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6. Total Immersion (*NEW*)
The TAO of TI: What makes Total Immersion different.
We're convinced there's a great swimmer inside of everyone! If you've never
believed you could learn to swim well, or have been
swimming for years with little progress, your frustrations are not your fault.
The way you were taught to swim - even the way you've
been led to think about swimming - is what has held you back.
Though swimming is an essential life skill, traditional teaching and coaching
methods have made it difficult to master because they
teach an awkward, exhausting style of swimming. Total Immersion’s foolproof
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conventional methods:
Only TI teaches Fishlike Swimming. Traditional instruction focuses on pulling,
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the effortless grace of fish by becoming one with the water. You’ll feel the
difference from your very first lap of intelligent,
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Only TI teaches the qualities of beautiful swimming as well as the mechanics.
Swimmers come to us with the goal of swimming faster.
They quickly learn that it’s far more helpful and satisfying to swim with grace,
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Only TI teaches transformation along with fluid strokes. TI, alone among all
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Only TI teaches you to master swimming as an art. TI teachers emphasize the same
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THIS WEEK:


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On Monday, April 18th, 2004 we set an all-time one day high of 11,455 visitors.

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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.
From the beginning, the mission of the company has been to improve the lives of
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* Running Research News
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* WatsonLifeSport
Lance Watson is "Just The Winningest Coach in Triathlon". He has been coaching
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years, Lance has coached some of the most successful athletes in the sport of
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This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:
We have ONE personal postings this week.
"I have made a page which generates a wrist band with your split times printed
on it.
Enter your goal distance and time and it returns the elapse time at each mile or
km marker.
Using this and your stopwatch you can quickly figure out during a race/run if
you are ahead or behind your target time.
You don't need to login to use it."
It is at:
http://rogercortesi.com/athleticlog/wristsplits.php
(there are also links to it from within the training log)
Roger
-------------------------------------
The Digital Athletic Log
http://rogercortesi.com/athleticlog/


This Week's Digest Article Index:

1. Science of Sport: What Happens When Nandi Boys Go Out On The Town
2. When athletes can't catch their breath
Trainers are urged to recognize and respond to exercise-induced asthma.
3. Science of Sport: Air Pollution
Along with the highly publicised concerns about whether the 2004 Athens Olympic
facilities would be completed in time, the various
national Olympic organisations were also preoccupied with the environmental
challenges that confronted competitors.
4. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Fathers' Days
5. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
6. Bone Health in Highly Trained Female Athletes
A review of the current state of knowledge.
7. Just ate? Feel free to take a dip
8. Research Review Questions Effect of Vitamin C on Colds
9. Powered by music
Rhythm does more than move us. For athletes, the right tunes can sharpen focus,
boost performance and minimize pain.
10. From Runner's World
11. If Thirst Comes to Worst -Fluid intake key in heat
12. Orthotics Questions & Answers
Custom Ultralight Running & Walking Orthotics.....
13. Science of Sport: Sport Psychology - Choking under pressure
14. Science of Sport: Modafinil - Banned drug works as ergogenic aid
15. Avoid flight-induced foot swelling
16. The Wall
17. Tri bike frame geometry
18. Cycling - 9 Tips To Take The “DIS” Out Of Discomfort When You're Cycling
19. The Evolution of the Bicycle
20. Physiological Training Principles Are Often Inaccurate
21. Advertising on TV with Professional Triathletes
22. Efficient running: Move more horizontally
23. Exercise Reverses Arthritis-Related Wasting
24. Tapering for Optimal Race Performance
Find a balance between maintaining fitness and harboring strength.
25. News Scan - A Collection of News Briefs


Runner's Web Weekly Poll:
"Which of the following magazines do you read on a regular basis?
Competitor Magazine
InsideTri
Runner's World
Running Times
Sports Illustrated
Triathlete Magazine?"

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: "Which of the following is the biggest doping threat
facing sports today?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. EPO 9 22%
2. Genetic Engineering 13 32%
3. Human Growth Hormone 7 17%
4. Steroids 12 29%
5. Other 0 0%
Total Votes: 41

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: Peter "Robo" Robertson.
"I was born in 1976, the youngest in a family of four. I have three older
sisters Kerrie, Jane and Susan all of whom are now
married. My family are spread over two states, Victoria and NSW but we gather
regularly for many different family events. My
parents, Alistair and Pat have retired and now live at Coffs Harbour on the NSW
north coast. Dad enjoys fishing and lawn bowls,
whilst mum keeps busy with her regular craft markets and line dancing.
I’m not the only talented child of Pat and Alistair. My sister Susan
(Michelsson) competed in the World Athletic Championships in
Edmonton 2001. She ran in the marathon. Jane (Kanizay), the next in line,
combines being a mother of two with running a successful
computer software business. An outdoor adventurer, who also took time out to
work as a volunteer at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Kerrie
(Guppy), the eldest, combines managing her own successful consulting company and
raising a young family. She also enjoys playing
hockey in Ballarat and taking time out with her family for 4WD adventures in
remote outback areas of Australia...
... grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Wheelers Hill. This is where I first took
up the sport of triathlon back in 1992, entering a
race with some mates from school. My first race was interesting. I almost
drowned in the swim and to my dad’s horror; a girl beat
me! Thankfully, times have changed since those early days.
The multi-sport of triathlon was very appealing and it quickly became my
passion. Success came with a variety of wins at junior
level, including the National Tour. After completing secondary school at Mazenod
College (1993), I worked as an apprentice
electrician for 2 years. It wasn't until I won both the Australian Sprint and
Olympic Distance Titles (as a junior) that I decided
that I had what it would take to turn professional. I left my apprenticeship and
decided to train full-time."
Check out Peter's site at:
http://www.peterrobertson.com.au

