Runner's Web Digest - November 26, 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
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How To Run And Enjoy The Marathon By James Raia:
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The Runner's Web Digest is a weekly e-zine dealing with the sports of running
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New This Week:
This will be a slighter shorter Digest this week as I am on the road.

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. Read the press
release here:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041124_Canadian.html

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/

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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:
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Check out our Sports Nutrition column written by Sheila Kealey. Sheila is one of
Ottawa's top multisport athletes and a member of
the OAC Racing Team and X-C Ottawa. She has a Masters in Public Health and works
in the field of nutritional epidemiology as a
Research Associate with the University of California, San Diego. Her column
index is available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/SK_index.html

Our latest column (Triathlon: Three Great Run Workouts For An Ironman Race by
Rob Stanley) from Carmichael Training Systems
is available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/cts_columns.html.

Our latest column from Running Research News (This weeks feature - Science of
Sport: One-Leg Training ) is available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/RRN_index.html

Check out our latest article from Peak Performance Online (Athletics:
Performance Secrets for Veterans)) 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. Triathlon: Plan Your Race, Race Your Plan
2. Multisport: VO2 Max Explained
3. Winter running: Helping your feet survive
4. Research finds knack to bad backs
Researchers say they have found the most effective treatment for people
suffering from a bad back.
5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Getting Over It
6. Lungs peak later in day
Study finds that exercisers can take in more air between 4 and 5 p.m., helping
performance. Asthma sufferers may benefit the most by
changing times.
7. Eliminate Your Back Pain
8. Can massage cure?
As a healing aid, hands-on therapy gains credibility at leading medical centers.
9. Three simple exercises to help you stay fit during pregnancy
10. Lots of nerve
You may have killed some brain cells last weekend, but don't worry. More are on
their way.
11. From Runner's World
12. Transitioning to a New Season by Joe Friel
13. Working up a sweat gracefully
14. The case for cross-training, Part 6: Shoe and foot science
15. Are You Motivated?
16. Endurance running is in east Africans' genes
17. Siri Lindley Interview with Beginner Triathlete
18. The Training Lab: Heart-Rate Monitors
The benefits of running with a heart-rate monitor.
19. Aged to Perfection
For the Ash Can Runners, 80 Is Just the Beginning.
20. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
21. News Scan
A collection of news items.


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
This week's poll is: "Which of the following marathoners has had the greatest
impact on the sport?"
Derek Clayton
Paula Radcliffe
Bill Rodgers
Joan Benoit Samuelson
Frank Shorter
Paul Tergat
Grete Waitz.

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: "Which city should host the 2012 summer Olympics?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. London 47 52%
2. Madrid 3 3%
3. Moscow 4 4%
4. New York 25 27%
5. Paris 12 13%
Total Votes: 91

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:
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Five Star Site of the Week: Pip Taylor.
"Welcome to piptaylor.com! Pip Taylor is an Australian Professional Triathlete
who travels to races around the world in her quest to
become the best in her chosen sport. This site hopes to give you more of an
insight into Pip and allow you to follow her progress
over the season.
Pip is a relative newcomer to the sport of Triathlon coming from a national
junior level in swimming and athletics. Triathlon seemed
the natural choice for an athlete with such cross discipline talent and since
making the transition, Pip has now progressed from
being Australian Junior Elite Triathlete of the year, to Australian U23
Triathlete of the Year to qualifying for the Australian
Elite Senior Team for the Triathlon World Championships while still being Under
23 eligible. In 2003 she stepped up to the Senior
level (while again still being Under 23 eligible) to win the Manchester World
Cup Triathlon, place 2nd at the New York World Cup
Triathlon and be the anchor leg in the Australian Team for the Triathlon Team
World Championships, winning a World Title."
Check out Pip's website at:
http://www.piptaylor.com/about/


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: Lactate Lift-Off.
Lactate Lift-Off, by Owen Anderson, Ph. D., turns traditional lactate-threshold
training upside down. In the book, Anderson
carefully explains what lactate-threshold speed actually is and why it is such a
good predictor of performance. He then points out
that three of our most-cherished beliefs about lactate threshold are nothing
more than myths. Anderson explains that:
(1) Contrary to popular belief, lactate does not cause muscle soreness, does
not break down aerobic structures, and is not a
waste product of metabolism which must be "flushed" out of muscles.
(2) Contrary to popular belief and tradition, tempo training is not the best
way to improve lactate threshold.
(3) Contrary to popular belief, a blood-lactate level of 4 millimoles per
liter does not represent lactate threshold for most
runners. In addition, training at an intensity which evokes 4 millimoles is not
an efficient and productive way to train for
lactate-threshold improvement.
In the book, Anderson then unveils four important surprises:
(1) Lactate is a key fuel for muscle contractions. In fact, even cardiac
muscle loves lactate, and the heart acts as a kind of
"lactate sink" during exercise.
(2) Scalding interval sessions are actually superior to tempo training for
lactate-threshold improvement, because high-intensity
efforts force muscle cells to get really good at picking up lactate from the
blood (tempo sessions can't do that because they are
associated with moderate blood-lactate concentrations). In Lactate Lift-Off,
Anderson provides the key lactate-threshold improving
workouts.
(3) Certain forms of strength training are good for lactate-threshold
upgrading (Anderson provides the key strength-training
moves).
(4) Surprisingly enough, hill training can also lead to significant
improvements in lactate threshold.
Lactate Lift-Off contains everything you need to know to achieve the
largest-possible improvements in your lactate-threshold
velocity. The book provides a seven-week schedule for lactate-threshold
optimization which is easy to understand and follow.
To order the book, please go to http://www.rrnews.com/products.htm
About the Author:
Owen Anderson is also the author of Great Workouts for Popular Races (
http://rrnews.microform.com/great_workouts_popular_races.php), the e-book which
provides runners with the best workouts for
competitive distances ranging from 800 meters all the way up to the 100-K
ultra-marathon. Anderson is the editor of Running
Research News (http://www.rrnews.com) in Lansing, Michigan.

