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Dave Scott Clinic in Ottawa.
RunnersWeb.com and TriathlonOttawa.com are excited to announce that Ironman
legend Dave Scott is coming to Ottawa for a clinic and
speaking engagement on April 1-3, 2005.
Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in Canada, and there is no
personality in triathlon with a higher profile than Dave
Scott. The six-time Hawaii Ironman World Champion was the first person elected
to the Ironman Hall of Fame and remains very active
in the sport today as a coach, writer and author.
Scott's visit to Ottawa will be see him work closely with a group of 25
triathletes during the weekend clinic, covering all elements
of the sport through both active and lecture sessions. For full details please
visit
http://www.triathlonottawa.com.
About TriathlonOttawa
TriathlonOttawa.com is a local organization in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada dedicated
to the growth of triathlon and physical fitness in
the region, through the provision of resources, training and educational
opportunities.

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Runner's and Triathlete's Web Content Partners:

* Sports Nutrition 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
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* WatsonLifeSport
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This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:
We have ONE personal posting this week.

Please support me in raising funds for the Loeb Fundrace for The Ottawa Hospital
Foundation, the fundraising part of the National
Capital Race Weekend.
One in two people in Eastern Ontario will be touched by The Ottawa Hospital this
year. Our hospital faces many urgent challenges
including the replacement of outdated facilities and equipment to better serve
our community.
You can help by sponsoring me for the Loeb Fundrace. To date, fundraising
efforts during Race Weekend have raised over $3.5 million
for the Hospital.
Your donation will help ensure that the Hospital is ready when you and your
loved ones need it most!
Click on the link below to go to my personal donation page and make a secure
online donation.
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/StartUp.aspx?SID=339025
Thanks,
Liz Maguire
[Editor's Note: Liz is a 2:59 marathoner and a member of the Ottawa Athletic
Club Racing Team. Last weekend she placed third in the
Hamilton Around the Bay 30K Road Race]


This Week's Digest Article Index:

1. Science of Sport: Muscle Fibre Typing
2. Sportsmedicine: Knee Pain, Knee Injuries and Iliotibial Band Syndrome
3. Science of Sport: Female cyclists health and nutrition
A guide to the proper care and feeding of female cyclists.
4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Boston and Beyond
6. Running with the Kenyans
7. Olympic Marathon - A Centennial History of the Games' Most Storied Race
8. Spend Time on the Track
9. Multisport: Progressive, Gradual, and Quantifiable - The Training Process
10. Science of Sport: Warm up exercises: your old-style warm-up exercises may
need updating
11. "Organize your strength program to become a better triathlete" by Michael
Silva, MS, PT, CSCS
12. Running's Greatest Bloopers.
True stories of chaos on the roads, tracks and trails of the world.
13. From Runner's World
14. The Hardest Road
15. Can too much exercise make you sick?
16. Fitness Test for Overtraining
17. When It Comes to Chocolate, Order Dark, Not White
18. Fast track to longevity
Mouse study shows molecular connections between caloric restriction and lifespan
extension.
19. Running Forever
Tips and techniques to outrun the distance runner’s greatest opponent: aging and
its grinding effect on the body.
20. What's the big deal with pool running?
21. What's Good for the Heart Is Good for the Head
22. The Difference Between Steroids and Ritalin Is ...
23. Modern cold medicines: same stuff, new packages
24. Physical, Emotional Stress Raise Heart Risks
Researchers Say Physical and Emotional Stress Can Trigger Chest Pain in
High-Risk People.
25. News Scan - A Collection of News Items


Runner's Web Weekly Poll: "In which of the following events will you compete
this year:
Adventure Race
Cycling - Mountain
Cycling - Road
Running - Marathon
Running - Road race
Running - Track
Triathlon- Ironman
Triathlon - Olympic
Triathlon - Sprint?"

You can access the poll from our FrontPage as well as voting on and/or checking
the results of previous polls.
Post your views in our Forum at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/runnersweb_forum.html
[Free Registration Required]

Last week's poll was "When training for a marathon, how far is your longest
run?"
The results at publication time were:

Answers Votes Percent
1. 26.2 miles 6 4%
2. 20 - 26.2 miles 73 53%
3. 15 - 20 miles 37 27%
4. 10 - 15 miles 6 4%
5. < 10 miles 4 3%
6. Don't run marathons 11 8%
Total Votes: 137

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Five Star Site of the Week: Marla Streb, Home to a World Champion Biker
Marla Streb - Mountain Biking
It’s been said over and over again: Marla Streb is one big contradiction. She’s
exceptionally intelligent, but she’s chosen a career
that sometimes forces her to “turn the brain off.” She loves East Coast
edginess, but she thrives on the West Coast’s possibilities.
She’s been touted as fearless, but she can’t stand to be alone in the dark.
She’s photogenic and sophisticated, muddy and callused,
older and wiser and intense and indifferent.
She’s got all the complexities of a full-fledged grown-up. Just about the
coolest grown-up you’d ever want to meet. Marla Streb is
the kind of person you’d really like to get to know – if you could ever catch up
with her. And she’s also hell on a mountain bike.
Music to Microbes to Mountain Bikes
Streb’s road to maturity, and mountain bike superstardom, was anything but
direct. She grew up near Baltimore, roughhousing with
four brothers when she wasn’t demonstrating perfect pitch on the piano. Despite
some serious roughhousing in college, she sailed
through a Master’s Degree in molecular biology from the University of Maryland.
In the midst of it all, she joined pal Mark
Fitzgerald on a bicycle tour of Europe, then returned home and took a job as a
bike messenger. The job didn’t last long, but she
would come back to bikes. She’d come back to Fitzgerald, too.
Check out her site at:
http://www.marlastreb.com/default.html