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: 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
By Daniel Coyle.
Editorial Review From Publishers Weekly
When an athlete is as celebrated as Lance Armstrong, journalists tend to
approach either with staggering awe or malicious
schadenfreude. Refreshingly, Coyle (Hardball) displays neither. The journalist
moved to Armstrong's training base in Spain to cover
the months leading up to the cyclist's sixth Tour de France victory in 2004, and
the resulting comfort level of Coyle with his
subject is palpable. Armstrong emerges from these pages as neither the
cancer-surviving saint his American fans admire, nor the
soulless, imperialist machine his European detractors hate. Instead, he comes
across as a preternaturally gifted athlete barely
removed from the death-defying hellion he was as a teenager, fanatically
disciplined, gregarious and generous but with a legendarily
icy temper. Coyle sweeps over the basics of Armstrong's Texas childhood and
fight with cancer, concentrating on his obsessive
training—this is a sport where results are measured in ounces and microseconds.
He's sometimes too loose with his writing,
digressing as though he had all the time in the world, but he tightens up for
the grand finale: the Tour. This work is honest,
personal and passionate, with plenty to chew on for fans and novices alike.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060734973/runnersweb/102-8458829-6613753\
?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: What Happens When Nandi Boys Go Out On The Town:
Most athletes and coaches realize that genetic factors can have an impact on
performance. What is less commonly realized is that
heredity could act in two completely separate ways. First, specific genes or
gene combinations could make certain individuals
inherently more fit than others, even in situations in which no training has
been carried out. If you pluck two sedentary
individuals off the street, it is extremely unlikely that they will have the
same fitness level; one might have a stronger heart,
metabolically more efficient muscles, and/or reduced perceptions of fatigue
during exercise, and these differences can be related to
genetic make-up. If the duo agreed to engage in a 5-K run, actual performance
would hinge on the inherent physiological variations.
Second, some genes or combinations of genes control the way in which individuals
respond to training (1). Some lucky athletes adapt
dramatically to training protocols, advancing maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max)
by as much as 80 percent in response to serious
workouts. Other, less-fortunate individuals may inch VO2max up by just 5 to 10
percent as a result of the same strenuous training –
or may not improve aerobic capacity at all. Some dedicated trainers, in fact, do
not seem to respond to training at all; their
performance-related physiological variables are stagnant (2). This creates
situations in which individuals who are inherently less
fit than others (when everyone is untrained) can move far ahead of those who
were originally more fit once the training stimulus has
been applied.
For example, possessing the “insertion variant” (the so-called “I-allele”) of
the human angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene
improves an individual’s ability to adapt to endurance training (3), perhaps by
enhancing efficiency of movement.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050701_RRN_Nandi.html


2. When athletes can't catch their breath
Trainers are urged to recognize and respond to exercise-induced asthma.
So many people — both recreational athletes and professionals — are being
diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma that the nation's
largest group of athletic trainers has drawn up its first guidelines for dealing
with the condition.
Asthma guidelines from the National Athletic Trainers' Assn., released last week
during its annual meeting in Indianapolis, are
aimed at familiarizing trainers, health professionals, parents and coaches with
asthma's symptoms and treatments.
Asthma sufferers face shortness of breath during and after workouts, which can
trigger an acute narrowing of the airways, making
breathing difficult and causing chest tightness.
If untreated, it can be fatal, although deaths are not common.
The Dallas-based trainers association's guidelines include more than 20 points
showing how to recognize asthma symptoms and help
athletes manage asthma, such as avoiding allergens by practicing indoors.
The detailed recommendations are scheduled to be published in September in the
Journal of Athletic Training.
"Trainers are in a unique position to spot athletes' breathing difficulties,"
said Michael Miller, director of graduate athletic
training at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. "They're the people
who are in the training rooms, the practices and on
the game fields."
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-asthma20jun20,1,744166.stor\
y?coll=la-health-fitness-news


3. Science of Sport: Air Pollution:
Along with the highly publicised concerns about whether the 2004 Athens Olympic
facilities would be completed in time, the various
national Olympic organisations were also preoccupied with the environmental
challenges that confronted competitors. Everyone knew it
was going to be hot but, as the Games drew closer, the full implications of
holding them in one of Europe’s most polluted cities
finally dawned on everyone(1).
Despite the sterling efforts of the Greek organising committee to reduce air
pollution levels in time, many predicted that athletes
would be affected by breathing problems on an unprecedented scale, while those
with asthma would suffer potentially catastrophic
exacerbation of their condition.
The Greek authorities strenuously denied these risks, claiming that competing in
Athens was likely to be no more injurious to health
than, say, in London. Maybe they are right – time will tell. Meanwhile, what
this debate highlights is the growing concern over the
impact of air pollution on the health of city-dwellers, especially those who
exercise.
For those of us who live and exercise in the city, the potential health risks of
breathing a cocktail of air pollutants are a very
real concern. Links between high levels of air pollution and lung disease(2),
cardiovascular disease(3) and even cancer(4) are being
established in the medical literature. For example, elevated levels of air
pollution are closely associated with both an increased
prevalence of asthma(5) and an increased incidence of acute exacerbation in all
patients with cardiorespiratory illness(2,6).
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050628_PPO_Air_Pollution.html


4. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Fathers' Days:
Looking over my right shoulder as I write are two photos. One pictures my
father, the other a man I've often called a "second
father."
The first photo shows my real dad, sitting with his three brothers at the Drake
Relays in Des Moines. He was younger then than I am
now. He would die -- much too young but not before passing his passion for the
sport on to me -- within a year after this shot was
taken.
The other photo now watching over me in the office has George Sheehan greeting
runners at a Tyler, Texas, race finish line in the
last year of his life. George was my running-writing confidant for his last 25
years.
He was the real father of George Sheehan III. We took the stage in Edmonton,
Alberta, in 1997 to talk about Dr. George's legacy.
He handed down that legacy most directly and strikingly to his eldest son (one
of the 12 Sheehan children). The dad was smaller and
more wiry, but young George -- his longtime business manager -- carried on the
sound of his father’s voice, the Irish gift for
story-telling and the ease onstage.
Young George was now about the same age that his dad was when he started writing
for Runner’s World in 1970. I saw unmistakable
reflections of him then in his son now.
And I saw more and more of my own father in my aging self. He was taller and
darker, but the family resemblance deepens with each
new line in my forehead, gully in the cheeks and sag under the chin.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/515.html


5. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* You Should Never Get Heat Stroke
Every year you hear about people who pass out when they exercise and die from
heat stroke, a sudden uncontrolled rise in body
temperature that affects the brain so that it can't function properly.
Heat stroke doesn't just happen; you get plenty of warning. First your muscles
are affected, then your circulation and then your
brain. As your temperature starts to rise, your muscles feel like a hot poker
is pressing against them. As it rises further, the
air that you breathe feels like it's coming from a furnace and no matter how
rapidly and deeply you try to breathe, you won't be
able to get enough air. When this happens, stop
exercising. If you continue to exercise, your body temperature will rise further
and affect your brain. Your head will start to
hurt, you'll hear a ringing in your ears, you may feel dizzy, you may have
difficulty seeing and then you will end up unconscious on
the ground.
When a person passes out from heatstroke, his brain is being cooked just as the
colorless part of an egg turns white when it hits
the griddle. Get medical help immediately. Usually, the victim should be
carried into the shade and placed on his back with his
head down and his feet up. He should be cooled by any possible means. Liquid
should be poured on him, and it doesn't matter whether
it's from a hose, a water bottle or a cup. It could be water, soda, beer, milk
or whatever you have. After he is revived, he should
be watched for more than an hour as his
temperature can start to rise to high levels again.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Is it normal for my muscles to feel sore for several days
after a workout?
Yes; after you've exercised vigorously, your muscles may feel fine, but they
usually feel sore the next morning. Delayed-onset
muscle soreness is caused by damage to muscle fibers. A study from the
University of Zurich helps to explain why it takes days for
muscles to recover from hard exercise (European Journal of Nutrition, June
2004). Muscles store sugar as glycogen in their fibers
for energy, and this study shows that
for the first few hours after hard exercise, muscles continue to lose glycogen.
Since recovery depends on refilling muscles with
stored glycogen as soon as possible after hard exercise, athletes should eat a
high-carbohydrate, high protein meal as soon as
possible after a hard workout and then take easy workouts for as many days as it
takes for the soreness to go away. Taking another
hard workout while the muscles feel sore increases risk for injures, so you
should follow your hard workouts with easy days or days
off until the soreness goes away.

* Dear Dr. Mirkin: I love barbecued foods, but a friend says they are
dangerous. Should I stop eating them?
Eating any type of browned foods may contribute to heart attacks, strokes or
nerve damage. Diabetics suffer a very high incidence
of nerve, artery and kidney damage because high blood sugar levels cause sugar
to attach to protein, forming advanced glycation
products. The frightening news is that browning foods also forms advanced
glycation products, and eating them raises blood and
tissue levels and increases nerve damage.
Cooking without water causes sugars to bind to proteins, while cooking with
water prevents this process. Baking, roasting and
broiling cause the advanced glycation products to form, while boiling and
steaming do not. This is just one more reason why you
should base your meals on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans -- fresh,
steamed or cooked with water. Make grilled and
browned foods a minor part of your diet.


6. Bone Health in Highly Trained Female Athletes:
A review of the current state of knowledge.
Highly trained female athletes are often at peak cardiovascular fitness but face
important threats to their skeletal health. Women
that train intensively may produce abnormally low levels of estrogen, which in
turn, may lead to weakened bones. Low bone strength
(or osteopenia), is a risk factor for stress fractures. Young adults with
osteopenia are also more likely to develop osteoporosis
later in life.
It is generally accepted that exercise promotes bone health. However, research
focusing on the relationship between intensive
exercise, bone health, and estrogen produce alarming results concerning the
health of female athletes. The hormone estrogen is
responsible for growth and development of reproductive organs, as well as onset
and regulation of menstruation. In addition,
estrogen is essential for maintaining bone health in women. Events that result
in rapid declines in a woman’s estrogen level, such
as menopause and ovariectomy (removal of the ovaries), also result in rapid
losses in her bone mass and bone strength.
Regular vigorous exercise is associated with decreased estrogen levels in the
blood. In one study, healthy women who began training
for a marathon reduced their estrogen levels by over 50%. These low estrogen
levels often result in menstrual irregularity in a
large proportion of intensively training athletes. Irregularities can include a
late onset of menstrual periods, infrequent periods
(oligomenorrhea), absent periods (amenhorrea), or more subtle abnormalities,
such as a shortened luteal phase and anovulatory
cycles. (The luteal phase refers to the phase of menstruation during which
progesterone is released from the ovum and the uterine
lining proliferates; anovulatory cycles are those menstrual cycles in which a
woman does not ovulate properly. These abnormalities
can only be detected by specific medical tests.) A recent survey of competitive
collegiate cross-country runners found that 56%
missed several menstrual periods a year or had no periods at all. Cumulative
incidence of amenorrhea (loss of period) and
oligomenorrhea among all athletes is even higher. Most studies have considered
athletes with infrequent or absent periods and have
not evaluated athletes with more subtle menstrual disturbances. However, one
study found that runners who menstruate monthly but who
have anovulatory cycles and/or shortened luteal phases also lose bone. This
study is of particular interest because it demonstrates
that highly training females who appear to be menstruating normally may still be
at risk for osteopenia.
The cause of estrogen-deficiency and menstrual irregularity in athletes is not
known with certainty. However, studies have
identified these risk factors: earlier onset of training, more intense training,
psychological stress, nutritional inadequacy, low
body weight, low body mass, and changes in body composition.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/web/b-fit.htm


7. Just ate? Feel free to take a dip:
YORK: Think of all the hours swimmers will spend beside pools and lingering on
beaches this summer, counting the minutes since their
last meal to avoid violating a fundamental rule of swimming: never get into the
water on a full stomach.
The only problem, according to experts, is that the warning is yet another old
wives' tale that should be laid to rest.
The theory is that the process of digestion increases blood flow to the stomach
- away from the muscles needed for swimming - and
leads to cramps, which increase the risk of drowning.
Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, a gastroenterologist at the New York University School of
Medicine, said that while swimming strenuously on a
full stomach could conceivably lead to cramps, for most recreational swimmers
the chances are small. And at least one study that
looked at drownings in the United States found that fewer than 1 percent
occurred after the victim ate a meal, she added.
But meals that include a drink or two are another story. In 1989, for example, a
study in the journal Pediatrics looked at almost
100 adolescents who drowned in Washington and found that 25 percent had been
intoxicated.
One year later, a study of hundreds of drowning deaths among adults in
California found that 41 percent were alcohol-related.
More...from the International Herald Tribune at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/27/news/really.php


