Search the web
Sign In
New User? Sign Up
RunnersWeb · The Runner's & Triathlete's Web Digest
? Already a member? Sign in to Yahoo!

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...
Message search is now enhanced, find messages faster. Take it for a spin.

Best of Y! Groups

   Check them out and nominate your group.
Having problems with message search? Fill out this form to ensure your group is one of the first to be migrated to the new message search system.

Messages

  Messages Help
Advanced
Runner's Web Digest - November 5, 2004   Message List  
Reply | Forward Message #460 of 734 |

Runner's Web Digest - November 5, 2004

The Original Runner's and Triathlete's Web was founded in January of 1997 as a
not-for-profit resource site. RunnersWeb.com Inc. is
now a small business venture which sponsors the OAC Racing Team, a women's road
racing and triathlon club, and the OAC Gatineau
Triathlon and OAC Corporate Relay. The site is not in any way associated with
the two UK "Runner's Web" copycat sites or the
Runner's Web Book Store in the USA.

This issue is brought to you by Road Runner Sports, the world's largest running
store at:
http://www.roadrunnersports.com/cgi-bin/rrs/rrs/rrHome.jsp?sc=CBM-00105&prfc=1


Runner's Web Affiliate Programs:

HDO Sports - Leading Edge Sports Products
http://www.modularmerchant.com/clients/hdo/?aid=12

Puma
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000006585654

Fitsense Speed, Distance & Heart Rate Monitoring System for Runners and Walkers
http://buy.fitsense.com/processing2.asp?ID=28&Ad=101

Peak Performance Online
Free Copy of Peak Performance!
High-quality training newsletter worth £4 ($6) delivered straight to your door
http://www.pponline.co.uk/sendme/free.php?aff=runnersweb&sub=run

HDO Sport for Timex Body Link products
http://www.modularmerchant.com/clients/hdo/?aid=13

ITUtv.com
Live webcasts of triathlons and multi-sport events.
http://www.itutv.com/
Use promo code "RUNNERSWEB" to get a $5.00 discount.

Blockbuster
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005675551

Fairmont Hotels
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005674720

Triathlon Meetup
http://triathlon.meetup.com/r/d5n6/d5n6/0/http://triathlon.meetup.com/?a=d5n6/">
593 are signed up for local Triathlon Meetups! Happening THIS month, find out
when .

The Finish Line
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005637857

Patagonia
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005568199

Motorola
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005463364

AOL Broadband
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005348025

Get the GM Card, get 5% Earnings from every credit card purchase, and start
charging toward a new GM car, truck or SUV.
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000005347188

ING DIRECT makes $aving money simple! Open your account online today and start
earning 2.10% variable APY. No Fees and No Minimums!
http://www.qksrv.net/click-1452277-10124087

TriSwim Coach - The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming
http://hop.clickbank.net/?rhianyth/triswim1

Sof Sole Offer:
A free pair of our technical socks ($9.99 value) with the purchase of
any Sof Sole insole.
http://www.sofsole.com/pages/promo/rwebsockoffer.html

Get Fit Running: If you are 150 pounds, sleeping burns 61 calories an hour, race
walking burns 442 calories and running 5mph burns
544 calories an hour! To reach your personal, health, fitness, and performance
goals, subscribe to RUNNER'S WORLD today!
(Get fit with Runner's World)
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=pgaZgw/VDU4&offerid=58447.10000229&\
type=3&subid=0


adidas' running apparel at 15% off! All running shorts, pants, and
shirts at reduced prices .
http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=20812557&siteid=39999062&bfpage=15745\
37


If you have an accident while running or cycling, do you want your family to be
contacted? Do you want to receive immediate and
proper medical treatment? If so, make this cool item part of your gear -- for
safety and peace of mind. Road ID has created 4
awesome ways for athletes to wear ID: the SHOE, the WRIST, the ANKLE, and the
NECK.
Get your RoadID at:
http://www.roadid.com/?referrer=50

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
The Stretching Video in a DVD version. With the DVD version you're able to use
the convenient menu facility to:
* Go directly to a specific stretch;
* View only stretches for a specific muscle group;
* Pause each stretch to get a good look at how it is performed;
* View only the introduction and rules for safe stretching; or
* Play the entire video from start to finish.
Buy the DVD at:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cgi-bin/at.pl?a=286905&e=products/video-dvd\
.htm


Buy all your sporting goods at Fogdog Sports, your anytime, anywhere sports
store.
Click here: http://www.fogdog.com/cgi-bin/affiliate?siteid=40054907

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


The Runner's Web Digest is a weekly e-zine dealing with the sports of running
and triathlon and general fitness and health issues.
The opinions expressed in the articles referenced by the Digest are the opinions
of the writers and not the Runner's Web. To
comment on any stories in the Digest visit our Forum at:
http://excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=4655

This newsletter has been composed using Outlook set to HTML format. The Digest
is sent via an email list at
http://groups.yahoo.com.
If you experience any delays in receiving your copy of the Digest, please advise
us at:
mailto:webmaster@...

Webmasters:
Get our Syndicated headlines for you site.
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_getRSS.html


Visit the Runner's Web at http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html The site is
updated multiple times daily. Check out our daily news
features, polls, trivia, bulletin boards and more. General questions should be
posted to one of our forums available from our
FrontPage.

For new subscribers:
If you have any questions regarding the options available for receiving this
digest, please do NOT email the list, rather email me
directly at mailto:Webmaster@...


You can receive the digest in three ways:
1. Immediately, via email,
2. Daily, in an email summary, and
3. By accessing the YahooGroups.com web site on demand.

The mail list has been set to not allow attachments out of concerns for viruses.
Also, all messages must be approved by the monitor
(me) prior to being released to the group.

NOTE
**[ Some e-mail clients may split the URL address into two lines. If you have
trouble connecting to a link, be sure that you
paste the entire address into your browser, so that it ends in ".html" or
another appropriate suffix ].

References/URLs:
Most references in the digest which do not have a specific URL listed here are
available from the Runner's Web FrontPage (or
Archives) at: http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
Also, if have email software that does not read HTML, all links contained in the
Digest are available from the Runner's Web. All
URLs listed here have been verified as of the Digest publication date. It is
possible that the site may have archived or deleted the
page after publication. If you are unable to reach a URL listed here, ensure
that you are using the entire URL (see above). If you
still cannot reach the site, please email me at: mailto:webmaster@...
and I will try to track it down.

Note: Some sites require free registration. If you wish to sign up for free
access to sources for our articles without using your
main email address we suggest the use of a mail alias program such as
www.emailias.com.