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. Triathlon: Plan Your Race, Race Your Plan
Triathlon is a tremendous endurance challenge. You put months and years of
thought, effort and training into improving your athletic
abilities. Yet despite your well organized training, a haphazard approach on
race day could well ruin your plans for peak
performance. So how can you make sure this does not happen?
With a simple plan!
By taking a well planned and focused approach to your key events, you avoid
problems on race day. This helps you meet the goals you
have worked so hard for.
So what exactly is a race plan? A race plan is a concrete method for approaching
the various physical, mental and nutritional
aspects of your peak triathlons. There are many successful ways to create a race
plan. In this article, we will describe the key
components of a race plan, show you how to construct a race plan, and offer you
a sample race plan as an example to help you create
your own race plan for your next big race.
Key components of a race plan
Goals. Reviewing your personal goals for your race is the first step in
formulating your race plan. First, you should have a very
specific time goal for your peak event (I.e. I will complete IM USA in 12:30).
Experiential goals such as "I will enjoy the
experience from start to finish" or "I will remain mentally strong throughout
the race" are equally important. The goals you set for
your peak race should be in line with your overall athletic goals and vision.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041124_TH_Plan.html


2. Multisport: VO2 Max Explained:
By Matt Russ, The Sports Factory
VO2 Max
Introduction
Fitness can be measured by the volume of oxygen you can consume while exercising
at your maximum capacity. VO2 max is the maximum
amount of oxygen in milliliters, one can use in one minute per kilogram of body
weight. Those who are more fit have higher VO2 max
values and can exercise more intensely than those who are not as well
conditioned. Numerous studies show that you can increase your
VO2 max by working out at an intensity that raises your heart rate to between 65
and 85 per cent of its maximum for at least 20
minutes three to five times a week.
Factors affecting VO2 max
The physical limitations that restrict the rate at which energy can be released
aerobically are dependent upon:
the chemical ability of the muscular cellular tissue system to use oxygen in
breaking down fuels
the combined ability of cardiovascular and pulmonary systems to transport the
oxygen to the muscular tissue system
Improving your VO2 max
The following are samples of Astrands (a work physiologists) workouts for
improving oxygen uptake :
(1) - Run at maximum speed for 5 minutes. Note the distance covered in that
time. Let us assume that the distance achieved is 1900
metres. Rest for five minutes, and then run the distance (1900m) 20% slower, in
other words in six minutes, with 30 seconds rest,
repeated many times. This is equal to your 10K pace.
(2) - Run at maximum speed for four minutes. Note the distance covered in that
time. Rest for four minutes. In this case we will
assume the you run a distance of 1500m. Now run the same distance 15% slower, in
other words in 4 minutes 36 seconds, with 45
seconds rest, repeated several times. This approximates to a time between the
athlete's 5K and 10K time
(3) - Run at maximum effort for three minute. Note the distance covered in that
time. The distance covered is, say 1000m. Successive
runs at that distance are taken 10% slower or at 3 minutes 18 seconds, with 60
seconds rest, repeated several times. This
approximates to your 5K time.
(4) - Run at maximum effort for five minutes. Note the distance covered in that
time. The distance covered is 1900m. Rest five
minutes. The distance is now covered 5% slower with one and a half minutes rest.
This is approximately 3K pace for you, i.e., five
minutes 15 seconds/1900m
(5) - Run at maximum effort for three minutes. The distance covered is 1100m.
When recovered, he runs the same distance 5 per cent
slower, i.e., three minutes nine seconds/1100m, with one minute rest, repeated
several times. This is at 3K pace.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041125_TSF_VO2Max.html


3. First Aging-reversal Prize Awarded:
Intervention makes middle-aged mice grow younger.
A prize meant to inspire antiaging research has been awarded to a scientist who
rejuvenated middle-aged mice, making them grow
biologically younger while extending their lifespan.
The first-ever Methuselah Mouse Rejuvenation Prize was awarded to Stephen
Spindler of the University of California, Riverside for
research called "astounding" because it worked in mice later in life.
The intervention extended the average and maximum lifespan of the mice by 15%
and reduced the number of deaths from cancer, the risk
of which normally increases with age. DNA microarray analysis-a technique for
examining the activity of genes-confirmed that the
mice actually became physiologically younger.
Applicable to humans
The Methuselah Mouse Rejuvenation Prize is administered by The Methuselah
Foundation of Lorton, Virginia. Its Methuselah Mouse Prize
(of which Betterhumans is a media sponsor) aims to speed the development of
antiaging interventions and promote public awareness of
the prospects for them.
More...from Better Humans at:
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-11-23-3


