/06/23/low.carb.trend.reut/index.html


2. Why runners should do weight training:
Unlike power lifters and body builders who focus their workouts on lifting the
heaviest amount of weight they can handle for a few
repetitions, the notion of "bulking-up" is not grounded in reality.
By following these recommendations you will instead become a stronger runner
with improved muscular tone and definition.
Upper Body
A strong upper body helps minimize fatigue and stiffness in the arms, shoulders,
and neck areas that in turn, enables a runner to
maintain form late in a marathon or long run.
Legs move only as fast as the arms swing. The runner with a strong upper body
will find more power for the sprint to the finish
line, an easier crank up a hill, and better balance when running on trails. In
short, all of these add up to an ability to run
faster and more efficiently.
Legs
Running creates a slight muscular imbalance in the legs as the hamstrings and
calf muscles develop at a faster rate than the
quadriceps and shins. Weight training helps address this imbalance.
Additionally, strong quads and hips help protect these areas
from a variety of injuries. Strong legs also offer protection from the
possibility of injury when running at a fast pace downhill.
Abdominals
A strong abdominal region helps protect the back while at the same time, assists
in maintaining proper running form and posture.
More...from World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/runnersguide/beginners_column.asp?a_id=922500&st_nam\
e=BackToBasics


3. Surgery Not Always Needed for Achilles Tendon Tear:
Although Achilles tendon ruptures are often repaired with surgery, UK
researchers say a more conservative tactic should be the
treatment of choice for at least some patients.
Their study of 140 patients treated with non-surgical means found that the
long-term outcome was "excellent" or "good" for 86
percent. All of the patients had completely torn their Achilles tendon, the
large band of fibrous tissue at the back of the ankle
that connects the calf muscles and heel bone.
Surgery is generally regarded as the best treatment for a complete Achilles tear
because it's thought to provide better functional
recovery and a lower risk of a repeat rupture compared with conservative
treatment -- which traditionally has meant immobilizing the
ankle with a cast.
But in the new study, doctors used a newer approach in which patients wear a
hard cast for only a short time before switching to a
lightweight version, and then -- a month after the injury -- to a removable
"functional" brace worn for four weeks.
Study patients removed the brace to perform ankle and foot exercises, and
learned to walk using the brace for support.
Three years later, most of the 140 patients were doing well, according to
findings published in the June issue of the Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery. In fact, the authors report, their outcomes were better
than those for patients in a previous study of
surgical treatment that the researchers looked at for comparison.
Dr. Richard G. H. Wallace of Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, led the study.
According to Wallace and his colleagues, 56 percent of their patients had an
"excellent" outcome, while the results were "good" for
another 30 percent and "fair" for 12 percent. Only 2 percent had a "poor"
report.
More...from Reuters at:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=1MMAEDOH4KLLECRBAEZSFEY?type\
=healthNews&storyID=5531835


4. There's nothing artificial about runner's heart:
Man of challenges, faith, Roberts, 58, tackles 30-day marathon across state .
From the time he was a boy, Eugene Roberts loved to run. But for the past
several years, the 58-year- old Randallstown man has been
far more than your average jogger, sprinter or long distance runner.
In a blue Nike tank top with "Jesus" written across the chest and black running
shorts, the 5-foot-10 Roberts, a fixture on the
local running scene, is clearly in top physical shape. His dark hair may be
showing a hint of gray, but he appears fitter than a lot
of people 20 years younger. Running, though, is much more than a way to stay
fit, it's a passion - and a daily struggle.
"This is the hardest thing I have had to do," Roberts said recently as he
prepared for his daily run. "But every time I finish, it
is a major victory."
Roberts is a double-amputee. After being injured in Vietnam in 1965, he lost
most of his right leg, and his left was removed below
the knee. But almost ever since, Roberts has challenged himself to remain as
athletic as he ever was. First in a wheelchair, but
more recently using specially crafted prostheses, he's competed in marathons,
regularly takes part in shorter races, and has even
attempted to swim the English Channel.
More... from the Baltimore Sun at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-to.runner26jun26,0,2746878.story?col\
l=bal-health-headlines&track=rss


