Runner's Web Digest - December 24, 2004

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Due to Hurricane Ivan making a mess of Grand Cayman my usual holiday scuba
diving trip had to be cancelled. As a result, the
Runner's Web will be "business as usual" through the holiday period.

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New This Week:

We have partnered with Peak Running Performance to provide content for our site.
Peak Running Performance Is The Number 1 Technical
Running Newsletter In America! Check out the first article from them -
Multisport: Performance Enhancement Drugs…Should You Be
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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:
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Carmichael Training Systems
Carmichael Training Systems was founded in 1999 by Chris Carmichael. From the
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Whether your focus is recreational, advanced, or you are a professional racer,
the coaching methodology employed by CTS will make
you a better athlete. Check the latest column from CTS ( Shaking up treadmill
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Running Research News
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This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:
We have NO personal postings this week.


This Week's Digest Article Index:

1. Multisport: Performance Enhancement Drugs…Should You Be Taking Them?
2. Science of Sport: The Principles Of Periodization
3. Running: Shaking Up Treadmill Training
Creative ways to make treadmill training interesting and more beneficial.
4. This is Your Life
The Fountain of Youth is a myth. But take heart: Intelligent training and an
adventurous spirit will keep you running, kicking,
screaming at the peak of your potential for years to come.
5. The Weather Outside is Frightful - Cold Weather Running
6. Nutrition For Athletes - Fast Food's "Best Bets"
7. Athletics: The Marathon - How To Train Smarter and Run Faster
8. Eat what you want, but don't neglect exercise
Some recommend specific activities to burn off indulgences.
9. From Runner's World
10. Acupuncture 'works for arthritis'
A major study of the effect of acupuncture on osteoarthritis of the knee has
found it can both relieve pain and improve movement.
11. Gaining The Winter Running Edge
12. Do you need extra Vitamin C and E?
During exercise there is an increased production of free radicals, which are
harmful chemicals that can damage cell membranes. Their
formation may play an important role in causing exercise-induced muscle damage.
13. Science of Sport: Free Radical Scavenger Formula Demonstrates Enhanced
Athletic Performance in Independent Pepperdine University
Clinical Trial.
14. Can Too Much Exercise Make Athletes Sick?
15. Five ways to prepare your body (and mind) for your next triathlon
16. Training with Others
17. "Sleep on it" Works
Dreams appear a kind of treatment for resolving problems.
18. Study: Fit but fat not good enough
Excess weight can take years off your life despite exercise.
19. Surviving Flu Season
20. Stress and disease may be linked, but how strongly?
Although chronic stress has been linked to premature aging, heart attacks and
depression, its physical effects are still largely
unknown.
21. Leanness not Enough for Longevity
Body fat and physical activity are independent predictors of premature death in
women.
22. The 100 Best Trainers in America
23. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
24. Cold-weather ride strategy and gear list
25. News Scan
A collection of news items.


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
This week's poll is: "What should the penalty be for doping in sport?"

Cast your vote at: http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
Post your views in our Forum at:
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The previous poll was: "Do you train on Christmas Day?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
Answers Votes Percent
1. Regular workout. 47 56%
2. Abbreviated workout. 19 23%
3. No 15 18%
4. I don't train any day. 3 4%
Total Votes: 84

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Five Star Site of the Week: StacyDragila.com
First Ever Olympic Gold Medallist - Women's Pole Vault
"I always went after things that inspired me, I was very goal oriented, and
never let anybody get in my way"
- Stacy Dragila
The first and only women's pole vault world champion, Dragila won the first-ever
women's Olympic pole vault in 2000. Following a
World Record jump to win the Olympic Trials, she proved that she was ready for
the challenge, withstanding heated competition from
Australian Tatiana Grigorieva and Vala Flosadottir of Iceland... landed on the
cover of Wheaties box shortly after. Under her maiden
name of Mikaelson, Dragila competed twice in the California state HS meet in the
hurdles and placed 2nd in the 1990 Golden West meet
in the 400mH (63.70). The late coach John Orognen recruited her to Yuba College
and trained her for the heptathlon. As a junior at
Idaho State, Dragila and the rest of the women heptathletes were told by coach
Nielsen to try to vault over 6 feet...the learning
process took a while. Says Dragila, 'The first couple trillion times trying to
go over the bar were pretty frightening for me.'
Visit the site at:
http://www.stacydragila.com

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Book of the Week: Triathlon Training Basics by Gale Bernhardt
Triathlon Training Basics contains all the information that new triathletes need
in order to successfully complete a sprint or an
Olympic distance triathlon. Written by Gale Bernhardt, Triathlete columnist,
member of the USA Triathlon 2004 Olympic Team Selection
Committee, and certified Elite Level Triathlon and Cycling Coach trainer, the
book contains detailed training plans that are
tailored to different levels of fitness in each of the swim, bike, and run
categories. Strength training and stretching portions are
included to illustrate proper form and the last chapter deals with injury
prevention and treatment.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931382255/ref=ase_runnersweb/002-\
3784702-2544031?v=glance&s=books
[Long URL]

