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6. Total Immersion (*NEW*)
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Though swimming is an essential life skill, traditional teaching and coaching
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THIS WEEK:

There is no column from Owen Anderson this issue. Owen is at his Malibu Running
Camp this week. He is writing a daily blog on the
camp which is available at:
http://www.maliburunningcamp.com/

The following site contains movies of all the main track and field events since
2001:
URL: http://www.atletiekwereld.nl
The also have exclusive video of the second women's fastest 10k of all-time.

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* Sports Nutrition by Sheila Kealey.
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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: Hydrotherapy - Don’t pour cold water over hydrotherapy
2. Multisport: Healthy Alternative to America’s Tasty Treats
3. Science of Sport: Bruce Tulloh on the inexorable decline in Northern European
endurance running
4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Graduation Day
6. Inviting weather can lead to serious health concerns
7. A cardio workout too enticing to resist
Who would have thought that being weighted down could be so uplifting?
8. Progression - the key to increasing fitness
9. Fruit juice, regular exercise, clean teeth and a drink in moderation, all
help prevent Alzheimer's
10. Eating to mend sports injuries
You need rest, but a diet rich in protein, vitamin C and zinc can maximize
tissue repair.
11. From Runner's World
12. Big Kicker Article of the Week
I Surrender My Spirit - Coast Guard Boot Camp Part 2 of 3
13. Patients Reap Benefits of Heart Health Advance
Two Years After the CYPHER(R) Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent Was First
Introduced, Doctors See Long-Term Results; Ability to Treat
Broad Range of Patients.
14. Running: Treadmills - What You Should Know Before You Buy
15. Multisport: Tri 101 with Paul Regensburg - Fueling up for going long:
16. Vegan Athletes Flex Their Muscles
17. That Hammered Feeling - Simple Steps to Soften Muscle Soreness
18. The truth about low-carb diets
19. Do triathletes really have fewer injuries, and which ones get hurt?
20. Science of Sport: Runner’s high - a new explanation
21. Carbohydrate Loading
22. My race was a disaster, what happened?
23. Closer you get to Armstrong, the more complex he seems
24. A Rosy Picture - Women's Racing Today
25. News Scan - A Collection of News Briefs


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
"Which of the following is the biggest doping threat facing sports today?"

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:
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[Free Registration Required]

Last week's poll was: "Do you agree with the decision by the New York City
Marathon to award higher prize money to women than to
men?"

The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. No 42 58%
2. Yes 22 31%
3. No opinion, don't care 8 11%
Total Votes: 72

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Five Star Site of the Week: Running for fitness - the website.
"Helping you to run smarter.
This website accompanies the book, Running for Fitness. Use these tools to help
you to create your own training plan.
Whether you want to increase your fitness, lose weight, tackle stress, or run a
little faster in races, training smarter will help
you to get more from the effort you put in."
This site has some of the best running related calculators on the web.
Visit the site at:
http://www.runningforfitness.org/index.php

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: Running for Fitness
By Owen Barder
Most of us will never be elite athletes, but we can learn from the best runners
to get the most from our running.
For advice on what to look for in running shoes, to tips on training and
nutrition, this practical handbook contains advice about
all aspects of running from your first steps right through to training for a
marathon.
Experienced runners can apply the principles of elite athletes to put together
their own training schedule, and there are sample
workouts for running from 5km to the marathon. Specific guidance is also given
to older and younger runners, along with a chapter
looking at issues specific to women runners.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592281389/runnersweb/002-2143608-8644824\
?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: Hydrotherapy - Don’t pour cold water over hydrotherapy:
These days, hydrotherapy techniques – particularly alternating hot and cold
water immersion – are becoming increasingly popular as
an aid to recovery. But is this practice backed up by research? And what
mechanisms are responsible for its effects?
The importance of recovery for any athlete cannot be over-emphasised.
Unfortunately, however, although athletes and coaches are
creative and energetic about their training, many ignore or forget the
performance benefits they could gain by incorporating
recovery strategies into their daily programmes.
Athletes must deal with many forms of fatigue: psychological (emotional and
social stress); metabolic (energy stores); neural
(localised force production and drive/motivation); and environmental (climate
and travel). Coaches must therefore concern themselves
not just with the training stimulus but with any potential additional fatigue.
Yet all too often the implementation of recovery techniques is restricted to
times of illness or injury.
Surprisingly, recovery has not yet been fully defined and evaluated in an
analytical way. Therefore determining ‘best practice’ per
se may not be possible at present due to a lack of scientific evidence, and
recovery modalities have to be assessed on the basis of
limited research or – as long as there is no evidence to the contrary –
anecdotal advocacy.
A variety of physical, psychological and nutritional methods are currently
employed in a bid to accelerate the recovery process. Hot
and cold water immersion, or contrast bathing, is one hydrotherapy technique
that is currently growing in popularity.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050623_PPO_Hydrotherapy.html


2. Multisport: Healthy Alternative to America’s Tasty Treats:
It’s a love hate relationship. We LOVE to eat the tasty treats, but we HATE all
the extra calories and fat that comes with some of
our favorites. Fortunately, as an active individual, you should be able to
indulge in some of the tastiest treats without too much
guilt. Still, let’s look at a few of America’s favorite foods and consider ways
to eliminate or lessen the impact of the unwanted
calories and fat.
French Fries
Did you know that Americans eat more than 16 pounds of French fries per person
annually? It’s definitely one of America’s favorite
foods. According to Eric Schlessenger, author of “Fast Food Nation”, Americans
consumed an average of about eighty-one pounds of
fresh potatoes and four pounds of frozen french fries back in 1960. In 2000 they
consumed an average of approximately fifty pounds
of fresh potatoes and thirty pounds of frozen fries. With a small order of fast
food fries weighing in at 210 calories and 10 grams
of fat, and medium fries at 450 calories and 22 grams of fat, it’s no wonder we
need a healthy alternative. Since more than 20% of
the total calories comes from the oil they are cooked in, baking instead of
frying is an easy way to reduce the impact of a serving
of fries. To further boost the nutritional value of fries, using Sweet Potatoes
instead of regular spuds will increase your intake
of fiber, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin C and manganese. For
a great oven baked “fry”, cut up one large sweet
potato, toss it with ½ tbsp of olive oil, a pinch of cumin and pepper (and any
other tasty spice), and bake at 425 degrees for about
25-30 minutes (until golden brown).
For those that don’t want to bother with washing and cutting their own spuds,
check out some of the ready made fries available in
the frozen food section. Be sure to look for BAKED and not fried potatoes, and
be sure to check that they contain no trans fats
(partially-hydrogenated oils).
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_CTS_20050621_Tasty_Treats.html