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: Dave Scott's Triathlon Training
A complete training manual for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced
triathlete. The book was written in 1986, and you'll find
the pictures of people on bicycles look outdated, but there's nothing outdated
about the advice and training philosophies Scott lays
out.
The book contains excellent sections on technique in all three sports -
swimming, cycling, and running. Scott, like many others,
defines five levels of training, which he terms "Explosive Speed," "Speed Race,"
"VO2," "Anaerobic Threshold," and "Distance."
Although many triathletes will want to use heart rate to judge their "zones"
these days, Scott uses an equally easily measurable
concept, based on paces determined by periodic time trials in the different
sports, which are used to both measure your progress and
to determine your training paces for the different levels. Scott uses these
levels to lay out both short-term and long-term "cycles"
of training. Also included is an extensive section, with many pictures, devoted
to weight training and stretching.
Scott also discusses diet at length, explaining the traditional high-carb
philosophy which served him so well, and also going into
great detail on the importance (or lack thereof) of a huge number of vitamins
and minerals.
All in all an excellent book, clearly written, easy to follow, and highly
recommended.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671604732/runnersweb/104-0387239-8055152\
?v=glance&s=books

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:

1. Science of Sport: Muscle Fibre Typing:
Way back in the dark days of exercise physiology, muscle cells were divided into
three types: Type 1 ("slow twitch"), Type 2a ("fast
twitch"), and Type 2b ("even faster twitch"). It was commonly believed that
successful distance runners' muscles were biased toward
Type-1 muscle cells, while highly competitive sprinters featured a
disproportionate number of Type-2b fibers.
Indeed, research revealed that about 75% of the muscle cells in the thighs of
good-quality long-distance runners were Type 1, while
25% were Type 2a; poor-old Type 2b was seldom seen, perhaps blasted out of the
sinews by high-volume training (1). In contrast, good
middle-distance runners were found to have a bit less Type-1 and a few more
Type-2a cells, with some 2bs thrown in for good measure.
A very typical middle-distance make-up was 64% Type 1, 32% Type 2a, and 4% Type
2b, for example (2). Meanwhile, successful sprinters
tended to check in with approximately 30% Type-1, 50% Type-2a, and 20% Type-2-b
fibers (3).
With this sort of scientific data available, some coaches, sports authorities,
and journalists became interested in the idea that
one could cull the best future distance runners and sprinters from a group of
young athletes (or even from a crowd waiting for a
bus) by taking biopsy samples from their leg muscles. Find a fellow with 95%
Type-1 fibers, for example, and you had the makings of
an Olympic marathoner. Retrieve a young woman with 20% or more Type-2b cells in
her leg muscles, and you had the makings of a great
sprinter, at least in theory. In addition, many believed that runners who had
trouble deciding on their "best" distance for racing
could check into a clinic or university lab, have some muscle fibers extracted,
and almost instantly find out if they were cut from
800-meter or 5-K cloth.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050325_RRN_Fibre_Types.html


2. Sportsmedicine: Knee Pain, Knee Injuries and Iliotibial Band Syndrome:
A Guide to the Treatment and Prevention of Knee Injuries and Iliotibial Band
Syndrome
Knee pain and knee injuries, as a result of Iliotibial Band Syndrome, can be an
extremely painful and frustrating injury that puts a
big strain on both the knee and hip joints.
Knee injuries are very common among runners and cyclists. However, they doesn't
usually occur in an instant, like a hamstring strain
or groin pull, but commonly starts off as a twinge or niggle, and progress
quickly to a debilitating sports injury that can sideline
the best of us for weeks.
For those who aren't familiar with Iliotibial Band Syndrome, let's start by
having a look at the muscle responsible for the problem.
The iliotibial band is actually a thick tendon-like portion of another muscle
called the tensor fasciae latae. This band passes down
the outside of the thigh and inserts just below the knee.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050325_TSH_ITB.html


3. Science of Sport: Female cyclists health and nutrition:
A guide to the proper care and feeding of female cyclists.
The sex of skeletons can be determined from the shape of the forehead and the
width of the pelvis and lower vertebrae. While the
first does not affect athletic performance, the second certainly does. A girl's
gait and ability to run fast alters dramatically
after puberty because of the widening of the pelvis and the change in
orientation of the hip muscles. In cycling terms, this means
women may require different saddles and a different angle of saddle tilt.
Furthermore, the obvious anatomical differences in this
area need appropriate consideration in terms of position and clothing.
Women tend to have relatively longer legs compared to their height than men,
with the thigh often accounting for a greater
percentage of leg length. These factors need to be taken into account when
setting up a female cyclist's position or ordering a
frame. Long thigh bones mean the saddle will need to be further back and the
seat angle shallow. However, women with short legs
(relative to their height) will need a steeper frame angle and the seat further
forward. Women also tend to have a shorter reach and
weaker upper body than men of similar height. This means that they need a
relatively smaller frame size to allow for a reasonable
stem length to be fitted (8-10cm minimum). As women are naturally more flexible,
a greater seat-to-bar height difference can usually
be accommodated. Too many women cyclists are wrongly advised, buy too large a
frame and are forced to compensate by pushing their
saddle forward and using a short stem. Thus the handling of the bike and the
potential power output are impaired.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050324_PPO_Female_Cyclists.html