5. Select few redefine human abilities:
To the average person, swimming a mile in the frigid waters off Antarctica,
diving more than 500 feet on a single breath, or
climbing the world's highest mountains without the help of extra oxygen would be
deadly.
But a select few in the world decide to test their bodies and their wills, and
challenge medicine to redefine what is humanly
possible.
"It's hard to explain how they can do that because if you take the numbers that
we know from medical school, it just shouldn't
happen," said Dr. Kenneth Kamler, author of "Surviving the Extremes," a
chronicle of his medical adventures in treacherous locales
such as the Amazon and Mount Everest. "But it does happen. It happens in every
kind of human activity. People exceed what you would
calculate as their limits."
Taking a deep breath
Tanya Streeter's remarkable lungs and willpower have helped her break world
records in free diving, a sport in which competitors
dive deep beneath the water's surface on one breath. In 2002, she completed a
dive of 525 feet -- a length equivalent to a 50-story
building -- on a single breath of air, setting a new record.
More...from CNN.com at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/03/lbl.overview/index.html


6. GPS for fun and games:
GPS (global positioning system) uses coordinates from orbiting satellites to
pinpoint a location on Earth. It was originally
developed for military navigation, but GPS is now being used to help athletes
train. The Garmin Forerunner 201 is designed to keep
track of an athlete's time, speed, pace, distance and route. The Timex BodyLink
is another GPS receiver for athletes, but it adds a
heart-rate monitor to the mix. I took these two gadgets out for a test run at
the "Feet in Motion" 5K race in Georgetown, Ontario.
My volunteer, Scott, strapped on the Forerunner while I wore the BodyLink
system.
When you start the Forerunner stopwatch, it automatically starts communicating
with up to 12 different satellites. It records your
coordinates in its memory once every second. From these coordinates it can
calculate the distance you're traveling and the speed
you're going. The Forerunner also figures out your pace (the time it takes you
to complete each kilometer). A lot of athletes aim to
run at a certain pace (especially over long distances) and to help them keep it,
the Forerunner has a built in Virtual Partner. If
you input a certain pace that you'd like to keep, the display will show you if
you're ahead of the Virtual Partner or lagging
behind. Pace alarms can also be set to sound when you've fallen too far behind
or are pushing too hard.
More...from the Discovery Channel at:
http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2004/04/13/52.asp?t=dp


7. Sports pain may outweigh the gain, even in yoga:
Yoga may not be rivaling football as the sport most likely to result in a trip
to casualty, but it has been identified as having a
potentially high injury rate.
The Sports Injuries Report 2004 found more than 25 per cent of people surveyed
who practised yoga had been injured, prompting
warnings for enthusiasts to take care.
The report - conducted for Medibank Private and based on research by the NSW
Injury Risk Management Research Centre and a survey of
650 people - said the cost of injuries rose $300million last year to a bruising
$1.83billion.
Sports doctor Peter Larkins said many participants did not warm up or prepare
adequately for a yoga session because of its image as
a relaxing, low impact activity.
"Yoga participants need to ensure they don't overdo it, particularly when
starting a new health and fitness regime," he said.
Last week the journal Neurology reported that most of those who took regular
yoga classes noticed significant improvements in their
physical health.
More...from the Sydney Morning Herald at:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/27/1088274627463.html


8. Reshaping her life:
Tanya Sloan transformed her body - and her life.
Life this year started badly for Tanya Sloan.
On Jan. 3, Sloan's boyfriend broke up with her, giving little explanation. She
was devastated, and she reacted by focusing on her
appearance.
Outgoing, buxom and fond of exercise, Sloan said she was always considered
attractive. But the 31-year-old banker also carried extra
pounds on her arms and stomach she couldn't quite shed.
"I felt like I looked chunky," said Sloan. At the time, she said, her
5-feet-6-inch frame carried 155 pounds.
She decided to enter a "dream body" contest sponsored by Oxygen women's fitness
magazine, embracing a tough exercise and diet
regimen to burn off fat and increase muscle tone. Not long after, she also
decided to enter three triathlons and add six hours a
week of biking, swimming and running to her contest regimen.
Two weeks ago, the magazine announced Sloan is one of three finalists in the
national contest. The grand prize isn't cash or an
automobile. Rather, it's an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood to spend time
with a professional fitness trainer and have dinner
with the fitness model of the winner's choice.
In other words, her reward for months of intense dieting and exercise would be
... more dieting and more exercise.
In a letter to the magazine earlier this year, Sloan said she would savor such a
prize, and described herself as emblematic of other
women at her stage in life.
More...from the Charlotte Observer at:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/health/9029008.htm?1c