3. Science of Sport: Bruce Tulloh on the inexorable decline in Northern European
endurance running:
Running is no longer a sport for hard-training introverts; it is part of the
consumer society – a leisure activity involving a bit
of gentle exercise, a bit of socialising and quite a lot of buying of designer
gear.
Distance runners: Running is a poor man’s sport: Bruce Tulloh on the inexorable
decline in Northern European endurance running
In 1990 Bruce Tulloh was nearing retirement as a teacher, coaching a small group
of elite distance runners and running about 40
miles a week himself. Since retiring in 1994, he has enjoyed a renaissance in
his own performance, running 2.47 in the London
Marathon that year and coming close to British records for the 10 miles and half
marathon two years later. He continues to coach a
few distance runners, including Matt O’Dowd and Amy Stiles, is race director of
the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya and is on the
organising committee of the Great Russian Run – a relay from Vladivostok to St
Petersburg. He has two books in print: Running is
Easy and Running over Forty, with the third edition of The Teenage Runner out
soon
In 1990 I was coaching a small group of ex- University distance runners, the
best of whom was Richard Nerurkar. The previous year he
had made the British team for the World Cross-Country Championships, but had
finished only 5th in the 10,000m trial for the
Commonwealth Games. Ahead of him were such people as Tim Hutchings, who had
finished second in the World Cross- Country, and Eamonn
Martin, who went on to beat Moses Tanui to the Commonwealth title.
Richard knew he had to train very hard if he was to make the British team for
the European Championships. He had been averaging
around 100 miles a week since his year in Russia in 1985 and had improved his
5000m time to 13.27; so we reckoned he should be able
to aim for close to 28 minutes in the AAA championships, which should be good
enough to make the team.
As it turned out it was, and he did, and when he went to the Europeans in Split
he was in second place at the bell, only to get
pushed back to fifth on the last lap.
The following year, Richard set his sights a bit higher and trained for the
World Championships in Tokyo, knowing that there would
be only one day’s rest between the heat and the final. On a Tuesday in May, he
ran 28.55 on our school cinder track, paced by our
cross-country team; then on the Thursday he ran 28.39 on the Tartan track in
Swindon, paced by Ian Manners.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050622_PPO_Tulloh.html


4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Hit a Punching Bag for Fitness
Would you like a sport that gets you respect and complements most team sports
and activities that stress primarily your legs, such
as running, cycling, skiing, skating or dancing? Try hitting a punching bag.
You can buy an inexpensive punching bag at most
sporting goods stores. They are supported by special floor stands or are hung
from a frame that attaches to your wall or ceiling.
Any vigorous exercise injures muscle fibers. That's why you feel sore on the
day after you have had a good workout. Exercising
when your muscles are sore increases your chances of injuring them, and waiting
until the soreness disappears reduces your chances
of injury. Cross training means that you alternate sports on successive days to
stress different muscle groups. Cross training
prevents injuries by allowing your muscles at least 48 hours to recover.
Hitting a punching bag is an excellent upper body exercise
that you can alternate with any lower body exercise.
A punching bag also helps to improve your coordination. When you hit the bag,
it bounces backward and rebounds toward you. Try to
hit the bag at the exact time that it comes towards you. If you hit it too
early or late, it will not bounce rhythmically and you
will miss it. Start out by hitting the bag lightly every other day until your
arms feel heavy or sore, or you feel tired. Then
gradually increase the time and intensity of your punching sessions.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Is it true that iceberg lettuce is completely devoid of
nutrition?
It's not devoid of nutrition, just a less concentrated source of nutrients than
the darker green leaf lettuces, spinach and other
dark leafy greens. Lighter colors in vegetables mean they contain more water and
therefore fewer nutrients "per cubic inch." Here's
a comparison of one cup of iceberg and one cup of romaine lettuce:
Iceberg lettuce -- 11mg calcium, 11mg phosphorous, .3mg iron, 88mg potassium,
19RE vitamin A, 2mg vitamin C. Romaine lettuce --
20mg calcium, 25mg phosphorous, .6mg iron, 162mg potassium, 146RE vitamin A,
13mg vitamin C. Both have 7 calories, 1g protein, 1g
carbohydrate, 1g fiber. Iceberg lettuce is a perfectly good food, but darker
lettuces are even better.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: My aerobics instructor says we need to dance for 30 minutes
to get any real benefit, but I'm exhausted after
ten. Is there any point in continuing with the class?
You should start out by exercising in each session only until your muscles feel
heavy or hurt and then you should quit for the day.
Eventually, you should be able to work up to the full 30 minutes. However, many
people injure themselves because they are so
obsessed with trying to reach 30 minutes of continuous exercise that they do not
stop exercising when they feel pain.
If you can't exercise for 30 minutes continuously in one sport, try to get at
least 30 minutes total exercise or vigorous activity
during the day. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, you don't
have to engage in vigorous exercise for sustained
periods to gain substantial health benefits. If you exercise for 30 seconds,
rest for 30 seconds and alternate exercising and
resting, you should be able to exercise far longer without injuring yourself.
If you tire early in one sport, you can exercise in several sports, stopping in
each when you feel the least discomfort. For
example, go to your aerobic dance class and stop when you feel the least bit
tired, even if you have to quit after two minutes.
Rest, and then ride a stationary bike until your legs start to feel heavy,
perhaps for three minutes. Later in the day, walk for a
while until you feel tired. Try for a combined total time of 30 minutes of
exercise per day, three to five days a week. You can
count any physical activity that keeps you moving constantly, such as walking,
climbing stairs or gardening.


5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Graduation Day:
A first marathon is like a first love. No matter how beautifully or badly it
goes, you will never forget it.
I can't recall my breakfast menu this morning or much about the run that
preceded it. But I can recount in loving detail my first
marathon day. And that was 38 years ago, at Boston.
That first marathon day can change you in ways that you couldn't have imagined
before running the race. I had intended to finish the
one marathon and then retire to fun-and-fitness running.
But I couldn't stop at that one. It led to dozens more marathons plus a few
ultras -- and finally, just this year, to coaching my
first group of marathoners.
The Eugene Running Company and SportHill sponsored what we called a "Marathon
Team." Graduation day for the program, which began in
January, came five months later at Newport on the Oregon Coast. That evening I
wrote to 16 graduates of my first Team:
"I've never been prouder of more runners on a single day. Each of you gave me
chills for your own reasons as you hit your finish
line at Newport -- in a race that didn't start at seven o'clock this morning but
last winter in your first training run with this
Team.
"Even if you didn't run the time you'd hope for, remember that veteran
marathoners say the same thing about their races as pilots do
about their landings: any that you can walk away from is a good one. All 16 of
you finished and can walk away proudly."
The greatest benefit of this program wasn't the training plan or the coaching.
It was the support that these runners shared for five
months of Sundays.
"You helped each other do what you might not have done alone," I told them.
"Ultimately that is what you'll remember most about this
marathon."
The Team ranged in age from 20 to 57, and in time from 3:25 to 5:24. One man was
a grandfather, and one woman was pregnant.
Ten of the 16 runners finished their first marathon. One of them, Laura McClain,
could have spoken for all when she wrote to me:
"I had never been on a team of any kind, nor did I participate in sports in
school. I was too shy and scared. This group was the
first organized sports thing I've ever done, at almost 40."
More... from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/513.html