3. Winter running: Helping your feet survive:
As the days shorten and the weather cools, running becomes more difficult. Many
times it may seem more inviting to curl up with a
good book and a warm cup of tea as opposed to bundling up and facing the
elements.
For those who are motivated enough to run through the cold, dark winter days, it
is important to know how to protect the feet so
they too can survive the winter months.
1. Wear one pair of light or medium weight (depending on the temperature)
synthetic socks. Don't wear cotton socks. Synthetic socks
wick away moisture and help prevent blister formation and cold feet.
2. Consider running in a trail shoe. Trail running shoes will help protect your
feet more than lighter nylon running shoes. Trail
shoes also tend to have more tread on the bottom to add traction for slippery
surfaces.
3. Make sure your shoes fit. If your feet tend to swell a little in the summer,
then your shoes may be a little loose in the winter.
If you tend to wear heavier socks in the winter, this may not be an issue. If
not, you may find your cold toes are being jammed
against the front of the shoes when running hills and your heel may be slipping
and causing blisters.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11355&sidebar=13&category=running


4. Research finds knack to bad backs:
Researchers say they have found the most effective treatment for people
suffering from a bad back.
The Medical Research Council team said chiropractic, osteopathy or manipulative
physiotherapy - plus an exercise programme was most
effective.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, they say this three-pronged approach
provides significant symptom relief.
They hope their findings will clarify how to treat back pain - one of the most
common conditions seen by GPs.
More than 1,300 patients whose back pain had not improved through the "first
line" advice of keeping active and not taking bed rest.
They filled in questionnaires on their general health, back pain, beliefs and
psychological well-being before being randomly
assigned to a treatment. Further questionnaires were completed after one, three
and 12 months.
More...from the BBC at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4022963.stm


5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Getting Over It:
A long-lasting injury or illness can be good for a runner. Long as in weeks or
even months, not days. The longer the layoff, the
better the lessons about what running really means to you.
This isn't true at first, of course. Pain and suffering are never pleasant, and
they don't allow philosophical insights to break
through. All you want early in the ailment is for the hurting to stop.
The worst of the pain might not come from the ailment itself but from not
running and wondering if you ever will again. During this
stage you can't stand to see or talk to or read about healthy runners. They
remind you too painfully of all that you are not.
This stage eventually passes. The pain settles down and then eases, and your
head clears. You now see what went wrong.
Your illness or injury was no accident. You got what you paid for, or more
likely the bill came due for not paying out enough in
advance of your last big effort.
Say you ran a marathon a few weeks ago. It was your first in years, and by most
standards your training had fallen short of
adequate.
Your longest run left you a mile shy of the 20 miles that most advisers on the
subject call minimum pre-marathon distance. So you
probably hadn't paid enough into your training account.
You ran the marathon anyway, trusting experience and the magic of raceday to
carry you through. They did, but it was a long and
tough day, especially the final miles.
The less the training, the more sporadic the racing, the harder the effort, the
longer the recovery time. A hard-training, regular
racer might be immune to most of the stresses of racing and might bounce back
from a marathon in a week or two.
A lightly trained, infrequent racer hasn't built such immunity. A marathon might
require six or more truly easy weeks afterward.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/473.html


6. Lungs peak later in day:
Study finds that exercisers can take in more air between 4 and 5 p.m., helping
performance. Asthma sufferers may benefit the most by
changing times.
Exercisers who are forever searching for the best time to work out might get the
most out of their sessions if they hit the
treadmill or gym in the late afternoon.
By studying lung capacity in 4,800 men and women, researchers found that
resistance in airway passages decreases as nightfall
approaches.
Consequently, participants were able to take in a greater amount of air - as
much as 15% to 20% more than other times during the
day.
The participants - all residents of Long Island, N.Y., with an average age of 55
- were given hourly standard pulmonary function
tests during typical workday hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Subjects were asked to
inhale as much air as they could in one second,
then exhale into a device that measures the volume of the air expelled. Some of
the men and women had normal lungs, while others had
lung disease or chronic conditions such as asthma or bronchitis.
The greatest improvement in lung function overall was found from 4 to 5 p.m.
Although job and family responsibilities may make it
difficult to squeeze in a workout session precisely at 4 p.m., exercising around
that time may also offer benefits.
"That 15% to 20% increase was higher than we expected," said lead researcher Dr.
Boris Medarov, an internist at Long Island Jewish
Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-lungs8nov08,1,7030002.story\
?coll=la-health-fitness-news