9. The dangers of EPO:
EPO has fast become a popular drug among high-performance athletes. Effective at
boosting performance and virtually undetectable,
EPO can also be deadly.
EPO, or erythropoeitin, is a synthetic version of a naturally occurring hormone.
In the body, the kidneys produce erythropoeitin to
stimulate production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. Doctors prescribe
synthetic EPO to treat anemia, or low red blood cell
count, mainly in people with cancer, AIDS or kidney problems.
For athletes – especially endurance athletes such as cyclists and marathon
runners – more red blood cells means more oxygen
delivered to the muscles and improved performance.
However, abuse of EPO can cause the body to produce so many red blood cells that
the blood becomes too thick for the heart to pump
efficiently. This can cause spikes in blood pressure and sudden heart attacks,
especially in the middle of the night when the
heart's rate is lowest.
EPO use came into the spotlight at the 1998 Tour de France, when French customs
officials seized hundreds of doses of EPO and other
performance-enhancing drugs from one of the competing teams. The team was
disqualified and several other teams withdrew from the
race in protest.
More...from the CBC at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/drugs/epo.html


10. Novel Remedies for the Aching Knees of Summer:
The start of summer is a busy time for Dr. Robert S. Gotlin, director of
orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at the Beth Israel
Medical Center in Manhattan. That is when his waiting room swells with patients
who want to see him about their knees.
"The complaints of knee pain are directly proportional to the change in
seasons," Dr. Gotlin said. "People run more in the spring
and summer, and the pain usually comes from upping the mileage. It's hard not to
overdo it when the weather is so nice."
Knee pain, Dr. Gotlin added, "is catching up to back pain as the No. 1 physical
disability seen by sports medicine physicians."
Overdoing it, as Dr. Gotlin put it, is a major cause of sore knees and can lead
to osteoarthritis. Knee pain can also result from
torn ligaments, supporting excess weight and mechanical problems like having one
leg shorter than the other or misalignment of the
knee.
In the most severe cases, surgery may be necessary. But in recent years, more
non-surgical treatments have become available,
including new drugs that can be injected, applied topically or taken as pills.
The first course of action for a sore knee, experts say, is to turn to familiar
home remedies for sports injuries, including ice,
heat and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen to reduce
swelling and control pain. Doctors often recommend
icing the knee in several short sessions at a time for the first 24 to 48 hours.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/health/nutrition/29knee.html


11. Asthma Emerging as Genetic Disorder:
Asthma rates have risen sharply in the United States in recent decades. The
chronic condition, in which the airways become inflamed
and stifle breathing, now affects more than 20 million Americans, including more
than five million children.
Asthma kills nearly 5,000 people a year, according to the American Academy of
Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Asthma attacks lead to
1.8 million emergency room visits and 14 million missed days of school annually,
the group says.
Dr. Deborah Gentile, an asthma specialist at Allegheny General Hospital, in
Pittsburgh, said immunologists are increasingly coming
to understand asthma as a genetic disorder -- at least, in its beginnings.
"We're thinking that there are different types of asthma
driven by different genes."
A child with one parent who has asthma has a 30 percent chance of developing the
airway condition herself. If both parents have it,
her odds of getting it approach 70 percent -- not a given but a stacked deck.
Gentile said there are three factors that contribute to a person's risk of
asthma. The first is the genetic legacy from parents; the
second is exposure to infections and irritants that "program" the immune system
and make it sensitive. The third is timing: It seems
that the immune system is particularly sensitive during the first two years of
life, Gentile said, so children with the right
combination of genes and the right mix of exposures early in life are at the
greatest risk of developing asthma.
More...from MedicineNet.com at:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=33643