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. Multisport: Performance Enhancement Drugs…Should You Be Taking Them?
By Lance Tarr
Defining Ergogenic (Performance Enhancement) Aids:
Technically speaking, an assortment of definitions exists for ergogenic aids.
Wilmore and Costill offered, "An ergogenic aid is any
substance or phenomenon that enhances performance." Fox, Bowers, and Foss state,
"An ergogenic aid, simply defined, is any
substance, process, or procedure which may, or is perceived to, enhance
performance through improved strength, speed, response time,
or endurance of an athlete." Williams writes, "Scientific literature refers to
substances that athletes use to help enhance
performance as ergogenic aids, or sports ergogenics." And finally, no talk of
ergogenics would be complete without reference to the
"placebo effect." Wilmore and Costill defined it as "The phenomenon by which
your expectations of a substance determines your body's
response to it."
The history of ergogenic use dates to the ancient Olympics where stories of
warriors eating a lion's heart for courage, or deer
liver for speed have been reported. More recent history illustrates the health
risks associated with the use of ergogenic aids as in
the cases of Knut Jensen (cyclist in the 1960 Olympics) and Tommy Simpson
(cyclist in the 1967 Tour de France) who both died
secondary to amphetamine use during their respective competitions.
Some of the most popularly used ergogenics are anabolic steroids, growth
hormone, creatine, erythropoietin (EPO), glycerol, and
blood-boosting; the three former being primarily utilized by the strength /
power athlete, while the three latter have been applied
in enhancing performance of the endurance athlete. Needless to say, the list of
things we inject, inhale, ingest and absorb as well
as wear, use and apply in the hope of gaining some competitive edge, slowing the
aging process, or feeding the vanities that
sometimes plague us all, athlete or not, is long and varied.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041221_PRP_Ergogenics.html


2. Science of Sport: The Principles Of Periodization:
By Owen Anderson, Ph. D. - Copyright © 2002-2004
If you want to improve your performances, you can't train in the same way all
the time. If you did, your body would simply adapt to
the training you were conducting, your fitness would settle in at a fixed level,
and you could train vigorously, year after year,
without making one tittle of improvement. Hoping to perform better while
utilizing an unchanging training program is like expecting
to become highly skilled at calculus while working solely on the simple
equations encountered in first-year algebra.
Does that seem obvious? It should, but many athletes nonetheless follow the same
basic training plan, month after month, year after
year, and yet expect to achieve PBs. An incredible number of endurance runners,
for example, carry out speed work once a week,
complete a tempo run or hill effort once weekly, and hit a long run on the
weekend - throughout much of the training year! When
their performances don't improve significantly, they scratch their heads and
wonder what is wrong.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041224_RRN_Periodization.html


3. 3. Running: Shaking Up Treadmill Training :
Creative ways to make treadmill training interesting and more beneficial.
By Andrew Neugebauer, CTS Coach, Nike Farm Team
As the temperature starts to drop and the snow starts to fall, many runners
would rather put on a pair of running shorts and head
for the treadmill than layer up and brave the ice covered streets and frozen
extremities. Running on a treadmill has its advantages
and disadvantages. The training can be monotonous and downright boring. But it
doesn’t have to be this way. There are ways to make
training on a treadmill interesting and more beneficial.
Working out on a treadmill in a controlled environment is better than risking
injury while slipping along icy roads, plodding
through snow drifts or fighting gale-force winds. You can safely and effectively
complete your training program indoor. Whether it’s
a simple aerobic conditioning run, a specific interval session, tempo work,
fartlek or a precise hill session, it can be safely and
effectively completed on a treadmill. You can set training paces with great
precision enhancing your ability to carry out very
specific training. You can even complete a great amount of work at a goal race
pace without ever questioning whether you are getting
off your set velocity.
You can also dial in the grade for specific hill training. Depending on the
treadmill, it may be compatible with your Heart Rate
monitor. This would allow you to check your current HR on the front display.
Another option, you may want to look into is the
premier heart rate monitor technology - the Nike Triax Elite SDM. The Nike Triax
benefits your training in that it provides accurate
heart rate, lap time, split time, distance and pace information, helps you set
goals and build training plans, allows you to
download your workout data to a computer so that you and your coach can analyze
results and progress, and a features variety of
other high-tech benefits. A treadmill technological feature that may be more
intriguing than practical is aeromatherapy. This is a
great feature if you need a burst of jasmine to power you through your last
interval.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_CTS_20041224_Neugebauer.html


4. This is Your Life:
The Fountain of Youth is a myth. But take heart: Intelligent training and an
adventurous spirit will keep you running, kicking,
screaming at the peak of your potential for years to come.
The rest of your life starts now. It's true you can shape your destiny. But it
will require choosing one of two paths: 1) Muscles
turn to flab in your thirties, you get clumsy in your forties, weak in your
fifties, and by your sixties you're primed for heart
attacks and cancer. At 74, it's sayonara, sucka; you've just hit the average
life expectancy for an American male. 2) You're Vincent
Carnevale, 86, of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and you just ran your 500th race—your
500th race since turning 70, that is.
The choice is a no-brainer, right? So read on for our strategy to stay young
while you're young and for the long run.
(Your) 20s
BACK IN 1999, 20-year-old John Grossman, a part-time ski instructor, kayaker,
and all-around fun hog from Ketchum, Idaho, decided to
take up boardercross, that nutty mix of motocross and snowboarding. But during
the Swatch Boardercross at Colorado's Copper
Mountain, Grossman fell and badly dislocated his left shoulder. While he endured
a couple more seasons of downhill combat, he
ultimately came to a rather mature realization. "In some sports, you just hurt
yourself," he says. "It was too dangerous."
More...from Outside Magazine at:
http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200305/200305_your_life_1.html