7. Eliminate Your Back Pain:
By Michael Yessis, PhD - Sept/Oct 2003
Why Do You Get Back Pain
There are two main reasons why back pain is so prevalent, especially among
runners. The first is improper technique. The second is a
lack of physical ability (mainly strength) to withstand the forces involved in
running, and to run more efficiently. In regard to
technique, most runners develop back problems because they have poor posture
while running, and/or they land heel first with every
foot-strike.
Poor running posture includes having a rounded spine or leaning forward
with the head and shoulders. This places your center of
gravity in front of your body, which creates additional stress on the lower back
muscles to maintain an upright position. In time,
the muscles fatigue and cant counter the forces generated during the run. The
situation is compounded if you also land heel first,
greatly increasing the forces on the lower back.
When you land heel first, your foot lands in front of your body, which
creates braking forces that impede your forward
progress. When repeated over long distances, the muscles give in to the forces
encountered-overloading occurs. The overloading can
develop anywhere, including the muscles of the lower leg (ankle and knee), hip,
and lower back.
The Importance of Muscle Strength & Good Posture
If your muscle strength is only adequate for a certain distance or to handle a
certain amount of force, once you exceed its limits
you'll experience an injury. This is why some runners continually break down and
develop injuries, especially to the lower back. The
keys to injury prevention are improving both your running technique, and your
physical abilities that are specific to running.
It's also important that you don't overstretch your lower back in other
activities, especially when you stand and sit.
Unfortunately, were not taught in school how to stand, sit, walk, run or breathe
properly. It seems everyone takes these actions for
granted and because of this, we develop poor habits. Poor posture eventually
causes the spine to curve unnaturally, causing the
nerve endings to become pinched, shish creates lower back pain.
This problem is complicated by the fact that many runners who suffer bad backs
have occupations that emphasize excessive sitting.
When you sit for long periods of time, especially in soft chairs, the spine.
Treating and Preventing Back Pain
Exercise that improves technique and develops both strength and flexibility in
the spine and spinal musculature is the primary
method used in the treatment and prevention of back problems. You must develop a
muscular corset around the midsection that will
hold the spine in its normal anatomical, safe position.
Spinal flexibility and strength are needed to keep the vertebrae apart so
that the discs and nerves don't become compressed.
Keep in mind that discs are living entities and require nourishment. This
nourishment is possible only if the vertebrae are kept
apart by full discs and the blood circulation to them is unimpeded. To get
increased blood circulation, you must exercise for
flexibility and strength. There are five stretches that I highly recommend to
maintain or improve spinal flexibility. They are.
Strengthening the Muscles
Foremost in treating and preventing back injuries is performing exercises to
strengthen the lower back musculature. This includes
mainly the erector spinae, a long muscle running the entire length of your spine
that holds you erect, and the quadratus lumborum,
located in the lumbar area on both sides of the spine that is used in all side
bending actions. To strengthen these muscles the
following exercises are recommended.
From www.PeakRunningPerformance.com.


8. Can massage cure?
As a healing aid, hands-on therapy gains credibility at leading medical centers.
You lie on the crisp white sheet of the massage table in semidarkness. The scent
of almond oil fills the air. Then come the hands,
gently kneading the necklace of knots that rings your back, your neck, your
shoulders. You close your eyes, breathe deeply and let
yourself relax. Beyond the pleasures of the moment, though, are there medical
benefits to massage?
Hospitals and medical clinics around the country are beginning to integrate
massage into patient care. Massage is currently the most
common nontraditional therapy offered in U.S. hospitals, according to an
American Hospital Assn. survey in 2003. The most common
uses for massage in hospitals: helping patients cope with pain and stress, and
as a therapeutic service for cancer and maternity
patients.
At Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., cancer patients are
offered therapeutic massage by one of eight trained
therapists. Longmont United Hospital in Colorado has a massage therapist on
staff around the clock for patients who need or request
it. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, 11 massage therapists
are on a staff team working with hundreds of
patients admitted to the hospital or seen at its various clinics.
And at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, a team of four therapists use
massage to alleviate pain and symptoms for patients
suffering from illnesses such as fibromyalgia, migraines and back pain.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-massage22nov22,1,3764513.story?coll\
=la-headlines-health


9. Three simple exercises to help you stay fit during pregnancy :
Although many pleasantries are downsized or put on hiatus during pregnancy
(remember those supercharged lattes or those
mouthwatering cosmos?), exercise doesn't have to be one. The work and exhaustion
associated with labor and delivery are often
compared to that of a marathon. And who would stroll to the starting line of a
marathon without first preparing her body for the
challenge?
Depending on which book you purchase after celebrating the joyous news, you'll
learn you should significantly scale back weight
training or keep on going with what you've been doing. It's a bit confusing, to
say the least.
"Anybody could pick up a book. They have to be a lot more cautious with what
they say they should do," said Lisa Pierre, a pre- and
postnatal exercise specialist and educator at Paradise Valley Hospital. "Some
women can work out harder. Some women can stay with
their normal physical activity. They just have to adjust to the trimester."
More...from the Arizona republic at:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1123fitforlife11\
23.html