12. How to work out safely during sweaty summers:
Pro boxer Jermain Taylor gets up earlier. Anesthesiologist Philip Zwiebel swaps
marathons for triathlons and Ultimate Frisbee
devotee Lois Gramley isn't above dousing herself or pals with ice water on the
playing field.
Beating the heat smartly. It's critical during these summer months, when working
out in the heat and humidity can take a serious
toll on your health.
Indeed, more people in the United States died from extreme heat than from
hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes
combined during a 20-year period ending in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reported. This means that
approximately 175 Americans will die from extreme heat this year with the young,
elderly, sick and overweight the most likely
victims.
But the heat and humidity doesn't mean one has to grow into a couch potato.
"You can exercise high intensity in hot climates, if you do it right," Zwiebel
insists while standing outside a cycling shop.
To do it right, "Start low and go slow" medical experts advise.
More...from the Centre Daily Times at:
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/sports/horse_racing/kentucky_derby/90\
38053.htm


13. Fat lot of good that'll do:
WITH 30 per cent of Australian children overweight or obese, the language of
crisis and cries for urgent political action have
captured the federal election agenda.
Australia ranks second in the world for rates of childhood obesity after the US,
but the rate of increase during the past few
decades has been faster here than in the US.
John Howard responded yesterday with a $116 million, four-year package centred
on after-school physical activity for about 150,000
children. The Prime Minister says there are about 1.5 million people under 18
who are overweight or obese, something he says is a
"paradox of that sports-loving nation becoming increasingly less mobile and
increasingly more obese".
Two weeks ago, Mark Latham unveiled Labor's $25million plan to tackle obesity
and ban junk food advertising, sparking anger among
some of Australia's most powerful media moguls. The Opposition Leader called on
Howard to adopt a bipartisan approach, but Howard
dismissed the call.
Yesterday Latham backed Howard's obesity plan but repeated his calls for an
immediate ban on TV junk-food advertising during
children's programs.
Marathon man Robert de Castella, who has trialled the SmartStart for Kids!
program that benchmarks children's fitness in South
Australian, Queensland and ACT schools, warns the Howard plan will not be the
"magic bullet" to make obesity go away.
More...from the Australian at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9992949%255E28737,\
00.html


14. Hangover helper: An extract of prickly pear cactus:
Imbibe too much? Hair of the dog will only make you feel worse. Try skin of
prickly pear cactus instead.
A study released Monday found that an extract from the hardy plant, found in a
few dietary supplements, can lessen some hangover
symptoms.
The best hangover prevention is abstinence, but the problem is so pervasive —
three of four drinkers have at least one hangover a
year — that reducing harm from it would be worthwhile, the authors write.
Between sick days and lower productivity, "there's
substantial economic loss that goes with the alcohol hangover," says lead author
Jeff Wiese, an internist at Tulane Health Sciences
Center.
In a 2000 journal article, Wiese and co-authors coined a term for such
hangovers: veisalgia, from the Norwegian word kveis, meaning
"uneasiness following debauchery," and algia, Greek for pain.
For the new study, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Wiese's team recruited
64 healthy medical students, ages 21-35, who'd had
at least one hangover previously.
More...from USA Today at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-06-28-hangover-cure_x.htm


15. Get your antioxidants from food, not vitamins, for best results:
If you're popping extra vitamin C and E to help ward off heart disease and
cancer, you might want to take a closer look at your
dinner plate. While these two antioxidants are important for our health, a new
study shows that whole foods pack a powerful punch.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a list of the
best food sources of antioxidants. It came from the
largest and most comprehensive study to date evaluating the antioxidant capacity
of more than 100 commonly consumed foods. While
many fruits and vegetables held top spots on the list, certain beans, nuts and
spices also scored high.
Antioxidants protect our cells from the harmful effects of free radicals. Every
day, our bodies create free radicals from oxygen as
a consequence of normal metabolism. Pollution and cigarette smoke increase the
number of free radicals our bodies are exposed to.
Antioxidants act as scavengers, neutralizing free radicals before they do harm.
If left unchecked, free radicals damage cells. Such
damage is thought to play a role in the development of heart disease, cancer,
cataracts, macular degeneration, arthritis and
Alzheimer's disease.
Antioxidants in foods exist as vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium and
natural plant chemicals such as flavonoids (tea),
lycopene (tomatoes) and anthocyanins (berries).
More...from the Globe and Mail at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040630/HBECK30/\
TPHealth/


