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6. Total Immersion
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
approach to teaching can help any student master a
fluent, beautiful and economical style and brings results far faster than
conventional methods:
Only TI teaches Fishlike Swimming. Traditional instruction focuses on pulling,
kicking and endless laps. TI teaches you to swim with
the effortless grace of fish by becoming one with the water. You’ll feel the
difference from your very first lap of intelligent,
purposeful TI practice and get more satisfaction from every lap that follows.
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,
flow, and economy…and that speed will surely follow
when they master ease.
Only TI teaches transformation along with fluid strokes. TI, alone among all
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leading to greater physical and mental well-being.
Only TI teaches you to master swimming as an art. TI teachers emphasize the same
patient precision and refinement taught by martial
arts masters. We start with simple skills and movements and progress by small,
easily-mastered steps. Our students thrive on the
attention to detail and the logical sequence of progressive skills.
Check out the TI program at:
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THIS WEEK:

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This Weeks Personal Postings/Releases:
We have ONE personal postings this week.

1:
Good Morning,
I am writing an article on the Toronto marathon for The Great Toronto
Getaway. I am also writing about marathon travel- runners who, by
participating in marathons, get to tour different cities and meet new
people. I need to find such a marathon participant. Can you put me in
touch with any runners who travel to other cities? I want to ask them
briefly about why this is such a fun and unique motivation for travel.
Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to
pass on my contact info.
Jacky Tuinstra
The Great Toronto getaway
416-979-8551
mailto:j_is4jax@...


THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Science of Sport: Things Momma Never Taught You About Recovery Intervals
2. Science of Sport: Pilates injuries - the power of Pilates – and the dangers
of its burgeoning popularity
3. Science of Sport: Risks of long-term detraining for endurance athletes
4. Relax, it's exercise
A laid-back approach to fitness may actually get you closer to your goals.
5. Health - Specialists for Runners
6. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Exceeding Expectations
Why Everyone Needs to Strength Train
7. Why Everyone Needs to Strength Train
8. Last Week on Endurance Radio.com
9. A Runner's Guide to Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)
10. Post run stiffness - the ABC - the Andrew Bosch Corner
11. From Runner's World
12. Mid-season core tune-up, part 2: The extensor chain
13. Aqua Running
14. Heartbreaker
Fit or not, it's time to wise up and listen to your ticker. It could be headed
for an untimely failure.
15. Run: The Perfect Runner
Do you know how to run? This is not a trick question.
16. The Right Level of Exercise to Keep a Healthy Heart
17. Bigger Hearts OK for Elite Athletes?
Study: No Extra Heart Risks Seen in Athletes With Big Left Atrium of Heart.
18. Triathlon 101 with Coach Lance Watson: Single-sport focus
19. The Feed Zone with Monique Ryan: The road to recovery
20. Beginners Guide to Ironman
21. Did Granny really know best?
How many health-related old wives' tales are actually true? Chloe Rhodes asks
the experts.
22. Cycling: Stretches Before Riding
23. Crashing Through the Wall
24. Community - The Long Road to Equality
25: Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"The most outstanding performance(s) in the recent World Athletics Championships
was/were?"

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 is the hardest running double in athletics?"
The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. 100M/200M 3 3%
2. 200M/400M 2 2%
3. 400M/800M 9 10%
4. 800M/1500M 10 12%
5. 1500M/5,000M 8 9%
6. 5,000M/10,000M 3 3%
7. 10,000M/Marathon 51 59%
Total Votes: 86

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FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: Meb Keflezighi.
From East Africa, the birthplace of humanity, comes one of the most inspiring
American stories in recent memory. If you were a
spectator along the marathon course in Athens during the 2004 Olympics, you may
agree that a Hermes-esque champion sped out of the
shadows of his countrymen to secure a place in history. As the silver medal
winner for the United States of America, Mebrahtom
Keflezighi (pronounced Kef-lez-ghee), not only inspired awe in the sport, but he
also attracted new fans around the globe as he
accepted his award in front of millions of viewers. Seventy days later, Meb
would stun the track and field world again by finishing
second in the prestigious ING New York City marathon—a feat last achieved by an
American in 1993. After years of racking up honors,
Meb has vaulted himself and his truly encouraging story into the international
spotlight.
Considered "the top US distance runner from 10 km to the marathon" by
USA Track & Field, Meb has been astonishing coaches
ever since he ran a 5:20 mile in junior high to earn an “A” in physical
education. While an undergraduate at University of
California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Meb won four NCAA titles in one year: NCAA Cross
Country Championship, Indoor 5,000 meters
Championship, and double NCAA victories in the 5000 and the 10,000 meters
Outdoor Championships in 1997. His accomplishments have
earned him the title as "The Greatest Distance Runner in UCLA History."
After Meb earned his B.A. in Communication Studies with a specialization
in Business from UCLA, he pursued a career as a
professional runner. With his funny, family-oriented, and socially-conscious
personality, and naturally infectious smile, he was
courted by major athletic apparel companies to represent them. Nike’s long-term
sponsorship of Meb has enabled him to reach a wide
audience and broaden fan support for track and field events. "U.S.A. running is
back," Keflezighi said. "Coming in I was not a
favorite. I'm just very happy to win a silver."
Check out Meb's site at:
http://www.runmeb.com/