5. The Weather Outside is Frightful - Cold Weather Running:
by Randall J. Brown, MHS, PT
From time to time one might ask themself: Would I rather freeze to death or
roast to death? My answer seems to vary predictably with
the season. In the winter, the last thing I want to do is to freeze to death
Read on and you'll understand why. You'll also learn how to protect yourself
from the cold while you're running outside. In short,
this article may help you to survive if you don't know Jack.... Jack Frost, that
is.
Where's the Thermostat?
- Humans as Homeotherms -
We humans must maintain our body's core temperature within relatively narrow
limits in order to stay alive (75-105 deg. F). Your
intelligent body wants to maintain its core temperature as close to your 98.6F
(37C) set point as it can. Therefore, when your body
is confronted with cold temperatures, it will shunt blood towards the core and
away from the extremities by constricting blood
vessels (vasoconstriction) in your limbs. Your body produces heat internally in
several forms: biochemical reactions (basal
metabolism), by shivering, and by vigorous activity.
Can You Say Hypothermia?
- The Dangers of Getting too Cold -
We know from experience that moderately cold environmental temperatures enhance
performance. Severely cold temperatures can
adversely effect our performance though, and prolonged exposure to the cold can
be deadly if hypothermia (the lowering of our core
temperature) occurs. Unlike acclimatization to the heat, the human body has no
adaptive ability to the cold except for mental
tolerance. Risk factors include people with low body fat, poor nutrition,
dehydration, and alcohol use. Hypothermia is categorized
as mild, moderate or severe.
More...from Marathon Training at:
http://www.marathontraining.com/articles/art_5th.html


6. Nutrition For Athletes - Fast Food's "Best Bets":
By Nancy Clark, MS, RD
Fast foods are here to stay, and thankfully many of today's quick-service
restaurants offer some healthful, low-fat options.
Athletes can actually choose a decent sport diet at most places if they make
wise choices.
It also is important to have on hand foods with supplemental carbohydrates, such
as apples, oranges, pretzels, fig cookies, bagels,
pitas, crackers, raisins, dried fruits, juice boxes, sports bars or granola
bars. That way, an athlete who succumbs to the fast and
fatty options at least is able to add on the carbohydrates the muscles need for
energy.
The best bets for fast-foods-that-fuel include the following options at
quick-service restaurants:
Best Fast Food Breakfast Bet:
McDonald's offers a tasty sports breakfast: pancakes/syrup, orange juice and
milk. Hot cocoa is an appealing choice for higher
carbohydrates than coffee. Or choose cold cereal, juice and a muffin or English
muffin with jelly.
Best Bagel Breakfast Bet:
Find a deli or bagel shop with whole-grain bagels, fresh fruit, juice and
yogurt. A little low-fat cream cheese and/or jam can
complete the meal.
More...from VAAM at:
http://www.vaam-energy.com/fast_food.html


7. Athletics: The Marathon - How To Train Smarter and Run Faster:
By Ben Wisbey
When you set yourself a goal to complete a particular event or do a particular
time for a given distance, it is not just about
getting yourself to peak physical fitness to compete in the event. There is
another side to completing your goal.
Have you ever watched somebody doing a race? I have seen so many people miss
their time goal because of poor pacing; aiming to break
25 minutes for 5km for example, by doing the first kilometer in 4:30, and then
quickly fading because they spend their energy too
early.
Then there are injuries. Injuries don't just happen. They are generally a result
of poor training technique or lack of recovery,
stability and flexibility.
This article will hopefully give a head start to all beginning runners, and even
answer some of those mysteries for the so called
experienced runner.
Basic Training Principles
General coaching or training principles are divided into 5 basic rules. While
these rules do not provide all the answers, they do
provide a solid base knowledge that will help all runners when applied
correctly.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041220_VAAM_Marathon.html


8. Eat what you want, but don't neglect exercise:
Some recommend specific activities to burn off indulgences.
Hankering for another slice of fruitcake? Hoping it doesn't go to your hips?
Better start twiddling your thumbs, tapping your feet
and talking with your hands.
That's because fidgeting burns calories -- as many as several hundred a day. And
since you probably won't eat fewer treats during
the holidays, it's time to start thinking about how you're going to move more.
We're not talking about extra trips to the gym, and nobody expects you to get
buff by January. But add some effort to your daily
routine and you might also be able to add that second slice of fruitcake.
One reason so many people gain weight this time of year is that they focus only
on what not to eat while ignoring what they should
be doing -- anything that ups their physical activity.
Something as simple as a 10-minute walk -- even at the mall -- can burn as much
as 100 calories. And researchers have found that
people who remain active during the holidays are the least likely to gain
weight.
"That suggests you can get away with eating the way you want to if you continue
exercising," said Amy O'Connor, deputy editor of
Prevention magazine. "The problem is you stop exercising and you overeat."
Take it one step at a time, literally, says Ann Yelmokas McDermott, a nutrition
scientist at Tufts University. Park your car at the
far end of the lot, skip the elevator, and carry your bundles to the car -- it's
cardio- and weight-training in one.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/12/20/holiday.exercise.ap/index.html


9. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
"Many good runners just don't realize how slow they need to run on their easy
days. They don't know how to rest and get the recovery
they need. This creates a chronic glycogen deficit in the muscles, which
inevitably leads to poor workouts and sub-par races. To
adapt to hard training and to improve, you must sprinkle in plenty of easy
running. Or take a day off to recharge your batteries." -
Coach Roy Benson