16. A Healthy You: Athletes need high-carb diets:
Last week, I lectured to student athletic trainers in Norman. I was asked about
low- carb diets for athletes: Are they useful?
No, they're not. In fact, low-carb is about the worst diet an athlete can
consume. Remember: Food is not just bulk that stops
hunger. Food has six nutrients vital for top health and athletic performance.
The six: carbs, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water. Some athletes
believe the myth that protein powers muscles, but protein
is rarely burned as fuel.
Protein is a building block for hormones, enzymes and blood cells.
It also keeps immunity strong and helps build and repair body tissues, including
muscle. Except for late in a marathon, protein is
not a muscle fuel.
Your muscles burn a mix of carbs and fat. The faster or harder you work out, the
more carbs you burn.
Walking, the fuel mix is 80 percent fat and 20 percent carbs. Jogging, you burn
50-50 fat and carbs, but running, the fuel mix is 80
percent carbs and 20 percent fat.
Why do you burn mostly carbs when you go fast?
Because ounce for ounce, carbs provide more energy to power muscles than does
fat (or protein) and carbs provide that energy faster.
More...from NewsOK at:
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1273499&TP=gethealth


17. How We Grew So Big:
Diet and lack of exercise are immediate causes—but our problem began in the
Paleolithic era.
It’s hardly news anymore that North Americans are just too fat. If the endless
parade of articles, TV specials and fad diet books
weren’t proof enough or you missed the ominous warnings from government agencies
and health associations, a quick look around at the
mall, the beach or any baseball game will leave no room for doubt: our
individual weight problems have become a full-blown crisis.
Even so, the actual numbers are shocking. According to Statistic Canada’s
Canadian Community Health Survey released last week,
almost half of Canadians over the age of 18 are overweight, and 15% are obese.
And according to the most recent figures, released in
2002, more than one-third of Canadian children ages 2 to 11 are overweight. Of
those, half would be considered obese. And, as many
would imagine, it’s worse south of the border. Fully two-thirds of U.S. adults
are officially overweight, and about half of those
have graduated to full-blown obesity.
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if the problem were simply aesthetic. But excess
poundage takes a terrible toll on the human body,
significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke,
diabetes, infertility, gall-bladder disease,
osteoarthritis and many forms of cancer. The total medical tab related to
inactivity in Canada is about $1.45 billion a year,
according to the Canadian Medical Association.
From Time Canada at:
http://www.timecanada.com/story.adp?storyid=8&area=_toc


18. Alcohol may protect women's bones:
Moderate alcohol consumption could help protect women against brittle bone
disease, according to a new study.
Researchers at London's St Thomas Hospital examined the effect of alcohol on 46
pairs of identical twins, who drank either
moderately or very little.
The moderate drinkers - who drank an average of eight alcohol units a week - had
significantly denser bones than those who consumed
very little.
The research findings were published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Researchers focused on the bone mineral density of subjects, as measured at the
hip and spine.
Chemical markers of the bone turnover were measured using urine samples.
The findings also support the results of previous studies which found that
smoking causes thinner bones and osteoporosis.
More...from the BBC at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3855813.stm


19. Virtual relief: Taking your mind off pain:
People with painful injuries like serious burns often report experiencing great
relief when using virtual-reality programs. But it
has been unclear whether this is merely a matter of perception.
Now a new study, published in the journal NeuroReport, has found that the
improvement is measurable, and substantial.
Volunteers in the study were given "strong but tolerable" amounts of heat to
their feet while an MRI machine scanned their brains.
During the scans, the volunteers wore a virtual-reality helmet but no program
was playing - they saw only a black cross on a white
background and heard nothing. Their brains registered signals of the pain in an
ordinary fashion.
Then they entered SnowWorld, a program in which people roam a three-dimensional
polar canyon, shooting snowballs at penguins, polar
bears and other targets with a track ball, similar to a mouse. The difference
was substantial, with brain activity in some pain
centers going down as much as 97 percent, the researchers said. "They have the
illusion of being in SnowWorld, instead of in the
scanner," said Hunter Hoffman of the University of Washington, the lead author
of the study. Overall, the scans found "significantly
reduced pain-related activity" in five regions of the brain involved in pain,
according to the report in the journal. "It actually
changes the way the brain processes the signal," Hoffman said.
Questioned afterward, the volunteers said that they had spent less time thinking
about the pain when they were using virtual
reality, and that the pain had been less severe. In essence, Hoffman said, the
volunteers were simply distracted.
More...from IHT at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/527364.html