New This Week:

Ottawa Gets an Ironman Distance Triathlon. Somersault Promotions has added an
Iron Distance race to their Labour Day Weekend family
of multisport events. The Canadian", a certified ironman distance triathlon &
duathlon, along with the traditional "The Canadian
Half" triathlon & duathlon, "The Canadian Sprint" and "Try A Tri", will be
hosted in the heart of Ottawa at the Rideau Canoe Club on
September 3rd, 2005.
The Runner's Web will be working with Somersault to promote this event, the only
Iron Distance race in Ontario.
For more information:
http://www.somersault.ca/

The Runner's Web is please to welcome SportHill Clothing as an advertiser.
Since 1985, SportHill has been committed to providing the world's best
performance athletic clothing. Each item is designed to meet
or exceed the rigorous requirements of elite runners and skiers including the
Olympic Canadian Cross Country Ski Team. Our clothing
is trusted essential wear for high school, university, corporate and military
teams nationwide
Visit their site at:
http://www.sporthill.com/

We are currently at 886 members as of publication time. Forward the Runner's Web
Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe
at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join

Athletes - Interested in getting sponsored?
Amateur endurance athletes can win a GNC sponsorship (just like the Pro's) to
help them achieve their endurance goal. Check out the
site and enter to win:
http://www.gncproperformance.com/sponsorship/Default.aspx?lang=en

Race Directors:
Advertise your event on the Runner's Web. Over one million pageviews in August!
For more information:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_advertising.html
For text ads check out our AdBrite partnership at:
http://www.adbrite.com/mb/commerce/purchase_form.php?opid=15182&afsid=1

To comment on any stories in the Digest visit our Forum at:
http://excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=4655

Check for our weekly feature by Owen Anderson of Running Research News.
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/RRN_index.html

Our latest column (Three common Triathlon Injuries: Prevention & Treatment by
John Phillips) from Carmichael Training Systems
is available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/cts_columns.html.

Our latest column (A 10-K "Shadow" On Your Legs by Owen Anderson) is available
at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/RRN_index.html

Check out our latest article from Peak Performance Online (Muscle Soreness) is
available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/PPO_index.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. The hydration equation
How does an endurance athlete balance the common risks of dehydration with those
of hyponatremia?
2. Infections Linked to Training and Racing
We possess a limited number of anti-stress factors. The word "stress" includes
anything which reduces the body’s ability to function
efficiently, eg stress fracture, colds, coughs and fevers.
3. Science of Sport: A 10-K "Shadow" On Your Legs
4. Blind Mountain Climbers Challenge Prejudice, and Reach for the Sky
5. Shame on us for letting our children become obese
6. Drinking Water To Maintain Good Health. The Beverage Your Body Needs Most
7. Nutrition Wise: For weight loss, low-carb not as important as low-calorie
8. FDA: Olive oil may boost heart health
Products can be labeled as 'may reduce heart disease risk'
9. 2004 Guide to Running Pants and Tights
A Few of Our Favorite Things for Cold Weather Running.
10. Optimal Marathon Training Sessions
11. Training and Competing in the Mystery Zone
12. Run Your Way To Better Bone Health
13. Study: Children don't exercise nearly enough at preschool
14. The snows of Kilimanjaro
Dr. Lorna Adams rises to the challenge of climbing Africa's tallest peak
15. Fruit, veggies linked to heart health - Cancer risk link uncertain
A multiyear study involving more than 100,000 participants provides added
support that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is good
for the heart.
16. A Cup of Joe?
The Case For Caffeine
17. You have to get out of shape to get in shape
18. Carbohydrates necessary for marathon runners
Despite the no-carb craze, carbohydrates are needed to fuel the brain and
muscles.
19. Cycling mudbath 'investment in health'
Cyclocross designed as way for riders to keep fit over winter.
20. The bike that's made to measure
21. Posture Perfect
Improve your posture and improve your performance!
22. Drug for Osteoporosis Curtails Knee Arthritis
23. From Runner's World
24. Group Training
25. News Scan


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
This week's poll is: "Which of the following women played the greatest role in
advancing women's distance running globally?"


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: "Will Paula Radcliffe win the women's race at the New
York City Marathon on November 7th?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Yes 50 62%
2. No 28 35%
3. No opinion, don't care 3 4%
Total Votes: 81

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

Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join


Five Star Site of the Week: Craig Walton - Australia.
Profile
Date of Birth: 10 October 1975
Born: Tasmania, Australia
Lives: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Marital Status: Single
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Education: Higher School Certificate 1991
Qualified: Carpenter/ Joiner
Profession: Triathlete
Weekly Training:
Swim - 8 Hours
Bike - 16 Hours
Run - 6 Hours
Gym - 5 Hours
Sporting Background:
1987-1993 State Representative, Surf Lifesaving
1989-1993 State Representative, Swimming
1994-2000 Australian Representative, Triathlon
Nicknames: Waldo, Walts
Favourite Food: Pancakes
Favourite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, The Hurricane, Remember the Titans
Favourite Music: Angels, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Eminem
Most Admired Person: Greg Welch
Hobbies: Jet skiing, surfing, movies, eating out
First Triathlon: 1990
Visit Craig's website at:
http://www.craigwalton.com.au/

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: Great Workouts for Popular Races
Owen Anderson's Great Workouts for Popular Races
http://rrnews.microform.com/great_workouts_popular_races.php provides an array
of
productive workouts for runners who want to optimize their speed, VO2Max,
lactate-threshold velocity, running economy, and
running-specific strength - and perform at their highest-possible level. The
book contains special chapters on 800-meter,
1500-meter, mile, 5-K, 10-K, half-marathon, marathon, and ultra-marathon
training, with an ample collection of high-quality training
sessions for each distance. The introduction to GWPR offers a hard-hitting
overview of training, identifying the six key goals
which are common to middle- and long-distance training and providing an analysis
of how those goals can best be reached.
All of the workouts in the book are based on the latest scientific information
about training and can be readily used by runners of
all ability levels. Here is an example of a recent review:
Owen Anderson's Great Workouts for Popular Races is chock-full of great training
ideas for coaches and runners. Owen dissects the
scientific research on training and assimilates it into meaningful and
manageable workout plans. Pick up Great Workouts and be
assured that you will enjoy the read, trust the information, and leave it
inspired to attain higher levels of performance!
~Robin Judice
LPT, CSCS, USATF Certified Level-II Coach
The cost of the book is $24.95, and it may be ordered at
http://rrnews.microform.com/great_workouts_popular_races.php Owen provides
great customer service to book purchasers, answering all questions about
workouts from the book (e-mail address owen@...).
Owen Anderson, the author, is the editor of Running Research News, Cycling
Research News, Swimming Research News, and Weight-Loss
Research. He is also the author of Lactate Lift-Off
http://www.rrnews.com/products.htm , a book which shows runners how to
optimize their lactate-threshold running speed, a key predictor of performance.
Owen earned a B. S. in Zoology from the University of Rhode Island, where he was
named the most outstanding undergraduate student in
1973. As a graduate student at Michigan State University, Owen was awarded a
National Science Foundation fellowship; he received
his doctorate in Zoology/Physiology from MSU in 1983. He has been writing and
editing Running Research News since 1985, and in 1992
he was named the most outstanding running writer in the nation by the Road
Runners’ Clubs of America. Published 10 times per year,
Running Research News provides runners and other endurance athletes with the
latest, most-practical scientific information about
training, injury prevention, and sports nutrition (http://www.rrnews.com).
Owen has traveled to Kenya on five separate occasions to study the training
techniques of the top Kenyan runners, and he has helped
such notable Kenyan runners as Tegla Loroupe (quadruple world-record holder) and
Sammy Lelei (59:24 for the half-marathon, 2:07:03
for the marathon) with their training programs. He has managed several
outstanding Kenyan runners, including Benjamin Simatei,
Antony Maina, and Leah Malot.
Anderson has developed the “neural system” of training distance runners (a
program which emphasizes high-quality running and
running-specific strengthening), and he has given seminars and clinics
throughout the United States, England, and Japan on this
topic.
Buy this e-book at:
http://www.rrnews.com/products.htm