6. Inviting weather can lead to serious health concerns:
Sunny, warm weather is inviting and gets people out in the outdoors to enjoy
their favorite activities. But the heat can be a
problem. Dehydration and heatstroke are two very common heat-related diseases
that can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Dehydration can be a serious heat-related disease, as well as being a dangerous
side effect of vomiting and fever. Children and
people over the age of 60 are particularly susceptible to dehydration.
Under normal conditions, everyone loses body water throughout the course of the
day. This water is replaced by drinking fluids and
eating foods that contain water, such as fruits.
One thing to be wary of in the summer, when hiking or even boating, is
overexposure to the sun. When this happens, dehydration can
occur. This is caused when the body loses water content and essential body salts
such as sodium, potassium, calcium bicarbonate and
phosphate.
If this happens, dehydration should be treated as soon as possible.
Common symptoms of dehydration, although each individual may experience symptoms
differently, may include: thirst, dry skin,
fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness, dry mouth, increased heart rate and
increased breathing.
In children, additional symptoms may also include: no tears when crying, sunken
abdomen, eyes or cheeks, or high fever.
In cases of mild dehydration, simple rehydration is recommended by drinking
fluids. Many sports drinks on the market effectively
restore body fluids, electrolytes and salt balance. So it's not a bad idea to
include some of these on trips to the outdoors.
More...from the Mercury News at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/other_sports/11907758.htm


7. A cardio workout too enticing to resist:
Who would have thought that being weighted down could be so uplifting?
I never look for an excuse to miss a weight workout. The repetitive motion, the
internal counting off of reps, the methodical
breathing — it's all a form of meditation. It clears my mind of stress and
worry, and I leave the gym feeling both spent and
refreshed, and looking forward to the next session.
Cardio workouts? Well, let's just say that on more than one occasion I've
arrived at the gym for a cardio session only to turn
around for reasons as flimsy as not having a towel or a water bottle. For me,
cardio workouts are a necessary evil and, over the
years, I've tried a number of ways to make them more exciting.
Outside the gym, I've tried bicycling, inline skating, tennis, swimming,
kickboxing and running clubs. (One group ran along the
beachfront, another ran on mountain trails.) Inside the gym, I've tried spinning
and any number of ear-splitting cardio classes (why
do instructors need to shout when they're miked?).
In recent years, in an effort to save time, my back and my eardrums, I've
settled on using the typical array of gym cardio machines.
But even my weekly supply of Us and People can't stave off the inevitable
boredom I feel about 30 seconds into a cardio workout.
Looking for something — anything — different, I came across a weird combination:
A cardio class taught on treadmills. And there was
another twist: Students wear weighted vests and use light hand weights to add
resistance.
I showed up early one Saturday morning for the TreadRide w/WalkVest class at
Crunch gym on Sunset Boulevard. The teacher, Debbie
Rocker, not coincidentally created both the concept for the class as well as the
weighted vests we'd be using.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-bound20jun20,1,5988179.stor\
y?coll=la-health-fitness-news


8. Progression - the key to increasing fitness:
by Frank Horwill
The late Ron Pickering, former national athletics coach for Wales, and mentor to
Olympic gold medallist Lynn Davies in the long jump
(8.23m) many years ago was giving a lecture to the British distance running
squad at their training camp in Merthyr Mawr. The theme
of this lecture was – progression. He said, "If you wake up every morning and go
for a 2 mile run around the park in 15 minutes, you
will become very good at running 2 miles in 15 minutes. But, if you wish to
progress, some of your runs will have to be 4 miles
around the park, and some, just one mile around the park much faster".
During his lecture he was puzzled by the appearance of a middle-aged man sitting
in the back-row of the audience, wearing a battered
old trilby hat and smoking a pipe (Smoking was not so badly thought of thirty
years ago!). Pickering thought no more of the matter
until a year later when he was again addressing the same gathering – the same
man, in the same place and in the same gear.
After his lecture, the man approached Pickering and said, "I thought about what
you said last year on progression. I started with
one chin to the bar and increased it by one a day. I got up to fifty!" The
average for chinning the bar correctly for the British
running elite in 1963, was three for men and a half chin for women.
Pickering felt inclined to doubt the man’s story and suggested they adjourn to
the gymnasium for the man to give a demonstration.
When the man had reached thirty chins he spluttered to Pickering, "Sometimes I
get bored doing these and pull myself up to
arms-length." He then proceeded to pull himself up until his arms were fully
extended and his hips were above the bar! He completed
fifty chins. His sport was sheer face rock climbing, for which he was
world-renowned.
The moral of that story is obvious and not new. One of the most famous stories
of its kind occurred more than 500 years before the
birth of Christ. Milo of Crotona was delighted with the birth of a bull calf
from a good stock cow, he expressed his joy for lifting
the calf above his head first thing in the morning. He continued to do this
until it was 4-years old and twenty times heavier than
when first born. This did not stop him carrying it the length of the stadium at
Olympia. Progressive weight-training had started.
More...from the Serpentine Running Club at:
http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/coach/fh47.php


9. Fruit juice, regular exercise, clean teeth and a drink in moderation, all
help prevent Alzheimer's:
According to a new report, drinking fruit juice, getting regular exercise and
brushing your teeth could all help prevent
Alzheimer's.
Researchers in the U.S. are saying that lifestyle choices may be far closer
linked to the brain disease, than was originally thought
and there is a lot people can do to lessen the risks and to prevent the disease
developing.
Possibly more important the researchers have discovered a change in the memory
area of the brain which could determine who will get
Alzheimer's as far ahead as nine years before symptoms appear.
The findings of a number of studies were presented at the first Alzheimer's
Association International Conference in Washington last
weekend.
Some researchers insist that brain scans and simple blood tests may offer the
best ways to predict who has the highest risk of
Alzheimer's disease.
One group which scanned the brains of middle-aged and older people while they
were still healthy discovered that lower energy use in
the hippocampus part of the brain correctly signalled who would get Alzheimer's
or a similar memory-related illness 85% of the time.
Lead researcher, Lisa Mosconi from New York University School of Medicine, says
they found the earliest predictor, the hippocampus,
seemed to be the very first region to be affected.
More...from News-Medical.net at:
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=11148


10. Eating to mend sports injuries:
You need rest, but a diet rich in protein, vitamin C and zinc can maximize
tissue repair.
Sooner or later, almost everyone gets sidelined by an injury that keeps them
from being physically active. Twisted ankles,
tendinitis, pulled muscles and the more serious torn shoulder rotator cuffs used
to mean weeks of inactivity and, with it, unwanted
pounds that only complicated recovery.
These days, "we approach injury much like we would with any athlete," says
physical therapist Thomas Papke, a spokesman for the
American Physical Therapy Assn. Professional athletes "wouldn't sit out eight
weeks while they recovered…. It's appropriate to work
through the healing cycle."
But that doesn't mean shooting up with cortisone or playing through pain. "Pain
is a wonderful messenger to tell you when to stop,"
Papke says.
Finding ways to stay active can help healing.
"When most people have an injury, it usually involves just one body part," says
registered dietitian Leslie Bonci, director of
Sports Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "There's no
reason you can't exercise the rest of the body,
although it will depend on the severity of the injury. "
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-lean20jun20,1,6008925.story\
?coll=la-health-fitness-news


11. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
"If you can imagine before running how top runners run
successfully--preplay--you're halfway to emulating them. When you run well,
remember how you ran. Fix that image in your memory, adding it to your mental
video library." -Hal Higdon
* Injury Prevention
Be careful of concrete: More than any other surface, concrete sends the force of
each stride up into the leg. So don't run on it. Or
at the very least, vary your terrain so you mix concrete surfaces with grass,
trails, and treadmill running on different days of the
week.
* Performance Nutrition
For a real treat, combine fruits and vegetables for a tangy fruit salsa. To do
this, add diced peppers, onions, and cilantro to
chopped mango, papaya, or pineapple. Stir in the juice of one lime and serve
over a meat or tofu dish, or with tortilla chips.
* Words That Inspire:
"Ask yourself, can I give more? The answer is usually Yes." -Paul Tergat,
legendary Kenyan distance runner
* Editor's Advice:
"To get through your next race aid station smoothly, pinch the top of the cup
for easy drinking and better gripping. To avoid
getting jostled while trying to swallow, jog away from the aid station before
taking a drink or eating." - RW editorial intern Tyghe
Trimble
* Training Talk:
"Running shoes are a safety device and performance enhancer. They hold the
secret to security and comfort. They literally provide
the foundation of every run. And they should never, ever be an afterthought."
-From Runner's World Guide to Injury Prevention by
Dagny Scott Barrios


12. Big Kicker Article of the Week:
I Surrender My Spirit - Coast Guard Boot Camp Part 2 of 3
Part I recap: I hit the deck on day two due to massive dehydration. Chief
Miller leans over me as I lay on the ground and says,
McMullen, you’d better get $%!$#@$ tough, it only gets harder from here.” The
docs pumped in two liters of fluid and I was back to
doing push-ups, flutter kicks, and up downs before I had the chance to take a
leak. 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 receive 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.
I Surrender My Spirit, Day 3: We were performing a rack (bed) making drill. It
possessed all the ingredients for failure: a short
amount of time, teamwork with strangers, and 60 immature hot heads. The bunks
were stacked three high and to make the top one we
needed to climb up to the top stepping on each other’s hands and already made
beds. Arguments broke out almost instantly as tempers
flared due to the tight quarters (to simulate the space on a ship).
While we are sweating and trying to reach perfection the company commanders are
screaming to hurry and keep our voices low. Then we
’d sprint down three flights of stairs and line up in order on the parade field.
It was a team building skill and we did this over
and over with bar set high enough to fail. Sure enough, we failed each time,
but kept getting closer to the goal. Finally, Chief
Mason called the exercise a disaster and conveyed his disappointment.
Earlier, he shared we might have the potential to be the best company he had
ever led but after that drill we were one of the worst.
I knew we kept getting closer and closer and I felt we might have made it if we
were given a couple more shots. As I contemplated
that thought a smile came to my face and Chief Mason caught a glimpse of my
satisfaction.
He swam in like a shark that had just smelled blood. He got within what seemed
like centimeter of my face and screamed, “Seaman
Recruit McMullen what are you smiling for?”
The place fell silent I could do nothing, but answer the question honestly,
“Sir, I’m smiling because I think the company did pretty
good, Sir.”
Chief Mason responded on the mark, “I said you did poorly…you know what your
weakness is McMullen…over-confidence, because smiling
is what over-confident people do when things are going bad and they don’t see
disaster coming, is that what you are
McMullen…over-confident?”
I responded as loud as I could, adrenaline flowing, “Sir, Yes, Sir.” and so
began our Company Commander-Seaman Recruit relationship.
I learned these simple statements about confidence after he revealed my
spiritual flaw, HUMILITY:
Over-confidence is the image we portray to avoid being challenged (big talking
bully).
Lack of confidence is the image we portray to avoid being challenged (excuses).
Confidence is knowing you have what it takes when it really counts.
To know if your confidence is in balance you must attempt to negotiate the
moment you really need it. If you succeed you know you’
ve got it. If you fail you know you were faking it and better go back to the
drawing board.
My confidence was adequate until it came time to compete for a medal at a major
international championship. I was fine right up
until I got to the final and said to myself, “I’m a fake. I’ve fooled all of
these people into thinking I’m a contender for one of
these medals, yet deep down I’m just a guy who wishes he was on a football field
hitting other guys hard enough to make their
parents cringe.”
It took Coast Guard Boot Camp to figure that out. When I was comfortably
challenged, I knew running was what I was meant to do, but
when it really counted at the Goodwill Games, at the World Champs, and at the
Olympic Games I lost faith. I chickened out and said,
“I’m too big, where’s my helmet and shoulder pads?”
The mentality of fearless football player was what I had built my career upon
and it got me to the finals, but the reality was it
really counted and left me overwhelmed. My mind would focus on my 6’2” 175 lbs
as a liability rather than a strength. When you’re
out there in front of 60-80,000 people it can make you pretty transparent
revealing all of your weaknesses. If that wasn’t enough
you look down the starting line and see the World record holder and say, “O man
this is gonna hurt.”
To be continued... Part 3: I Receive a Soul.
From www.trackandfieldradio.com


13. Patients Reap Benefits of Heart Health Advance:
Two Years After the CYPHER(R) Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent Was First
Introduced, Doctors See Long-Term Results; Ability to Treat
Broad Range of Patients.
In June 2003, Byron Curtner, M.D., a 47-year-old family practice physician and
marathon runner, knew something was wrong with his
heart when he started experiencing shortness of breath on a routine run. The
North Little Rock, Arkansas, native saw his doctor
immediately who found a 99 percent blockage in his right coronary artery. He
thought that open-heart surgery would be his only
option. Instead, Dr. Curtner became one of the first patients in the United
States to receive a CYPHER® Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary
Stent, an advance in heart health care designed to re-open clogged heart
arteries without invasive surgery. Two years later, Dr.
Curtner is gearing up for another marathon.
"I feel as healthy and energetic as I have ever felt," said Dr. Curtner. "My
doctor told me I would have been a prime candidate for
open heart surgery if drug-eluting stents were not available and it's unlikely I
would have been able to resume my marathon training
as quickly as I did. I have a great appreciation for the clinical benefits of
this new treatment option."
More...from Yahoo at:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050621/nytu030.html?.v=11


