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THIS WEEK:

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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
Carmichael Training Systems was founded in 1999 by Chris Carmichael.
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* Running Research News
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* WatsonLifeSport
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This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:
We have NO personal postings this week.


This Week's Digest Article Index:

1. Science of Sport: Glycerol – could it be the secret of Olympic Marathoner
Deena Kastor’s success?
2. Training: From Sofa to Starting Line in 90 days
3. Training: For Running Speed, Hit the Hills Season Long
4. From Running Times Magazine
5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Run Write Now
6. Everyday Apples Pack Antioxidant Punch
7. Salt and runners
8. Sportsmedicine: Injuries And Overpronation
9. Sports Psychology: What's the talk all about?
By Michelle Cleere, Sports Psychology Consultant
10. After Base, What Do I Do?
Five Steps to a Better Race Season.
11. The Role of Sports Supplementation in Nutrition
12. From Runner's World
13. Canada Running Series
14. Did You Really do that Triathlon?
15. Sportsmedicine: Traditional Treatments for Back Pain...
Which Ones Work and Which Ones Don’t?
16. Big Kicker Article of the Week - Paul McMullen
I Surrender My Body - Coast Guard Boot Camp Part 1 of 3.
17. Fueling for triathlon
The basic rules of proper nutrition are universal.
18. Raise Your Marathon Plateau
Still looking for that Breakthrough Race? These strategies can take you there.
19. Exercise May Boost Performance on the Job
Study Shows Workers Are More Productive When They Exercise.
20. Interval Training the Scientific Way
21. What ever happened to plain old water?
Claims of most fancy new drinks are all wet, unless you're into long endurance,
expert says.
22. Clearing up the confusion over carbs
Learn the difference between a high or low glycemic index .
23. Chicago Marathon Training - Energy Boosting Nutrients
24. Missing Exercise Can Be Depressing
Worse Moods, Dips in Fitness Seen After 2 Weeks on the Sidelines.
25. News Scan - A Collection of News Briefs


Runner's Web Weekly Poll: "Which city will win the 2012 Olympic Games,
London
Madrid
Moscow
New York City
Paris?"

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: "Will Marian Jones ever regain her former performance
standard?"

The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Yes 3 4%
2. No 61 80%
3. No opinion 1 1%
4. Don't care 11 14%
Total Votes: 76 Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that
they subscribe at:
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Five Star Site of the Week: JaimieWhitmore.com.
Jamie Whitmore had an outstanding season as a rookie pro in both the Xterra
Triathlon Series and the Norba Mountain Bike Series.
Coming form a running background, she has only pursued cycling and swimming for
two years. Already the top Xterra female in the
world, Jamie's domination of the series for years to come is evident as her own
progression curve improves in the cycling and
swimming segments. DOMINATING, UNBEATABLE, DESTINED FOR GLORY are a few of the
buzz words circling the triathlon community. In the
Xterra series, Jamie had two first place finishes and one second place finish.
Jamie is the Xterra National Champion and Xterra
Series Champion, and finished second at the World Championships. Jamie was voted
"Xterra Female Triathlete of the Year." Both the
National Championship and the World Championship will be aired each for one hour
on national television networks Outdoor Life
Network (OLN) and CBS respectively. Jamie received additional media coverage in
both Inside Triathlon and Triathlete magazines.
Additionally, she was ranked 12th in the Norba National series going into the
finals but with a flat tire and a DNF her overall
ranking fell to 18th place. In short track, Jamie had two top 10 finishes. The
Norba series is also covered on OLN. Her superior
athletic skills are only overshadowed by her commitment to excel as a remarkable
person in the communities of both athletes and
non-athletes. Jamie is inspired to help others as confirmed by her donation of
time and money to the Huntington’s disease of America
Society. She has started “Jamie’s Race for Research” in an effort to find a cure
for the disease. Her mother-in-law passed away from
complications of the disease and her sister-in-law has recently tested positive
for carrying the Huntington’s gene. She will begin
to show signs of the disease within the next 10-15 years. Jamie’s hope is that
the medical community finds a cure before her
sister-in-law begins to show any signs. Her goal is to spread awareness of this
disease as well as raise as much money for research
through raffles, races, T-shirt sales, flat donations and hopefully her sponsors
as well. Jamie is very active in her community,
teaching mountain bike classes, hosting clinics, supporting local races and
speaking at public engagements. She has been asked to
speak to youth groups and elementary schools about triathlons and mountain
biking. Her goal is to inform youth that there are more
sports than just football or baseball. When she is not training or racing, she
works as a substitute teacher and also at a local
bike shop. Jamie feels the best way to represent her sponsors is to set an
example. After any race, she can be found at the finish
line cheering everyone across the finish line. Not only is she approachable, but
she approaches others to find out if they did well
and had a great time. Next year, Jamie will again race the Xterra and Norba
circuit. She also plans to race internationally in
Xterra and World Cup cycling races. She also plans to race a few one-day
adventure races on a coed team that she has been organizing
for fun.
Visit her website at:
http://www.jamiewhitmore.com/

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: The Cutting-Edge Runner : How to Use the Latest Science and
Technology to Run Longer, Stronger, and Faster.
By Matt Fitzgerald
A state-of-the-science resource for runners--with the latest information on
training, nutrition, injury prevention, and gear and
gadgets that improve performance.
The science and technology of running have evolved dramatically in the past 20
years. This all-inclusive resource--based on the
author's own high-level running and coaching experience and his interviews with
dozens of other top runners and coaches--is an
indispensable tool for runners who hope to perform at the very best of their
ability.
The Cutting-Edge Runner provides:
o A comprehensive overview of how the best competitive runners train
today--covering such topics as periodization, physiological
testing, group training, technique work, cross-training, recovery techniques,
and individual customization
o In-depth discussions of equipment and other technologies that can benefit the
runner, including shoes, orthotics, heart rate
monitors, altitude tents, training software, and more
o A complete "menu" of workouts for milers to marathoners
Whether he is explaining how to use hypoxic conditioning to increase oxygen
consumption capacity, telling how to prepare for the
mental challenge of racing, or detailing what the latest science has to say
about the pros, cons, and proper usage of more than 15
nutritional supplements and drugs, Matt Fitzgerald goes straight to the most
authoritative sources and provides practical ways for
the average runner to adapt methods and tools used by top runners to their own
running programs.
About the Author
MATT FITZGERALD, runner, triathlete, and coach, is a former editor and current
contributor for Triathlete magazine. He writes
articles for such national publications as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Outside,
Fitness Runner, and the Runner's World Web site,
and serves as managing editor of the sports nutrition Web site, Pioneering
Muscles.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594860912/runnersweb/102-0182896-9006569\
?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: Glycerol – could it be the secret of Olympic Marathoner
Deena Kastor’s success?
One of the surprise results of the recent Olympic Games was American Deena
Kastor’s bronze in the women’s marathon. Afterwards it
was revealed that she had imbibed a glycerol solution as part of her pre-race
preparation in a bid to enhance and maintain hydration
in the scorching heat of Athens. Could this have been a factor in her success?
Can it really help athletes to keep hydrated? How
does it work – and are there any downsides to its use?
Glycerol is a 3-carbon molecule, which is produced naturally in the body as a
result of normal metabolism. Although classed as an
alcohol, glycerol plays a number of important roles in the body. For example,
phosphoglycerides, which consist of a glycerol
backbone bonded to two fatty acid chains and another alcohol, are an important
component of cell membranes. Glycerol is also used to
store fatty acids in the body; in this process, three fatty acid chains are
chemically bonded to a glycerol molecule – hence the
term ‘triglyceride’.
Pure glycerol is a sweet-tasting clear syrupy liquid which, when mixed with
water solutions, is able to increase their concentration
or, more technically, their osmolarity. Because the human body requires the
osmolarity of body fluids to remain fairly constant,
ingesting glycerol stimulates the absorption and retention of water in order to
counter the increase in osmolarity that would
otherwise occur.
To put it another way, ingesting a solution of glycerol and water allows the
ingested water to be retained by the body and excreted
only when the extra glycerol is either removed by the kidneys or broken down by
the body(1).
Endurance athletes competing in hot and humid conditions need to maintain
maximum hydration, since fluid losses of as little as 1.5
litres can significantly impair performance. Moreover, studies have shown that
many athletes do not drink enough to offset
dehydration during competition, even with unlimited access to fluid(2).
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050610_PPO_Glycerol.html