10. Lots of nerve:
You may have killed some brain cells last weekend, but don't worry. More are on
their way.
Every day hundreds of new nerve cells, or neurons, pop into existence in your
overtaxed brain. They can't make up for a lifetime of
abuse, but they could help your brain in other ways, scientists say.
New neurons may help you learn and remember better. They may fight brain
ailments such as addiction and depression; antidepressants
may work partly because they trigger a flood of new neurons in the brain.
Scientists are unraveling the secrets of these baby neurons, hoping to learn
what makes a healthy brain.
New research shows that exercise stimulates the birth of new neurons - but only
if the mouse being studied actually wants to
exercise. Other findings suggest that drinking alcohol prevents new neurons from
developing. And researchers have found that drugs
such as morphine mess with newly created neurons, causing them to divide
abnormally and alter the brain.
These and other discoveries may one day help you take better care of your brain,
scientists said last month in San Diego at the
annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Researchers once thought that baby neurons could spring up only in babies: A
person got new neurons until the age of 2 or 3; after
that, neurons died off over a lifetime. Even in healthy people, tens of
thousands of neurons naturally self-destruct every day.
But five years ago, scientists discovered that the adult human brain could also
make new ones , a process known as neurogenesis.
More...from the Press-Enterprise at:
http://www.pe.com/lifestyles/stories/PE_Fea_Local_nuero1123.5855c.html


11. From Runner's World:
*Coach's Corner
While running fast, try to be aware of what the various parts of your body are
doing. Can you discover what it feels like to run
smoothly? If so, you may be able to duplicate that feeling on other occasions.
Remember: Given equal physical skills, the ability to
concentrate separates the merely good runners from the great ones. -Hal Higdon

* Injury Prevention
Any activity that strengthens your running muscles makes you more
injury-resistant. And don't just think quadriceps, either. It's
important to work antagonist muscles such as the hamstrings, hip flexors, and
hip extensors. This helps correct the imbalances
created by running.

* Performance Nutrition
Cranberries Top the Charts: Vegetable-haters, rejoice. According to University
of Scranton research, the food with the highest
number of disease-fighting substances isn't broccoli--it's the cranberry. "Gram
for gram, cranberries appear to be the absolute best
food for fighting cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Fresh and dried cranberries
have the greatest protective powers, followed by
cranberry sauce. Cranberry juice is a distant fourth.

* Editor's Advice
Family Fun: "One of the best bits of planning you can do for yourself during a
marathon is to round up as many friends and relatives
as possible, and station them at various points along the race course. Seeing
and hearing those friendly faces may just be what you
need to get you through the final stages of the marathon." -Charlie Butler, RW
features editor

* Training Talk
Racing pushes the limits of your speed and endurance, and too much racing can
push you beyond your ability to avoid injury. Racing
is hard on your body, so you must give yourself plenty of time to recover after
each event." -From Runner's World Complete Book of
Running by Amby Burfoot

* Words That Inspire
"I've always felt running is a form of meditation. Running enables us to stop
our lives, to go out and find a safe place for
ourselves." -Nina Kuscsik, first official women's champ with her 1972 Boston
Marathon win and two-time NYC Marathon winner


12. Transitioning to a New Season by Joe Friel:
With the end of the race season and the approach of winter, it's time to shift
your training emphasis to Base period objectives. In
the last few months you've been singularly focused on race-specific training
with workouts that simulate the conditions of your most
important races. As the season closes down I find that it's very difficult for
athletes to make the switch from the Build to Base
period. For one thing athletes don't want to give up their hard-won race
fitness. For another, they find it difficult to make the
changeover.
I witnessed a good example of this phenomenon this morning on my long, easy
ride. I was passed by a dozen roadies who were flying
with a few women and a junior in tow. All were huffing and puffing, some more
than others. This was your typical Sunday morning
hammer session. Most of the riders in this group are well on their ways to
ruining their 2005 season and it's only November 2004!
It's a shame, but I see athletes do this every year.
Let's start with the first issue: Can you maintain your race fitness from the
2004 season until the first A-priority race in the
spring of 2005? No, you can't. It's impossible. Fitness is transient. The finer
elements of race fitness, such as anaerobic
endurance and sprint power, take just a few weeks to fully develop-maybe six to
eight. Once you bring these elements to a peak they
begin to fade no matter how hard you try to hold onto them indefinitely. Those
elements that take the longest to initially build
stay with you the longest after the race season ends. Endurance is a good
example of this, but even it fades after a while.
Attempting to maintain race fitness from one season to the next will only lead
to lower levels of race fitness in the subsequent
season-if you aren't first stopped by the overtraining syndrome or burnout.
More...from UltraFit at:
http://www.ultrafit.com/newsletter/november04.html#Joe