4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Prevention of Athletic Injuries
If you want to increase your endurance and prevent injuries, make your muscles
as strong as possible. For example, hamstring tears
are very common soccer injuries, and preseason strength training for the
hamstring muscles helps to prevent these injuries. Players
from two of the best soccer teams in Sweden were divided into two groups; one
group received ten weeks of specific hamstring
training twice a week, using a special device to overload the hamstrings
eccentrically. The trained group had less than one third
the hamstring injuries and also had greater improvement in hamstring strength
and running speed. Resistance training makes muscles
stronger so that they can withstand greater forces and this helps to prevent
injuries.
You will increase your endurance far more by running, walking or cycling very
fast once a week than by covering long distances very
slowly all the time. In the 18th to 25th mile of a marathon, many runners "hit
the wall;" their legs stiffen and hurt and they have
to work much harder to lift their legs. "Hitting the wall" is caused by damage
to the fibrous connective tissue that surrounds
muscles, as a result of the repeated stretching and tearing of the leg muscle
fibers each time the feet hit the ground. Doctors used
to think that "hitting the wall' meant that the leg muscles ran out of their
stored glycogen. However, after two hours of hard
riding, bicycle racers use up their muscle glycogen but they do not "hit the
wall" because their muscles use the smooth rotary
motion of pedaling and are not stretched and torn by constant shocks of the foot
hitting the ground. Exercising intensely helps to
prevent injury and increases endurance by strengthening your muscles.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: I’m a cyclist who would like to enter a triathlon, but my
shins hurt when I try to run. Should I stick to riding?
You’re not alone; some very good bicycle racers have developed painful shin
splints on the front inside of the lower legs when they
tried to train for triathlons. In a triathlon, you compete in three events:
running, cycling and swimming. Posterior shin splints
occur when you damage the posterior tibial muscles in the inside back of your
lower leg. They have to stop running until they can
run without feeling pain.
Bicycle riding develops very strong upper leg muscles because you pedal with
your knees and hips. It does not stress your lower leg
muscles much. Running stresses mostly your lower leg muscles. When you run, you
land on your heels and raise yourself up on your
toes with the calf muscles in the back and the posterior tibial muscles on the
inside back part of your lower leg. So your upper leg
muscles can handle the stress of running very easily, but your lower leg muscles
are not strong enough and you tore them.
Once a runner develops shin splints, he or she has to stop running to let the
muscle and tendon injury heal. A bicycle rider has to
go back to the bike. When he can run without hurting, he should try to run on
one day and cycle on the next and stop running
immediately when he feels pain in his lower leg. When he can run for 30 minutes
without feeling pain, he can start training again by
adding fast runs. In the future, he should not run very fast more often than
every other day or twice a week.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Will I recover faster from a hard tennis match by resting or
by doing light exercise?
Most experienced athletes find that they recover faster by taking the next day
off, but they become better athletes if they exercise
at low intensity. On the day after you exercise vigorously, your muscles feel
sore because they are damaged, and running fast with
sore muscles can cause injuries. Several studies have shown that athletes who
exercise at a leisurely pace on the day after hard
workouts are less likely to be injured
than those who recover by taking the day off. Exercising during recovery causes
muscles to grow more fibrous tissue, which helps to
protect them from injury.
You can adapt these findings to any sport or exercise program. Play your hard
match and the next day take it easy by hitting balls
against a wall. Run or ride hard one day and then go at an easy pace on the
next day. Scrimmage hard in basketball for several
hours, and on the next day, practice your shooting and set up plays. If you work
out more than once a day, follow each hard workout
with at least three easy ones.
*** This e-Zine is provided as a service at no charge. Dr. Mirkin's reports and
opinions are for information only, and are not
intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment,
consult your doctor or health care provider. For more
information visit http://www.drmirkin.com


5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Boston and Beyond:
My current column in Marathon & Beyond tells of running my first Boston
Marathon. It also was my first marathon anywhere (no Boston
qualifying times needed in 1967) and would remain my fastest ever (at 12 seconds
under 2:50).
The time -- 40 minutes faster than expected -- shocked me then. It doesn't
anymore. Now I know that the training was solid.
This Commentary and the next one, condensed versions of the M&B column, tell why
the training worked. And how it became the model
for my schedules published decades later.
WHAT THAT RACE TAUGHT. Training for that Boston Marathon had seemed minimal,
peaking at 20 miles and 1-1/2 minutes per mile slower
than Boston race pace. Where did the extra 10K, at a much faster overall pace,
come from? Four factors:
1. Total TIME of my longest training run. Those 20 miles had taken me 2:41 --
only about nine minutes shy of the marathon time.
Now I know that time-on-the-legs, time for the mind to grasp how long the race
will take, is more important than distance. This 95
percent of my marathon total was the closest I would ever come to matching race
time in training.
2. A modest amount of fast racing. In the three months before Boston I raced six
times, from a single mile on an indoor track to 14
miles through the mountains.
(I hesitate to mention that the last of those races came just four days before
the marathon. So much for tapering.)
Now I know that regular shorter-distance racing is what made the slow training
work. My best "training" for speed was racing. I
couldn't or wouldn't have pushed as hard any other way.
3. Nothing but easy runs between the long ones and races. I ran no intervals,
took no tempo runs, did no striding or sprinting or
hill repeats.
Now I know the value of long recovery periods between big efforts. About six of
my pre-Boston runs in every seven were truly easy,
neither long nor fast. That winter and spring the easy runs lasted from a
half-hour to an hour at a relaxed pace.
4. Raceday magic. This factor is hardest to sell to someone who hasn't raced
much. I wouldn't have believed it before my first
marathon, and my career in shorter distances was already hundreds of races
along.
I thought then that you got back from races exactly what you'd put into
training. That is, you couldn't expect to race farther or
faster than you'd trained. This was how it had gone for me in track and
cross-country.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/499.html