2. Training: From Sofa to Starting Line in 90 days:
When my friend, Tom Matte, called and asked me to whip him into shape, I was
somewhat skeptical. I had worked with Tom in the past
with only limited success. Tom is your typical type A person. He is a 40-year
old father of two young boys and the owner of Max2o,
an Atlanta-based advertising agency. The demands these responsibilities place on
him usually got in the way of his physical fitness.
Tom is very goal-oriented and driven, but needs to have something specific to
focus on. He did not do very well with a general
fitness plan.
I explained to him that my time was very limited and I did not want to work with
him unless he was truly committed. He said he was
in the worst shape of his life and was at a point where he could dedicate
himself to training. I suggested he set a race goal and we
decided on a 3/16/2 mile sprint duathlon several months down the road. I
honestly did not have a lot of confidence in him achieving
this goal based on his past performance, but decided to give him a few weeks to
see how it went.
I created a custom coaching plan for Tom in the software I use to work with my
athletes. It was based strictly on his personal
parameters: the amount of time he had to train per week, his current fitness
level, and the days he wanted to train on. His workouts
were emailed to him daily and included detailed instructions and heart rate
zones. I started him off with a run / walk program and
gradually added in cycling. We scheduled appointments twice a week to work on
strength training and form. I think the structure and
accountability of the online program appealed to Tom as every day he would enter
his work out log data. If he hit his marks, the
workout would turn green. I could easily track his progress on my end and make
adjustments if needed. Tom could see his schedule a
month at a time and visually track his progress from start to finish.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050610_TSF_Sofa.html


3. Training: For Running Speed, Hit the Hills Season Long :
By Matt Russ
A healthy dose of hill running should be included in your workouts each week.
Hill work is some of the most productive training you
can perform. There is no doubt that runners who regularly hit the hills get
faster. However, you should vary your hill routines,
throughout the season just as you should vary your training. Because hill work
is more stressful, progression is important.
Outdoors vs. Treadmill
I am often asked if running outdoors is more productive than running on the
treadmill. The answer is that they both have their place
in a good running plan. The advantage of the treadmill is that you can set your
work-out parameters. If you are trying to keep your
heart rate down during base training, you simply select a pace that keeps your
heart rate in zone. With hill work you can vary the
pace and incline to create just the right amount of stress for your workout. It
may be hard to find a long hill with a steady
incline so the treadmill can create just that. You do not want to start off your
hill work with too steep of an incline. With the
treadmill you can increase the incline slightly each week and the resistance is
constant. That being said, many athletes find it
difficult to stay focused indoors on a treadmill. It is important to include
runs on varied terrain and downhill. The treadmill does
not provide this. As you get closer to your goal race, I recommend trying to
duplicate the race course and spend less time on the
treadmill.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050604_TSF_Hills.html



4. From Running Times Magazine:
* Training Tip of the Month - Base Muscles
Everyone knows the importance of base training for their aerobic system, but few
focus on explosive muscular strength early in their
training. Elite Coach Brad Hudson thinks this is a mistake. "Most people get
hurt in the transition from what they consider base,"
Hudson says. "And why is that? Because they are not going after the muscles, and
it is very foreign to them." Hudson advocates doing
very short, steep intense hill repeats along with your long miles early in
training. These bursts are essentially dynamic weight
training to build muscle strength and develop the nervous system's ability to
generate explosive energy in the body. For more on
Hudson's training philosophy see our feature article in the September issue, on
newsstands July 26, 2005.
* Medical Corner - Racing After a Stress Fracture
Q: What are the risks of running too soon following a stress fracture? My son,
who runs cross country and track, was diagnosed with
a stress fracture 5 weeks ago. His doctor obviously wants him to take it slow
and easy getting back to competitive running. One of
his coaches, however, tells him that others have run in meets 6 weeks after
their stress fractures.
A: The major risk of returning to running too soon following a stress fracture
is a recurrent stress fracture or completion of the
fracture (broken bone). The degree of risk and potential complications depend on
the site of the stress fracture; a broken fibula or
metatarsal is not as concerning as a broken hip. These fractures may require
casting and possibly surgery, leading to a prolonged
time away from running.
Bone responds to stress by getting stronger, as long as excessive stress is not
applied; the amount of stress necessary to cause a
stress fracture is quite variable. A stress fracture may take 6 to 12 or more
weeks to heal. Some stress fractures do not heal and
may require surgical intervention.
If your son has been cross training while recovering from this injury, he may be
fit enough to start running in a week or two, as
long as his physician feels that the stress fracture has healed and this is not
a “high risk” stress fracture. I usually allow a
runner to start running (or run/walk) every other day, with non-impact cross
training (pool running, cycling, etc.) on the alternate
days. The running should be increased gradually, keeping in mind that intense
workouts increase the risk of injury.
The most common cause of stress fractures is over-training – too much/too fast.
Other factors that may play a role include poor
biomechanics (running form) and improper footwear. The key is to correct the
problem(s) that led to the stress fracture.
--Dr. Cathy Fieseler
* Plantar Fasciitis?
Q: I have currently been unable to run for two years. I think I have plantar
fasciitis but I am not sure about it. I have had some
of the strangest symptoms and have been to so many doctors I have lost count.
The bottom of my feet hurt, with the classic symptoms
of plantar fasciitis, but other times my feet tingle or burn or just plain ache.
When I try to just jog a mile or two the next
couple of days are filled with pain. The pain just doesn't go away. Even walking
irritates them. The pain radiates up my leg just
past the ankles a little way. The problem is that I can't find a doctor that can
tell me what is the matter with me or one that is
willing to help me find out. I have been running for 30 years and the last two
years have been the most miserable and painful years
of my life.
A: The most common cause of pain along the bottom of the foot is plantar
fasciitis, but this is not the only cause. PF causes pain
in the heel and sometimes along the arch, which is especially bad when getting
out of bed in the morning or when standing after a
prolonged period of sitting.
Nerve entrapments may also cause pain and "tingling" in the foot. A nerve may be
entrapped (pinched) at the origin of the PF on the
heel or in the lower leg, especially around the ankle. This would be similar to
carpal tunnel syndrome, except for its location.
Treatment would include correction of any gait abnormalities - proper shoes,
orthotics, etc., and working on strength and
flexibility of the leg and foot muscles. If symptoms persist, a cortisone
injection could be helpful. Persistent symptoms might
require surgery. A test to evaluate the nerve function may be helpful if the
basic treatment doesn't work.
Another possible cause of your pain is tenditinitis involving the posterior
tibialis muscle. The tendon runs behind the inner ankle
bone (medial malleolus) and attaches to a bone at the arch of the foot. The
muscle helps support the arch and plays a significant
role in running. Chronic inflammation could cause persistent pain.
You should see a sports medicine specialist (someone who sees a lot of runners,
if possible) to help you with this problem. Don't
forget to work on strength and flexibility - years of running will create muscle
imbalances that can lead to a number of problems.
--Dr. Cathy Fieseler