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 hydration equation:
How does an endurance athlete balance the common risks of dehydration - a
decrease in the body's normal water stores - with those of
hyponatremia, an uncommon but potentially fatal condition that can occur when
blood sodium levels are diluted by excessive water
intake?
In other words, how do you know when you're drinking too little ... or too much?
The answer, says exercise physiologist Douglas Casa, of the University of
Connecticut, is to find out exactly how much fluid you
need. To do that, you need to determine the amount of sweat you lose during
exercise and replenish appropriately. Here's how:
After urinating, weigh yourself naked (make sure you use a precise scale). Then,
go for a 60-minute run at your present race pace.
Weigh yourself after the run, in the buff. "The amount you lose is your sweat
rate," Casa says. "Let's say you lost 1 kilogram (2.2
pounds). For each kilo, you need a liter of fluid replacement per hour." One
liter (33 ounces) translates into about four 8-ounce
cups of fluid per hour.
For longer endurance activities, such as a marathon, sports drinks are
recommended, provided you're not trying them for the first
time on race day. "They have sodium and flavor, which means people are more
likely to drink them," Casa says.
More...from Newsday at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-a4026549nov02,0,2279766.story?coll=ny-heal\
th-headlines



2. Infections Linked to Training and Racing:
We possess a limited number of anti-stress factors. The word "stress" includes
anything which reduces the body’s ability to function
efficiently, eg stress fracture, colds, coughs and fevers
Let us suppose that we are all allocated 12 anti-stress factors. Travel to and
from work, and work itself, may use up four
anti-stress factors. Training daily may also use up four anti-stress factors.
We may have a difficult partner which causes us to use up another two
anti-stress factors. The battle to pay off bills could use up
two more factors. We have used up all our resistance factors and providing
things stay as they are we may say that we are in a state
of equilibrium or coping with stress.
But, supposing we are given a more responsible and better paid task at work.
What then? The stress syndrome follows a known pattern:
* Alarm.
* Resistance.
* Compensation.
In running, the pattern is increased pulse-rate, resistance and better tolerance
of running in due course (hopefully). Now, if the
stress is too great, the body fails to compensate and gradually sinks into
exhaustion. The tell-tale symptoms are:
* Insomnia.
* Swelling of glands in the throat, arm-pits, and groin.
* Frequent colds.
* Increased skin trouble.
* Steady loss of weight
* Inexplicable aches and pains.
However, the body’s ability to adapt to stress is very versatile provided the
stress is increased gradually. For example, a person
may have done no physical activity for 10 years and decides to train for and
compete in the London Marathon.
More...from World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/runnersguide/beginners_column.asp?a_id=1236165&st_na\
me=BackToBasics



3. Science of Sport: A 10-K "Shadow" On Your Legs:
Completing a 10-K race can knock the stuffing out of your leg muscles. If you
don't believe that, try running as fast as possible in
a 10-K competition the day after your next regular 10K. Generally, you will find
that your performance will be sub-par and that your
legs will feel "heavy" during the second race. What causes this decline in
performance after an intense 10-K exertion, and how long
does the decrement in exercise capacity last? In addition, when will your leg
muscles have recovered enough (following a 10-K
ramble) to carry out high-quality training once again?
To find out the answers to these questions, researchers at the University of
Connecticut, Pennsylvania State University, Ball State
University in Indiana, and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland recently
studied 10 healthy, fit men who were experienced distance
runners. The 10 subjects were recruited from local track clubs and were training
for 10-K racing; many were former collegiate
endurance runners. Average age was 22, mean percent body fat settled at a lean
9%, and VO2max averaged a somewhat lofty 64
ml/kg-min.
For all of the athletes, maximal muscular strength and power during knee flexion
and extension were measured at various speeds using
a System II Biodex isokinetic dynamometer two days before a 10K, 15 minutes
after the 10-K race, and two days post-race. On the same
dates, muscular endurance was assessed during 50 repetitions of voluntary
maximal isokinetic knee extensions and flexions at a speed
of 180 degrees per second. Jumping ability was gauged utilizing a standing
counter-movement vertical jump test. The race itself was
held on a standard, all-weather, 400-meter competitive outdoor track, and the
goal of each subject was to set a personal record.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041105_RRN_10K.html


4. Blind Mountain Climbers Challenge Prejudice, and Reach for the Sky:
EVEREST ADVANCE BASE CAMP, Tibet
When Erik Weihenmayer, the first and only blind man to reach the summit at Mount
Everest, decided to teach six blind Tibetan
schoolchildren how to climb, he returned to the scene of his greatest
accomplishment. The goal: Lhakpa Ri, a peak next to the
world's highest mountain.
"It's the easiest 23,000-foot peak in the world," Weihenmayer said. "Although,
that's like saying it's the most gentle piranha in
the world."
His expedition crew of 40 people and 60 yaks, strapped with duffel bags, tents,
propane tanks, folding chairs, cooking equipment and
other essential gear, wound its way through the Qomolangma (Chinese for Everest)
Nature Preserve in southern Tibet for an arduous
two-week trek to Advance Base Camp, where the north face of Mount Everest
towered to the right and Lhakpa Ri rose to the left.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/sports/othersports/31outdoors.html


5. Shame on us for letting our children become obese:
It might seem strange to pick up the Sunday paper today, a day on which some
20,000-plus athletes are in Washington for the Marine
Corps Marathon and its accompanying 8-kilometer race and 1-mile kids fun run,
and read about the obesity problem with today's
American children.
Our generation, the baby boomers born in the late 1950s and 1960s, were turned
on to physical education and fitness. We hungered for
sports. We craved activity. We drove the second and current running boom that
has seen unprecedented growth, with huge marathons and
half-marathons popping up all over the nation and 5Ks everywhere.
But what baffles me is that we allowed our kids to become the most sedentary
generation ever. Shame on us.
We built video games to occupy our children while we went off to train. We built
computers and instant messaging to baby-sit our
kids once more while we put in some more miles.
Meanwhile, we allowed our schools to eliminate the physical education
requirement to make room for computer classes. You certainly
do not want your child to be the only one on the block who has to walk next door
to talk with the neighborhood kids because he or
she does know not how to IM them.
More...from the Washington Times at:
http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20041031-013907-1355r.htm