13. Working up a sweat gracefully:
After years of sports and exercise, I was getting burned out on extreme,
push-yourself-to-the-limits, no-pain-no-gain workouts. I
was looking for something gentler. Something that made me feel more like a
graceful dancer than a grunting Neanderthal.
The problem was narrowing down the options. In recent years, sports clubs around
the country have started offering ballet-based
fitness classes such as Ballet Pilates, Ballet Boot Camp, Ballet Barre and
Stretch, and Yoga Booty Ballet.
Even small dance studios, such as Heartbeat House Studio in Silver Lake, have
ballet workouts, and some mainstream gyms, such as the
Hollywood YMCA, are offering adult ballet classes. Also, the New York City
Ballet (in conjunction with Palm Pictures) has produced a
set of workout DVDs for those who dream of a dancer's physique.
The amount of ballet in the classes varies. Some classes are almost pure ballet,
some barely ballet at all. I wanted the body of a
ballerina, long and lean, full of grace. I wanted to feel light on my toes,
perpetually poised to pirouette. I also wanted to sweat.
I chose a class called LA Ballet Body at Equinox in West Hollywood. The course
description promised to combine barre, center and
floor work with innovative weight training and a focus on balance and posture.
"You don't have to wear a tutu," said Keith Irace, the group fitness manager at
Equinox, when I called to inquire about the class.
It's more about developing the muscles of a dancer, he said, than leaping across
the studio in a choreographed dance routine.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-bound22nov22,1,216420.colum\
n?coll=la-health-fitness-news
[Long URL]


14. The case for cross-training, Part 6: Shoe and foot science:
This six-part series is adapted from Matt Fitzgerald's forthcoming book,
"Runner's World Guide to Cross-Training." Part 1 begins
here.
(http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11265&sidebar=17&category=activeusahom\
epage)
Running shoes are indispensable to protect your feet from hard surfaces, cold
air, and the like. But they also have certain
disadvantages.
Fortunately, however, you can counteract these disadvantages with some special
cross-training methods designed to enhance the
performance of your ankles and feet.
The actions of the foot during barefoot running are highly complex. The actions
of the foot during shod running are decidedly less
so, because shoe structure constricts them.
Running shoes essentially force the foot to function as a rigid, two-part plank
with a single fulcrum at the ball of the foot. There
are several unfortunate consequences of this constriction, but perhaps the
greatest is that it greatly reduces the amount of
thrusting force that the forefoot and toes are able to generate in the last
segment of the push-off.
The metatarsophalangeal (MP) joint at the ball of the foot was designed to
actively plantar flex (flex downward) during push-off to
squeeze a last bit of thrust out of this phase of the stride. Shoe structure
does not allow the MP joint to actively plantar flex.
The resulting loss in force generation is analogous to the loss in vertical
jumping height you'd experience if forced to jump
without flexing your ankles.
In addition, because shoes do not allow us to use our little foot muscles the
way they were designed to be used, over the long term
they cause these muscles to weaken, so that they're less useful, shod or unshod.
Furthermore, all that cushioning in running shoes reduces the ability of your
feet to "feel" the ground (called proprioception).
Consequently, your feet are unable to feed your brain as much useful information
with which to fine-tune your stride.
The result is slower reaction times in response to irregularities in the running
surface and also higher levels of muscle
activation, because the muscles, in a sense, have to be braced for anything.
This bracing effect costs energy and increases tissue
strain.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11366&sidebar=13&category=running


15. Are You Motivated?
The following is a summarized version of an article by Sigvor Melve originally
appearing in Norsk SkiSport. Summary and translation
by Inge Scheve exclusively for xcskiworld.com.
Motivation drives all activity and provides the basis for we do. Motivation is
what drives you to strive toward your goals. Each
athlete is motivated by different things, which is why it's advantageous to know
something about how motivation works. What
characterizes motivated athletes? vIn a ski team, the athletes will have
different motivation. One skier can be top motivated while
the best skier on the team might wish he was anywhere but there, pursuing
anything but skiing. In short, some athletes are
self-motivated while others need more feedback and attention.
In a coach's perfect world, all athletes would be equally absorbed in skiing,
but that's rarely the reality. Because motivation is
dynamic and easily changes, it is important to know how motivation works.
First, it is useful to know the characteristics of highly motivated athletes -
and poorly motivated ones for that matter. Highly
motivated athletes tend to be positive and eager to train. They are attentive
and can operate for long periods of time. Athletes who
lack motivation, on the other hand, typically have a hard time staying focused
and display little joy the activity. They tend to
prioritize other activities over practice and competition. Drop-out rates
represent a serious challenge in sports of all kinds, and
a large number of juniors quit every year due to lack of motivation.
Motivators
Simply put, there are two kinds of motivation: external motivation and internal
motivation.
More...from XCSkiWorld at:
http://www.xcskiworld.com/training/Racing_Advanced/motivation.htm



16. Endurance running is in east Africans' genes:
The long-distance running prowess of Ethiopia's elite male athletes is partly
dictated by their genes.
Researchers have established that such athletes are more likely to have certain
variants of four Y chromosome genes compared with
other Ethiopians. No one knows what the genes do, or how influential they are,
but they are the first to be linked to east Africans'
outstanding ability for endurance events.
Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes have run 37 of the 40 fastest times recorded over
10,000 metres. Alongside dedication and training,
there is no doubt that social and geographic factors, such as having to run long
distances to school at high altitudes, contribute
to their success.
To find out if genes also play a significant role, Yannis Pitsiladis of the
International Centre for East African Running Science at
the University of Glasgow in the UK and colleagues studied the Y chromosomes of
elite athletes, city dwellers and other non-athletes
from the Ethiopian region of Arsi, where many runners originate.
Four gene variants were clearly more common among the athletes, and one was less
common. No mutation was unique to the athletes,
however, suggesting that it is the combination of certain gene types that makes
the difference.
"The athletes do show differences from the population as a whole," says
Pitsiladis. "But they are not so overwhelming to say that
this is the reason for their success," he says, and no single gene for endurance
running emerged.
The team, whose results will be published in Human Genetics, are hoping to
bolster their findings by analysing Kenyan endurance
athletes in the same way.
More...from the New Scientist at:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996705