8. Research Review Questions Effect of Vitamin C on Colds:
A new review of 65 years of research on colds and vitamin C concludes there's
little evidence that 200 milligrams or more a day
wards off or shortens the duration of the common cold _ with the possible
exception of people exposed to extreme cold or physical
stress.
The review's authors, Robert Douglas of the Australian National University and
Harri Hemila of the University of Helsinki, Finland,
wrote that the "lack of effect of (preventive) vitamin C supplementation on the
incidence of the common cold in normal populations
throws doubt on the utility of this wide practice."
A bestselling book, "Vitamin C and The Common Cold," by Nobel Laureate chemist
Linus Pauling published in 1970, and several
subsequent books popularized the notion that large doses of the vitamin (1000 mg
or more) could reduce the incidence of colds by
almost half. The government's recommended daily allowance for vitamin C is 60
mg.
More...from RedNova at:
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=158541&source=r_health


9. Powered by music:
Rhythm does more than move us. For athletes, the right tunes can sharpen focus,
boost performance and minimize pain.
It was the tae kwon do championship, and competitor Michael Tang needed
something to help him concentrate, to calm his pumped
pre-competition energy. He turned to the one thing he knew would work: music.
Strapping on his headphones and cueing up some techno-trance music, he closed
his eyes and began to visualize himself going into the
ring, winning the first round, then the second. "I used the music as the
soundtrack of the day," Tang recalls of the 2001 match. "It
put me into a more relaxed state of mind and helped me focus." He kept the music
in his head throughout the event. The result? He
won the U.S. national title
Athletes work hard to reach a state of internal calm, harnessing their mind
power to stay intense, but not frantic. Music helps them
get into that zone, offering flow, control, focus. It helps them manage the pain
of stressing their bodies to levels undreamed of by
most three-times-a-week joggers. And it becomes a positive diversion.
"Although your brain is really high-tech, it can't think about two things at one
time," says sports psychologist Michelle Cleere.
"If you have a genre of music that really gets you pumped and keeps you focused,
it will distract you from negative thoughts."
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-fitnessmusic27jun27,1,43855\
74.story?coll=la-health-fitness-news
[Long URL]


10. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
"After a disappointing race give yourself an hour, 2 hours tops, to be upset or
angry about a bad race. Think about what went wrong,
and why it might have gone wrong, but don't beat yourself up about it. If your
ultimate objective is to run faster, you have a
better chance of catching the PR bullet train if you arrive at the starting line
without baggage from your last race." -Steve Scott

* Injury Prevention
Lift twice a week (after running or on a rest day) to see serious strength
gains. If done properly, these three exercises--which
require only your body weight as resistance--will boost your total-body fitness
in just 3 weeks.
1. Pushups: Keep your back straight and your palms flat, slightly wider than
shoulder width. Descend slowly, until your chest and
hips are inches from the floor. Push up faster than you came down, pause at the
top, and repeat.
2. Crunches: Lie on your back with your legs bent at a 90-degree angle and feet
flat on the floor. Cross your hands over your chest,
then raise your shoulders, keeping your lower back on the floor. Feel the
tension in the stomach muscles, then lower your shoulders
slowly, and repeat.
3. Squats: Keeping your back straight, your head up, and your hands out in front
for balance, slowly descend into a seated position,
with legs bent at a 90-degree angle. Then push up from your heels to a
straight-standing position, keeping your feet on the floor.
Depending on your current strength, try doing two sets of 10 to 20 repetitions
of each exercise, and work up from there.

* Performance Nutrition
Snack on Raisins: Along with apples, pears, nuts, and parsley, raisins are a
great source of the mineral boron, which plays a role
in brain function, perhaps combating drowsiness. So, eat up!

* Words That Inspire:
"If one asks for success and prepares for failure, he will get the situation he
has prepared for." -Florence Shinn, inspirational
author

* Editor's Advice:
Summer Smarts: "Cool mornings are wonderful for running, but they won't prepare
your body for hot summer racing. Instead, run once
or twice a week during the warmer hours of the day. Or run on a treadmill with
the room temperature at 72 degrees." -Erin Ploskonka,
RW designer

* Training Talk:
"You'll likely find that when you're training for such an athletic event, you'll
want to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that
supports your training.
Overeating or indulging in lots of less-than-nutritious foods will leave you
feeling dull and tired during your workouts, so you'll
quickly learn to eat what's good for you." -From Triathlon Training by Eric Harr



11. If Thirst Comes to Worst - Fluid intake key in heat:
As the temperatures outdoors soar, do you wilt like a flower? If the heat's got
you beat, it might be time to keep track of your
liquid assets. While fluid intake is often a hot topic for athletes as they aim
for peak performance, what's on tap isn't given a
great deal of thought by many other people.
Yet at this time of year a segment of the population may be in a somewhat
dehydrated state -- not parched for water but just
slightly low on fluids. And while we could only survive a few days without any
water, simply running a little short won't affect
your health -- but it can leave you feeling drained. More extreme dehydration,
however, can be life-threatening.
You don't have to be taking part in an athletic event to pay a price for mild
dehydration. Even if you're slaving away at a desk,
overlooking your fluid needs can exact a toll that can't quickly be made up.
Decreased productivity isn't something people think of
when it comes to ignoring the lure of the water cooler. But science shows it
does happen. French scientists evaluated the effects on
healthy men of becoming dehydrated after either being exposed to heat or after
exercising and found that the subjects experienced
fatigue while they were dehydrated. Even after being given fluids, however, they
continued to feel tired. Their scoring on tests to
measure their cognitive function, including activities involving short-term
memory, was also impaired compared to when they were
well-hydrated.
More...from the National Post at:
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=00a\
14f58-f80d-4494-baae-19ab8ae5763f
[Long URL]


12. Orthotics Questions & Answers:
Custom Ultralight Running & Walking Orthotics.....
Orthotic Frequently Asked Questions & Answers.
Please review our most asked questions. If you would like a complimentary
evaluation of your old orthotics, or if you have any
additional questions or concerns and want to speak with one of our orthotic
experts, please click here or call our 24/7 Helpline at
888-353-7834.
What are "orthotics"?
Orthotics (orthoses) are specially-prepared foot supports. These anatomically
molded devices, worn under the heel and arch of your
foot to correct skeletal anomalies, do more than "support" your feet. They
actually realign them to a natural, "neutral" position to
relieve foot, let and back stress, increase endurance, restore critical balance,
improve sports performance, alleviate foot fatigue
and prevent a wide range of foot problems.
How do I know if I need orthotics?
You definitely need orthotics:
1. If you participate in any activity that places stress on your feet.
2. If you have an obvious imbalance that causes such symptoms as flat or high
arched feet.
3. If you have external malalignments such as bow knees, knock knees,
pigeon-toes, or "duck feet."
4. If you've already developed chronic foot problems, ranging from corns and
calluses to arch pain and heel spur pain.
5. If your job requires being on your feet for extended periods of time.
More...from Cool Running at:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/borthotic-questions-answe.shtml