5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Run Write Now:
(Last year Barnes & Noble published my book, Run Right Now. Next will come a
companion book, the RRN Training Log, due out this
fall. Here is a portion of its introduction, addressed to the reader-runner who
will become its co-author.)
My name may appear on the cover of this book, but make no mistake: this isn't
just my book but OURS. It might become the most
important one you'll ever open. This isn't because of anything I wrote, but for
the other half of the book that you will write.
Don't let that word "write" frighten you. I won't ask you to compose any essays
for anyone else to read.
Think of this as a daily short-answer quiz. I guide you through it by asking, on
standard weekly log pages, the most important
questions a runner needs to answer each day.
All you need to do is fill in the blanks. Together the answers will write a
story that only you can tell -- the unique story of your
own running life.
Several of my books have encouraged runners to become writers. The first with
blanks to fill in was Jog Run Race. This book that I
asked readers to help me write would also be my all-time best-seller.
Another book, the Runner's World Training Diary, topped JRR in sales. I set up
the format and contributed a brief tip for each week
for this book that stayed in print for 25 years.
But it doesn't qualify as mine. My name didn't make the cover, nor did it belong
there. Most of each weekly page was left blank for
the reader-runner-writer to fill.
My current leader in sales is Marathon Training. It goes back and forth between
my essays and daily log pages, totaling 100 of each.
The Run Right Now Training Log blends the approaches of the Runner's World and
Marathon Training books. Here, as in the old RW
Diary, you have a year's worth of weekly pages to complete (while MT only
covered one season of a year).
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/511.html


6. Everyday Apples Pack Antioxidant Punch:
America's most common apple also may be its most potent. Just don't skimp on the
skin. A Canadian government study that measured the
levels of antioxidants in eight varieties of apples found that Red Delicious
contain the highest concentrations of the health
enhancing chemicals.
And to get the most bang for your bite, be sure to eat the peel.
The skin of Red Delicious apples -- the most common variety grown in the United
States -- contains over six times more antioxidant
activity than the flesh, according to researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada.
But don't swear off other varieties just yet.
Though antioxidants are believed to help ward off certain diseases, more
research is needed to determine whether quantity alone
counts. The study did not consider whether antioxidants in some apples may be
better absorbed than others.
Until that is known, food scientist Rong Tsao says his study -- which also
identified the chemicals responsible for antioxidant
activity in apples -- probably is most useful to horticulturists breeding new,
antioxidant-rich varieties.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ats-ap_health10jun06,1,73404\
28.story?coll=sns-ap-tophealth
[Long URL]


7. Salt and runners:
Some runners sweat so much they end up crusted with salt; they wonder if they
need to eat extra salt to replace what lost in sweat.
Other runners avoid salt like the plague; they see no need to add it to their
food because the typical diet already contains way too
much. And then there are marathoners and triathletes who read about hyponatremia
(low blood sodium). They wonder if they should
start eating salty foods as a part of their daily sports diet. Perhaps you, too,
have wondered about the role of salt, or more
correctly, sodium (the part of salt associated with high blood pressure) in your
diet.
This article can help you figure out if you should shake it or leave it.
Salt: what it is and does
Salt is made up of two electrically charged particles, sodium and chloride, also
called electrolytes. In your body, sodium helps
keep the right amount of water inside your cells, outside your cells, and in
your blood. During exercise, if excessive water intake
dilutes the sodium outside the cells, too much water seeps into cells and they
swell, including the cells in the brain. The symptoms
progressively appear and the runner feels weak, groggy, nauseous, incoherent,
and then may experience stumbling, seizures, coma, and
death. Athletes at risk of developing hyponatremia include slow marathoners,
triathletes and others who exercise for more than four
hours and are highly vigilant about hydration, to the extent they drink more
fluid than they lose in sweat. Over time, they
accumulate a large enough intake of water to dilute the blood sodium. Consuming
sodium-containing sports drinks helps, but does not
protect against hyponatremia because a sports drink offers far more water than
sodium. The typical sports drink may have only one
fifth the concentration of normal blood serum. While dehydration is the far more
common concern than overhydration, all runners can
avoid either problem by knowing their sweat rates. To learn your sweat rate,
weigh yourself naked before and after you exercise. A
one pound drop equates to losing 16 ounces of sweat and means you should target
drinking 16 ounces of fluid during similar exercise
bouts. Having knowledge about your sweat rate takes the guesswork out of
drinking during long runs, and reduces the risk of health
problems associated with consuming too much or too little water.
More...from Run the Planet at:
http://www.runtheplanet.com/pages/refer/articles/saltrunner.php


8. Sportsmedicine: Injuries And Overpronation:
By Dr. Kiper
Wear and tear of the foot can be compared to an aging car—each step is like a
mile. That adds up to 100,00 miles for every 10 years
of your life. The arch just goes up and down, everyday, hundreds or thousands of
footsteps a day. It is no wonder that the arch is
the center of all pronation and postural problems.
In simplest form, pronation is nothing more than the arch spreading out as you
step down in order to absorb shock. Everything above
the foot [knees, hips and low back] also moves as much as possible to help
absorb shock, too. The more the body moves, however, the
worse and more quickly it breaks down.
Overpronation of the arch is actually normal--everybody has it. However, without
anything to support the arch or minimize its
spreading out, the arch will over-stretch to absorb incoming force. Walking and
running both cause overpronation with each step
(obviously with varying degrees of wear and tear). While most of my
overpronation patients are between the ages of 40-60, it’s not
uncommon to see people in their teens and above, especially if they are highly
active or athletic.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050606_DrKiper_Pronation.html