Send us your suggestions for our Five Star site. Please check our list of
previous Five Star Sites available from the Five Star
Window under the link "Previous Five Star Sites" as we do not wish to repeat a
site unless it has undergone a major redesign.


If you feel you have something to say that is worthy of a Guest Column on the
Runner's Web, email us at
mailto:webmaster@... or leave your comments in one of our Forums at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/forum.html or from our FrontPage.

Our Photo Slideshow is updated on a random basis. Check it out from our
FrontPage.


BOOK OF THE WEEK:
The Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship: How to Find an Individual, Team, or Event
Sponsor
By Jennifer Drury and Cheri Elliot
Whether you are a beginner or professional, sponsored or never sponsored, The
Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship is a comprehensive
guide to improving your chances! This has step-by-step details for any athlete,
team, or sporting event
planner who is considering pursuing sponsorship. Authors Jennifer Drury,
attorney and president of JED Sports Management, and Cheri
Elliott, internationally known cycling champion, offer easy-to-follow worksheets
and sample contracts, as well as advice on
targeting potential corporate sponsors, writing proposals, negotiating deals,
and much more! Includes sample contracts and
worksheets.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1884737781/ref=ase_runnersweb/103-\
2598520-2819816?v=glance&s=books
[Long URL]

Previous Books of the Week:
From Human Kinetics,
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/human_kinetics.html
From Amazon
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/amazon.html
More running and triathlon books from Associates Shop
http://associatesshop.filzhut.de/shop/index.php?ID=90c9f271c1a519abc4a69299be707\
5a9



THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

1. Science of Sport: Things Momma Never Taught You About Recovery Intervals:
By Owen Anderson, Ph. D. (Copyright © 2004-2005)
Much attention is paid to the nature of the work intervals within interval
workouts. Coaches, athletes, and exercise scientists
worry about the time duration of work intervals, their intensity, the number of
work intervals per training session, and so on.
Meanwhile, much less attention is devoted to the recovery intervals, even though
they often comprise as large a portion of the
overall workout (from a time standpoint) as the bouts of hard effort.
Most coaches and athletes do recognize that recovery-interval length is a key
variable associated with the improvement of
interval-workout quality. For example, a time-honored principle in interval
training calls for a gradual reduction in the lengths of
recovery intervals. If an athlete starts a specific training period using
four-minute work intervals at 5-K pace, with four-minute
recoveries, one reasonable progression within the period is to gradually pare
the recoveries down to a lower limit of 30 to 60
seconds, while holding steadfast with the work intervals. Such recovery-interval
trimmings raise the overall quality of the workout:
average percents of VO2max and vVO2max both rise as recoveries are abridged, and
blood-lactate levels tend to soar.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050819_RRN_Recovery_Intervals.h\
tml