14. Running: Treadmills - What You Should Know Before You Buy:
The majority of us would agree that while running through the park or around the
block, nothing compares to fresh-air, and the
beautiful sceneries. But not everyone can enjoy the great outdoors. City suburbs
don't exactly offer the perfect environment for
taking a brisk walk or running. Traffic, pollution, and hard concrete pavement
just seem to defeat the purpose of walking or running
outdoors.
Scheduling the time to enjoy a brisk walk in the park is more difficult then it
seams. Most of us are running on empty by the time
we get home from work. And the few of us that don't have to deal with traffic
every day, find running errands just as trying.
Exercise is good for us and because of the growing awareness of achieving good
health; many people are considering a treadmill. A
treadmill can be used at home or in the office; thus, giving us a flexible
option to an exercise routine.
Whilst static exercise bikes have been a popular way of exercising at home for
the last 25 years or so, the popularity of the
treadmill is increasing dramatically - it is fast becoming the preferred way to
exercise at home. Interestingly the highest sales in
America are in the big cities like New York. Up until now the treadmill has been
most popular amongst women of mid-high income
levels and aged between 30 and 50 years old. However sales are becoming more
varied and now include both older (late 60s) and
younger (20s), as well as those with lower incomes.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050622_Treadmills.html


15. Multisport: Tri 101 with Paul Regensburg - Fueling up for going long:
By Paul Regensburg, LifeSport.ca coaching
How many times have you heard a triathlete say he or she bonked on a long ride?
Bonking occurs when the body runs out of carbs
(stored mainly in the blood and muscles) the body uses as fuel. This can be
frustrating and also ensure that you will not gain the
desired training adaptation necessary for improvement. Riding will often take as
much time as the rest of your training regimen
combined, so it is critical that you don’t make basic mistakes that can cost you
a key workout.
Here are a few guidelines to help you plan your nutrition for your next ride.
Glycogen: Glycogen is a readily available fuel stored in your muscles and organs
and can be called on immediately for energy needs.
When topped up, your body will store about two hours worth of glycogen for
endurance activities. However, when this glycogen starts
to run out and is not replaced by ingesting additional calories, the muscles
will become depleted of fuel and begin to falter. In
extreme circumstances the body eventually goes into a self-preservation mode and
directs the remaining fuel to the vital organs to
stay alive, thus depriving the muscles. This is the ultimate bonk, and you may
have observed it in triathletes at the end of Ironman
when people start crawling to the line.
Fueling the body: If we have only two hours of glycogen for fuel, then how does
one do a triathlon that can last upwards of 17 hours
for some athletes? Well, if you were only using stored glycogen for fuel, you
wouldn’t make it. However, the body also burns fat
stores for fuel and you can keep restocking glycogen stores through proper
nutrition practices on the bike.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050622_LW_Bonking.html


16. Vegan Athletes Flex Their Muscles:
In a recent interview Olympic track star Carl Lewis, who was a vegan during his
best years, says he believes that “most athletes
have the worst diet in the world, and they compete in spite of it.”
Members of OrganicAthlete's “Vegan Pro-Activist” team are out to prove that a
plant-based diet is the best diet for optimal health
and performance, and that they can succeed at high levels in sports because they
are vegan.
Many people are resistant about becoming vegan because of dietary myths like not
getting enough protein, but elite vegan athletes
and health professionals are participating in the 2005 OrganicAthlete Conference
to dispel these myths. Scheduled for September
24th, the goal of the conference is to share information about the benefits of a
plant-based diet.
“At first other athletes told me I should really start eating meat,” says
Brendan Brazier, a professional tri-athlete and vegan for
six years. According to Brazier, those same friends now realize, based on his
outstanding athletic example, that a vegan diet is
optimal for high performance athletes.
The conference schedule includes talks from endurance athletes like Brazier and
Christine Vardaros, a world class cyclo-cross racer,
who has risen to the top of her sport as a vegan. But even in the protein-crazed
sport of bodybuilding vegans are finding success.
Kenneth G. Williams, a bodybuilder who placed 3rd at the 2004 Natural Olympia,
and Charlie Abel, a raw vegan muscleman and personal
trainer, will both speak at the event.
More...from Medical News Today at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=26480


17. That Hammered Feeling - Simple Steps to Soften Muscle Soreness:
Every runner is familiar with rising from bed the morning after a race or an
especially long run feeling as if his legs had been
tenderized with a sledgehammer during the night. More than an unpleasant
feeling, delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a symptom
of muscle tissue damage that can seriously compromise the quality of your
training. A recent Spanish university study found that
DOMS reduced running economy by 5% in a group of subjects.
Many runners assume that DOMS is an unavoidable effect of hard running that we
just have to live with, and it is true that the only
way to avoid muscle soreness completely is to avoid hard running altogether. But
there are several measures you can take to reduce
the amount of soreness you experience during the training process, and thus
reduce the impact of soreness on the quality of your
training—without training any less hard. By practicing these techniques you will
generally perform better in your key workouts and,
as a result, get more out of them.
A Physiological Tug-o-War
DOMS is associated with the microscopic tearing of muscle fibers during activity
that is either more intense or more prolonged than
normal. When a muscle fiber is strained too far, the surface membrane breaks
open and some of its chemical contents spill out,
damaging other muscle tissue, activating nerve fibers, and initiating an
inflammation response. The pain is probably associated with
inflammation more than it is with the damage itself, which is why the soreness
takes many hours to develop and often does not peak
until two to three days after the workout or race. In addition to pain, other
symptoms are loss of strength, stiffness, and
decreased range of motion.
Training for Low-Pain Gains
Preventing soreness begins with the warm-up. Always precede any high-intensity
running you do with easy jogging followed by
stretching or flexibility drills (such as high knees and butt kicks). These
precautions warm and lubricate the muscles, making the
fibers less prone to tearing during the more intense portion of the workout.
Likewise—and I know you’ve heard it a thousand
times—you need to cool down thoroughly after your high-intensity workouts.
Circulation is the primary facilitator of the muscle
repair process after intense exercise. Finishing workouts with low-intensity
activity keeps circulation levels up without further
damaging muscle fibers and thereby kick-starts the recovery process.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/03dec/musclesoreness.htm