9. Sports Psychology: What's the talk all about?
By Michelle Cleere, Sports Psychology Consultant
One of the female triathlete's I was working with for a period of time was
dealing with several challenging issues, but the most
difficult issue for this athlete, as is true for many athletes, was her
"negative self talk". Negative self talk is concerned with
all the negative things we say to ourselves, the thoughts we have about
ourselves and what we say to others about our performance.
Back to my athlete: after becoming aware that a negative thought process was an
issue for this athlete, we decided it might be a
good idea for her to keep a journal of her thoughts so she could become more
aware, more conscious of how she was talking to herself
about her training and how her body responded to that.
The following week she brought her journal in and we went through it together.
There were numerous negative thoughts going on for
this athlete that she was not at all aware of and was actually a bit surprised
by. As we continued to talk I asked her to do an
exercise with me. How about instead of saying [for example], running is hard and
I hate it (because she was going to run
regardless), how about saying something more positive like, a) running can make
me healthy and I feel better as a healthy person b)
running allows me to have time for myself and I need time to myself c) running
is freeing or d) running is fun if…
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050606_SM_Talk.html


10. After Base, What Do I Do?
Five Steps to a Better Race Season.
Spring time means the smell of newly blooming flowers, crisp fresh spring air
and dormant grasses turning green. For most of us it
means time to get outside see what all that base training did for you this
winter. One of the most frequently asked questions I get
is: “I have done my base training, and my races are still weeks away, so what
should I do?” My recommendation for you as triathlete,
if you feel your base work is adequate, is to work on five areas between now and
your first race of the season that will help you
continue your improvement.
#1 - Determine your weaknesses. Work on the aspects of your training that you
aren’t 100% happy with. If you feel that you are
lacking swim endurance, then do swim longer sets. If you feel you are lacking
hill climbing strength on the bike, this is the time
to do extra reps in training. Some folks feel strong and have plenty of
endurance but lack skills. If this is the case, then get the
advice of a swim instructor or a run coach to assess your form and technique.
Subtle changes can go a long way to improving
performance.
#2 - Improve your mental toughness. Having skills, endurance, and speed is
worthless if you don’t have the mental capability to back
it up. Weak-minded athletes think in terms of ‘hope’ and ‘wish’ while
strong-minded athletes think in terms of ‘I will’ and ‘I am’.
If you hear, “I hope to go under 50 minutes during the 10k run”, the chances
that they will are pretty slim. If you hear, “I am
running under 50 minute pace in training and I will do it in the race too” that
athlete will probably succeed. Setting goals,
writing them down and keeping them realistic is all part of improving your
mental toughness. Pick up a book if you don’t know where
to begin. A good mental toughness book will have exercises to help you know
exactly what your weaknesses are. The top athletes work
on their mental game all the time, that’s why they’re on top.
More...from TriFuel.com at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/triathlon-training/after-base-what-do-i-do-0008\
80.php


11. The Role of Sports Supplementation in Nutrition:
It has been said that the average person doesn’t need supplements if they have 3
well balanced meals a day. Whilst this may be a
debate for the ‘average’ person , it is extremely doubtful that the rational can
be applied to the majority of club or ambitious
runners and triathletes.
Where does it fall down? Firstly anyone who competes in running and triathlons
has already ceased to be ‘average’. There are only
around 100,000 registered runners, which in terms of a population of over 45
Million is not average.
Then there is the question of 3 well-balanced meals. For the majority of people
‘lunch’ has become something of a lottery with pies
or sandwiches high on the ‘suspect’ list as a well-balanced meal.
Even if you are one of the few who gets 3 meals do they follow the ‘average
South African diet’ which is typically around 40-45%
Carbohydrate, 20-30% fat, and 20-30% protein. If it is it is probably too low in
carbohydrate to replace the energy you used in
endurance training. The recommendation would be to aim for between 60-70%
carbohydrate 15-20% protein and 15-20% fat.
One of the problems with trying to achieve this balance is that most
carbohydrates, particularly the unrefined ones, are high in
fibre. There is a limit to just how much you can each before feeling full. For
instance lets say that with your training you require
2500 calories a day and 70% are to come from carbohydrate. That’s 1750 calories.
As each gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories,
that would mean ensuring you get around 440 grams of carbohydrate. In ‘real’
terms that would mean the equivalent of 20 Bananas or
20 baked potatoes a day, and that’s before you have started to meet your needs
in protein and fat. Clearly this is one area that
high quality carbohydrate drinks can assist in providing an easily absorbed
source of energy.
More...from Coach Norrie at:
http://www.coachnorrie.co.za/detail.asp?Section_ID=7


12. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
To get ready to race in hot weather, you must train in similar conditions to
accustom your body to perform with less risk of
overheating. It takes about two weeks of regular exposure to the heat for your
body to adapt-longer if you plan to race all-out.
Heat acclimatization is important even for a race as short as a 5-K, because the
body heat generated per minute is greater when you
run faster.
* Injury Prevention
Nocturnal leg cramps: They are usually caused by muscle fatigue or dehydration.
They often strike the calf muscle, but can also
affect the small muscles of the feet. Muscles contract and relax as we move in
our sleep--they cramp when they contract forcefully
and don't relax.
The most effective treatment is stretching. Extend your leg in the air and pull
your foot toward your body with your hands or a
towel for 10 to 20 seconds. Or getting up and walking around can also work it
out. To prevent cramps in the first place, stretch
regularly after runs and especially before bed.
* Workout of the Week
Continuous 4s, (as in 400s). It's a fartlek run in which you change pace every
100 meters in the following fashion: walk 100, jog
100, stride 100, run race pace 100.
Find a stretch of grass, trail, or road that's about 400-meters long, and string
together four to six repeats of 400 meters as
described above. Don't stop between repeats. Make the entire run continuous,
covering 1 to 1.5 miles. When striding, emphasize a
smooth glide. When you hit race pace, lift your knees, and focus on a quick leg
turnover without overstriding. Run fast, but
relaxed. Visualize yourself finishing strongly over the last 100 meters of a
race.
* Editor's Advice:
"Don't let your morning run become a wait-and-see proposition. By the time you
go to bed, you already should have made the decision
to run the next day, especially if it's an early-morning run. If it helps, line
up a training partner and agree to call each other
before heading out." -Bart Yasso, RW race & event promotion director
* Training Talk:
"Throw a mile or two of race pace into the middle or end of one of your long
runs when you are on a measured course. Many runners
neglect this most basic aspect of training." -From Runner's World Complete Book
of Women's Running by Dagny Scott