6. Running with the Kenyans :
Is There a "Secret" to the Kenyan Domination of Long-Distance Running? Yes. It's
Running.
ELDORET, Kenya—We're halfway up a steep hill leading out of the town of Iten
when our Range Rover sputters to a stop. Our driver,
Charles, climbs out and lifts the hood, and we watch as steam rises into the
deep blue afternoon sky.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Charles says, shrugging his shoulders. "Could be many things.
Maybe a leak in the radiator. We need some water to
check."
I volunteer to get some water. Some local kids have been watching us, and,
barefoot and nimble, they lead me to their nearby family
farm. We cross a field, slide on our stomachs beneath a fence, then clamber
through some bushes before arriving at a neat, mud-brick
house. A cooking fire burns in the yard, and on a plank set across two tree
stumps a woman sits with her children. After explaining
what we need, the kids and I grab buckets and fill them from a 55-gallon barrel.
For a minute, I don't want to leave. Here is a quiet, far-off place, where the
Internet, cell phones, and satellite dishes have not
yet intruded. There are no deadlines, no e-mail. The yard is crowded with fruit
trees, and the woman's bright smile is framed by the
green scarf covering her head. I drink in the scene. But the others are waiting,
and we run back, the water sloshing back and forth
in the buckets.
Back at the Range Rover, Charles pours the water into the radiator, and it
streams out the bottom onto the asphalt road. "Yes, you
see, it is leaking. . . ."
Sieg Lindstrom, a writer for Track & Field News, shakes his head and mutters
that we are in trouble. I agree. My AAA membership
won't work here, and there are no auto shops around, no service stations, no
used parts stores where we can buy another radiator.
"I'll hitch a ride back to Eldoret and get a car to pick us up," I say. "Or I
can run to Brother O'Connell's [whose school in Iten
has produced scores of elite runners] and ask for a place for us to stay for the
night."
Charles shakes his head, not listening. "Does anyone have some curry powder?" he
asks. Curry powder? No, don't make a habit of
carrying it around. Don't have any black pepper or cumin, either.
Charles rummages around in the glove compartment. "Ah, here it is," he says,
holding up a package of curry powder. He opens it and
pours a bit in the radiator with some water. The water still leaks right out.
Charles fills the radiator once again and adds more
powder. This time, the leak slows. Finally, he tops off the radiator, mixes in
the rest of the curry powder, and, like magic, no
water leaks out. The radiator leak is sealed.
Charles starts the Range Rover, leans out the window and waves to the large
group of locals watching us, then turns and says,
"Everyone in Kenya is a mechanic."
More...from Marathon and Beyond at:
http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/sandrock.htm


7. Olympic Marathon - A Centennial History of the Games' Most Storied Race:
Prologue: The Legend
The Modern Olympic Games are perhaps the most modern spectacle on the planet.
Their pageantry, ritual, and tradition are beamed to
billions via satellite, and every facet of their competition is not merely
tinged with but ruled by modern technology. Yet the
Olympics have their roots in a festival more ancient than the rites of
Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. Indeed if, as has often
been suggested, the coliseums and stadiums our society has constructed in the
twentieth century will ultimately be viewed as the
cathedrals of our time, then the Olympic Games are our most sacred rite and
Olympic champions our high priests. But the Olympics
began in a time before satellites and television, a time before electronic
timers, photo finishes, and computer rankings, a time
when the greatest of gods was not sport, but Zeus.
The origin of the ancient Olympic Games is shrouded in legend, but it may have
begun as a commemoration of Zeus' defeating Kronos in
a wrestling match-the prize being possession of the earth. The exact date of the
first Olympic Games is also lost. Some sources say
1253 B.C., others 884 B.C.. One thing is certain, however, every four years from
776 B.C. until 394 A.D., the strongest and swiftest
men in Greece assembled to compete in the Olympic Games.
The Games were held in Olympia, a great complex that included a 60,000-seat
stadium, a vast hippodrome for equestrian events, and a
gymnasium for wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts, and others. Religious buildings were
also and important part of Olympia, just as
religious ceremonies were and important part of the Games. One building, the
Olympium, housed a forty-foot ivory statue of Zeus with
robes of gold, one of the seven wonders of the world.
With Zeus watching over the Olympics the Games grew in both size and importance.
Wars were suspended during the time of Olympic
competition, so great was the respect given the Games. The Olympics began with a
single footrace, but grew to encompass a variety of
events, many similar to those in modern track and field. However, no race in the
ancient Olympics was greater than twenty-four laps
around the Olympic stadium, a distance of about three miles.
More...from Marathon Guide at:
http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/prologue.cfm