18. The truth about low-carb diets:
Diet books outsell almost every other subject area both on the internet and in
the book stores. Our life styles in the twenty first
century don't allow us to consume the calories that our bodies tell us we need
and many of us therefore are permanently on diets and
find our weight yo-yoing backwards and forwards.
In the 1970s Dr Atkins put the diet world in a quandary when he declared that
his diet could be more effective than others but
encouraged a major intake of proteins and fats. He was decried as being insane
and playing with people's health but the facts speak
for themselves. Millions of people have found success through the Atkins' diet
and there is almost a revolution against all the
cakes, specialty breads, cereals and snack foods that stores stock for people
who need to eat and need to eat now!
An additional problem to our increased weight is the number of cases of diabetes
that are being diagnosed in people of all ages.
It's not part of our general knowledge that too much sugar in our diets will
produce too much insulin and in addition to this
converting our food to fat it's likely to give us diabetes.
Your body will also store carbs away because it worries that it may not be fed
again and this means that you're left feeling
unsatisfied and all these carbs are simply going on the hips.
Many of us are encouraged by 'in your face' advertising to consume lots of
"low-fat" diet foods. They may be low in fat but they are
actually high in sugar and therefore increase insulin levels and your fat. Most
refined carbohydrates are actually little more than
sugar molecules bonded together and will be treated by your body in the same way
as a piece of chocolate.
What can you do to make a real impact on your weight? You need to make a
commitment that you seriously want to change your
lifestyle. You'll need to educate yourself so that you know what you can and
can't eat. You want to find as many of the foods that
you can enjoy which will convert straight to energy rather than being stored as
fat. You'll find these are mostly vegetables, eggs,
nuts, cheese, meat and legumes.
For two weeks you'll have to be totally devoted to your diet and never cheat.
It's during this time that you will be educating your
body! It's going to be a huge shake up for it as your carb intake won't be
exceeding twenty grams per day but your determination
will pay off! Your body will learn to burn fat rather than carbs and once the
weight starts to move you should feel motivated to
keep going.
Once your induction is over you can have the occasional cheat. This can really
help to kick start your body if you've reached a
plateau. The thing you should try to stay away from at all costs is processed
sugar.
Try to consume plenty of fiber to help flush out the waste in your body
regularly. You can do this by drinking psyllium husk.
By drinking lots of water you will stop yourself from feeling so hungry and it
will also flush out some of the carbohydrates.
There will be moments when you desperately need a snack, so try to be prepared
by keeping some healthy snacks at hand. It's possible
either to prepare veggies to munch during the day or you can buy snacks that
will keep that you know are permissible.
Cath Shamar is the editor of "Change Obesity".
A premier obesity information site on the Internet.
For more information please visit
http://www.changeobesity.com


19. Do triathletes really have fewer injuries, and which ones get hurt?
In theory, triathletes should have fewer overuse injuries, compared to other
endurance athletes. After all, 'cross training' is
believed to minimise the risk of injury (and is even prescribed for injured
athletes as a way to recover), and triathletes cross
train routinely. A triathlete whose main strength is running, for example, could
be described as cross training for 67% of all
workouts (if running, swimming, and cycling workouts occur with equal
frequencies). Indeed, initial reports indicate that overuse
injuries may be lower for triathletes; one study found an overuse-injury
frequency of 41% in a group of triathletes, compared with
the usual 50 to 65% injury rates found in 'pure' runners ('An Epidemiological
Investigation of Training and Injury Patterns in
British Triathletes,' British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 28, pp. 191-196,
1994).
However, other research has identified a 90% (!) injury rate in triathletes,
well
above the norm for endurance-sport participants ('Overuse Injuries in
Ultraendurance Triathletes,' American Journal of Sports
Medicine, Vol. 17, pp. 514-518, 1989). Indeed, some sports-medicine experts
argue that triathletes are more prone to injury, since
each of the three triathlon sports tends to trigger a particular type of malady.
Swimming, for example, is known to induce shoulder
injuries, which are seldom seen in running. Cycling is associated with a higher
risk of lower back damage, which is usually not a
problem in endurance swimmers. In addition, triathletes often carry out more
total workouts per week, compared with 'straight'
swimmers, runners, or cyclists. From these perspectives, triathlon competition
might be considered a 'high-risk' sport.
So, the question remains: do triathletes get injured more or less often than
'specialist' endurance athletes? In addition, which
triathletes are at the highest risk for injury? Do psychological state,
physique, age, and gender play a role in determining risk?
How about the number of years of triathlon experience, the time spent competing,
training mileage, training time, number of workouts
per week, training pace, and even stretching? To answer these questions,
researchers at Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent
recently examined the five-year training programmes of 12 elite triathletes from
the British National Squad, 17
national-development-team members, and 87 male club triathletes ('Injury and
Training Characteristics of Male Elite, Development
Squad, and Club Triathletes,' International Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 19,
pp. 8-42, 1998). An injury was defined as any
musculoskeletal problem causing cessation of training for at least one day, a
reduction in training mileage, the taking of pain
medicine, or the seeking of medical aid. Overuse injuries were recorded
separately from traumatic injuries, such as those resulting
from bicycle accidents.
More...from SportsInjuryBulletin at:
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/triathlete-injuries.html


20. Science of Sport: Runner’s high - a new explanation:
The state of euphoria induced by prolonged exercise was known first as ‘second
wind’ and more recently as ‘runner’s high’.
Scientists originally attempted to explain the experience in terms of the
effects of the ‘stress hormones’ adrenaline and
noradrenaline. Then came the ‘endorphin hypothesis’. And now we have the
‘endocannabinoid hypothesis’: a suggestion that the
physical and psychological wellbeing experienced by many endurance athletes is
due to the exercise-induced activation of endogenous
cannabinoids – lipids whose actions in the body resemble those of the active
constitutent of cannabis.
This theory, supported by scientific evidence that exercise boosts blood
concentrations of endocannabinoids, is given a thorough
airing in a review by US researchers published in the British Journal of Sports
Medicine.
Their first point is that the endorphin hypothesis – that the runner’s high is
induced by the release of endogenous opioids in
response to exercise – doesn’t hold water because, among other lesser reasons,
these chemicals are simply too large to cross the
blood-brain barrier and exert the central effects that are claimed for them.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050623_PPO_Runners_High.html


21. Carbohydrate Loading:
Carbohydrate loading is a safe, natural way to gain a competitive edge and
improve performance. Carbohydrate loading is done by
manipulating dietary carbohydrate intake and exercise duration the week before a
race. The regimen is only beneficial to endurance
athletes who are competing in activities lasting 90 minutes or longer.
The premise of carbohydrate loading is to supersaturate the muscle with glycogen
- the storage form of dietary carbohydrate for
later energy use. This concept is analogous to a bear feeding and storing up
food for a long winter's hibernation. The stored
glycogen is a reserve that is drawn upon and enables the athlete exercise for a
longer period of time at an optimal pace before
becoming exhausted. When the glycogen stores run out, the athlete runs out,
"bonks" or "hits-the-wall" and becomes too tried to
continue. Exercise must be stopped or the pace drastically reduced. Carbohydrate
loading does not improve racing speed.
Training effects the body's ability to utilize nutrients through cellular,
enzymatic, and metabolic adaptations ultimately
reflecting performance. Endurance training increases the activity of glycogen
synthetase, an enzyme responsible for glycogen
storage. The more active the synthetase the greater the amount of glycogen
stored. An untrained individual stores 80-90 mmoles/kg of
glycogen compared to 130-135mmoles/kg of glycogen in a trained individual.
Additionally, capillaries and mitochondria densities
increase, becoming more effective at fuel oxidation. In order for carbohydrate
loading to be effective, you must be trained and
deplete the muscle group that you plan to use during competition. It's sports
specific.
The fuel used during exercise is a combination of carbohydrate and fat. The
ratio depends upon the intensity of the exercise. At
higher intensities more carbohydrate is burned while at lower intensities more
fat is burned. Endurance activities are typically
performed at low intensities for a long duration so that there is a higher
proportion of fat to carbohydrate burned. We store enough
fat to run thousands of miles. However, carbohydrate stores limits us.
Therefore, training and dietary manipulation are critical to
endurance sport success.
More...from the Chicago Marathon at:
http://chicagomarathon.com/page_L2.aspx?Page_ID=719&SubMenu=&Nav_2_ID=