* Injury Prevention
Hip Hikers: The buttocks and hip muscles control and stabilize the pelvis and
hip joint during the touchdown and takeoff phases of
the running stride. Hip hikers strengthen these muscles and ultimately prevent
unnecessary hip motion, improving your running
economy.
Stand sideways on a step or low bench with your weight on your left leg and your
right leg unsupported over the edge of the step.
Keep both knees locked so that your legs are perfectly straight throughout the
exercise. Lower your right heel toward the floor by
tilting your right hip down. Don't bend your left leg at the knee! Then raise or
"hike" your right hip as high as it will go. Lower
and raise the right hip 12 times before switching to the left hip. Perform two
sets with each hip twice weekly, on nonconsecutive
days.

* Performance Nutrition
Eggnog: Go for store-bought, low-fat eggnog. It has half the fat and calories of
the regular kind, plus you get almost 20 percent of
the RDA for calcium in a one-cup serving.


10. Acupuncture 'works for arthritis':
A major study of the effect of acupuncture on osteoarthritis of the knee has
found it can both relieve pain and improve movement.
The US National Institutes of Health study concludes acupuncture is an effective
complement to standard care.
Acupuncture patients showed a 40% decrease in pain, and a nearly 40% improvement
in knee function.
Details of the study, which involved 570 patients, are published in Annals of
Internal Medicine.
The patients who took part in the study received either acupuncture, sham
acupuncture or guidance on self-help, alongside standard
drug treatment.
Sham acupuncture is a procedure designed to prevent patients from being able to
detect if needles are actually inserted at treatment
points.
Researcher Dr Stephen Strauss, director of the US National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, said: "For the first
time, a clinical trial with sufficient rigour, size, and duration has shown that
acupuncture reduces the pain and functional
impairment of osteoarthritis of the knee.
"These results also indicate that acupuncture can serve as an effective addition
to a standard regimen of care and improve quality
of life for knee osteoarthritis sufferers."
More...from the BBC at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4111047.stm


11. Gaining The Winter Running Edge:
When the days get shorter, snow and sleet are not far away. With the prospect of
poor footing and several months until spring, many
runners make winter running a low priority. If you are serious about your racing
in the warmer months, however, the winter is a
critical portion of your yearly running plan. Winter running can give you a
competitive advantage over your weaker-willed
competition. While they come up with excuses why not to run (too dark, too
slippery, too windy, too cold), you have the opportunity
to develop an edge that will serve you well when racing season arrives.
During the winter you lay a foundation of endurance that you can draw upon
during the rest of the year. World-class runners such as
Paula Radcliffe divide the training year into chunks each with a specific
purpose, and credit their summer successes to the many
miles of training they put in over the winter. Forty years ago, famed New
Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard demonstrated the importance
of developing a solid aerobic base during the winter. With a winter’s training
behind you, you can reduce your mileage during the
racing season to achieve your best performances.
More...from Peter Pfitzinger at:
http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/winter.shtml


12. Do you need extra Vitamin C and E?
During exercise there is an increased production of free radicals, which are
harmful chemicals that can damage cell membranes. Their
formation may play an important role in causing exercise-induced muscle damage.
It is now widely accepted that certain antioxidant vitamins, in particular
vitamin C and E, can neutralise these free radicals. This
has lead to the belief that supplementation with these vitamins is an effective
intervention strategy.
Findings of previous research:
Several studies have examined whether supplementation of these can reduce
exercise-induced free radical production and muscle
damage.
To date, four studies have reported reduced signs of free radical formation
after exercise. However, 2 other studies have reported
no change, therefore the effectiveness of vitamin supplementation on reducing
exercise-induced muscle damage has not been
consistently demonstrated.
The latest update:
These previous studies have used indirect measures of muscle damage. A more
recent study published in 2002 investigated the effect
of vitamin C and E supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage by using a
direct measure of muscle damage to help clarify some
of the conflicting findings.
Additionally, they used well-trained subjects exercising at competition
intensities rather than laboratory-based submaximal test
protocols.
The majority of previous studies primarily used untrained or recreationally
active persons. Free radical formation is likely to be
greater in persons who engage in regular, high volumes of aerobic training at
higher intensities. As a result, well-trained athletes
would stand to derive most benefit from vitamin supplementation, IF exercise
induced muscle damage could be reduced by this means.
Fifteen well-trained male runners received a supplement containing 500mg vitamin
C and 500 IU vitamin E per day for four weeks. They
then performed a 21 km run in as fast a time as possible. A four-week “wash-out”
period was allowed and the whole procedure was
repeated, however this time the vitamin dose was doubled to 1000 mg vitamin C
and 1000 IU vitamin E per day for four weeks followed
by a 21 km performance run.
More...from the World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/runnersguide/training_column.asp?a_id=629433&st_name\
=AchievingPersonalBest
[Long URL]