20. From Runner's World:
*Give yoga a chance. "Consider taking a yoga class, increasingly popular among
runners, to loosen tight muscles and "center" your
mind. With its focus on breathing, yoga slows you down, releases tension, and
increases energy."
-Charlie Butler, RW features editor

*Truly great runners are masters of balance. Ultimately, the best runners are
the ones who are willing to work very hard but who
have a little bit of a lazy streak in them. These runners will be prone to take
a day off when they feel worn out rather than
pushing through fatigue even when their bodies cry out for them to back off.

*Ingrown Toenails: Keep your toenails clipped regularly, especially those on
your big toes. Wear running shoes that are wide enough
in the forefoot to prevent pressure and friction on the nail of the big toe.

*Fast Foods Can Dehydrate: Not only are hamburgers and soda fattening, but they
can also dehydrate you and hurt your performance,
suggests Gary I. Wadler, M.D. of New York University School of Medicine. Dr.
Wadler says that soda and other fast foods can cause
bloating, and when people are bloated they tend not to drink enough liquids.


21. Beyond Winning:
Joe Henderson's Running Commentary
As a 21-year-old in 1968, Amby Burfoot won the Boston Marathon and worldwide
acclaim. He would forever wear the words "former Boston
winner" before his name.
He now goes back to run Boston every five years to refresh his aging memories.
1998 was one of those years, the 30th anniversary,
and Amby didn't think well of his prospects.
His goal was modest. It wasn't to win in his age group, the 50-54s.
"I just want to come within an hour of my '68 time" of 2:22, he told me in early
March when he ran the Napa Valley Marathon in a
little under four hours. He was hurting before that race, and more afterward.
Less than two weeks before Boston, Amby said, "I'm a mess. My old achilles
problem has flared up again, and now I've pulled a butt
muscle."
Amby had written an article on R/W (the run/walk system) this spring for RW
(that's Runner's World, where he is the editor). "I
might have to use the WALK-walk to finish at Boston," he said.
I sent him a note of encouragement. It didn't remind him that all pains magnify
before a big race, then magically ease on raceday.
He knew this, and that his pains weren't imaginary this time.
I told him about a recent experience of mine. After running 16 miles at Napa, a
chronic ache in the right ankle-heel acted up again.
One day in mid-March I bailed out after just 10 limping minutes.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/450.html


22. Stay ‘Cool’ When You ‘Warm Up’!
It is widely believed that a ‘warm-up’ is essential before training or
competition. For most athletes, a warm-up consists of some
gentle aerobic activity to raise muscle and core body temperature, followed by
some stretching, and finally some activities that are
similar to the event itself, for example a series of ‘strides’. Interestingly,
there is little hard evidence that warm-up either
improves performance or reduces the likelihood of injury. In most cases,
however, it is unlikely that warm-up will adversely affect
performance or injury risk, and the warm-up period also offers the opportunity
for athletes to prepare themselves psychologically
for training or competition.
Out of habit, athletes tend to follow exactly the same warm-up routine
irrespective of the prevailing environmental conditions. But
is this the best approach? Probably not! For example, in hot conditions,
dehydration and/or a significant increase in body
temperature resulting from, or amplified by warm-up, can impair subsequent
exercise performance.
More...from SportCentric.com at:
http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,4854-132425-1337\
33-21297-83816-news-item,00.html
[Long URL]