13. Canada Running Series:
The Canada Running Series is known for its good organization of running events.
Here are three of their races to challenge you… the
Nissan 5k at the Docks July 15, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (plus
half marathon and 5k) on September 25 and the Zoo
10k & 5k, October 15. Visit www.canadarunningseries.com
NEW at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Half!
- Inspiration: Sign up for one of the Waterfront events to receive a free
newsletter with articles by the Penguin, John
Bingham, and Coach Jenny Hadfield … get motivated by the gurus of running and
meet them on race weekend – details at
http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com
- Rewards for Regional Runners: The Ed Whitlock trophy is awarded to the
top Ontario Male finisher in the marathon and the
Sylvia Ruegger trophy goes to the top Ontario Female finisher in the marathon.
Prize money offered to top three male & female
Ontarians in the marathon… it’s a good way to promote regional running…
- Rewards for All Marathoners: For the rest of us ordinary mortals, Adidas
confirms “Climalite” technical shirts go to all
marathon entrants.
- WOW Factor: Our age group world record holder from last year, Ed
Whitlock, is confirmed for the 2005 Waterfront to challenge
a Dutchman he raced and beat in Rotterdam this year. It’s the ultimate
showdown!.
Enter on-line at http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com... hard copy entry
forms are available at all running stores.
Give back! If you won’t be running one of the Waterfront races, volunteer at
the finish line, as a course marshal, with
registration or food – you’ll never be bored.
Pace bunnies needed for most 15-minute finish time segments of the marathon…
like 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4 hrs, 4:15, 4:30, 4:45, 5 hrs,
5:30, 6 hrs… and the half marathon for 1:45, 2 hrs, 2:45 hrs. To volunteer or
be a pace bunny at Waterfront, contact Michael
Brennan, 416-944-2765 x504, or email him at
mailto:michael@.... Good training, good running!


14. Did You Really do that Triathlon:
Year 1991. You are feeling great! You set a goal for yourself and signed up a
year in advance for an Ironman Race. You hired a coach
and joined a masters swim club. You even bought a brand new tri-bike.
The months of training were harder than you expected. On race day, the start of
the swim was worse than you ever imagined. It was
like being in the crowd during a Filene's basement after Christmas sale! You
thought you'd been kicked and pulled and pushed until
you'd drown.
But you got through it. You finished the bike (it was already dark) and the
marathon was very hard and you walked a lot of it, but
you did it.
You finished your first (and last) Ironman.
Year 2005. You've moved on past triathlons. You're now a serious squash player
and jazz aficionado. But at work, the young guys are
talking smack. They're training for the BIG local tri coming up and all the
women in the office are treating them like royalty.
You listened and held back, but one day you snapped. You couldn't take it
anymore.
As the guys were talking about their long bike ride followed by a long run, you
slipped in "Oh Yeah, I finished an Ironman."
All conversation stopped. Everyone (both guys and gals) were looking you up and
down from head to toe and finally one of the guys
said "No Way!"
You said, "Yeah, I did one a few years ago and it was a long day."
They persisted, "No way. Which one? What was your time?" You say the year and
the race and mention 15 hours and something. And the
ring leader guy is just staring at you and his eyes are getting big. He runs
over to his computer and comes back 15 minutes later.
"I thought so. I can't find your name anywhere. I searched every race result
online and can't find your name. Even Google came up
blank."
More...from Bauer Tri News at:
http://www.bauertrinews.com/storyRants.faces.33.id


15. Sportsmedicine: Traditional Treatments for Back Pain... :
Which Ones Work and Which Ones Don’t?
When Dorothy followed the yellow brick road, she was told to do so by those who
wanted her to get where she wanted go. As humans we
often blindly follow recommendations by individuals who have good intentions,
but may not always be our best option. So I'm
preparing this article to compare and contrast what are known as traditional
treatments vs. complementary or alternative treatments
for back pain.
Remember there is rarely only one reason for your back pain and almost never one
silver bullet fix... you may need to try several
approaches to find what works for you.
When reading this article and thinking back on your visits to medical
professionals, did you have the big picture or were you just
following that yellow brick road? If you have been down that road, or if you are
just starting to suffer from back pain it's never
too late to seek out new and more encompassing information about your condition
when trying to find a solution that works for you.
Don't say you've tried everything because you haven't... your solution is out
there and you just have to find it!
Orthopedic Care
One of the first places many people go when they experience back pain is the
orthopedic specialist (surgeon) and a visit usually
last 5-10 minutes. They will typically look at the problem/symptomatic area and
often fail to look at the body as a whole. If you've
been to an orthopedic specialist for your back pain, did they do a full body
physical evaluation (takes 30 mins. or more)? Not
likely.
Here are some of the common treatments used / prescribed by orthopedic
specialists:
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050607_TSH_Back_Pain.html