13. Science of Sport: Free Radical Scavenger Formula Demonstrates Enhanced
Athletic Performance in Independent Pepperdine University
Clinical Trial:
Santa Barbara, CA - A clinical trial conducted by Pepperdine University revealed
a dramatic improvement in time trial performance by
elite cyclists as a result of the daily intake of FRS Plus, a breakthrough Free
Radical Scavenger antioxidant supplement beverage.
The researchers concluded that FRS Plus significantly boosted peak performance
and markedly enhanced endurance in 11 elite cyclists.
"Exercise performance changes of 1-4% are significant and usually mean the
difference between winning and losing. FRS Plus yielded a
3.1% improvement, which is impressive, especially in highly trained elite
athletes," observes Holden S.H. MacRae, PhD, Principal
Investigator and Professor of Sports Medicine at Pepperdine University.
"Muscular exercise promotes the production of free radicals
that contribute to muscle fatigue. Daily use of FRS Plus notably improved
endurance exercise performance by minimizing fatigue.
These findings suggest that FRS Plus may also improve recovery time and reduce
the inflammation associated with high intensity
exercise. Subjects performing high intensity 30 km time trials demonstrated
sustained increases in muscle power output and whole
body gross mechanical efficiency, thereby completing the trial in a
significantly faster time."
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20041222_FRS_Pepperdine.html


14. Can Too Much Exercise Make Athletes Sick?
David C. Nieman, Dr. P.H.
A common perception exists that overtraining or participation in lengthy
endurance type events will cause athletes to become ill. In
fact, results from a survey conducted by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute
show that nearly 90 percent of 2,700 high school and
collegiate coaches and athletic trainers believe that overtraining can
compromise the immune system and make athletes sick.
But can too much exercise really make you ill? A study conducted at the Los
Angeles Marathon reveals that this may be the case.
Results show that:
One out of seven runners who participated in the event got sick after it was
over.
Runners training more than 60 miles a week during the two months before the
race, doubled their odds for sickness compared to those
training less than 20 miles a week.
But regular moderate training also appears to provide protection against colds.
Eighty percent of fitness enthusiasts, for instance,
reported in a recent survey that they have fewer colds than their inactive
peers.
So what’s a coach to think?
Too Much Exercise Suppresses Immune Function
Although moderate exercise may help protect athletes from sickness, training for
too long at too high an intensity appears to make
athletes more susceptible to illness. Laboratory research shows that athletes
exercising at a high intensity for 90 minutes or more
experience a steep drop in immune function that can last up to 24 hours. The
drop in immune function appears to be caused by the
elevation of stress hormones released during and following heavy exertion. This
is what exercise immunologists believe allows
viruses already in the body to spread and gain a foothold.
More...from GSSI Web at:
http://www.gssiweb.com/reflib/refs/697/HS_05.cfm


15. Five ways to prepare your body (and mind) for your next triathlon:
One of the most important principles of triathlon training is the principle of
specificity. This principle states that you can't
become a better swimmer, cyclist, or runner by chopping wood.
In other words, your training should closely model the various circumstances of
racing, because only by doing this can you stimulate
the physical adaptations needed to prepare your body for an optimal race effort.
The principle of specificity should shape your entire training program. But in
this article, I would like to discuss five special
race-preparation measures that are underutilized even among triathletes who
train sensibly overall.
Race pace workouts
The body tends to adapt to the precise work intensities it is challenged to
maintain in workouts. The more time you spend training
at a given intensity level (up to a point), the more efficiently your body will
be able to work at this level.
So, in order to adapt optimally to your goal race pace in each leg of a
triathlon, you should do a certain amount of training at
this pace.
More...from Active.com at:
http://active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11277&sidebar=26&category=triathlon


16. Training with Others:
By Coach Mark
My Personal Experience
In the late eighties/early nineties I attended Otago University in Dunedin. At
the time I was pretty keen on running and the Hill
City Club in Dunedin had a bunch of young guys running for it - some of who were
all fairly talented to say the least. A couple had
represented New Zealand at junior level, all were provincial representatives and
a few went on to represent New Zealand at senior
level. What a fantastic opportunity to improve my running - train hard with the
top guys and I'd become a legend!
Well, to cut a long story short, it didn't quite work out like that. Training
with these guys was, for me, like racing. I would be
hanging on the back of the bunch, nearly sucking my fillings out with each
breath, and my legs would be aching while these guys were
laughing and being idiots while running around the Ross Creek tracks at six
minute mile pace! It definitely wasn't the right kind of
training for me. My long aerobic runs nearly destroyed me, and on top of this I
was left with barely enough energy to do my quality
training.
One of the guys owned a heart rate monitor so I borrowed it and started toying
around with it. At the time I was studying Physical
Education so decided to put a few theories into practice. My long easy runs
became solo affairs at a heart rate I could hold a
sustained conversation at.
The outcome of the change in training was a huge improvement in performance. I
could complete and recover far better from my long
runs, and my quality sessions were better as I wasn't so tired before these
sessions. The improved training I was doing enabled also
enabled me to race better - I managed to win team medals at national level as
part of the Otago senior men's cross country team and
as part of the Hill City senior road relay team. By not training with my mates I
was able to race with them, which was far more
rewarding than doing it the other way around.
More...from Endurance Coach at:
http://www.endurancecoach.com/Training_with_Others.htm


17. "Sleep on it" Works:
Dreams appear a kind of treatment for resolving problems.
"Sleep on it" appears to be good advice for working through personal problems,
according to a new study on dreams that occur for up
to a week after a memorable event.
Canadian researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of
Montreal provided support for the age-old advice with the
help of 470 psychology students.
The students recalled dreams at home for one week, then selected their most
recent dream and recalled events related to it from one
to seven days prior. They then rated the extent of correspondence between the
events and the dreams. The researchers evaluated
whether the dreams incorporating the events reflected problem-solving activity.
More...from Better Humans at:
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-12-22-2