13. Science of Sport: Sport Psychology - Choking under pressure:
What causes skilled and experienced athletes to ‘choke’ under the many pressures
of competition? This question, highly relevant in
the wake of Paula Radcliffe’s dramatic and high profile collapse during the
recent Olympic marathon, has been investigated by a team
of Australian researchers, who set out to examine the role of self-consciousness
and trait (or dispositional) anxiety as predictors
of choking in sport.
Choking has been defined as ‘performance decrements under pressure
circumstances’ and is thought to occur when a performer focuses
in a conscious way on skills that have become automatic, with a detrimental
effect on performance.
In the Australian study, 66 student basketball players completed questionnaires
designed to measure self-consciousness and sport
anxiety before completing 20 free throws under two different conditions: 1. Low
pressure – observed only by a research assistant
with no consequences attached to performance; 2. High pressure (about one hour
later) – videotaped, observed by an audience and with
a performance-contingent financial incentive.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050630_PPO_Choking.html


14. Science of Sport: Modafinil - Banned drug works as ergogenic aid:
Traces of the banned stimulant drug modafinil have been found in the urine of a
number of world-class athletes, including US
sprinter Kelli White. But until now there has been no scientific evidence that
modafinil, prescribed for sleep disorders, such as
narcolepsy, is at all effective as an ergogenic aid.
Powerful evidence in favour of modafinil has now emerged from Canadian research,
whose underlying agenda was to consider modafinil
as a tool for use during military combat operations.
The study, involving 15 healthy men familiar with exhaustive exercise, was set
up to investigate the effect of acute ingestion of
modafinil on time to exhaustion during high-intensity exercise.
The subjects exercised on cycle ergometers for five minutes at 50% VO2max, then
at 85% VO2max to exhaustion on three separate
occasions:
Control condition (C) – no supplement;
Placebo condition (P) – dietary fibre ingested in the form of opaque gelatin
capsules, one hour before a standardised light
breakfast and three hours before the exercise test;
Treatment condition – modafinil (M) in a dosage of 4mg per kg of body weight,
given in the same form and according to the same
protocol as the placebo. Key findings were as follows:
Modafinil ingestion was associated with a significant 22% increase in time to
exhaustion compared with the control and placebo
conditions, making it comparable in efficacy to caffeine. However, the
researchers point out, ‘as [modafinil] has a half life of
10-13 hours, twice that of caffeine, its use could possibly result in a more
sustained efficacy than that reported for caffeine’;
Modafinil led to a slight but significant increase in VO2 compared with control
and placebo – but only during the last 30 seconds of
exercise, when subjects were close to exhaustion;
Heart rates increased with time in all the conditions, but were highest of all
with modafinil;
Modafinil was associated with significantly lower ratings of perceived exertion
(RPE) than control or placebo, but only after 10
minutes of exercise at 85% VO2max. Subjective RPE values were similar at
exhaustion, regardless of treatment.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050630_PPO_Modafinil.html


15. Avoid flight-induced foot swelling:
Does air travel leave your feet so swollen they look and feel as if you've
walked to your destination?
It's not uncommon, says the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA).
Limited movement and dehydration while in the air can
cause feet to swell. The APMA offers these suggestions to minimize the impact of
flying on your feet:
- Drink plenty of water before and during your flight. This keeps you hydrated
and reduces foot swelling.
- Skip the salt before boarding. Alcoholic drinks and food with salt increase
the likelihood of dehydration.
- Wear comfortable shoes that give your feet room to expand.
- Take a stroll during the flight to keep your blood circulating.
- Stretch in your seat to prevent or reduce tightness in your feet, ankles and
calves. Try exercises such as rolling your ankles,
wiggling your toes and flexing your feet.
From Active.com


16. The Wall:
For most runners 'the wall’ is that dreaded, figurative, point of no return that
signifies that it’s all over. For a select
subculture of runners in and around the tiny North Jersey hamlet of
Bernardsville, the Wall is anything but; it’s a proving ground,
a launching pad, a literal wall in front of Bernards High School, where
generations of runners convened to discover if they had the
right stuff.
For myself and others, the Wall signifies a culture of excellence; each runner
that put their time in at the Wall knows the legends
that built that wall by name; an oral history spun through the decades ensured
that they wouldn't be forgotten. And runners far and
wide who put in their time at the Wall felt the blow as two of the cornerstones
recently passed on.
On June 12, Ed Mather, 75, one of America's greatest high-school coaches, passed
on after a long battle with Parkinson's. Mather's
teams at Bernards High, culled from a school whose enrollment placed it in the
state's small-school division, won big and won often.
I could fill a page with the improbable statistics that marked his era at
Bernards, but it wouldn't capture the measure of the man,
for the most indelible mark he left was on the souls of the runners who became
empowered and enlightened under his watch.
Like so many, I fell under Mather's spell the moment I met him. I'd fallen off
the back of a pack of runners at the Green Mountain
Running Camp in Lyndonville, Vermont when then Jersey prep star and current
Texas distance coach Jason Vigilante dropped back to
help me out. Rounding a turn for home we passed Mather. I ran for my life as he
made chase after us, yelling as we scrambled up the
hill, "I'm gonna stick my foot up your ass – SIDEWAYS!" It was textbook Mather –
in a moment he managed to inspire and cajole. Given
an hour, Mather left you empowered.
Mather led me to The Wall, to that magical place where champions were made. It
was there that I met Col. Larry Sullivan. Sullivan
was a renaissance man, in many ways shrouded in mystery, but at the Wall he was
a fixture and a fan. I remember him most vividly
holding forth on steamy summer nights in the early to mid-90s after we'd
finished our run, recounting stories of the Bernards glory
days, keeping the culture alive, now that Mather had retired and his assistant,
Mark Wetmore, had moved on. And I remember him
taking it further, as when he lent me an exceedingly rare copy of a book on Jim
Ryun as if were contraband, knowing full well that
for the initiated, it felt like it was.
On June 16, hours after delivering the principal eulogy for Ed Mather, Col.
Sullivan passed on. I grieve for them, their families
and loved ones. And I find comfort in that the legacy of what they built at the
Wall will continually manifest itself in unseen,
brilliant ways, long, long after the runners have moved on.
Have stories from your time at the Wall? Share them with Chris Lear at
mailto:chrisklear@....
From Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/