6. Drinking Water To Maintain Good Health:
The Beverage Your Body Needs Most
Water
When we were kids in school, we learned that each molecule of water is made up
of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. We also
learned that it was great fun to fill up our squirt guns with water, at least
until the principal caught us. What we really didn't
learn, however, was how much water we needed in order to be healthy human
beings.
Why We Need Water
Our bodies are estimated to be about 60 to 70% water. Blood is mostly water, and
our muscles, lungs, and brain all contain a lot of
water. Water is needed to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for
nutrients to travel to all our organs. Water also
transports oxygen to our cells, removes waste, and protects our joints and
organs.
Signs of Dehydration
We lose water through urination, respiration, and by sweating. If you are very
active, you lose more water than if you are
sedentary. Diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol cause us to lose water by
tricking our bodies into thinking we have more water
than we need.
Symptoms of mild dehydration include chronic pains in joints and muscles, lower
back pain, headaches, and constipation. A strong
odor to your urine, along with a yellow or amber color indicates that you are
not getting enough water. (Note that riboflavin, a B
Vitamin, will make your urine bright yellow.) Thirst is an obvious sign of
dehydration and in fact, you need water long before you
feel thirsty.
More...from About.com at:
http://nutrition.about.com/od/hydrationwater/a/waterarticle.htm


7. Nutrition Wise: For weight loss, low-carb not as important as low-calorie:
Will "low-carb" foods help me lose weight?
Maybe. But the bottom line for weight loss is to burn more calories than you
consume. Since there is no legal definition of
low-carb, these foods may contain as many calories as regular versions. They may
be lower in carbohydrates but higher in fat or
protein, so there is no drop in total calories. Some low-carb foods also use
sugar alcohols instead of sugar, because sugar alcohols
are absorbed from the digestive tract and raise blood sugars more slowly. The
companies that use sugar alcohols subtract dietary
fiber and sugar alcohol content from the total amount of carbohydrates to arrive
at something called "net carbs." Keep in mind that
this term was created by food companies, not nutrition experts or government
sources. Furthermore, no matter how slowly sugar
alcohols are absorbed, they still bring all their calories along. And it's the
total number of calories that affects fat storage.
Although some low-carb products do have fewer calories than regular versions,
they are by no means necessary for weight loss. The
best and most reliable steps you can take to lose weight are: decreasing your
use of high-fat, high-sugar foods that are
concentrated in calories; eating an abundance of vegetables and fruits that are
low in calories; exercising regularly; controlling
your portion sizes; and eating only when you are truly hungry.
More...from the Journal Times at:
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2004/11/01/food/iq_3161192.txt


8. FDA: Olive oil may boost heart health:
Products can be labeled as 'may reduce heart disease risk'
Food containing olive oil can carry labels saying they may reduce the risk of
coronary heart disease, the government says, citing
limited evidence from a dozen scientific studies about the benefits of
monounsaturated fats.
As long as people don't increase the number of calories they consume daily, the
Food and Drug Administration confirmed a reduction
in the risk of coronary heart disease when people replace foods high in
saturated fat with the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.
That means a change as simple as sautéing food in two tablespoons of olive oil
instead of butter may be healthier for your heart.
"Since CHD is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the United States, it is
a public health priority to make sure that
consumers have accurate and useful information on reducing their risk," Lester
M. Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, said in a
prepared statement.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/01/olive.oil.heart.ap/index.html


9. 2004 Guide to Running Pants and Tights:
A Few of Our Favorite Things for Cold Weather Running.
by Jim Gerweck and Candace Karu
Back in the dark days of running, B.N. (Before Nylon), baggy gray cotton sweats
were what passed for high-tech leg coverings. A few
guys who had friends in Europe sported sleeker polyester track warm-ups, but
they bordered on Olympic status by virtue of their
habiliments. Some hardcore runners with a strong sense of their own masculinity
even dared to wear women’s pantyhose in cold-weather
races.
Then came the legging revolution of the mid-1980s. Swimsuit manufacturers began
making tights out of stretchy nylon Lycra material,
while others crafted stovepipe windpants out of the same fabric used for nylon
windbreaker jackets. The legging fashion landscape
was broadened a few years later when more relaxed-fitting pants came on the
scene, providing a garment that one could work out in,
then wear to the grocery store without eliciting stares or snickers.
Now, as running fashion enters the 21st century, the variety of leg coverings,
and the fabrics and technology they utilize, is
positively staggering. Form-fitting tights and relaxed pants still dominate, but
there are dozens, if not hundreds, of variations in
cut and material. Whether you’re warding off a mild early-autumn chill or an
Arctic midwinter blast, there’s a tight or pant of the
proper weight.
A recent trend has been toward more complex, technical construction of these
garments, with strategically placed panels of
wind-resistant or denser, more supportive fabric
complementing thinner areas around the joints, which allows less restrictive
movement through the full running motion. Basic,
single-weight garments are still the norm, but given the increasing
sophistication and variety of leg coverings, it’s a good bet you
may want several of the styles reviewed here in your winter clothing arsenal.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/04nov/apparel.htm


10. Optimal Marathon Training Sessions:
Of the many possible combinations of speed and distance that you can do in
training, a few provide the optimal stimuli for
physiological improvements for the marathon. The most effective types of
marathon training are described below. These workouts form
the key sessions in Pete’s training programs.
I. Tempo Runs:
The most effective way to improve your lactate threshold is to run at your
current lactate threshold pace, or a few seconds per mile
faster. This can be done either as one continuous run (tempo run) or as a long
interval session at your lactate threshold pace
(called cruise intervals or LT intervals).
These workouts make you run hard enough that lactate is just starting to
accumulate in your blood. When you train at a lower
intensity, a weaker stimulus is provided to improve your lactate threshold pace.
When you train faster than current lactate
threshold pace, you’ll accumulate lactate rapidly, so you won’t be training your
muscles to work hard without accumulating lactate.
During these workouts, the more time that you spend at your lactate threshold
pace, the greater the stimulus for improvement.
Lactate threshold training should be run at close to the pace that you could
currently race for one hour. For serious marathoners,
this is generally 15K to 20K race pace. This should be the intensity at which
lactate is just starting to accumulate in your muscles
and blood. In terms of heart rate, lactate threshold typically occurs at 80 to
90 percent of maximal heart rate, or 76 to 88 percent
of heart rate reserve in well-trained runners.
You can do some of your tempo runs in low-key races of 4 miles to 10K, but be
careful not to get carried away and race all out.
Remember that the optimal pace to improve lactate threshold is your current LT
pace, and not much faster.
A typical training session to improve lactate threshold consists of a 15- to
20-minute warm-up, followed by a 20- to 40-minute tempo
run and a 15-minute cooldown. The lactate threshold workouts in my training
programs mainly fall within these parameters, although
some programs include one longer tempo run in the 7-mile range. LT intervals are
typically two to five repetitions of five minutes
to two miles at lactate threshold pace with two or three minutes between
repetitions.
More...from Pete Pfitzinger at:
http://www.pfitzinger.com/marathontraining.shtml