8. Spend Time on the Track:
As distance runners we spend most of our time pounding the pavement. The long
hours and kms spent on the roads are great for
building our cardiovascular systems, but it does little for our leg speed.
If you are serious about racing, speed is what you need. The best way to put a
little speed into our legs is to spend time on the
track.
Just because you are preparing for a 10-k or half-marathon road race, doesn’t
mean that you shouldn’t ever visit the track. The
track is ideal for any distance runner because it is the one place that you can
accurately measure distance, pace, and effort. Since
the distance around the track never changes, it is also easy to measure weekly
improvement.
Before you head over to the track for your first workout, it is important that
you are completely ready for the task. It is a good
rule of thumb to have at least four to six weeks of easy training under your
belt before attempting your first track workout.
Intense running on the track will prepare you for the challenges of racing, but
it will also put a great deal of stress on your
body. Therefore, it is recommended that you only attempt one track workout a
week.
Unlike easy distance running, track running takes a little more planning. Not
only do you have to decide how long you are going to
run. You also need to decide at what intensity, and with how much recovery
between intervals or repeats. Here are a few sample
workouts to consider when preparing for your next 10-k or half-marathon race:
Long Repeats:
When preparing for the 10-k or half marathon, it is important that you run at a
higher intensity for a longer period of time to
simulate the effort of the race. Running repetitions between 800 and 1,600
meters will improve your endurance and rhythm.
More...from the World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/runnersguide/beginners_column.asp?a_id=1278687&st_na\
me=BackToBasics


9. Multisport: Progressive, Gradual, and Quantifiable - The Training Process:
By Matt Russ
Random training produces random results. You may get faster, you may get slower,
or you may make no progress at all. In order to
increase your fitness level a few basic and key elements need to be in place.
These elements are crucial to your athletic success
and should be considered in designing your plan.
The first element is progression. Your body reacts to a stressor (work out),
recovers and adapts to that stressor in the form of
increased strength, speed, endurance, or power. If you apply the same stress
load week after week you will not progress. This is
intuitive in regards to endurance; you have to increase mileage or duration each
week in order to get to your race goal. Strength,
power, and speed work require a similar progression. You must add greater stress
loads each week, and recover, in order to move
forward.
If you add too much stress too quickly, or with inadequate recovery, you will
overload your system and degrade your performance
rather than increase it. A gradual progression in stress load is the next key
element. In considering weekly increase of total
stress load or volume, try not to increase more than 10% with a goal of roughly
6-8%. Weekly volume includes intensity and duration.
It is also important to note that an increase in intensity will require greater
recovery time even if duration stays the same. As
intensity comes up, volume should come down. This progression may seem slow, but
even a 1% increase in fitness per week is enormous
progress through a season
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050321_TSF_Progression.html


10. Science of Sport: Warm up exercises: your old-style warm-up exercises may
need updating:
It is a common human failing to look very hard – maybe too hard – at something
and still fail to see what’s staring you in the face.
This may explain why coaches and athletes have continued to keep faith with the
old-style warm-up despite mounting evidence that it
doesn’t do what it says on the tin.
It’s a given that we need to warm up before we sprint, hit a tennis ball or
attempt a clean and jerk. The process prepares us
mentally and physically for the task ahead. Traditionally, athletes from most
sports have been used to raising their body
temperature with 5-15 minutes of gentle cardiovascular (CV) work and then
stretching off. As a long jump athlete, I can remember
jogging a couple of laps to get really warm, then sitting and chatting for the
next half an hour while supposedly stretching. By the
time the session started, I’d often be cold both physically and mentally. My
body would have switched off and I would be far from
optimally prepared for the dynamic activity to follow; in fact I would literally
have to warm up all over again.
Stretching was a major component of the ‘old’ warm-up, with coaches constantly
reminding me that my range of movement had to be
improved. But, with hindsight, the impact on my long jump performance of being
able to do the box splits or clutch one hand to the
other behind my back seems negligible.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050320_PPO_Warmup.html


11. "Organize your strength program to become a better triathlete" by Michael
Silva, MS, PT, CSCS:
If you are navigating this website, then I am confident that you are serious
about becoming a better triathlete. Consequently, I am
confident that you will do almost anything to shave some time off your swim,
bike, and/or run. Want to know a scientifically proven
way to improve your performance and make yourself a better triathlete…STRENGTH
TRAIN. That’s right strengthening your body will
give you all sorts of benefits to aid in enhancing your performance in any
distance triathlon event.
Contrary to popular belief you do not need to pack on extra pounds of muscle to
gain benefit from strength training. Even if you do
tend to put on muscle mass rather easy, with a properly designed program muscle
gain can be minimal while strength gain can be
dramatic.
Seeing as I am talking about this let me make one point clear because I know
this is a touchy subject especially for those of you
with an endurance running background. Even if you gain 1, 2, or 5 lbs by
strength training, I guarantee that the benefits you
gained from a properly designed program far surpass the fact that you are now a
trace heavier.
Most of your improvements will be at the neuromuscular level anyway. This means
that your brain and skeletal muscles will produce
movements that are a perfectly choreographed organization of strong efficient
muscle contractions. So don’t be overly concerned
about the weight…get educated, and start strength training.
More...from ontri.com at:
http://www.ontri.com/weighttraining.html