17. Tri bike frame geometry:
Some bikes, depending on frame geometry, corner better than others. Typically,
road geometry corners better than tri geometry. With
tri geometry, your body is a little more forward.
The aerobars typical of tri bikes add some instability when cornering compared
to standard drop bars. However, for the most part, it
doesn't matter what bike you are riding; turning is fairly universal.
When cornering, lean your bike, not your body, into the turn. This way, if you
over steer, you can bring the bike back. If you lean
into a turn with your body, it is much harder to bring your body back upright
with gravity pulling it down.
Also, place pressure on the pedal by the foot that is on the outside of the
turn. This will help you maintain stability. If you
notice accomplished cyclists, their inside leg is bent while the outside leg is
pressing on the pedal. For example, if you are
making a left hand turn, the right foot should be straighter and placing
pressure on that pedal.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11896&sidebar=26&category=triathlon


18. Cycling - 9 Tips To Take The “DIS” Out Of Discomfort When You're Cycling:
If you are a relatively new rider, you may not know how to prevent the most
common mistakes that can lead to physical discomfort
during a ride. Even if you have been riding for a long time you can slip into
bad habits, and end up hurting more than is necessary.
Here are a few tips to help make every ride more comfortable:
1. Warm up/Cool down: Allowing your body to gradually come up to “operating
temperature” at the beginning of a ride, and then
pedaling a few extra minutes at a very easy intensity at the end of your ride,
can both go a long way toward minimizing muscle
soreness and increasing both recovery from riding, and adaptation to training.
Make sure to allow adequate warm up and cool down
time in every ride.
2. Eye Wear: When you squint due to the sun or wind or even bugs, you use a lot
of energy and the facial muscles can become
fatigued. This can lead to headaches and strain. To reduce the risks of this
occurring, try wearing sunglasses during every ride. I
am a particular fan of Rudy Project Glasses, as they make many different styles
and lenses that allow you to choose the appropriate
lens for a particular sunlight condition.
3. Pain in the neck: Try to avoid riding in the same position all of the time.
This especially includes your head position. Try
tilting your head from side to side, or stretching it out by sitting or standing
“tall.” Always remember though, safety FIRST, so
don’t take your eyes off the road.
More...from TriFuel at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/bike/9-tips-to-take-the-dis-out-of-discomfort-w\
hen-youre-cycling-000899.php


19. The Evolution of the Bicycle:
One might feel that bicycles have always been there but it is not so. Bicycles
have been around for only about two hundred years.
The first type of bike missed an essential feature of todays machines - it had
no pedals! Instead the cyclist used their feet to
push directly off the ground, so the action looked a bit like a run. Despite
this, these machines (called 'Daisines') were popular
both in North America and in
Western Europe.
There is a controversy over the history of the bicycle. It is argued by many
that a student of Leonardo Da Vinci sketched a model of
the same way back in 1493. This was the period of the Renaissance during which
many new ideas came up in Europe. But like many other
ideas from Da Vinci's studio, this did not see the light of day and active
efforts to pursue it were never made.
The first pedal-powered bike to enjoy success was the 'velocipede', a French
invention known to English speakers as a 'bone shaker'.
It had pedals fixed to the front wheel so you could ride it without touching the
ground. The common name, bone shaker, was due to
it's wooden wheels that must have transmitted every bump into the road straight
to the rider! Despite this they were enormously
popular throughout
the 1860's and in the US schools to teach velocipede riding were set up.
The bizarre looking Penny Farthing, with it's enormous front wheel, saw the
light in the 1870s. Like so many odd designs in human
history, the purpose of the design was to achieve speed. It was before gear, so
the only way to make the wheel travel further with
each pedal stroke was to make the wheel itself bigger. It meant these bikes
could rocket along, but were hard to stay on if you hit
a bump - and if you feel, you fell from a great height!
In 1880's, a new addition to the bike was made which was the chain. To increase
the balance of the bike a chain was added. This
chain kept the pedals where they were supposed to be and made riding a bike
easier. Modern road bike was christened the 'Safety
Bike'. At the same time Dunlop, a veterinary surgeon, who worked in Scotland,
invented the air filled tire. With these two
inventions, by 1890 the bike had taken on a form, which was not very different
from the bike, as we know it today.
The golden age of the bicycle started from the fag end of the nineteenth
century. Owing to great demand from North America and
Europe, many factories making items such as sewing machines started producing
bicycles too to meet the burgeoning demand. The last
frontier in bicycle design, the gearing system, was made in the initial years of
the twentieth century. The modern bike was now
born.
Thrust on technology has made development of lighter, stronger and dynamic
bikes possible now. With adventure being the buzzword in
these times, the Mountain bikes have replaced the BMX of the 1980s. But these
are small advances compared to the path breaking
invention of the Safety bike of the late nineteenth century.
Fahrrada benteuer is the webmaster and operator of Bicycle Adventure at:
http://www.bicycleadventure.com, which is a premier
resource for bicycle information.


20. Physiological Training Principles Are Often Inaccurate:
This review article critically evaluates several physiological models (i.e.,
explanations) that are supposed to account for exercise
responses and improvements. Such models are variously used as the theoretical
bases for structuring training programs for athletes.
A central theme of the review is that contemporary physiology looks at
explanations for responding rather than the accurate
prediction of performance improvements. The former is relatively secure from
critical evaluation whereas the latter is difficult to
research and has an inherent possibility of failure.
A second suggestion is that contemporary physiologists have forgotten the
history of the discipline. Many informative, substantive,
and valuable principles of exercise response were discovered in the first part
of the twentieth century but have gradually have
fallen out of the common literature. That omission is one of the reasons that
contribute to modern theories of exercise physiology
being incomplete and inaccurate.
Research Weaknesses
The accurate measurement of exercise responses in the field has been subverted
by laboratory testing. The author offers three
reasons why this has occurred.
The variables influencing human performance are not easily controlled. A field
setting exacerbates that difficulty. This has led to
the situation where laboratory measurements are used to infer performance
characteristics in the field (e.g., a change in VO2max is
used to infer the likelihood of an endurance performance change).
There is a dearth of tools to measure accurately human performance in the
laboratory. If sports performance cannot be measured
frequently with a high degree of precision in the laboratory, then
training-induced changes in sports performance are not
quantifiable. Direct, accurate testing is rarely possible. Consequently,
physiological surrogates (e.g., VO2peak, VO2) are used to
predict changes in performance.
". . . most training studies . . . have measured the physiological and
biochemical responses of the human to training and have paid
less attention (i) to the extent to which human exercise performance is altered
by different training programs and (ii) to the
specific physiological adaptations which explain training induced changes in
athletic performance." (p. 124)
An important weakness in current exercise physiology is a lack of certain
knowledge of the precise factors that determine fatigue
and hence, limit performance in different types of exercise under a range of
environmental conditions. This is largely due to
researchers and teachers advocating only one specific incomplete model of
exercise physiology that does not explain performance
under all conditions.
The review contemplates five exercise physiology models used popularly to
explain and guide physical conditioning programs.
More...from Coaching Science Abstracts at:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/coachsci/csa/vol71/noakes.htm