11. Training and Competing in the Mystery Zone:
The topic of this panel discussion was preparation for events lasting 1-5
minutes, a mystery zone requiring aerobic and anaerobic
power. Most panelists agreed that: aerobic development is of primary importance;
aerobic and anaerobic fitness should be maintained
in all phases of training; a prolonged period of anaerobic training increases
the risk of overstraining; shorter events require more
resistance training, which should emphasize development of relative strength or
power rather than muscle hypertrophy; and to taper
for a competition, maintain high-intensity training while reducing training
volume.
In June this year I attended a one-day "summit" with the title of Training and
Competing in the Mystery Zone. The summit, a panel
discussion between invited speakers, was held in Denver straight after the
annual meeting of the American College of Sports
Medicine. It was the first in an annual series of summits on human performance,
organized jointly by the US Olympic Committee and
ACSM. A number of prominent sport scientists and elite-level coaches based in
the US were on the panel. The international sports
science community was also well represented.
Events that take between one and five minutes to complete require energy from
both the aerobic and oxygen-independent (anaerobic)
systems. Some coaches have described this competition range as the mystery zone,
because strategies for training and competing in
events within this zone are not well understood. The goal of the meeting was to
provide a consensus statement about training and
competing in the mystery zone, for use by US athletes, coaches, and sport
scientists. The discussion covered other topics, such as
the coach-scientist relationship, the use of sportscience by high performance
sport, and the gap between sport and the scientist. I
will restrict this report to training for events in the mystery zone. Pacing and
other strategies for competition in the mystery
zone were not discussed.
Energy Supply
It is now acknowledged that energy supply for these events is approximately 50%
aerobic and 50% anaerobic at the one-minute end of
the spectrum. The anaerobic contribution is a mixture of alactic energy supply
and oxygen independent glycolysis. When ATP is
utilized at high rates in the first 10-15 seconds of exercise it is primarily
regenerated by the ATP-CP system which does not
generate lactate as a by-product. This system is therefore often referred to as
the "alactic system". Simultaneously glycolysis is
generating ATP and lactate is being produced. This "lactate" system cannot
supply ATP as quickly as the alactic system but can
sustain energy supply for up to 60 s, or even a bit longer at a rate faster than
the aerobic glycolytic system. As the events get
closer to five minutes, the importance of the aerobic system increases. You must
therefore train both aerobic and anaerobic energy
systems to be successful in the mystery zone.
More...from Sportscience at:
http://www.sportsci.org/index.html?jour/03/03.htm&1



12. Run Your Way To Better Bone Health:
The U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona last Thursday made no bones about
warning Americans about their bones. In an unprecedented
report on the topic of bone health, Dr. Carmona indicated that roughly half of
Americans over the age of 50 either now have the
devastating bone-thinning ailment known as osteoporosis, or they will have it
within the next 15 years.
"Osteoporosis isn't just your grandmother's disease. We all need to take better
care of our bones," Dr. Carmona said. "The good news
is that you are never too old or too young to improve your bone health. With
healthy nutrition, physical activity every day, and
regular medical check-ups and screenings, Americans of all ages can have strong
bones and live longer, healthier lives. Likewise, if
it's diagnosed in time, osteoporosis can be treated with new drugs that help
prevent bone loss and rebuild bone before
life-threatening fractures occur."
Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones begin to narrow and become frail, due
to a variety of factors such as age, lack of
exercise or improper nutrition. If ignored, the disease can silently progress
until bones actually break.
The disease is "silent" for two reasons: For one, osteoporosis can develop, and
progress, without any physical pain. You simply do
not know that it’s happening. The other reason is that many Americans don’t talk
enough with their physicians about bone health.
There are 44 million people in this country who suffer from osteoporosis. One in
two women over 50 will break a bone because of the
condition.
More...from Polar at:
http://www.polarusa.com/consumer/coachescorner/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=211&Cat\
ID=2



13. Study: Children don't exercise nearly enough at preschool:
Children are supposed to play, run, jump and be active for at least two hours a
day, but most aren't doing even half that much at
preschool, says one of the first large studies to examine physical activity in
children ages 3 to 5.
This low activity level could be contributing to the increasing problem of
excess weight in kids, says researcher Russ Pate, a
professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
About 10% of children ages 2 to 5 are overweight; another 12% are at risk of
becoming so, the latest government statistics show.
More than half of 3- to 5-year-olds go to preschool.
Children need more vigorous play during unstructured free time at preschool,
Pate says, and they also need more organized physical
activities, like dancing the hokey-pokey.
In the study, Pate and colleagues examined activity levels of 281 kids at nine
preschools in Columbia, S.C., including church-based,
private programs and Head Start.
More...from USA Today at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-11-01-preschool-exercise_x.htm


14. The snows of Kilimanjaro:
Dr. Lorna Adams rises to the challenge of climbing Africa's tallest peak
The mountain rises from the floor of Africa, and goes up and up and up to the
snow-capped glacial summit. It is visible in all its
glory from the bus that takes a traveller to one of the biggest events of her
life.
If ever there was a challenge for we mortals who live regular day-to-day lives,
it is Kilimanjaro. Most of us cannot consider feats
such as getting to the top of Everest or winning the Iron Woman Triathlon, but
Kilimanjaro is a challenge available to those wanting
to do something very out of the ordinary, but entirely within reach.
But not without an overwhelming effort.
Should you ever consider such an undertaking? It is an interesting intellectual
experience to analyse why we attempt such
challenges. The physical effort of climbing to almost 20,000 feet is not to be
denied, the hardship not slight and the risks
significant. I believe the answer lies in a desire to have experiences that
challenge us supremely, both physically and emotionally.
While planning my trip, I was told that 50% of the work of climbing the mountain
would be in my mind. There is no doubt this was an
underestimate for me. For any physical experience that tests you to your utmost
limit, there must be a "gut" desire to overcome the
physical hardship, just for the sake of the challenge.
It must be accepted that there is no logical reason to be on the mountain.
Otherwise, why are you there, cold, wet, exhausted,
nauseous and looking forward to more of the same day after day?
More...from the Medical Post at:
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp?content=20041031_183054_4980