16. Big Kicker Article of the Week:
I Surrender My Body - Coast Guard Boot Camp Part 1 of 3
On October 29, 2002 I asked myself, “What did I get myself into?” I was
delivered by bus with 120 other Coast Guard recruits to
Cape May, N.J., home of the U.S. Coast Guard Basic Training Center. It was
pouring rain and I sat as nervous as before a race
wondering what was out there to greet me as I exited the door. The U.S. Coast
Guard’s basic training is only second toughest to
the U.S. Marine Corp boot camp at Parris Island, North Carolina.
Body and spirit
I surrendered whole
To the harsh instructors- -
And received a soul.
- Rudyard Kipling
My Harsh Instructors: Lead Company Commander, Chief Petty Officer Mason, Chief
Petty Officer Miller, and 2nd Class Petty Officer
Oro.
It was a world I had no knowledge of, but had to learn about quickly. It is
designed to remove all remnants of my former life and
reduce me to the equal of my shipmate recruits. Boot Camp begins with a term
called “followership.” I was submersed into an
independent thinker’s worst nightmare. Coast Guard Company Commanders operate
on a tag team schedule delivering 18 hours of
unrelenting intensity each day for 8 weeks.
I went from running in various meets around the world, signing autographs, and
shooting the cover of Runners World Magazine to
asking permission to use the bathroom. It went something like this:
I stand at attention screaming at the top of my lungs, “Sir, Seaman Recruit
McMullen respectfully requests to utilize the head,
Sir.”
The Company Commander response, “Get out of my face McMullen and be sure not to
get any on you.”
On day two of basic training I surrendered my body. Under advisement of our
Company Commander’s we were ordered to consume water and
remain hydrated. I did so as I normally did. One thing was different though we
remained in our working blues uniform throughout
our entire physical training. The uniform was made of a polyester cotton blend
and we were required to wear a t-shirt under our
uniform and this caused me to sweat more than usual.
I was assigned to squad leader and my duties distracted me from my more
important duty which was to hydrate myself. The Physical
Training or “PT” delivered by a Coast Guard Company Commander on a recruit is
fundamentally different than what a coach would do to
an athlete. You see the goal is to push each recruit to his or her personal
100% and that varies greatly from your Olympic caliber
athlete to your average couch potato turned soldier.
The big difference between my athletic coaches and Coast Guard Company
Commanders is your coach will tell you the workout’s
beginning, end, and the expectations of the intervals. A Company Commander
tells you nothing. In fact they enjoy the panic on your
face as your muscles burn and your lungs hyperventilate. They hover over the
strong and the weak screaming left, right, up, down,
forward, and back.
It’s a world of complete authority and those in authority were curious what an
Olympic athlete could and could not do? At first
they thought it was a rumor. My fitness did not match my age when I ran the 800
m in 1:57 fully dressed. Then I was pulled aside
and interrogated and soon the mystery was over. To confirm what I had said they
did a quick search on Google. The news spread like
wild fire across the base as Company Commanders whispered, “Watch what this guy
can do.”
The bar was raised as they sought my 100%. The most excruciating thing was I
didn’t know when it was going to end. PT goes until
the last person has reached cardiovascular or muscle failure. The goal during
that first week was to expend every last ounce of
energy. Then apply great amounts of external stress both psychological and
physical until each recruit decided to stay or call it
quits.
Ounce completely depleted the question was can we still listen, focus, and
remain loyal to an authority figure? I found out it
takes quite awhile to bring an Olympian to his knees, but not if he’s
over-confident and doesn’t see the resource we all need is in
desperately low supply…water.
At first I just stopped sweating, then got a chill, then became dizzy, and
finally disoriented. Once I started to figure out what
was going on I couldn’t get the water in fast enough. Eventually I lined up
with the wrong company. When I was being escorted back
to my company I just collapsed and began to cry in pain and embarrassment.
Chief Miller, a salty, 5’4”, native of Maine gets down and whispers in my ear,
“Son, you’d better get f---in’ tough, it only gets
harder from here.”
The medical staff scrapped me off the ground and sat me in a wheelchair. When I
got to the medical ward they transfused two liters
of fluids back into my body. The doc said usually you’ll have to take a leak
after the first liter; I didn’t have to go for over
three hours. By that time I was back with my company doing push-ups, crunches,
and flutter kicks.
It’s just like that, before you know it you’re back in line and at the mercy of
the experiment. What can this guy handle? On day
two they weren’t much impressed. By week six on December 7th, the wind was
gusting to 25 mph, air temperature was 30 degrees, and
just eaten meatballs were threatening to reappear. Chief Mason looked me square
in the eye and said, "McMullen do something that
impresses me for once and break the 1.5 mile Boot Camp record." I replied at
the top of my lungs, "Aye! Aye! Chief!"
So as to not impede my attempt I ran alone with several companies on base
cheering me on. I ran the first lap in 62 lifted by the
deafening screams of encouragement from my shipmates. I ended up running 7:09
for the distance breaking the existing record by 18
seconds.
It was all I could do to honor the men that prepare United States Coast
Guardsmen for Homeland Security Duty. My harsh instructors
had a policy not to let anyone graduate boot camp before they found their 100%,
including a 1996 Olympian. I give a respectful
salute to Senior Chief Mason, Chief Miller, and BM2 Oro.
To be continued.... Part 2: I Surrender My Spirit.
Part 3: I Receive a Soul.
Thanks for reading and please send to a friend,
Paul
To subscribe to the Big Kicker Article of the Week drop by
www.trackandfieldradio.com and sign-up. Plus, get your free access code
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Deena Kastor, Jim Ryun, and Steve Scott.


17. Fueling for triathlon:
The basic rules of proper nutrition are universal. They apply to everyone, young
and old, tall and short, active and inactive.
The most important principles are as follows: eat a balance of food types and a
wide variety of individual foods; get most of your
calories from natural, unprocessed foods; eat the same number of calories you
burn (once you've reached your ideal weight -- it's
normal to lose weight in the first weeks of training); eat for consistent energy
levels throughout the day; and drink plenty of
water.
Endurance athletes do require a more carbohydrate-rich diet, however. As a
triathlete, you should get about 60 percent of your
calories from carbs, 25 percent from healthy fats and 15 percent from proteins.
And there's one area of nutrition that is supremely important to the endurance
athlete: nutrition during and after workouts or
races. What you eat and drink during and after workouts has a tremendous impact
on how you feel and perform during workouts, how
quickly your body recovers following workouts and how quickly you gain fitness.
In particular, proper recovery nutrition is all the more important after a race
when muscle fuel depletion and tissue damage are
severe.
There are five key nutrients that your body needs during and immediately after
workouts or an event: water, electrolyte minerals,
carbohydrate, protein and antioxidant vitamins. Let's take a closer look at
them.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11762


18. Raise Your Marathon Plateau:
Still looking for that Breakthrough Race? These strategies can take you there.
by Kevin Beck
If you're a seasoned marathoner hungry for a breakthrough, by now you've
probably seen more training schedules than you can shake an
energy bar at. The recipes vary, but the ingredients are the same: long runs,
interval workouts, tempo runs, easy days,
marathon-pace (MP) runs. Buried somewhere within one of these prescriptions, you
believe, is the PR-shattering formula guaranteed to
lift you from your current performance plateau.
But in evaluating marathon-training plans, you've perhaps lost sight of a
critical practice: focusing on general guiding principles
and day-to-day strategies, not merely on executing a particular series of
workouts.
Fortunately, there's nothing complicated about solidifying your foundation.
Whether you're a marathon veteran or a newcomer to the
distance, the strategies described here can help you parlay your week-by-week
training into that performance leap you've been
looking for on race day. You'll see no mention in this article of specific
workouts or weekly training plans, because chances are
you've found one of those already. Rather, the principles touched on here will
help maximize the benefits of whatever sensible,
structured pattern of workouts you've settled on.
Hit the dirt
When a runner shifts from a typical training diet into full-scale
marathon-training mode, often the most significant change is an
increase in mileage, both in per-week totals and the weekly or biweekly long
run. Clearly, high mileage is a key determinant of
marathon success; however, it is also a common stumbling block, as many athletes
can't seem to exceed particular training volumes
without incurring injuries or succumbing to staleness or fatigue.
One way to dodge the injury bugaboo and still put plenty of miles in the bank is
to run on soft surfaces. Ask yourself how often you
really make an effort to avoid asphalt and concrete. When faced with a 15-minute
drive to a trailhead or a two-second bop to the end
of the driveway-especially after your daily commute -which are you honestly
going to choose?
I've always preferred the solace and variety of trails to the unwelcome buzz of
urban perambulation. But it wasn't until I got a dog
for a running partner and trained on trails almost exclusively out of concern
for his legs that I began to really appreciate the
benefits of running on grass and dirt. Not only did my legs feel fresher during
100-mile weeks than they had at 60 to 70 per week on
macadam, but I was reaping benefits I didn't even know about.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/00julaug/Breakthrough.htm
Buy Kevin Beck's book, Run Strong, from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736053\
62X