12. Running's Greatest Bloopers:
True stories of chaos on the roads, tracks and trails of the world.
Take thousands of people and set them loose on the streets of a city or town, a
mountain trail, or even the controlled environment
of a track, and what do you get? A not-so-rare opportunity for things to go
spectacularly wrong! After exhaustive research around
the globe, we have compiled a sampling of the funniest-case scenarios we’ve been
privileged to witness (or hear about) in recent
history. We present here Running Times’ awards for Outstanding Achievements in
Running Mishaps and Misadventures. All of these
stories are true and, we believe, qualify for induction into the Blooper Hall of
Fame.
Best "One-Bad-Apple-Spoils-the-Whole-Bunch" Blooper
Presented by the New Hampshire Apple Growers Association
Unquestionably, this prize goes to Tom Derderian, who managed single-handedly to
ruin the 1981 Portsmouth (NH) Marketplace 10K by
sending thousands of hapless runners into total chaos and confusion. (This story
is a Running Times exclusive, as Tom has kept his
dark and horrible sin a secret for 18 years and is only now revealing the truth
to clear his conscience once and for all.)
It all began innocently enough as the gun went off and several thousand runners
headed through the winding streets of the old
seaport town. They were led by two sub-30-minute guys who, along with the lead
vehicle, promptly disappeared out of sight of the
chase pack. Tom was happily in third place, leading a pack of several dozen men
running about 31- to 32-minute pace, with several
hundred more runners strung out behind.
Well into the race, the chase group came to a confusing intersection with no
course markers. The lead runners were nowhere to be
seen, so Tom—knowing the town quite well—led the huge pack in the direction of
what he thought was the finish line. Unfortunately,
he took a detour, adding about two minutes to their time. Far worse, however, he
and the several hundred runners who followed him
now were heading toward the finish line from the wrong direction. And—you
guessed it—the next contingent of runners, plus everyone
else behind them, had gone the correct way and was now heading toward the finish
from the right direction, but about to run into
those errant souls who’d made the mistake of following Tom.
The top two guys finished the race. After a minute or so, the race officials
began to wonder why no one else was showing up. Then,
to their horror, they saw the second pack, led by Tom, approaching the finish
from the wrong direction! Thinking quickly, they
turned the finish-line banner around. No sooner had they done so, though, when
the next pack of runners came into view running top
speed in the other direction.
Imagine, if you will, several hundred runners all sprinting at once toward the
finish line from opposite directions. It was, in Tom’
s words, "like knights at a jousting match, crashing into each other and bodies
being tossed in every direction." Without a word,
Tom escaped to sit on a nearby hillside and witness the ensuing carnage.
We thank Tom for his story and congratulate him on his award, which comes with
an all-expenses paid trip to the Bermuda Triangle
10K.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/99nov/bloopers.htm


13. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
Be Smart: "Don't run hard too close to race day. By running hard within 3 days
before a race, you risk delayed-onset muscle
soreness, increase the likelihood of fatigue, and reduce muscle glycogen levels.
Studies show a taper before a race (4 or 5 days
before a 5-K, 2 to 3 weeks before a marathon) can lead to dramatic improvement
in performance." - Ed Eyestone, men's cross-country
coach at Brigham Young University
* Injury Prevention
Stretch: Achilles strain, iliotibial-band pain, calf soreness. All of these can
be headed off at the pass by a good stretching
program. Just 10 minutes a day--after running--may help lower your injury risk.
* Performance Nutrition
"Your low-fat diet is too low if it doesn't include enough omega-3 fats. There's
no standard optimal amount for omega-3 fast, but
most experts agree we need to average about 3,000 milligrams a day. You can
easily achieve this by eating fish a few times a week,
having nuts four to five times a week, and using canola oil regularly when you
cook." - Liz Applegate, Ph.D.
* Words That Inspire
"A running machine, that glides over mud, crud and goop." -Ed Eyestone's
definition of Kenyan ace John Ngugi
* Editor's Advice
"If you're planning an Easter feast, serve things simple. For example, keep the
yams, green beans, and potatoes basic. Your guests
will appreciate the absence of heavy sauces. And cut back on the number of items
you serve. When you offer too many options, both
you and your guests will feel the need to eat them." -Sue Hartman, RW senior
director of marketing
* Training Talk
"Not only does stretching make sense for your running by helping you avoid
injury, it can ease some of the tension and pressure in
your crowded body." -From Runner's World Guide to Running & Pregnancy by Chris
Lundgren.

14. The Hardest Road:
A major advantage of being a runner is you can enjoy your sport nearly anywhere:
No rink, stadium, or court required. All that
matters is the ground beneath your feet.
But that ground really does matter. Various running surfaces each affect your
feet, ankles, joints, and knees differently:
Understanding how can help your workout decisions—and the level of cushioning
you need in your shoes.
Check out the level of abuse from these common running surfaces, from most
accommodating to most punishing:
Grass
When it comes to a soft ride, there's nothing like the flat, even stretches of
grass found on golf courses, parks and well-kept
fields. Running on this sponge-like texture makes for much less impact— which
can help ensure a runner's longevity. And with its
soft malleable surface, running on grass can actually make your muscles work
harder, which ultimately strengthens your legs. Uneven
or wet grass can cause problems, of course, but otherwise a good rule of thumb
is: If you're near it, run on it.
More...from Nike at:
http://www.nike.com/nikerunning/usa/home.jhtml?loc1=tools_training&loc2=runners_\
library&loc3=101&promoID=em#runners_library
[Long URL]


15. Can too much exercise make you sick?
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 Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11547