15. Fruit, veggies linked to heart health - Cancer risk link uncertain:
A multiyear study involving more than 100,000 participants provides added
support that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is good
for the heart.
But the analysis failed to show similar benefits for cancer, a result that
prompted the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
which published the study Tuesday, to raise questions about its findings.
The report supports the American Heart Association's recommendations to consume
at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per
day, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard
School of Public Health.
But for cancer, the report said, "The protective effect of fruit and vegetable
intake may have been overstated."
The research team studied 71,910 females in the Nurse's Health study and 37,725
males in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
The research began in the mid-1980s and the report followed the participants
until 1998.
They found participants who ate five or more servings of fruit and vegetables
daily had a slightly decreased risk of heart disease,
but there was no statistically significant difference in cancer rates.
The researchers provided several possible explanations for that result, while
the journal published an editorial suggesting
potential sources of error.
It may be that cancer risk is increased only in people who eat few fruits and
vegetables, the researchers said. Since most of the
study participants -- nurses and other health professionals -- tended to include
fruit and vegetables in their diets, no protective
association would have been noticeable.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/02/fruit.and.vegetables.ap/index.\
html



16. A Cup of Joe?
The Case For Caffeine
For years athletes have been using caffeine in various doses to improve their
performance. Everyone knows that a strong cup of Java
gives you that alertness and sense of extra energy. Drink three cups of leaded
Starbucks coffee and you'll feel like you want to run
a marathon! So….does the caffeine just make you want to run that marathon or do
you actually run it and run it faster? Though many
professional endurance athletes use caffeine to enhance their performance, the
US Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Association
(WADA) and US Anti-doping association ban certain substances, including
caffeine, for safety reasons as well as any unfair
advantages those substances may offer. Caffeine is banned at a level of 12mcg/ml
in urine, which requires about 1,200 mg of pure
caffeine or 8 cups of strong coffee. WADA has lifted this ban starting in
January of 2004, although it comes with some controversy
since caffeine does have some ergogenic properties and can be dangerous if
abused. Back to that marathon: you can run it faster, but
only if done correctly, so let's talk about who can benefit from caffeine and
how it can be properly used.
More...from XTri.com at:
http://xtri.com/article.asp?id=1324


17. You have to get out of shape to get in shape:
Most runners, assuming you have been running consistently over the spring and
summer, should consider November as a rest month.
This is the perfect time of year to scale back your training and take a break -
even a complete break - after your last race of the
season, possibly in October or November. I have talked about cycles in training
in previous tips and late fall is the yearly rest
period.
What this means is that you should take a few weeks completely off running and
for a month or so scale back to a few enjoyable runs
when convenient. Run somewhere new and discover new running trails, cross train
or just go for some good hikes. This is important
to provide the body both a physical and mental break from running and re-charge
the batteries for next year. As a former
competitive colleague of mine said after I raced him and beat him about 6 months
after he set the world record in the 10,000m - "you
have to get out of shape to get in shape". This is a very true statement but
sometimes runners are afraid to take the rest I
believe all successful elite runners take.
Enjoy it.....Come December it will be time to start building your training base
which will be further enhanced in January.
Now should you be new to running you can take advantage of your early start
towards joining the running circles for next year and
get your training started. Since you are starting early, which is good, you can
enjoy a real gentle startup phase and still be in
great shape next spring. Start by reading a few books about running - many are
available at Running Room stores or on the web - and
try a few introductory training runs.
Looking forward to 2005.
John Halvorsen, Race Director
ING Ottawa Marathon MDS Nordion 10K
http://www.ncm.ca/tips_johnhalvorsen-en.html?page=tips_johnhalvorsen&lang_id=1&p\
age_id=93



18. Carbohydrates necessary for marathon runners:
Despite the no-carb craze, carbohydrates are needed to fuel the brain and
muscles.
As the 35,000 runners preparing for Sunday's ING New York City Marathon go into
the final stretch of their training, they better be
well into a diet that will see them through the 20-plus-mile race, said sports
nutritionist Heidi Skolnik.
Flexing their muscles and jogging in place as they will be on Sunday before
crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the first leg
of the race, the marathoners -- hundreds of Staten Islanders among them --
should have plenty of carbohydrates stored in their
muscles for the long run.
"Hopefully, by now they already have recognized the needs of their body," said
Ms. Skolnik, in an interview earlier this week.
"With the carbo-craze that's going on, people have to understand that whether
they run a marathon or not, carbohydrates are needed
to fuel brain and muscles. I might need a certain amount each day, but a runner
should be eating carbohydrates throughout the day,
every day -- in well-rounded meals as well as in snacks," said the nutrition
consultant.
More...from silive.com at:
http://www.silive.com/living/advance/index.ssf?/base/living/1099496721184960.xml


19. Cycling mudbath 'investment in health':
Cyclocross designed as way for riders to keep fit over winter.
Roxy Cate has just finished a 45-minute cyclocross race: furiously pedaling
through mucky turns and along rain-soaked grassy
straightaways, running several times up a nearly vertical hill with her bike
slung over her shoulder, and leaping with it over
wooden barriers.
She's exhausted from the difficult course. She's covered with mud. She's
drenched.
So why is this 43-year-old smiling?
Like a growing number of cyclists in the United States, she's got cyclocross
fever.
"We do it because it shows we can still get out there and race," she says of
middle-age women like herself. "It's an investment in
our health."
Cate was among more than 600 giddily enthusiastic cyclists who showed up on a
recent rainy Sunday for races at the Alpenrose Dairy,
tucked into the forested hills just west of Portland.
The cyclocross season has just gotten under way and runs into December. In the
Pacific Northwest, it coincides with the start of the
rainy season. This pretty much assures that each race is a mudbath. You might
think that would be a deterrent. Not among Portland
area racers, some of whom are disappointed if they go home dry.
"Cyclocross is one of the most brutal introductions to bike racing there is,"
says Mike Geraci, a 39-year-old cyclocross racer in
Jackson, Wyoming. "It takes a special kind of person to enjoy the abuse."
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/02/cyclocross.fever.ap/index.html


20. The bike that's made to measure:
In a workshop tucked away in the back streets of laid-back Velddrif on the West
Coast, revolution is brewing.
All right, we know it sounds melodramatic. But there's nothing else quite like
the two-wheeler that Graeme Murray calls the
Revolution Project.
Right enough, it has two wheels. And the frame is reminiscent of the classic
double diamond shape, even if it leans more heavily
towards the outlandish, streamlined 1990s Lotus funny bike British speedster
Chris Boardman rode to the world one-hour record. But
that's where the resemblance ends.
Inventor Murray - and never has the description "eccentric" seemed a more
natural addition to the job description - believes he has
solved the age-old problem of bike fit.
Simply put, his multi-adjustable frame can fit a range of sizes, shapes, riding
styles and handling preferences. In addition to
which the design incorporates one or two seriously tricky solutions to
componentry issues.
Finding solutions is nothing new to Murray, with whose name one several thousand
cyclists are intimately familiar. He has sold by
direct order more than 3 000 versions of his Orthoped saddle, now into its
fourth generation. All of them are different because they
’re all custom-made.
More...from IOL at:
http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=iol1099552137675B200