17. Siri Lindley Interview with Beginner Triathlete:
Q: Tell me a little bit about your sporting background? Did you play sports in
high school? Were you a star?
I played field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse... was MVP in ice hockey and
lacrosse in high school and captain, and in college
played on the varsity for all three at Brown University. Two years of field
hockey, one year of ice hockey and three years in
lacrosse. I was on the all time scoring leader list in the history of Brown for
lacrosse.
Q: Tell me about the moment you decided to do your first triathlon. Why did you
decide to do it? What attracted you to this sport?
After I watched my first triathlon. A friend of mine was doing it, I had no idea
what one was, it looked like such a great
challenge, and so much fun. It was then I decided, I am going to do this one
day!
Q: Let's be kind and say your first triathlon wasn't your best. Tell me a little
bit about it. Where was it? How old were you? What
did you learn that day?
I was 23 years old. It was in Englewood, Colorado - my first time at altitude. I
learned how passionate I was about the sport, no
matter how bad I was at it. I learned that it was all about passion for me, and
nothing else, a personal challenge that I was
determined to take.
More...from SiriLindley.com at:
http://www.siri-lindley.com/articles/beginner.htm


18. The Training Lab: Heart-Rate Monitors:
The benefits of running with a heart-rate monitor.
If you're technologically inclined enough to program a DVD player, you may
already be the proud owner of a heart-rate monitor. The
latest models come in all price ranges, some with global positioning systems
that can tell you how far you've run while also
recording heart-rate values and average pace times for each mile covered.
Bells and whistles aside, the scientific reason to train with a heart-rate
monitor is to gauge the intensity of your running--to see
how hard your heart is working at any given point. This instant feedback can
help you assess your fitness. Over time you'll see that
running at a certain pace will elicit a lower heart rate. This is a sign that
your cardiovascular fitness has improved.
A heart-rate monitor can also be a reminder to slow down. If you run too hard on
your recovery days, you risk overtraining, as your
body isn't given enough of a chance to recover from hard efforts. To make sure
you don't fall into this trap, keep your heart rate
at an appropriately low level. The bottom line with heart-rate monitors is to
use them as a tool without becoming too rigid or
dependent.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-51-0-0-7176,00.html


19. Aged to Perfection:
For the Ash Can Runners, 80 Is Just the Beginning.
In 1985 the warm-hearted film Cocoon hit movie theaters, portraying senior
citizens who still had the desire to live life to the
fullest. The elderly cast was shown excelling at swimming, running and all
things athletic, thanks to a force that was tied to a
group of aliens. The movie was a box office bonanza and seemed to instill a
newfound drive in people who were of post-retirement
age. Coincidentally or not, a boom in senior citizens joining running clubs
started around this time and the number has increased
almost every year since.
Four men who reconnected with the racing world around this time were Charles
Feldman, Willie Rios, Vince Carnevale and Tom Gibbons,
collectively known as the Ash Can Runners. Each man was in his 70s and each had
a background in running that had been stifled for
one reason or another as the years caught up.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/04apr/ashcan.htm



20. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
*Lots of Miles Don't Make Great Runners
When I trained seriously for marathon running, I thought that the runner who
ran the most miles would be the best. I didn't become
a great runner, but I did become an expert on injuries. My patients seldom come
to me with a running injury that I haven't had.
Many top runners run more than 100 miles a week because their bodies have the
genetic ability to withstand such abuse, but the vast
majority of runners will never be able to run 100 miles a week without being
injured frequently. Furthermore, running a lot of
miles slowly will slow you in races. The ability to run fast in races depends
more on how fast you run in practice than on how many
miles you run each week. However, every time you run fast, your muscles are
damaged and feel sore on the next day, and it takes at
least 48 hours for your muscles to heal enough to allow you to run comfortably
again at a very-fast pace. After every workout in
which you run very fast, take the next day off or run at a much slower pace.
Most top athletes plan their workouts so they run very
fast only two days a week. The same principles apply to any endurance sport.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: What's the best sport for overall fitness?
The best sports for fitness are the ones in which you exercise continuously,
those that are least likely to injure you and the ones
you enjoy the most. You become fit by exercising vigorously enough to increase
the circulation of blood. It makes no difference to
your heart how you increase your circulation.
The best sports for fitness use your legs because the blood vessels in your legs
are so much larger that you can circulate far more
blood with your leg muscles. Furthermore, arm exercises tire you earlier because
most people have weaker arms.
Some sports require a great level of fitness just to start. For example, to jump
rope, you must spin the rope more than 80 times a
minute to keep it from tangling. Many people can't jump 80 times a minute. The
safest sports are low-impact aerobics, walking,
swimming and pedaling a stationary bicycle. Running causes lots of injuries,
because the force of your foot striking the ground can
be three times your body weight, which can damage muscles and bones.
You are most likely to continue a lifelong fitness program if you pick an
activity that you enjoy. However, sports that don't keep
you moving may be fun, but they won't make you fit. Most tennis players spend
about 80 percent of their playing time waiting for
the ball; and golfers are usually required to ride in carts, even if they would
prefer to walk.