16. Fitness Test for Overtraining:
One of the best ways to check for overtraining is with a regular, but easily
achieved pace trial. This is not a time trial. This
fitness test requires that you run at a set speed for a modest distance. Wear
training shoes instead of racing shoes to remind
yourself it’s not a time trial. You’ll record your heart rate and compare it
with previous pace checks.
A two mile trial check at 10K pace allows you to do it every two to four weeks
depending on what races you’re doing during the
marathon preparation. You don’t have to use the same area every time. A road, a
running track or a treadmill at one percent
elevation can be used depending on the days temperature and wind. Look for:
One: Same heart rate as usual indicates all is well, which may include that your
muscles can handle the extra 5 miles per week which
you added five weeks ago, or that you’ve recovered from your half marathon of
three weeks ago.
Two: Lower heart rate than usual means that you’re either fitter or more relaxed
at 10K pace. Expect your heart rate to go down over
the first three fitness tests as you learn to relax at 10K pace. Check your
speed every quarter of a mile or 400 meters, but your
heart rate every 200 meters of the second mile to monitor your progress. Done
three sessions at 5K pace since your last fitness
check? If the sessions were short enough for your muscles and tendons, and if
you’ve recovered, you may achieve a lower heart rate
in this test.
More...from Transition Times at:
http://www.transitiontimes.com/viewstory.cfm?ID=6616


17. When It Comes to Chocolate, Order Dark, Not White:
Dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate - may help reduce blood pressure and
boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from
food, according to the results of a small study.
Investigators from the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that after eating
only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate
every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more
sensitive to insulin, an important factor in
metabolizing sugar.
In contrast, eating roughly the same amount of white chocolate for the same
period of time did not affect either blood pressure or
insulin sensitivity.
This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark
chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of
antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help
maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce
blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
Dr. Claudio Ferri and co-investigators explained that flavonoids help the body
by neutralizing potentially cell-damaging substances
known as oxygen-free radicals, which are a normal byproduct of metabolism.
More...from Reuters at:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-03-2\
2T040255Z_01_B541045_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-CHOCOLATE-DARK
-DC.XML
[Multi-line URL]


18. Fast track to longevity:
Mouse study shows molecular connections between caloric restriction and lifespan
extension.
Researchers have moved a step forward in understanding how calorie restriction
is linked to lifespan extension in mammals. In this
week's issue of Nature, a group from the United States reports that SIRT1—the
mammalian version of a protein linked to longevity in
simpler organisms—controls glucose metabolism in mice in response to fasting.
Pere Puigserver of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues found that fasting
signals induce the SIRT1 protein in the liver. This
protein is one of the mammalian homologues of Sir2, known to extend lifespan in
yeast and worms. SIRT1 then interacts with the
coactivator PGC-1alpha, which, in turn, triggers glucose production, a key
metabolic change associated with extended lifespan.
"Our work provides a novel connection between PGC-1alpha, a protein involved in
the food-deprivation response, and SIRT1, a protein
linked to aging in lower organisms," Puigserver told The Scientist.
More...from the Scientist at:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20050307/01/


19. Running Forever:
Tips and techniques to outrun the distance runner’s greatest opponent: aging and
its grinding effect on the body.
It was 1993. There he was, Dr. Paul Spangler of San Luis Obispo, California,
endlessly circling the track in a Los Gatos All-Comers
Track meet as he raced and won each event he could in his age group. All the
good doctor really had to do, however, was start and
finish each race, as he was the only athlete in the 90+ age group. And that was
exactly what he did. From the 100 meters to the
5000, Dr. Spangler, decked out head to toe in top-of-the-line Nike gear, moved
out to the far lane to make room for other races and
strode around the all-weather surface on a searing hot day. Most of us at the
meet were less than half Dr. Spangler’s age, and we
were thinking the same thing: I want to be doing that when (or should we say
‘if’?) I get to that age.
Of course, once we get into our 30s, 40s and beyond, running often and well gets
complicated. Aging includes the following problems:
endurance drops, muscle mass and strength sag, flexibility declines and speed
withers away. Some of these changes can be buffered by
exercise itself, but the jarring, breakdown effects of hard distance running
must also be included on the lifetime balance sheet.
Yet there’s hope for us all. Examples like Regina Jacobs who, at the age of 39,
just blew out an indoor world record sub-four minute
1500-meter run. Although she’s been running and racing hard since college, she
looks like she’s not even close to slowing down.
And while the infamous Dr. Paul Spangler has since passed on, his spirited
tracks are there for all of us to follow. Following are
some tips as to how to keep running forever.
More...from Competitor Magazine at:
http://www.floridasports.com/story.cfm?story_id=4674&departmentid=20&publication\
ID=27


20. What's the big deal with pool running?
Throughout much of the early fall of 2003, Greg Bennett, a talented Aussie short
courser currently ranked No. 1 in the world by the
ITU, was sidelined by a minor foot injury that prevented him from running. But
less than two weeks after resuming his run training,
Bennett won the Treasure Island ITU race in San Francisco, taking the victory
over top American Hunter Kemper and five-time ITU
world champion Simon Lessing.
To speed his recovery and maintain fitness during his injury, Bennett included
pool running in his training program. As the injury
healed, he decreased the pool sessions and increased outdoor running -- and was
soon able to return to his pre-injury level of
fitness.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050324_LW_Pool_Running.html


21. What's Good for the Heart Is Good for the Head:
For decades I've been pleading with my readers to adopt healthy habits to
prevent heart disease and possibly some cancers. Now
there's another organ, the brain, that these measures may protect.
Growing, scientifically sound evidence suggests that people can delay and
perhaps even prevent Alzheimer's disease by taking steps
like eating low-fat diets rich in antioxidants, maintaining normal weight,
exercising regularly and avoiding bad habits like smoking
and excessive drinking.
Several other practices - including remaining socially connected and keeping the
brain stimulated by reading, doing puzzles and
learning new things - also appear to protect the brain against dementia.
More...from the New York Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/health/22Brod.html?