19. Exercise May Boost Performance on the Job:
Study Shows Workers Are More Productive When They Exercise.
Exercise may help you be at the top of your game at work.
Researchers found that when workers used their company gym, they were more
productive and got along better with their co-workers
afterward.
"The results are striking," says Jim McKenna, PhD, MSc, a professor of sport at
Leeds Metropolitan University in England, in a news
release. "We expected to hear more about the downside, such as afternoon
fatigue. But out of 18 themes raised by study participants,
14 were positive. It was almost overwhelming."
The findings were presented in Nashville, Tenn., at the American College of
Sports Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting.
Last Item on the Day's to-Do List
McKenna's study included 210 workers who had a plum corporate perk: a company
gym. The workers, most of whom had sedentary jobs,
rated their frame of mind, work performance, and workload on seven-point scales.
The surveys were done right before quitting time. By then, participants had had
their day's share of meetings, duties, and
interactions with co-workers. They took the surveys on days when they had used
their company's gym and on days when they hadn't
exercised. That way, they were only competing against themselves, and any
particularly hard or easy days were noted.
Working Out, Courtesy of the Company
Most people took aerobics classes lasting 45-60 minutes; other options included
yoga or stretching classes. The most common workout
time was during the lunch hour, American College of Sports Medicine spokesman
Dan Henkel tells WebMD.
More...from WebMD at:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/107/108426?src=RSS_PUBLIC


20. Interval Training the Scientific Way:
Interval Training - How to get the most out of suffering
The three main variables to consider when designing a training plan for yourself
are frequency—the number of times you ride per
week, duration—how long each ride lasts, and intensity—how fast you go. Many
athletes have work and family responsibilities that
largely dictate the frequency and duration components. This is “volume”—how many
miles or hours you ride in a week. The hard part to
figure out is the intensity component. What intensity should you ride to make
the highest intensity workouts—intervals—contribute to
making you a faster cyclist?
Everybody knows that simply training hard every day will lead to overtraining
and burnout. Finding the right intensity for intervals
is highly individual. When it comes to deciding how hard to ride, what works for
one of your teammates may not necessarily be best
for you. Appropriate training intensity also varies according to your goal race.
Long distance athletes such as Ironman racers are
not limited by VO2 and should focus on longer duration force and endurance type
intervals for success. Olympic distance athletes
need a high lactate threshold and VO2max. Sprint distance athletes are limited
by VO2max and power.
The French Doctor
Dr. Veronique Billat, a professor of Sport Sciences at the University of Lille
in France, has researched various interval training
methodologies to optimize VO2max training. She has produced some simple
protocols and demonstrated improvements of three to six
percent in elite athletes with only four weeks of training. While three to six
percent may not seem like a lot to you, for an elite
this represents a huge improvement. And if an elite rider can improve that much,
what about the rest of us? “Carrying out excellent
training is not hard to do,” says Billat. “You simply have to have reliable
reference points around which to structure your
workouts.”
More...from TriFuel at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/bike/interval-training-the-scientific-way-00088\
5.php


21. What ever happened to plain old water?
Claims of most fancy new drinks are all wet, unless you're into long endurance,
expert says.
Blink and it seems there's a new kind of water on supermarket shelves:
oxygenated, vitamin, fitness, caffeinated, naturally or
artificially fruit-flavored and so on. But do you really need any of these?
"Some of the fitness waters that have a little sweetness might encourage greater
levels of consumption than plain water," says
Cedric Byrant, chief exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise.
But the rest may be more hype than anything else, he says. For example, a recent
study enlisted by the American Council on Exercise
and conducted at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, found that drinking
super-oxygenated water had no measurable effect on the
subjects' resting heart rate, blood pressure or blood lactate values either at
rest, during exercise or afterward.
Oxygen is carried in the blood by being bound through hemoglobin or dissolved in
the plasma. In healthy people, hemoglobin is
saturated with oxygen.
"The bottom line is that super-oxygenated water appears to be no more beneficial
than plain old tap water. It's very doubtful that
the presence of extra oxygen in the blood would make a difference," Bryant says.
You also don't need extra vitamins in your water, he says. In fact, some of
these drinks can have up to 250 calories per bottle, so
check the label.
And while fitness enthusiasts have long been using caffeine to give them that
little extra boost, it really isn't going to be
beneficial for the average person, Bryant says.
"Caffeine became very popular with the real ultra-endurance athletes -- people
running marathons -- because what the caffeine
allowed them to do was better utilize fat as a fuel source, so they could spare
their glycogen levels so they wouldn't fatigue as
quickly," he says.
"But unless you're doing really long duration endurance activities, you're going
to have sufficient glycogen levels to meet your
needs."
More...from the Detroit News at:
http://www.detnews.com/2005/fitness/0506/08/H07-207583.htm


22. Clearing up the confusion over carbs:
Learn the difference between a high or low glycemic index .
Consumers now worry about which carbohydrate foods they choose, as well as how
much of them they eat. Sometimes they worry about the
vitamin, fiber, phytochemical, or sugar content of these foods.
More often people seem to think about the glycemic index, although they are
confused about how to apply it. Despite the confusion,
the all-important message is still: Eat a mostly plant-based diet.
Carbohydrates that are broken down quickly in the body, rapidly raising blood
sugar levels and causing a quick insulin response are
said to have a high glycemic index (GI).
These carbohydrates include sweets, potatoes, white rice and refined cereals and
breads. High GI foods may make blood sugar control
worse in people with diabetes. But everyone may quickly become hungry and
fatigued after eating these fast-burning foods.
More...from MSNBC at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8076503/


23. Chicago Marathon Training - Energy Boosting Nutrients:
The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is many weeks away. This is the time to
prepare, to create a base upon which a successful marathon
is built and supported. Training is two-fold; it includes logging miles and
eating nutritionally.
Food is more than fuel; it's optimal health and top performance. There are 6
nutrients that are essential: carbohydrate, protein,
fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. When eaten in the proper amounts these
equate to energy and feeling your best.
Carbohydrate is the primary source of energy for fueling muscle and brain and
protecting against muscle fatigue. About 60% of your
total daily calories should come from the natural sugars and starches found in
fruits, vegetables, and whole grain breads and
cereals. Sugars from cookies, cakes, soda pop and jam are examples of
carbohydrates that provide energy but lack nutritional value.
Protein is digested into amino acids that are rebuilt into useable protein that
build and repair muscle and red blood cells. Protein
is a source of calories and can be used for energy when carbohydrate is
inadequate. About 15% of your total daily calories should
come from protein rich sources such as fish, poultry, meat, eggs, beans and soy
products. Dairy foods also provide protein.
More...from the Chicago Marathon at:
http://chicagomarathon.com/page_L2.aspx?Page_ID=722&SubMenu=&Nav_2_ID=