21. News Scan:
* NEW YORK (AP) -- It's official: The final count shows the New York City
Marathon was the largest in history.
The race Nov. 7 had 36,562 finishers, surpassing the 100th anniversary of the
Boston Marathon in 1996, which had 35,868.
"We have always prided ourselves on being the world's best marathon, now we are
also the largest," race director Allan Steinfeld
said.
The annual five-borough race had 24,574 men and 11,988 women finish this year.
In the closest women's finish in the race's history,
Paula Radcliffe of England nipped Susan Chepkemei of Kenya by four seconds.
South African Hendrik Ramaala took the men's title.

* The Bionic Back
Got a bum disc? Now you can buy a better one
For some of the 200,000 people each year who suffer pain severe enough to
require lower-back surgery, a new solution has arrived.
The Charité Artificial Disc is expected to receive FDA approval for degenerative
disc disease by the end of 2004, making it the only
artificial spinal disc available in the U.S. "This is the first major
breakthrough in back surgery since the 1940s," says orthopedic
surgeon Richard Guyer of the Texas Back Institute in Plano.
The Charité replaces one of two lower-back discs, which help cushion the spine,
enable the back to bend, and keep the nerves that
exit the spinal column from being pinched by bone. In a procedure that takes as
little as an hour, a surgeon cuts into the patient's
abdomen, clears a path to the spine, scrapes out the damaged disc, and inserts
the Charité. Whereas fusion surgery immobilizes the
joints by fastening two vertebral bones together, the Charité promises a more
natural range of motion. At the heart of the
prosthesis is a low-friction polyethylene plastic-the same materials proven
effective in artificial hips and knees-that allows for
flexibility through a modified ball-and-socket action.
To anchor the bone in place, six teeth on each endplate sink about three
millimeters into the bone. It sounds painful, but patients
can't feel it, and in many cases, their back trouble disappears within days. A
similar spine implant, called ProDisc, is now in
clinical testing and could receive FDA approval within the next year.

*Genes for long-distance running?
The Kalenjin tribe lives in a province in the northwest of Kenya. Astonishingly,
12 of the world's top-20 distance runners are
Kalenjin. Their seemingly effortless victories in some marathons have sparked
off a passionate debate about genetic advantage in
long-distance running.
Danish sports scientists have studied the Kalenjin runners and compared their
style and physique with that of elite Danish runners.
They noticed that their heart rate stayed remarkably low even when running as
fast as 15 miles per hour over long distances. People
from this region also have a good build for running with long, very thin legs.
When the muscle fibres of Kalenjin runners were
analysed they were found to be capable of converting oxygen into energy much
more efficiently than the Danish runners.
High-altitude advantage
The theory is that the Kalenjin runners carry certain genes which adapt them to
living in hot, dry conditions at high altitude. They
live on a plateau 7000ft above sea level. This would certainly explain the low
heart rate. At such a high altitude, oxygen levels in
the atmosphere start to fall. To compensate for this the body has to increase
the number of oxygen carrying red cells in the blood.
When an athlete who has trained at high altitude comes down to sea level to
compete, they still carry extra red blood cells and this
gives them a huge power advantage in their running. The heart has to beat less
fast to carry the same amount of oxygen around the
body.
Now that they dominate the sport, the Kalenjin runners also have the advantage
of many positive role models for the youngsters to
aspire to. This will play a role in their success.
Scientists are actively trying to identify specific genes that contribute to
success on the track. But it is a complicated task. The
simple truth is that a person whose parents have both been successful marathon
runners is likely to have at least some useful genes
for long-distance running.

* Women are tougher?
"Science has finally confirmed what women have long suspected -- when it comes
to coping with pain, they are tougher than men," says
The Australian newspaper. A Deakin University study of 100 patients recovering
from cardiac surgery found that, on average, women
needed morphine for 12 hours, while men kept taking it for 17 hours, and at
higher dosages.




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

November 26-28, 2004:
Ultraman Triathlon - Hawaii
http://www.ultramanlive.com

November 27, 2004
Mississippi Coast Marathon - Waveland, MS
http://www.gulfcoastrunningclub.org/

November 28, 2004:
Harrisdirect Seattle Marathon - Seattle, WA
http://www.seattlemarathon.org

Ironman Western Australia Busselton - Australia
http://www.ironmanwa.com

Manila Marathon - Philippines
http://www.manilamarathon.com.ph

Unite for Sight - Montreal, PQ
http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=1218

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

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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

Ken Parker
Runner's Web
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