23. Staying on the straight and narrow:
by Dan Empfield 6.28.04
(www.slowtwitch.com)
Do you maintain your training routine over the long haul, week in and week out,
month in, month out? Or do you fall off the wagon?
Are you one of those people who wish you had the discipline, the time, the
diligence, the constitution, the focus, to train every
day, five or six or seven days a week without fail? Or do you wish you were one
of those people?
Here are a few tips that'll help you stay in a groove.
• Don't do too much during each workout. And don't think there's any mileage
that qualifies as "too little to do any good." As I
write this I find myself getting into pretty darn good bike shape right now.
Know how I'm doing it? I'm riding just about every day,
an average of under an hour each day. I alternate harder and easier days. I have
two routes. My easy route is, predictably, over
easy terrain. It takes me right about an hour to ride the 18 miles of this
route. On the other days, I ride up a climb that is 5
miles long, and I ride a mile-and-a-half to get to it. I climb about 1200 feet
of vertical during this ascent, and the 13-mile round
trip from home takes me about 50 minutes. Sometimes I climb using a normal
technique, and often I do it using what I call a
"stand-up drill," which is fairly explanatory. I climb it all out of the saddle.
Not so hard, really, when you've done it a few
times (at first you might only be able to stand for a half-mile, the next time a
mile, then two miles, and so on; pretty soon you
can stand for 5 miles of climbing or longer).
Riding for less than an hour each day isn't very much, is it? I'll bet many of
you don't think it's even worth getting on the bike
unless you're going to be riding at least 90 minutes or two hours. Frankly,
that's why many of you don't ride regularly enough,
because you think that way. Me? I'm not encumbered by those self-imposed
minimums.
More...from SlowTwitch.com at:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/coachcorn/straightnarrow.html


24. The Truth Behind Drug Testing:
Drug testing in sport has become a very serious matter, warranting international
attention with the formation of the World
Anti-Doping Agency. In Canada, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport regulates
doping control and programs to educate athletes
about drug-free sport.
The CCES defines doping in sport as "the use by an athlete of a substance or
method banned by the International Olympic Committee,
or prohibited by an International Sport Governing Body."
The process of determining whether or not the athlete has been exposed to a
banned substance is no easy task for the athlete or for
the technicians.
Paul Melia, the CEO of CCES, told CBC News Online that there are two screenings
that the athlete must go through successfully before
being allowed to compete. These include full and partial screenings.
The partial screenings are usually random and unannounced, and conducted while
the athlete is out of competition. It may be done in
the athlete's home, at the gym, or elsewhere through urine samples. These tests
usually only include steroid and illicit drug
testing.
More...from the CBC at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/drugs/drugtesting.html


25. News Scan:
*Did you know?
Indicative that more people are running marathons as an accomplishment rather
than a race, the median times for runners has slowed
significantly the past 23 years. The chart below illustrates the median
finishing time for runners at United States marathons.
Year / Males / Females
1980 / 3:32:17 / 4:03:39
2003 / 4:19:52 / 4:52:55
Marathon's graying
Slower and older might be marathon's mantra. In 1980, 26 percent of the U.S.
marathon finishers were masters (40 and older). That
figure for 2003: 43 percent.

*Ironman mushrooms
Think the popularity for Ironman-distance triathlons isn't soaring? Six years
ago there was one Ironman race in North America –
Ironman Canada. With the announcement of Ironman Arizona in 2005, there are now
six North America races: Canada, Florida, New York,
Wisconsin, Idaho and Arizona.

* Eat Low-Carb While Increasing Fiber Intake
Mayo Clinic offers ways to ingest a good carbohydrate
(HealthDayNews) -- Don't let a low-carb diet blind you to the benefits of good
carbohydrates such as fiber.
A high-fiber diet may reduce your risk of a number of health problems, including
diabetes, coronary artery disease, high
cholesterol, obesity, and some gastrointestinal disorders, says an article in
the June issue of the Mayo Clinic Women's
HealthSource.
The article suggests the following ways for you to increase fiber in your diet:
Eat high-fiber cereal or add a few spoonfuls of unprocessed wheat bran to your
cereal.
Add bran cereal or unprocessed bran when you're making foods such as breads,
cakes, muffins, meatloaf, and cookies.
Eat whole-grain bread instead of white bread. Select breads made with 100
percent whole-wheat flour. Substitute whole-wheat flour
for half or all of the white flour in baking recipes.
Use whole grains and whole-grain products such as brown rice, barley,
whole-wheat pasta, and bulgur. Add canned kidney beans,
garbanzos, and other beans to canned soups or salads.
Choose high-fiber snacks such as fresh and dried fruits, raw vegetables, low-fat
popcorn, and whole-grain crackers.
Add barley to soups and stews.
And eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