21. Advertising on TV with Professional Triathletes:
Triathlon is growing for multiple reasons but in the beginning it was because of
the Pro's. It was men like Scott Tinley, Scott
Molina and Mike Pigg that made competitors out of spectators. When they
competed, jaws dropped and if you looked closely at the
crowd, you could see people utter, "I'm going to do one of these." This was the
early advertising campaign of triathlon. Decades
later, not much has changed. Pro's are still the best advertisement for
triathlon or any sport. Just think about what Tiger Woods
did for golf or Lance Armstrong for cycling.
Like golf and cycling, triathlon has its own Pro's like Nicole Deboom but the
average person doesn't know this. Nicole Deboom and
Tiger Woods are both at the top of their game. Any competition they enter, they
could win. So why's Tiger Woods a household name
while Nicole Deboom isn't? Because being at the top of your game isn't good
enough to be a household name. You need to be marketed
and that takes more than just extra hours at the pool.
More...from Bauer Tri News at:
http://www.bauertrinews.com/storyDeepThoughts.faces.37.id


22. Efficient running: Move more horizontally:
Despite what most runners and their coaches believe, technique plays an enormous
role in sustained fast running. Most runners
subscribe to one of two basic paradigms of propulsion. Unfortunately, both are
flawed. One creates more upward propulsion than
forward and the other isolates a relatively small, weak muscle group instead of
harnessing a number of muscles to work together to
produce propulsion.
Learning to use large muscle groups to create horizontal propulsion with minimal
vertical oscillation will help you run farther and
faster.
Upward thrust method
One challenge for runners is creating propulsion as close to purely horizontal
as possible. Excessive vertical displacement
increases the energy cost of running dramatically. The most common method
runners use to develop propulsion is the upward thrust. At
toe off, the knee is straightened forcefully, thrusting the body up and forward.
This technique wastes a tremendous amount of energy, leads to local muscular
fatigue in the quadriceps and slows turnover.
More...Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11735&sidebar=13&category=running


23. Exercise Reverses Arthritis-Related Wasting:
Progressive resistance training can help patients with rheumatoid arthritis who
experience muscle wasting, researchers report.
"Generalized muscle wasting in rheumatoid arthritis is common although often
masked by a concomitant increase in fat mass," Dr.
Samuele M. Marcora told Reuters Health. "Our preliminary study suggests that
progressive resistance training is an effective
treatment for this metabolic complication of rheumatoid arthritis."
As reported in the Journal of Rheumatology, Marcora from University of
Wales-Bangor, UK, and colleagues investigated the value of
progressive resistance training (PRT) in 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis
and loss of muscle mass.
Ten of the patients participated in 12 weeks of PRT, consisting of thrice-weekly
sessions that included eight resistance exercises
per session. The other 10 patients continued their usual care without additional
PRT.
More...from RedNova at:
http://www.rednova.com/news/health/158471/exercise_reverses_arthritisrelated_was\
ting/index.html


24. Tapering for Optimal Race Performance:
Find a balance between maintaining fitness and harboring strength.
Most performance oriented runners will do pretty much what they're told in
training. Run 8 x 800 meters at the track? Sure. Do a
40-minute tempo run? No problem. It's when we're instructed to scale back, run
less and conserve our energies, that we balk.
Training provides long-term fitness improvements but produces short-term
fatigue. Leading up to an important race, the challenge is
to find the optimal balance between maintaining the best possible racing fitness
and resting to reduce the fatigue of training. This
is referred to as a well-planned taper.
To achieve your best when it counts, you can only afford to do a full taper
before a few key races each year. If you race often and
were to taper thoroughly for each race, you would have little time left for hard
training. So you learn to "train through" some
races. But for the big ones, you will want to go all out to achieve your best.
A recent paper published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine
reviewed more than 50 scientific studies on tapering to
find out whether tapering betters performance, and how to go about it. The
review showed that there is no question tapering works.
Most studies found an improvement of about 3% when athletes reduced their
training before competition. This translates to more than
five minutes for a three-hour marathoner or more than a minute for those racing
10K in 40 minutes.
How Long Should You Taper?
Several of the studies concluded that the optimal length of taper is from seven
days to three weeks, depending on the distance of
the race and how hard you've trained. Too short a taper will leave you tired on
race day, while tapering for too long will lead to a
loss of fitness. How do you find the right balance? Consider than any one
workout can give you far less than a 1% improvement in
fitness, but a well-designed taper can provide a much larger improvement in race
performance. Therefore, it is probably wiser to err
on the side of tapering too much than not enough. The optimal number of days to
taper for the most popular race distances are as
follows: marathon, 19 to 22 days; 15K to 30K, 11 to 14 days; 5K to 10K, 7 to 10
days.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/99julaug/taper.htm




25. News Scan:

* Fila USA to Sponsor CDC’s New Challenge Cup
John Bingham Racing, LLC and FILA USA have announced that the 29th annual
Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon held on August 7,
2005, in Grant Park, will host the first annual "FILA Chicago Challenge Cup" to
be awarded to the fastest running specialty store
team. The FILA Chicago Challenge Cup trophy will go to the store that has the
fastest aggregate time for a three person mixed gender
team.