18. Study: Fit but fat not good enough:
Excess weight can take years off your life despite exercise.
Being fit but fat isn't good enough. Excess weight, all by itself, can take
years off your life, even if you get plenty of exercise,
a study found.
"There has been some suggestion that if you are particularly active, you don't
have to worry about your body weight, about your
diet. That's very misleading," said the report's lead author, Dr. Frank Hu of
the Harvard School of Public Health.
The study of 116,500 women was published in Thursday's New England Journal of
Medicine and was based on questionnaires used in the
Nurses' Health Study, which has followed female nurses since 1976, and on death
certificates and medical records.
Women who were physically active but obese had almost twice the risk of death of
women who were both active and lean. Women who were
sedentary but slender were 55 percent more likely to die. Women who were both
sedentary and obese were almost 2 1/2 times more
likely to die.
"Being physically active did not cancel out the increased mortality of
overweight. Being lean did not counterbalance the risk effect
of being sedentary," Hu said.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/12/22/toned.and.trim.ap/index.html



19. Surviving Flu Season:
By Fabio Comana, M.A., M.S.
Flu season is upon us and once again we are being bombarded with information
touting dozens of products as miraculous remedies for
colds and the flu. While we hope to maintain our health this winter, gaining
more knowledge about these illnesses may assist us in
making wiser choices should we become ill.
Are colds and influenza one and the same?
Each season, millions of Americans get sick and never know which of the dreaded
ailments they have. Both colds and influenza are
viral infections; however influenza is an acute, more severe respiratory
infection caused by a variety of viruses. Scientists have
classified viruses into three basic types, although each specific type basically
affects the body in a similar fashion. Type A is
the most prevalent and associated with the most serious epidemics. Type B
outbreaks can also reach epidemic levels, but the disease
it produces is normally milder than that caused by type A. Type C viruses on the
other hand have never been associated with large
epidemic outbreaks. The prevalence of strains exists in cycles. These viruses
generally sweep through communities during the winter
months and can affect a large percentage of the population.
More...from ACE at:
http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=564


20. Stress and disease may be linked, but how strongly?
Although chronic stress has been linked to premature aging, heart attacks and
depression, its physical effects are still largely
unknown.
It's become a popular notion that chronic stress can have a wide range of
medical consequences, from raising your blood pressure to
causing cancer. And this has prompted many Americans to attempt to "de-stress"
by taking up such practices as meditation, running or
yoga.
The potential hazards of chronic stress were highlighted again when California
scientists reported two weeks ago that they had found
the first direct link between emotional stress and cellular changes associated
with premature aging.
But before you stress out about the ill effects of stress, here's something you
need to know: Many of the biochemical links between
feeling stressed and getting sick are still unknown. And stress clearly doesn't
cause everything.
"For a long time, people believed that stress caused cancer. It's not true,"
said psychologist Barrie Cassileth, chief of the
integrative medicine service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New
York City. Several studies have looked at people who
have lost a child, been in concentration camps or psychiatric wards, or who were
prisoners of war — and found no link between those
stressful situations and cancer.
Other studies, however, have found a link between chronic stress and a higher
risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and
insomnia, said Dr. Herbert Benson, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute
and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School. Stress is also associated with more intense hot flashes, a lower
threshold for pain, and increased anxiety,
depression, excessive anger and hostility.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-stress20dec20,1,971723.column?coll=\
la-headlines-health


21. Leanness not Enough for Longevity:
Body fat and physical activity are independent predictors of premature death in
women.
Being thin doesn't necessarily mean living long, suggests research showing that
low body fat and regular physical activity
independently affect mortality.
American researchers from the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of
Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in
Massachusetts have found that increased body fatness measured by body mass index
(BMI) and reduced physical activity are strong and
independent predictors of premature death in women.
The findings come from the Brigham and Women's Hospital-based Nurses' Health
Study and are based on more than 115,000 women aged 30
to 55 who were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer and completed biennial
health and lifestyle questionnaires between 1976 and
2000.
The women reported how often per week they spent on moderate physical activities
such as brisk walking and vigorous physical
activities such as jogging. Those who spent 3.5 hours per week or more
exercising were considered physically active.
More...from BetterHumans at:
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-12-23-4


22. The 100 Best Trainers in America:
If you've ever tried to pick a trainer, you know that there is no Zagat guide
that tells you which ones are the very best. That is,
until now. This summer Men's Journal polled 11,000 certified trainers in the 20
largest cities in the country. After we tallied the
votes, we got off almost a thousand phone calls and e-mails to researchers,
fitness directors, gym managers, doctors, and physical
therapists to double- and triple-check the nominees. Here's the definitive list
of America's top fitness gurus.
More...from the Men's Journal at:
http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0412/poll_trainer.html


23. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine: (http://www.drmirkin.com)
* New Theory on Lactic Acid
A study from Australia shows that lactic acid buildup in muscles does not make
muscles tired and may even make muscle contract more
efficiently, which may increase your endurance (Science, August 26, 2004). This
startling research contradicts what most
instructors teach in their exercise classes. When you exercise, your muscles
burn sugar, fat or protein in the presence of oxygen to
produce energy. If you exercise so intensely that you become very short of
breath and your muscles can't get enough oxygen, lactic
acid accumulates in your muscle fibers.
The old theory was that lactic acid makes the muscles more acidic which causes
them to hurt and burn and interferes with their
ability to contract, so you feel tired. This new research shows that rat's
muscles contact more efficiently when lactic acid
accumulates in them. Electric currents cause muscles to contract. This
electricity is generated by cell membranes causing
potassium to move inside cells and chloride ions to stay outside. With vigorous
exercise, potassium ions accumulate outside cells.
As large amounts of potassium ions accumulate
outside cells, electricity is not generated and the cells cannot contract.
Another ion called chloride accumulates outside cells
and prevents potassium from getting back inside cells. Lactic acid removes the
chloride, so it is easier for potassium to get back
inside cells. Therefore lactic acid increases the ratio of potassium inside
cells to the amount outside, and this helps the muscle
contract with more efficiency.
While this new concept of how muscles use lactic acid for energy is reasonable,
it is not likely to change the way athletes train or
the way exercisers become more fit. Healthy people are supposed to exercise
vigorously and feel a burn in their muscles during
exercise, which signifies buildup of lactic acid in muscles. They feel sore on
the next day, go easy for as many days as it takes
for muscles to feel fresh again, and then exercise intensely again.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: How can I exercise with severe osteoarthritis in my knees?
When you complain that your knees hurt, your doctor tries to find a cause. If he
can't find a cause, he tells you that you have
osteoarthritis. We don't have the foggiest idea what causes osteoarthritis and
there is no effective treatment except pain
medicines. The knee is two bones held together by four bands called ligaments,
and the ends of bones are protected by thick gristle
called cartilage. Osteoarthritis damages cartilage so it does not fit properly,
making the knees unstable. Strengthening the muscles
around the joint stabilizes the knee to allow less movement at the joint,
increasing function and decreasing pain.
The most important part of a rehabilitation program for people with damaged
knees is to strengthen the muscles of the upper leg that
control the knee. However, pain and swelling often prevent people with severe
knee arthritis from exercising their knees at all.
Isometric strength training means to contract your muscles against an object
that doesn't move, such as to push as hard as you can
against a wall. If you place a resistance that does not move against the front
of the ankles and contract your quad muscles in the
front of your upper legs very hard, you can
strengthen the quad muscles without moving your legs.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: How many miles should I run each week to prepare for a
marathon?
Many marathon runners think that they have to run 100 miles a week to compete
successfully, but most will be able to run a marathon
faster if they run fewer than 50 miles a week. Top marathon runners can run 100
miles a week and not be injured because of their
superior genes. When most runners try to run 100 miles a week, they run too
slowly in practice, and as a result, run too slowly in
races.
To be able to compete successfully in any sport that requires speed, you have to
train at a very fast pace. For runners, training at
race pace or faster is far more important than how many miles they run. However,
it takes time to recover after running fast, so
most top runners are able to run very fast only once or twice a week. Most top
marathon runners run very fast twice a week and long
once a week. These three workouts form the basis for their training. All of the
other workouts are done at a slower pace and should
not be so fast or long that they leave you
too tired to get through your three important training workouts.
A typical training schedule for a top marathon runner includes two workouts a
day on weekdays and single workouts on weekends. They
run very fast on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and long on Sunday. They run at
a slower pace on weekday mornings and Monday,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons.


24. Cold-weather ride strategy and gear list:
Fall and winter predators are lurking to steal your summer fitness. These
predators are sneaky. Before you know it, they can rob you
of your endurance, strength and motivation.
What predators lurk and is there anything that can stop them?
The biggest robbers of summer fitness are shorter days and colder temperatures.
Most endurance athletes love the long summer days
and find it tough to get motivated to train in dark or cold conditions.
For athletes working an eight-hour daytime job, outdoor workouts in the winter
mean dark routes with invisible hazards and cold
conditions.
On weekends, some athletes cannot force themselves to go for a long bike ride in
temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead
of talking yourself out of fall and winter training, design a purposeful weekday
routine and consider investing in new cycling gear.
A good strategy for weekdays is to keep individual workouts less than an hour
long. Keeping workouts less than 60 minutes is as much
for mental fitness as it is physical fitness.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11285&sidebar=21&category=cycling


25. News Scan:
* Stronger abdominals without the crunches
Crunches are not the only way to strengthen the abdominal muscles. An
alternative move is called the plank. Here it is done with the
variation of raising one leg. Not only will you strengthen your arms and legs,
you will feel your midsection get stronger — without
having to lie on your back for a set of crunches.
1 Kneel on a mat and place your hands directly below your shoulders with your
fingers pointing forward. Straighten one leg at a time
behind you. Your feet should be about 6 to 8 inches apart and your toes curled
under. While balancing on your hands and feet, focus
on forming a straight line with your body. Gaze forward and be sure that you
lower your hips and lift your waist at the same time.
Think of pushing the floor away from you with your arms. Stretch out through the
crown of your head and keep your shoulders moving
down away from your ears. Hold this position for three breaths. Release by
bending your knees to the floor or move on to the more
advanced leg raise.
2 Without changing your arm position, push out through your heels and tighten
your front thigh muscles. Shift your weight to your
right foot. Slowly raise your left leg off the floor. Maintain the same body
positioning as in the first step and hold for two
breaths. Lower your left leg, shift weight to your left foot and lift your right
leg. Hold for two breaths and release.
— Karen Voight, LA Times

* Minus 3- Degree Wind Chill
All should watch out for signs of hypothermia -- a danger even when only face or
hands are exposed with these kind of winds, Mr.
Storey said. Signs can include feelings of dehydration and tingly fingers.
"Most at risk are runners or those exerting outside," he said. "You can
dehydrate yourself by sucking in cold, dry air that you then
have to moisturize and warm up and expel, only to pull in more dry air and start
all over. This can do damage to the lining of your
nose, mouth and lungs -- "burn" your lungs."