22. The Difference Between Steroids and Ritalin Is ...
T the Congressional hearings last week investigating steroids and baseball,
players were scolded not just for taking substances that
are unsafe, but for doing something immoral. Those who use performance enhancing
substances were called cheaters, cowards, bad
examples for the nation's children.
But if baseball players are cheating, is everyone else, too?
After all, Americans are relying more and more on a growing array of performance
enhancing drugs. Lawyers take the anti-sleep drug
Provigil to finish that all-night brief, in hopes of concentrating better.
Classical musicians take beta blockers, which banish
jitters, before a big recital. Is the student who swallows a Ritalin before
taking the SAT unethical if the pill gives her an unfair
advantage over other students? If a golfer pops a beta blocker before a
tournament, is he eliminating a crucial part of
competition - battling nerves and a chance of choking?
More...from the New York Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/weekinreview/20zern.html


23. Modern cold medicines: same stuff, new packages:
At first glance, the cough and cold section at the Milpitas Walgreens looks like
pharmaceutical pay dirt. Ten shelves high and about
35 feet wide, it is stacked with myriad syrups, sprays, salves and swabs aimed
at easing symptoms of the common cold.
Eureka! you think, as you navigate the aisle in a cold-induced haze. Modern
medicine in all its might has yielded hundreds of
different remedies to beat your virus into submission.
But the boxes of the grape-, orange- and cherry-flavored elixirs tell a
little-known truth: Manufacturers are selling us the same
drugs in alternate flavors, formats and formulations.
The cold-fighters come as chest patches, vapor sticks, soft chews, tongue strips
and even freezer pops. But they all still contain
combinations of fewer than a dozen active ingredients.
"Many of these products aren't any better. They're just a different package with
the same ingredients,'' said Candy Tsourounis,
director of the Drug Information Analysis Service at the University of
California-San Francisco. ``The medicines haven't really
changed at all.''
More...from Mercury News at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/11227124.htm


24. Physical, Emotional Stress Raise Heart Risks:
Researchers Say Physical and Emotional Stress Can Trigger Chest Pain in
High-Risk People.
The next time someone tells you to sit down before delivering emotional news or
offers to shovel the driveway for you, you may want
to follow their advice.
A new study shows "compelling" scientific evidence to back up the notion that
extreme emotional and physical stress can trigger
chest pain and heart attacks in vulnerable people, including couch potatoes and
those with heart disease risk factors.
Researchers reviewed several studies on the subject and found consistent proof
that physical exertion (particularly by people who
are not normally active), emotional stress, anger, and extreme excitement can
trigger chest pain, heart attack, and sudden cardiac
death in those at risk.
Symptoms may begin as early as within one to two hours after exposure, and
researchers say they're just beginning to understand the
ways in which these triggers work.
Comparing Heart Attack Triggers
In the study, which appears in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine,
researchers reviewed dozens of studies published between
1970 and 2004 on potential behavioral and emotional triggers of chest pain,
heart attack, and sudden cardiac death.
Researchers defined a trigger as an external stimulus, emotional state, or
activity that produces changes leading directly to heart
attack, chest pain, or sudden cardiac death.
More...from WebMD at:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/102/106707.htm


25. News Scan:

SportsInjuryClinic.com
* Can prolonged exercise effect the immune system?
It is thought prolonged exercise may induce temporary immunosuppression with a
presumed increased susceptibility for infection. A
study in Germany examined the influence on immune cell function of 4 hours of
cycling at a constant intensity of 70% of the
individual anaerobic threshold.
Results concluded prolonged cycling at moderate intensities does not seem to
seriously alter the function of cells of the first line
of defense. Therefore, the influence of a single typical road cycling training
session on the immune system is only moderate and
appears to be safe from an immunological point of view.

* Do sports participants have more or less sick leave from work?
A study in the Netherlands aimed to determine the effects of sporting activity
on absenteeism in a working population. Data from
1288 workers in the form of annual questionnaires and company records were used
with a follow up period of 3 years. Information on
absenteeism, sporting activity, and potential confounders was recorded.
The results concluded employees practicing sports take sick leave significantly
less often than their colleagues not practicing
sports, while their periods of sick leave are shorter, especially when their
work is sedentary.



*End of Articles*



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

March 26, 2005:
Crescent City Classic - New Orleans, LA
http://ccff.org/site12.php

Great Southwest Marathon, Abilene, TX
http://www.abileneymca.org/marathon-2005.php

NYRR 8000 - New York, NY
http://www.nyrr.org/race/2005/usa8k/index.php
*USA Men's and Women's Championship/USARC

Tri-State Marathon - Eagle Mountain, UT
http://www.tristatemarathon.com

Two Oceans Marathon - South Africa
http://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za

March 27, 2005:
Connemara Marathon - Ireland
http://www.connemarathon.com

Geelong Triathlon - AUS
http://www.supersprint.com.au/ITUWorldCup.aspx?Menu=26&Content=50
Australian Championships


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

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
mailto:webmaster@...
http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
A running and triathlon resource portal


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END...OF DIGEST...