24. Missing Exercise Can Be Depressing:
Worse Moods, Dips in Fitness Seen After 2 Weeks on the Sidelines.
Skipping exercise for a week or two may cramp your mood, says a study that
turned regular exercisers into couch potatoes.
"We were able to measure negative results from withdrawal of exercise in just
two weeks," says researcher Ali Berlin, MS, in a news
release. Berlin works at the military's Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences. She presented her findings in
Nashville, Tenn., at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting.
Stick to It
The take-home message: Once you start exercising, keep it up. That doesn't mean
becoming a slave to the Stairmaster or a fanatic
about any particular workout. Adjustments may be necessary from time to time.
For example, "if someone is a regular jogger or bicyclist and find they cannot
do the activity for a short time, they need to do
something else like walking until they can resume their preferred activity,"
says Berlin.
More...from WebMD at:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/107/108399?src=RSS_PUBLIC


25. News Scan:
* Developing a Calculated Marathon Eating and Drinking Plan
by Deborah Drewke, ChicagoMarathon.com
Training to complete the Chicago Marathon takes hard work and dedication. Along
with this, you need a calculated eating and drinking
plan. During exercise, we are fueled by a combination of carbohydrate and fat.
The proportion of carbohydrate to fat depends on the
person's training state and exercise intensity. We store enough fat to run
thousands of miles but are limited by carbohydrate
stores. Carbohydrate is stored in muscle and liver as glycogen. Through training
we become more efficient at storing it and deplete
it at a slower rate. An untrained person stores 80-90mmoles of glycogen while an
endurance trained person can store as much as
130-135 mmoles/kg.
Endurance exercise is considered any activity that lasts longer than 90-120
minutes. During this type of exercise, muscle glycogen
stores become progressively lower and potentially may decrease to critically low
levels in which exercise cannot be maintained. At
this point you've "bonked" or "hit the wall". You're exhausted and must stop or
drastically reduce your pace. Eating and or drinking
carbohydrate early in the race can prevent bonking. Keep your blood sugar up by
consuming carbs within the first 30-60 minutes and
continue to support blood sugar by eating or drinking at frequent intervals. It
is estimated that you need 30-60 grams of
carbohydrate every hour or 100-300 calories per hour. A cliff shot or gel packet
is 100 calories and 4oz of Gatorade are 25
calories.
ACSM suggests that both fluid and carbohydrate requirements can be met by
consuming 600-1200 ml of fluid per hour which is
equivalent to 20-40 oz of a 4-6% carbohydrate beverage like Gatorade. It can be
difficult to ingest that much fluid while running so
consider a combination of liquids and solids. Choose easily digestible foods and
fluids (to prevent GI upset) that are primarily
made from sugar and are low in fat and protein. Sports gels are ideal for
running since they are easily portable. Sports bars,
pretzels, cookies, candy and fruit are good carbohydrate sources but bulky to
carry. Experiment during training runs to determine
the combination of foods and fluids that you tolerate and provide unending
energy.

*I've heard that creatine helps build muscle. Is this true? And is it safe?
Widely used by athletes, creatine supplements help build muscle, they are
believed to be safe and, unlike other
performance-enhancing substances, are allowed by the International Olympic
Committee.
Creatine is a natural substance found in meat and fish, ''but you don't get any
benefit from eating meat unless the meat is raw,"
said exercise physiologist William J. Evans of the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences. And eating raw meat is dangerous
because it contains harmful bacteria. Besides, Evans said, to get enough to
build muscle, ''you would have to eat 10 pounds of
fresh, uncooked steak per day! So creatine supplements are the only way to go."
The supplements come in powder, tablet or drink form, which are all equally
effective.
Biochemically, creatine works by combining with phosphate in cells to produce
phosphocreatine, which helps create adenosine
triphosphate, the body's main source of energy, said Dr. George Blackburn,
associate director of nutrition at Harvard Medical
School.
Interestingly, creatine does not boost performance in aerobic, endurance events
like marathons, according to the American College of
Sports Medicine. But it can enhance performance in short, anaerobic events like
weight lifting or sprinting during which muscles
work hard and powerfully for brief periods.
Anecdotal reports suggest creatine may cause stomach cramps and diarrhea, but
research on athletes who have taken creatine for
longer than a year shows no adverse effects.
In large doses, creatine ''can adversely affect the kidneys," though this is
reversible, said Dr. Doug McKeag, director of the
Indiana University Center for Sports Medicine.
Although some researchers have wondered whether creatine might help battle
neuromuscular diseases like multiple sclerosis or ALS
(amytrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease), so far the answer is
no.
Judy Foreman
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

* Descending Intervals
By Matt Russ
Descending intervals train your body to buffer lactic acid, produce anaerobic
power, and to sustain repeated hard efforts that often
occur in a race. This is a very intense work out that should only be performed
1-2 times per month. You can perform DI's on your
stationary trainer or a long flat section of road.
Start out with a high cadence (110) and a maximum effort. Your first effort can
be 2-3 minutes in length. Recovery between efforts
will be the same length as the effort. After each effort, cut the length of the
next effort in half. A typical DI scenario would be
2 min. - 1 min. - 30 seconds- 15 seconds. I prescribe 2-3 sets of DI's with at
least 10 min. recovery between sets. All efforts are
performed at a maximum effort with a sustained high cadence.
From: The Sport Factory: Your coaching and training resource for running,
cycling, triathlon, mountain biking, and more


***End of Articles***


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

June 10, 2005:
Victoria International Track Classic - BC
http://www.trackclassic.com/

June 11, 2005:
Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K - New York City, NY
http://www.nyrr.org/nyrrc/mini/index.html

DeCelle Memorial Lake Tahoe Relay - Lake Tahoe, CA
http://www.laketahoerelay.com

Lac Leamy Triathlon - Gatineau, PQ
http://www.triathlon-espoir-gatineau.com

Reebok Grand Prix - New York, NY
http://www.reebokgrandprix.com

Steamboat Classic 4 Mile & 15K - Peoria, IL
http://www.steamboatclassic.org

USA Pro Duathlon Championships - Mason, OH
http://www.usatriathlon.org/Events/DuathlonNationals/DuathlonNationals.htm

Television - CBC
Cycling Mountain Bike World Cup: from Willingen, Germany, June 4-5 1400-1500 EDT

June 12, 2005:
Edge to Edge Marathon - West Coast, Vancouver Island, BC
http://www.edgetoedgemarathon.com

Edinburgh Marathon - Scotland
http://www.edinburgh-marathon.co.uk/uk

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - San Francisco, CA
http://www.tricalifornia.com/alcatraz/2005/index.htm

Kids Triathlon - Stittsville, ON
http://www.ottawakidstri.ca

North Olympic Discovery Marathon - Port Angeles, WA
http://www.nodm.com

Orange Classic 10K - Middletown, NY
http://www.orangeclassic10k.com

Rocky Mountain Half-Marathon and Women's 8K - Denver, CO
http://www.rmrunning.com

USA Age Group Duathlon Championships - Mason, OH
http://www.usatriathlon.org/Events/DuathlonNationals/DuathlonNationals.htm


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

Send this to a Friend:
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
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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...