22. My race was a disaster, what happened?
June is the month when I receive notes from despondent athletes asking some form
of, "What happened? I went to (insert your race
here: The Tour of Tuna Road Race, The Triathlon Weekend Festival for Fun or The
Run for Life, etc...) and had a terrible race
experience! I was (pick one: off the back, dropped on the hill, slow compared to
the average speed I desired, had a heart rate so
high I thought I'd explode, etc...) My season is over. I don't know why I race
anyway, I don't belong ..."
Okay, calm down, take a deep breath and get your hand away from the panic
button. When I receive these questions, I often find
common threads. Let's take a look at three common race-disaster issues and what
you can do to salvage the season.
Chub rub?
For some athletes, the first week of warm weather or the first experiment with
race clothing brings a realization that winter and
spring were plentiful. Donning warm-weather gear, these athletes notice rubbing
body parts -- usually inner thighs against each
other or arms against the torso -- creating chafing. This attention-clenching
phenomenon causes the immediate reduction of calories.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11853&sidebar=26&category=triathlon


23. Closer you get to Armstrong, the more complex he seems:
Lance Armstrong has long reigned supreme in the world of avid cyclists and even
in the minds of casual observers. Everyone knows
about his testicular cancer scare, his amazing six wins at the Tour de France
and his cancer foundation - brightly supported by the
highly popular yellow bracelet.
Yet there's much about Lance we don't know: the secrets that give him an edge,
for instance, or the depth of his sacrifices. So, a
year ago February, Daniel Coyle decided the only way to truly determine what
makes the guy's wheels spin is to be there day and
night to see for himself. He packed up his wife and four children and left his
home in Alaska for Girona, Spain, Armstrong's
European home base.
He would spend the next 15 months abroad shadowing Armstrong's training sessions
and back-road rides and probing the Lance enigma
through the eyes of those in the rider's most trusted inner circle: his coach,
trainer, technical advisors, close friends and
teammates.
Coyle has been a sportswriter for some time. A former senior editor at Outside
magazine, he now writes for Outside, Sports
Illustrated and other publications. He is a two-time finalist for the National
Magazine Award, as well as author of Hardball: A
Season in the Projects and the novel Walking Samuel.
What Coyle unearths in this fast-paced book is a highly complex and exacting
man. Says Floyd Landis, one of Armstrong's support
riders, "He seems so simple from a distance. . . . But the closer you get," the
more you realize "this is one very, very complicated
guy."
More...from Rocky Mountain News at:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/books/article/0,1299,DRMN_63_3878392,00.ht\
ml
Daniel Coyle's book, "Lance Armstrong's War : One Man's Battle Against Fate,
Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on
the Road to the Tour de France" is available from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060734973/ref=ase_runnersweb/102-\
8458829-6613753?v=glance&s=books
[Long URL]


24. A Rosy Picture - Women's Racing Today:
No doubt about it: Women’s racing is the story of early 21st century running.
Actually, there are two stories: one, the rewriting of
the record books at the head of the field; and two, the phenomenal growth of
female participation in road racing.
It’s a rosy picture. The key for women runners, fans, coaches and organizers of
the sport is to look carefully at what has
contributed to the successes so we can extend them even further in the months
and years to come. It’s also crucial to examine those
areas where work remains, so the sport can shine brighter and the gains can make
a positive difference in the lives of even more
women.
Records Fall
Let’s take time to relish the most sparkling record-breaking women’s
performances of the past several years. A full report isn’t
possible here—there have been too many records, and more are likely to have
occurred before you get this magazine—but the highlights
include:
September-October 2001: The vaunted 2:20 barrier in the marathon finally falls,
as Naoko Takahashi runs 2:19:46 at Berlin, only to
be eclipsed by Catherine Ndereba’s 2:18:47 at Chicago a week later.
March 2002: Deena Drossin runs a world best 14:54 at the Carlsbad 5000.
April 2002: Paula Radcliffe notches a 2:18:56 first marathon, the fastest-ever
debut marathon performance.
May 2002: Drossin sets an American record of 30:50.32 for 10,000 meters.
July 2002: Pam Reed, age 41, is the overall winner of the 135-mile Badwater
Ultramarathon in a course-record time of 27:56:47. Her
nearest competitor, a man, is 4:42 back.
August 2002: Radcliffe just misses dipping under 30 minutes for 10,000 meters
with her 30:01.09 European record.
September 2002: Lornah Kiplagat clocks 50:54 for a world best at 10 miles.
October 2002: Radcliffe again: 2:17:18 for a marathon world record in Chicago.
February 2003: ...and again: a 10K world best of 30:21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
March 2003: Drossin runs an American-record of 47:15 for 15K, which is ranked as
the second-best U.S. performance of all time,
behind Joan Benoit Samuelson’s 2:21:21 national marathon record.
April 2003: In London, Radcliffe lowers the marathon world record again, to an
incredible 2:15:25. Drossin gets the AR with a
2:21:16, breaking Samuelson’s 17-year-old mark.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/03oct/rosypicture.htm


25. News Scan:
* Gone Running
The ING New York City Marathon isn't until Nov. 6, but it's closer than you
think if you want to go the distance. At a press event
last week, the New York Road Runners, which stages this and some 50 other yearly
events, said a record number of applicants, more
than 85,000, filed for a position, with the expected race-day turnout to be
trimmed to 37,000. There also will be a prize purse of
$130,000 (up $30K) awarded to the women's champion. With the men's champ
pocketing $100K, organizers say this is the first time a
woman will receive more than a man in a major sports event. This bodes well for
ING as lead sponsor and the overall marketing of the
marathon. Organizers see a lot of potential for new opportunities, with several
sponsorship deals to be revealed in September. The
added emphasis on the women's side offers marketers catering to women more
incentive to come on board. For ING, the overall alliance
is good news across the board. "The challenge is always to raise the bar and
improve on what we've done," said Steve Baskin, head of
brand development and sponsorships at ING.