* Health Tip: When Lightning Strikes
If you're outdoors when lightning strikes, you should head directly to the
nearest building or vehicle, advises the U.S. National
Lightning Safety Institute.
If you are too far from safe shelter, you should:
Crouch down. Put your feet together and place your hands over your ears to
minimize hearing damage from thunder.
Stay about 15 feet away from other people.
Avoid water, high ground, open spaces, canopies and trees. Also avoid all metal
objects, such as electric wires, fences, machinery,
motors and power tools.
Wait at least 30 minutes after the last lightning strike before returning to
your activities.

* Total-body exercise - From http://www.uticaboilermaker.com:
Total body exercise can tune up your body, strengthen your heart, bones, muscles
and joints, and enhance your cardiovascular
fitness. Cross training might be the way to get there.
Cross training is performing two or more varieties of exercises in one workout
or different exercises on different days. Someone
training for the Boilermaker might lift weights twice a week, stretch every day
and ride a bike once a week. Jogging can help your
aerobic fitness, but it does nothing for total body fitness. Upper body weight
training and flexibility work are very important
elements in cross training.
A cross training program:
Mon — Walk briskly, stretch, weight train (bench press, shoulder press, lat
pulldowns, bicep curls, triceps extension).
Tue — Jog, stretch, weight train (squat, leg extension, leg curl, calf raise).
Wed — Swim, yoga.
Thu — Bike, stretch.
Fri — Walk, weight train (upper and lower body).
Sat — Jog, stretch.
Sun — Recreational activity or take day off.

* Running Times Medical Corner - Baker's Cyst and Running
Q: I have been diagnosed with a Baker's Cyst (had a sonogram of my left knee). I
jog but not a lot at a time (usually under 3
miles). Can I continue to jog with a Baker's cyst or will that aggravate the
condition? I plan on going to an orthopedic doctor.
What can I do to help myself in the meantime?
A: A Baker's cyst is a small pouch in the back of the knee. It is not visible or
palpable unless there is an increase in the amount
of fluid in the knee. If this occurs, then the cyst will enlarge. The cyst
itself is usually not a problem. Whatever is causing the
swelling in the knee may be a problem. If you are able to run without pain and
the cyst does not seem to enlarge, then go ahead and
continue running. If there is an increase in swelling or pain occurs, then stick
with any non-impact activities which don't cause a
problem. Evaluation by an orthopedic surgeon is a good idea. You may have some
torn cartilage in the knee or another problem causing
the cyst to swell. If everything turns out okay, then you can continue running
to your heart's content. --Cathy Fieseler, MD


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

July 3, 2004:
Barry's Bay Triathlon - ON
http://www.queenswood.com/triathlon/

National Capital Triathlon - Ottawa, ON
http://www.sportriple.com/ottawa.htm

Sater ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships - Sater, Sweden
Age Group Championships
http://www.triathlon.org/world-champs/wch-2004/events/sater/index.htm

Television - CBC (Between 2 to 6 PM)
Rome Golden League Athletics Meet

July 3-24, 2004:
Tour de France
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_tdf2004.html

July 4, 2004:
Butte to Butte, Eugene, OR
http://www.buttetobutte.org/

Canadian Long-Course Triathlon Championships - Stony Plain, AB
http://www.gwntriathlon.com/

Coronado Independence Day 15K - San Diego, CA
http://www.kathyloperevents.com/

Gold Coast Marathon - Australia
http://www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au/

Peachtree Road Race - Atlanta, GA
http://www.atlantatrackclub.org/

Quelle Challenge Roth Ironman - Roth, Germany
http://www.challenge-roth.com/de/index.php

Sater ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships - Sater, Sweden
Elite Championships
http://www.triathlon.org/world-champs/wch-2004/events/sater/index.htm

Surf City Run 5-K, Huntington Beach, CA
http://surfcityrun.com/

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 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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