* Risks of Hormone-filled Meats
When buying hamburger or milk at the grocery store, do you ever consider the
unlisted ingredients? Common hormones given to cows
include trenbolone acetate, zeranol, 17 beta-estradiol, melengestrol acetate,
and others. Because of these hormones, particularly
the fact that 17 beta-estradiol is a "complete carcinogen," the European Union
actually bans importation of American and Canadian
beef.
Hormones are used to increase milk and beef productivity, but FDA prohibits
their use on calves, particularly in the production of
veal. Due to differing metabolic processes, hormone-filled calves may not
process hormones in the same way. As a result, those who
eat veal may consume dangerous amounts of hormones.
Unfortunately, up to 90 percent of calves in the veal industry have been
illegally dosed with these hormones.
To find where to buy hormone-free meats, you can search on www.eatwellguide.org.
Enter your zip code, and it will show you the
nearest place to buy "wholesome food from healthy animals."

* Big Picture: It's not just the holiday meal
This time of year when our focus is on special holiday meals, many of us lose
sight of the bigger picture that there are three meals
a day, every day. Instead, we plan (and re-plan) our holiday menu, make our
grocery list, and try to come up with a fabulously
delicious (and healthy!) holiday meal that will be consumed by our guests with
complete delight. Meanwhile we are having other
meals "on the go" while we wait in lines, wrap presents, address holiday cards,
etc. It's a classic situation of missing the event
(days upon days of meals), because we were so busy preparing for the event (the
holiday meal)!
Here are five goals you might aim for between now and the New Year. Pledge to
follow one, or all, and see if you feel a difference:
I will wear clothes that have a fitted waistband. This means no sweats or
stretchable knits.
Excluding holiday buffets, I will not eat standing up (at the kitchen counter,
walking through the mall, decorating the tree, etc.).
I will not eat (anything!) in front of the television. If I am hungry, I have
to turn the show off.
I will add a few healthy snacks and quick meal items to my holiday grocery list
so that I can avoid the ease of buying a pizza or
picking up take-out for non-holiday meals.
If I drink alcohol, or other caloric drinks (eggnog, juices, sodas, premium
coffee drinks, etc.), I will rotate each "caloric drink"
with a "no-calorie drink" (water, iced or hot tea, coffee, diet beverages).
Finally, the other side of the equation: activity. Let's be honest. Unless we
are buying weight sets, carrying shopping bags
through the mall probably doesn't count. Schedule time for at least a little
bit (20-30 minutes) of focused physical activity every
day. The movement will reduce your stress level, and increase your energy.
Truly, we don't have to exercise a lot to make a
difference. As Dr. Cooper likes to say, "Walk the dog, even if you don't have
one." Happy Holidays!
Jill Turner is the director of operations for Cooper Concepts, Inc., a division
of The Cooper Aerobics Center. We started following
Jill's journey to wellness in May 2003 when she disclosed that she is an average
40-year-old woman striving to become more healthy
and fit.




*End of Articles*

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

December 26, 2004:
Run for the Ranch Marathon - Springfield, MO
http://omrr.tripod.com/featuredrace.htm

December 31, 2004:
Emerald Nuts Midnight Run - New York, NY
http://www.nyrr.org/race/2004/r1231x00.html

Midnight 2 Mile Run - Sacramento, CA
http://www.rungoldmedal.com

New Year's Eve 8 & 12 Hour Runs - North Waterloo, ON
http://www.conquerthecanuck.com/Can%20Page%20Views/new_yrs_eve.pdf

December 31 - January 2, 2004:
Running Times Guide to New Year's Races
http://www.runningtimes.com/special/05nyraces.htm

January 1, 2005:
Redding Marathon - CA
http://reddingmarathon.sweatrc.com

St. Croix International Marathon - VI
http://www.virginislandspace.org/StCroixMarathonEntry.htm

Texas Marathon - Kingwood, TX
http://www.50statesmarathonclub.com/texas2005.html

January 2, 2005:
First Light Marathon - Mobile, AL
http://www.firstlightmarathon.com

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


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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Runner's Web
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TriSwim Coach - The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming
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adidas' running apparel at 15% off! All running shorts, pants, and
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If you have an accident while running or cycling, do you want your
family to be contacted? Do you want to receive immediate and
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The TRACK PROFILE Reader 2004, an in-depth review of the 2003 season
by Bob Ramsak, is now available. Selected from hundreds of
reports filed by the Track Profile News Service last year, The TRACK
PROFILE READER provides a unique look back at the
personalities, stories and events that defined track and field in
2003. With in depth profiles of the sport's biggest stars and
comprehensive on-site reports from major competitions, this annual
review takes the reader beyond the results, providing a perfect
companion for casual and
diehard fans alike. Check out the book at:
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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.
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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
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END...OF DIGEST...