* Triathlon 101 with Coach Lance Watson: Heart-rate training zones
Q: A little background: I'm a 30-year-old male, 6'1", 255 pounds. I've been on a
fairly effective heart rate-based running program
for about three months now, averaging between 25 and 35 miles a week. At my
size, the real problem is running, so I figured I'd go
with a running-focused program through the winter to build my base and get some
extra weight off. I am naturally a big guy, and at
my leanest, approximately 10-percent body fat, I still weigh about 225. My
latest resting heart rate was 43 BPM first thing in the
morning.
Here's my dilemma: I've been seeing some results, most noticeably I’m able to
run faster at lower heart rates, with the majority of
my runs under or at my recovery threshold (70 percent of max heart rate). I
based my heart-rate percentages on 220 minus my age, as
when I started the program I was unconcerned with finding my actual max HR.
Looking back on my log this morning, I started thinking
that I should be seeing greater results. So I went out, did a 30-minute warm-up
and followed that with three sessions of all-out
sprint effort for one minute each. The first sprint, my max heart rate hit 193,
however, I was shocked when my following two sprints
posted a max heart rate of 220.
Up to this point, all of my heart-rate averages have been based on 183 (the max
I had hit prior to today, but again, I never tested
myself at an all-out effort). I had been feeling that my runs were too easy and
that I wasn't seeing the results I should. My
question now is, do I readjust my heart-rate percentages to reflect my new max
or is it possibly some kind of anomaly? I have read
in various places that individual max heart rates can vary quite a bit, but is a
reading of 220 something I should be concerned
about?

A: I have seen high HRs before, but yours tops the charts. While it is not
impossible to go that high, I would check the contact of
the strap on your chest to ensure it is firm against the skin.
Now, that said, the heart is not a machine, but a muscle. Training by heart rate
can be very effective, but remember that your heart
rate will be affected by a number of different external factors, including
stress, hormones, climate, residual training fatigue and
diet.
Try this: Consider testing for your lactic threshold. This is the heart rate
above which you begin to work anaerobically (i.e. start
feeling the burn and getting short on breath). A good field test to establish
your lactic threshold is to warm up then run for 30
minutes at the hardest pace you can maintain for the entire session. Take your
average heart rate for the last 20 minutes of the
run. Despite the fact that this is a hard effort, try to pace yourself; don’t
start with a sprint and finish with a bonk.
Your training zones
Use your heart rate as a guide to ensure that you are training in the correct
zone. Listing training zones as 1-5 provides a good
indicator for output to help you quantify your effort. Zones 1-2 are the
easiest, used for recovery and warm-up; zone 5 is above
your anaerobic threshold, similar to running all out on the track for 400-800
meters. Endurance athletes spend most of their
training time below zone 5, since working out at these intensities can be highly
taxing on the body and too much work in this area
leads to breakdown and over training. Finally, pay attention not only to your
heart rate as you train but also to your own sense of
perceived effort for each day.
Heart-rate training zones:
Zone 1: lactate threshold minus 15-22%
Zone 2: lactate threshold minus 9-14%
Zone 3: lactate threshold minus 4-8%
Zone 4: lactate threshold plus/minus 3% (This is the zone you should be in for a
10K run or 40km time trial on the bike.)
Zone 5: lactate threshold plus 4-8%
Good luck!
LifeSport head coach Lance Watson has coached a number of Ironman, Olympic and
age-group champions. He enjoys coaching athletes of
all abilities who are passionate about sport and personal excellence.
Visit www.LifeSport.ca or contact Lance for more information.

* Immune alterations, lipid peroxidation, and muscle damage following a hill
race.
Simpson RJ, Wilson MR, Black JR, Ross JA, Whyte GP, Guy K, Florida-James GD.
Biomedicine and Sport and Exercise Science Research Group, School of Life
Sciences, Napier University, 10 Colinton Rd, Edinburgh
EH10 5DT, UK.
Hill races usually include large downhill running sections, which can induce
significant degrees of muscle damage in a field
setting. This study examined the link between muscle damage, oxidative stress,
and immune perturbations following a 7-km mountainous
hill race with 457 m of ascent and 457 m of descent. Venous blood samples were
taken from 7 club level runners before, immediately
after, and 48 hrs postrace. Samples were analysed for total and differential
leukocyte counts, markers of muscle damage (CK), lipid
peroxidation (MDA), and acute phase proteins (CRP; fibrinogen; alpha-1-ACT). The
total antioxidant status (TEAC) and plasma levels
of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha were also determined.
Subjective pain reports, and plasma activities of
CK, MDA, and circulatory monocytes reached peak values at 48 hrs postrace (p <
0.05). TEAC and the cytokine IL-8 increased
immediately after the race (p < 0.05). Plasma TNF-alpha remained unchanged (p >
0.05). Despite the reports of muscle damage and
soreness, no evidence of an acute phase response was observed (p > 0.05), which
may be explained by the failure of the race to
induce a plasma TNF-alpha response. Future studies should examine the link
between muscle damage, oxidative stress, and the acute
phase response following hill races of longer duration with larger eccentric
components.
PMID: 15981788 [PubMed - in process]

***End of Articles***


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

July 2, 2005:
The La Crosse Chileda Classic - La Crosse, WI
http://www.chileda.org

Liberty by the Lake 5K, The Colony - TX
http://www.libertybythelake.com

Television - OLN, 08:30 - 11:30 EDT
Tour de France Coverage

Television - CBC, 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Paris Golden League - Track & Field from Paris, France

July 2 -24, 2005:
Tour de France
http://www.letour.fr
TV Coverage on OLN
http://www.olntv.com
More TDF Links
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_tdf2005.html

July 3, 2005:
Barry's Bay Triathlon - ON
http://www.queenswood.com/triathlon

Canadian Sprint Triathlon Championship - Dartmouth, NS
http://www.halifaxsprinttriathlon.ca

Fighting Fires 5K, Smallwood - NY
http://www.fightingfiresrace.com/

Firecracker 5000 - Seattle, WA
http://www.promotionevents.com

Ironman Austria - Lake Wörther See, Austria
http://www.ironmanaustria.com

July 4, 2005:
American Family Insurance All-American Run - Chicago, IL
http://www.caprievents.com

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K - GA
http://www.atlantatrackclub.org

Hyde Park Blast 4 Mile - Cincinnati, OH
http://www.hydeparkblast.org

Silicon Laboratories Marathon Relay - Austin, TX
http://www.marathonrelay.com

For more complete race listings check out our Upcoming Races, and Calendars.
Check the Runner's Web on Sunday and Monday for race
reports on these events at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html

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...**