21. Posture Perfect:
Improve your posture and improve your performance!
by Ken Mierke & Kathleen Coutinho, D.C.
While participating in sports is good for our health, it can wreak havoc on our
bodies, in particular our posture. Cyclists spend
hours hunched over their handlebars, runners tend to slouch as they plod along,
and swimmers can have overdeveloped shoulders,
creating muscle imbalances of the upper body.
All of this means changes in biomechanics, which not only poses greater risk for
injury but diminishes sports performance as well.
Here's why: When your body is not properly aligned your muscles create opposing
forces that waste energy, effectively causing a
power drain as you move.
How do you avoid this energy depletion? Much of your postural fitness comes down
to core fitness. The stronger and more stable the
muscles of the abdomen, low back and sides of the trunk are, the better aligned
your posture is.
Common Posture Problems
The most critical aspect of posture is the degree of curvature of the spine.
Spinal curves provide shock absorption. A naturally
curving spinal column has wedge-shaped disks, which are thicker on one side than
the other. This provides cushioning.
A spine with too little curvature, known as hypolordosis, provides little shock
absorption. Often caused by whiplash, tight
abdominal muscles or chronic postural stress, this condition can be improved by
stretching the abdominal muscles, strengthening the
hamstrings and low back muscles, and performing yoga, in addition to getting
chiropractic adjustments.
More...from Her Sports at:
http://hersports.com/eNewsletter/newsLtr13/news13Article3.html


22. Drug for Osteoporosis Curtails Knee Arthritis:
Treatment with a drug used to combat the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis
appears to reduce the occurrence of
osteoarthritis-related damage in the knee, according to a new report.
Bone is normally resorbed and replaced continuously, but when the turnover is
unbalanced and too much bone is lost it can lead to
osteoporosis. Anti-resorptive drugs like alendronate (better known as Fosamax),
as well as other types of agents, are used to stop
the disease process.
The current findings are based on a study of 818 post-menopausal women who
participated in the Health, Aging and Body Composition
Study and had symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.
Structural changes in the knee were assessed by MRI and X-rays, and knee pain
severity was gauged using a standard scale.
Among the participants, 26 percent used anti-resorptive drugs -- such as
alendronate, estrogen, and raloxifene (Evista) -- Dr. Laura
D. Carbone, from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis,
and colleagues note in the medical journal Arthritis
and Rheumatism.
More...from Reuters at:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=GNJ3O4UJIIENKCRBAELCFEY?type\
=healthNews&storyID=6720626



23. From Runner's World:
* Words That Inspire
"We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little
joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or
brave action."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and poet

* Editor's Advice
"Fast running burns more calories than slow running, but slow running burns more
calories than just about any other activity. In
short, nothing will help you lose weight and keep it off the way running does.
Besides, it's inexpensive, it's accessible, and, if
necessary, it can be done while pushing a stroller." -Traci Conrad-Nicholas, RW
marketing designer

* Training Talk
"I've known runners who believed that they would get faster if only they could
find the perfect pair of shoes. The perfect fit, the
perfect lightness, the perfect high-tech features. But I've never known a runner
who actually improved after getting a new pair of
shoes. Shoes can't make you faster. Only dedication, consistency, passion, and
hard training can make you faster." -From the
Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life by Amby Burfoot


24. Group Training:
Group training can be a wonderful social experience and can help you accomplish
you performance goals. Too much group training,
though, can lead to over-training, a poor endurance foundation and poor race
performances.
Group training can be a wonderful social experience and can help you accomplish
you performance goals. Too much group training,
though, can lead to over-training, a poor endurance foundation and poor race
performances. Differences in fitness levels, abilities
and genetic talent make training different for each individual in the group.
Although your training partners may be maintaining
their target heart rates, yours may be too high or low. Therein lies the most
challenging aspect of group training – finding
training partners who are not only willing to do the type of training on your
schedule, but will benefit equally. Davis Phinney and
Scott Tinley were the only 2 individuals with whom I could do long, low
intensity workouts without them becoming hammer sessions.
Group training can be helpful if your training plan includes high intensity
efforts. A regular group run or bike ride as a fartlek
or interval session is appropriate, as long as you maintain the proper
intensity, pace and effort. Organized swim programs, such as
masters programs provide good opportunities for variety, technique feedback and
camaraderie. You can control the intensity by
swimming in a slower lane when you need to go easy, and moving to faster lanes
when high intensity is required.
More...from Polar at:
http://www.polarusa.com/consumer/coachescorner/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=124&Cat\
ID=4



25. News Scan:
* Y chromosome haplogroups of elite Ethiopian endurance runners.
Moran CN, Scott RA, Adams SM, Warrington SJ, Jobling MA, Wilson RH, Goodwin WH,
Georgiades E, Wolde B, Pitsiladis YP.
International Centre for East African Running Science (ICEARS), Institute of
Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow,
West Medical Building, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, UK.
Favourable genetic endowment has been proposed as part of the explanation for
the success of East African endurance athletes, but no
evidence has yet been presented. The Y chromosome haplogroup distribution of
elite Ethiopian athletes ( n=62) was compared with that
of the general Ethiopian population ( n=95) and a control group from Arsi (a
region producing a disproportionate number of athletes;
n=85). Athletes belonged to three groups: marathon runners (M; n=23), 5-km to
10-km runners (5-10K; n=21) and other track and field
athletes (TF; n=18). DNA was extracted from buccal swabs and haplogroups were
assigned after the typing of binary markers in
multiplexed minisequencing reactions. Frequency differences between groups were
assessed by using contingency exact tests and showed
that Y chromosome haplogroups are not distributed amongst elite Ethiopian
endurance runners in the same proportions as in the
general population, with statistically significant ( P<0.05) differences being
found in four of the individual haplogroups. The
geographical origins and languages of the athletes and controls suggest that
these differences are less likely to be a reflection of
population structure and that Y chromosome haplogroups may play a significant
role in determining Ethiopian endurance running
success.
PMID: 15503146 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

* Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
Benefits of Weight Training
Almost everyone should lift weights. Weight lifting strengthens bones, muscles
ligaments and tendons, increases coordination for
tasks requiring strength, and gives confidence and mobility to disabled people.
Just exercising doesn't do much to strengthen
muscles. If it did, marathon runners would have the largest muscles. To become
strong, you have to exercise your muscles against
progressively greater resistance, such as lifting heavier weights.
Just exercising doesn't strengthen bones either. Female marathon runners
sometimes stop menstruating and lose tremendous amounts of
bone, even though they may run more than 100 miles a week. To regain bone, they
have to eat more food which will usually start them
menstruating again, or they may need to take estrogen.
People with muscle and nerve diseases can also benefit from lifting weights.
They may be unable to work out as long or as hard as a
healthy person and they take longer to recover from their workouts. However, if
they stop exercising when their muscles feel heavy
or hurt and they take off when their muscles feel sore, they can make dramatic
increases in strength.
Anyone starting a weight training program should be guided by an experienced
instructor. Exercise with machines two or three times
a week, never on consecutive days. On each exercise, use the heaviest weight you
can lift comfortably eight or ten times in a row.
Then allow at least 48 hours for your muscles to recover. Do not lift if they
feel sore.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: My daughter has exercise-induced asthma. Does this mean that
she cannot compete in sports at school?
No; many children cough, wheeze and become short of breath five to twelve
minutes after they start to exercise. They should be
encouraged to exercise, and most can compete in sports, provided that they know
how to prevent attacks. All asthmatics can cough
and become short of breath when they exercise, more commonly when they run than
when they swim.
Asthma is triggered by breathing dry, cold air, and swimming usually does not
cause asthma because of the moist air above the water.
Special drugs called beta agonists such as terbutaline, albuterol or salbutamol
relieve wheezing, but they give athletes an unfair
advantage by helping their muscles to recover faster from workouts so they can
do more work. The International Olympic Committee
allows athletes to take these drugs by inhalation only if their physician
certifies that they are asthmatics. If beta agonist
inhalers do not prevent exercise-induced asthma, you can try a cortisone-type
inhaler for several days before competition. Asthmatic
athletes can also prevent asthma by warming up very hard 45 minutes before
competition and bringing on an attack of asthma. That
will often prevent them from getting a second attack when they compete. Exercise
can help to control the severity of asthma attacks,
even in asthmatics who do not compete.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: What are the best foods to eat before an important race?
It doesn't make much difference what you eat before athletic competition, as
long as it's not in your stomach when you start. It
takes about half an hour to empty your stomach after a meal, so you should eat
about one to three hours before your event.
Your brain gets almost all its energy from sugar in your bloodstream, but there
is only enough sugar there to last three minutes, so
your liver has to constantly release sugar from its cells to keep you alert.
Your liver fills with sugar after you eat and releases
sugar afterward. If you start an athletic competition more than three hours
after you eat, your liver will have used up much of its
stored energy to tire you earlier during exercise.
Scientists used to recommend avoiding sugar within three hours before
competition because they thought that it would cause a rise in
blood sugar, to raise blood insulin high enough to cause a low blood sugar and
tire you earlier. This does not happen to athletes.
Now we know that it doesn't make any difference whether you eat fat, protein or
sugar before your competition.

* Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
It's Normal to Sweat More After Exercising
Do you know why you sweat more after you finish exercising than you do while you
exercise? Your body temperature varies throughout
the day, going from around 97 degrees in the early morning to about 99 degrees
in the early evening. Exercise raises body
temperature considerably. When you exercise, more than 70 percent of the energy
that powers your muscles is lost as heat. Less than
30 percent drives your muscles. Athletic competition can drive temperatures as
high as 105 degrees without harming the athletes.
To keep your body temperature from rising too high, your heart pumps large
amounts of heat in the blood from your hot muscles to
your skin and you sweat. The sweat evaporates and cools your body. The amount of
sweat that your body produces depends on the
temperature of the blood that flows through your brain. When the temperature of
the blood rises, you sweat more. During exercise,
your heart beats rapidly to pump blood to bring oxygen to your muscles and to
pump the hot blood from the muscles to the skin where
the heat can be dissipated. When you stop exercising, your heart slows down
also, pumping less blood to the skin. The heat
accumulates in your muscles, causing blood
temperature to rise higher, so you sweat more right after you finish exercising
than during exercise.

* Chill out.
One essential step in your workout helps avoid light-headedness and muscle
spasms. It's the cool-down period, which is even more
important than a preworkout warmup. After vigorous activity, a cooldown gives
your heart rate a chance to normalize, and protects
you from negative effects.



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

November 6, 2004:

Athens Marathon - Greece
http://www.athensmarathon.com

AUA National 24 Hour Championship - San Diego, CA
http://www.americanultra.org

Food World Senior Bowl Charity Run 10K - Mobile, AL
http://www.seniorbowl.com/2005
USA Men's Championship/USARC Finale

Mariental Sakekamer ITU African Continental Cup Triathlon - Namibia
http://www.triathlon.org/international/int-2004/mariental-sakekamer-2004/event-d\
etails/event-details.htm


Treasure Island Triathlon - San Francisco, CA
http://www.tricalifornia.com/treasureisland/2004/

Vulcan Run - Birmingham, AL
http://www.vulcanrun.com

November 7, 2004:

New York City Marathon - New York, NY
http://www.nyrrc.org/nyrrc/marathon
Runner's World Coverage
http://www.runnersworld.com/events/nycm04
NY Times Coverage
http://www.nytimes.com/sports/sportsspecial/index.html

ITU World Cup Triathlon - Rio, Brazil
http://www.triathlon.org/world-cup/wcup2004/rio-2004/index.htm

Noosa Triathlon - Australia
http://www.usmevents.com.au/noosatri/home.cfm

Old Mutual Soweto Marathon - South Africa
http://www.athletics.org.za/default.asp?aId=124841&sportCategory=asa

Santa Clarita Marathon - CA
http://www.scmarathon.org

The Half - Dallas, TX
http://www.thehalf.org/

Treasure Island Triathlon - San Francisco, CA
http://www.tricalifornia.com/treasureisland/2004

World Run Day
http://www.runday.com

Television NBC 2 PM - 3 PM
NY City Marathon

For more complete race listings check out our Upcoming Races, and Calendars.
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.


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

For Triathlon Coverage check out The Sports Network at:
http://www2.sportsnet.ca/tvschedule/tvsked_sport.php?region=ONTARIO&schedule_id=\
25


Send this to a Friend:
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join

Your Feedback and Comments:
Comments, contributions and feedback are always welcome via this list at:
mailto:runnersweb@yahoogroups.com and in our Runner's Web
Forum, available off our FrontPage. If you post to the mailing list and get your
email returned, please contact the Runner's Web at
mailto:webmaster@... to notify us of the problem. To update your
Runner's Web eGroups subscriber's profile,
go to the web site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join, sign in
and update your changes.

Have a good week of training and/or racing.

Ken Parker
Runner's Web
webmaster@... <mailto:webmaster@...>
http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html










Fri Nov 5, 2004 7:11 pm

runnersweb
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email

Forward
Message #460 of 734 |
Expand Messages Author Sort by Date

Runner's Web Digest - November 5, 2004 The Original Runner's and Triathlete's Web was founded in January of 1997 as a not-for-profit resource site....
Ken Parker
runnersweb
Offline Send Email
Nov 5, 2004
7:16 pm
Advanced

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Guidelines - Help