* Intense, short bursts of exercise equivalent to endurance training, study
says.
A recent Daily News Central article said researchers at McMaster University
found that short, intense bursts of exercise followed by
slightly longer breaks resulted in the same endurance levels and muscle fitness
that weeks of endurance training would yield.
Fitness experts have suggested an alluring prospect for people who want to stay
fit but can't afford to spend long hours in the gym:
Just six minutes of intense exercise a week could be as effective as an hour of
daily moderate activity.
"Short bouts of very intense exercise improved muscle health and performance
comparable to several weeks of traditional endurance
training," says Martin Gibala, an associate professor in the department of
kinesiology of McMaster University and leader of the
provocative new study.
Performing repeated bouts of high-intensity sprint-type exercise resulted in
profound changes in skeletal muscle and endurance
capacity, similar to training that requires hours of exercise each week, the
researchers report in the June edition of the Journal
of Applied Physiology.
The study was conducted on 16 subjects: eight who performed a two-week sprint
interval training program and eight who did no
exercise training.
The training program consisted of between four and seven 30-second bursts of
"all out" cycling followed by four minutes of recovery
three times a week for two weeks.
Endurance capacity in the sprint group increased on average from 26 minutes to
51 minutes, the researchers found, whereas the
control group showed no change.
The muscles of the trained group also showed a significant increase in citrate
synthase, an enzyme that is indicative of the
tissue's ability to utilize oxygen.
"Sprint training may offer an option for individuals who cite "lack of time" as
a major impediment to fitness and conditioning,"
said Gibala.
"This type of training is very demanding and requires a high level of
motivation," he noted.
"However less frequent, higher intensity exercise can indeed lead to
improvements in health and fitness."

* High-Salt Diet Raises Asthma Risk
Exercise-induced attacks were more common, study found
FRIDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Asthmatics prone to exercise-triggered
attacks may want to cut back on salt in their diets,
according to a new study.
The Indiana University research is the first to show that changing salt intake
for just two weeks can alter airway inflammation, and
the flow of oxygen into the bloodstream.
The study included 24 people with asthma and exercise-induced asthma. Some of
the study volunteers were put on a low-salt diet of
1,446 milligrams of sodium per day for two weeks. Others were put on a high-salt
diet of 9,873 milligrams of sodium per day, an
amount that's typical for many American adults.
At the end of two weeks, the volunteers on the high-salt diet showed a dramatic
decline in lung function after physical activity.
Their forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) -- a standard measure of
lung function -- taken 20 minutes after exercise
dropped by 27.4 percent over the two weeks, compared with a 7.9 percent decline
for those on the low-salt diet.
A decline of 10 percent or more in post-exercise FEV1 is considered abnormal.
"These findings show that modifying your diet has the potential to modify a
disease state," study author and exercise physiologist
Timothy Mickleborough said in a prepared statement.
High-salt diets have a number of physiological effects, including increased
blood pressure and blood volume that can cause pulmonary
swelling that, in turn, results in airway obstruction, Mickleborough explained.
The study volunteers on the high-salt diet also had higher levels of airway
cells in their sputum. Airway cells have been linked to
the development of asthma and EIA. The people on the high-salt diet also had
more pro-inflammatory mediators, which can cause airway
constriction.
The findings appear in the June issue of Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise.
More information
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology has more about
exercise-induced asthma (www.aaaai.org ).

* Health Tip: Fighting Athlete's Foot
Fungus is no fun
(HealthDayNews) -- You don't have to be preparing for a triathlon to get
athlete's foot. The skin disease is caused by a fungus that
commonly attacks the feet, because shoes create a warm, dark and humid
environment that fungus thrives in.
The American Podiatric Medical Association offers these suggestions to help
prevent the condition:
Wash your feet daily with soap and water and dry carefully, especially between
the toes.
Change your shoes and socks regularly to decrease moisture.
Use a foot powder daily.
In a public shower, avoid walking barefoot; use shower shoes.
Wear light and airy shoes.
If an apparent fungus condition does not respond to proper foot hygiene and self
care, and there is no improvement within two weeks,
consult a podiatrist.

* The athletes’ remedy for aching joints
Osteoarthritis is probably the last thing athletes want to think about, right?
The Arthritis Society defines Osteoarthritis (OA) as the “wear and tear” of the
joints, causing certain parts of the joints to
weaken and break down. Cartilage, the tough, elastic material that cushions the
ends of the bones, begins to crack and get holes in
it. Bits of cartilage can break off into the joint space and irritate soft
tissues, such as muscles, and cause problems with
movement.
Yet what many people don’t realize is that this debilitating condition is no
longer considered just a consequence of aging.
Researchers now look at musculoskeletal defects, genetic defects, obesity,
injury and overuse when looking for a cause. And while
genetics may be out of your control, there are some definite actions that can
protect your joints from taking more pounding than
necessary, creaking and the onset of osteoarthritis.
Until recently, athletes enduring repetitive impact o n weight-bearing joints
(hips, ankles, knees) sought relief through massage,
physiotherapy, muscle relaxants and pain pills.
Now, the buzz is an over-the-counter dietary supplement believed to reduce
unnecessary muscle and joint trauma during activity —
speeding up injury rehabilitation. Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulphate have
been hailed by doctors in recent research to prevent
the breakdown of joint cartilage and stimulate the production of new cartilage
(after approximately 1,000 to 1500 mg per day for at
least three to six months).
Since the 1980s, Glucosamine Sulphate has been used in the treatment of
osteo-arthritis and rheumatic disorders. However, new
research shows strong support that this supplement actually provides cartilage
protection. Dr. Ron Beckett said, “In the past, there
was uncertainty whether Glucosamine simply acts as a painkiller to the joints,
or strengthens the cartilage to make it thicker. The
good news for sports enthusiasts is confirmation that it both reduces pain and
preserves the cartilage. Swelling, tenderness and
mobility can be improved by as much as 70 per cent, carrying over on both
cardiovascular and muscular levels.”
Maintain a healthy weight — extra weight stresses joints, especially hips,
knees, back and feet. Exercise protects joints by
strengthening the muscles around them; strong muscles keep joints from rubbing
together, wearing down cartilage.
Weekend warriors are particularly at risk from joint problems. Work up to your
sport gradually, even if it means taking a temporary
step down in your ability.
Cat Smiley was named Canadian Trainer of the Year (ISSA) in 2004. She runs camps
and does personal training. Call (604) 905-5404 or
e-mail www.catsmiley.com


***End of Articles***


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

June 23-26, 2005:
USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Carson, CA
http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USAOutdoorTFChampionships

June 25, 2005:
Captain Christopher Scott Cash Memorial 5K - Old Orchard Beach, ME
http://www.CaptainChristopherScottCashMemorial5KRun.com

Utah Arts Festival Art Attack 5K - Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.uaf.org

June 26, 2005:
City of Philadelphia Triathlon - PA
http://www.phillytri.com

IAU 100K World Cup - Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan
http://www.iau.org.tw/100kwc/100kwc.php

Ironman Coeur d'Alene - ID
http://www.ironmancda.com

New Charles River Run 7-Mile - Boston, MA
http://www.baevents.com/newcharlesriverrun/index.html

Pine Beach 5K & One Mile Riverside Run - Pine Beach, NJ
http://www.pinebeach5k.com

Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon - Vancouver, BC
http://www.canadarunningseries.com/svhm/index.htm

Smiths Falls Classic Triathlon and Duathlon - ON
http://www.somersaultpromotions.com/2june26.html

SPAR/The Mercury women's 10km Challenge - Durban, SA
http://www.spar.co.za/SPARMercuryWomensRace70.aspx


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...**