2. Science of Sport: Pilates injuries - the power of Pilates – and the dangers
of its burgeoning popularity:
In the world of working out, Pilates is high fashion. Who in Hollywood doesn’t
do Pilates? It seems you can’t flip through a
magazine or turn on the TV without coming across someone famous who credits
Pilates exercise for their sleek physique.
Once the best-kept secret of the dance community, Pilates has been discovered
and embraced by singers, models, athletes and actors.
But what exactly is Pilates – and does it really work?
There are two categories of Pilates: the version practised by the mass populace
in gyms and studios, which I will call ‘fitness
Pilates’, and a growing international movement among allied health professionals
(especially physiotherapists), called ‘clinical
Pilates’.
Almost anyone who has been exposed to Pilates through a video or gym class has
been doing some kind of fitness Pilates. Even within
the fitness industry, few people are aware that there exists a separate stream
of Pilates with some radically different technical
and philosophical aspects, a stream that has developed in Australia in various
guises since the early 1990s.
In this two-part SIB analysis we will look at both streams. In Part II we will
unpack clinical Pilates and look at exactly what
makes it such a valuable tool in the kit of athletes, coaches, and those
practising any form of sports medicine.
First, though, we consider in depth fitness Pilates, very much from a consumer
viewpoint. I also raise some important questions for
those involved in the industry, because the bottom line is that there are
greatly varying levels of quality, accuracy and
effectiveness in the Pilates world, as indeed is the case in any fitness
discipline that is both evolving and holding out big
promises to a vast spectrum of people.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050818_PPO_Pilates.html


3. Science of Sport: Risks of long-term detraining for endurance athletes:
Endurance-trained athletes should avoid long detraining periods because the
resultant metabolic changes might prove difficult to
reverse. That’s the clear message from a French study on rowers – the first to
study the effects of long-term detraining in highly
trained endurance athletes.
The metabolic adaptations to endurance training are well understood;
essentially, it induces a sparing of carbohydrate stores by
increasing the contribution of fatty acid metabolism to the overall supply of
energy to working muscles through enhanced glycogen
creation and increased amino acid availability. These adaptations contribute
collectively to enhanced endurance performance.
But what happens when the stimulus to the adaptations disappears not just for a
few weeks but for months? That’s what the French
researchers set out to investigate with 10 male national and international
rowers who had announced their intentions of training
hard for one year before bringing their sporting careers to a close.
The study started after an off-season of six weeks, during which the athletes
were asked to avoid any physical exercise. There then
followed a 47-week training period, during which the athletes trained for a
total of 1,046 hours (more than 22 per week) undergoing
extensive performance and metabolic testing in weeks 1, 24 and 47. After another
off-season they embarked on a detraining year,
during which physical activity averaged 1.1 hours per week, with testing in
weeks 52, 76 and 99.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050818_PPO_Detraining.html


4. Relax, it's exercise:
A laid-back approach to fitness may actually get you closer to your goals.
COLIN KIM isn't the type of teacher who takes offense when students fall asleep
in his class. In fact, that's the effect he's after.
By the time Kim's aptly named "Naptime" class comes to a close at 10 on Thursday
nights in Hollywood, the occasional snore rises
from a gym floor strewn with students all assuming the corpse pose — that's
yoga-speak for lying flat on your back, limbs
comfortably extended.
Effective? No doubt. Afterward, with all the stretching, deep breathing and
relaxation exercises, it's hard not to feel like a wet
noodle, or a rug that's gotten a good shaking out. Most sleepy-eyed students can
be seen stifling yawns as they make a beeline for
the door — and their pillows at home.
But could this possibly count as a workout?
Absolutely, said Kim. "This isn't a typical workout, but it is a workout.
Sometimes you've gotta give your body a break."
Move over Xtreme step, Xtreme spinning and Xtreme strength-training classes —
fitness clubs such as Crunch, where Kim teaches, are
making room in the lineup for classes that don't require at least two towels to
mop up all the sweat. The counterprogramming might
seem counterintuitive amid all the concern about obesity and sedentary
lifestyles.
But, fitness experts say, sometimes less is more.
Gyms have long served as an active person's sanctuary from a hectic, fast-paced
lifestyle. Yet working out can sometimes be a source
of stress itself. In a world that puts so much emphasis on picture-perfect
bodies, it's not a far-fetched notion. Even yoga classes
can take on their own brand of extreme competitiveness. (Power yoga, anyone?)
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-relax15aug15,1,5660495.stor\
y?coll=la-health-fitness-news
[Long URL]


5. Health - Specialists for Runners:
Got some aches and pains? Trying to prevent—or heal—an injury? Check out this
guide to the types of healthcare professionals that
can help keep you up and running.
n addition to a coach, runners can benefit from a number of health
professionals. Whether you're trying to heal a specific injury,
or you just want to explore ways to improve performance, it's helpful to know
which kind of specialist to turn to. We've put
together a list of the different kinds of doctors useful to runners, and
highlighted their field of expertise.
Family Physician/General Practitioner
Your primary doctor is always a good first stop if you're looking for more
specialized care. He or she often will have a ready list
of referrals to the specific kind of doctor you need to treat a specific injury.
Podiatrists
Podiatrists specialize in the treatment of feet and work to prevent foot
injuries, including leg injuries that may originate in the
feet. Podiatrists can be particularly helpful in picking out the right running
footwear for your feet by performing arch and gait
analysis. They also may conduct biomechanical exams on your feet to determine if
you need orthotics to help prevent injury.
Podiatrists may provide surgical foot care in certain cases.
More...from Nike.com at:
http://www.nike.com/nikerunning/usa/home.jhtml?loc1=tools_training&loc2=runners_\
library&loc3=111&promoID=em_081505#runners_library
[Multi-line URL]


6. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Exceeding Expectations:
Here are tales of two runners who show that a practice I'm about to propose
isn't as weird as it might seem. Neither runner is an
underachiever, athletically or professionally. Christine Clark is a pathologist
in Alaska, Jeff Hagen a dentist in Washington state.
Many American marathoners aimed higher in 2000 than Dr. Clark. None achieved
more internationally.
When first spotted during U.S. television coverage from the Sydney Olympics, she
lagged near the back. She might have appeared
overwhelmed to be in this company.
But no, Chris calmly climbed into the top 20. Set a PR too on a windy day and
hilly course that worked against such times.
She was as surprised as anyone that she even reached Sydney. Winning the U.S.
Trials didn't figure into her prerace plans. She
didn't aim low, but realistically said she hoped to break into the top 20.
Before the race she had told an Anchorage reporter, "If you train really hard,
you're going to have a good day. And sometimes, for
no reason you can account for, you have a great day."
You can't will such days to happen. You do the training, then take your chances
on what kind of raceday it will be.
Jeff Hagen takes a similar view on goals, though he too is no slacker. Few
ultrarunners have won more often while aiming lower. In
his 50s he does especially well in track races that last a day or more.
"I have always steered clear of setting lofty race goals," he wrote in his club
newsletter. "With them comes pressure, and if any
little thing goes wrong -- which is almost a certainty in any ultra event -- I
can easily become demoralized and perform poorly. By
setting goals that are more achievable, if things happen to be going well, I
sometimes adjust my goal upward during the second half
of the event."
Like many runners, I've never lacked motivation but am more likely to trip over
the high hurdles of ambition. I caved in to the
pressure of such goals from the start -- two starts, in fact.
Here are tales of two miles. Race one was my first high school mile, where I
aimed to beat the big boys. The only one beaten up by a
too-fast start and quitting the race after little more than a lap was me.
Race two was my first college mile. I set as a goal breaking 4:20, though I'd
never gone that fast and this event followed a season
of slow training. The time fell short by a dozen seconds and left me despondent.
My best times nearly always have come as surprises, not as a result of hitting
lofty targets. "Goals are stopping places," I once
wrote. You either reach them and stop because you're satisfied, or you don't
reach them and stop out of frustration.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/522.html


7. Why Everyone Needs to Strength Train:
Why?
When inactive people grow older five things happen: their oxygen capacity
declines, their body fat increases, their muscles shrivel
and become weaker, and their bone mass dwindles. These changes nibble away at
their quality of life, making it harder to haul out
trash, shovel snow, unscrew the lid off vacuum-sealed jars, and so on, and
increase their risk of high blood pressure, diabetes,
heart disease, osteoporosis, and other diseases. But these changes need not
happen, because "Strength training can reverse, or
prevent, the five fundamental changes," says Michael Pollock, Ph.D., at the
University of Florida in Gainesville. You cannot slow
the calendar, but you can slow to a very large extent the undesirable changes in
your body.
The five fundamentals can be more sneaky than you think. For example, a typical
American gains a few pounds between Thanksgiving and
the New Year. Repeat this for a few years, and you can understand why so many of
the middle aged folks you see every day are maybe
30 pounds heavier than when they were in college. But that's not the whole
story. "Someone who gains 30 pounds bodyweight may have
really lost 15 pounds of muscle and gained 45 pounds of fat," says Jack Wilmore,
Ph.D., at the University of Texas at Austin. So it
is really important to preserve your muscle mass by training, or it will be
replaced by fat.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050815_TSH_Strength_Training.ht\
ml


8. Last Week on Endurance Radio.com:
* Friday, August 12, 2005
Endurance Hydration: Dr. Bob Murray
Director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute talks about the importance of
hydration and how you can take some of the guesswork
out of being properly hydrated on race day.
* Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Trail Running and Ultra-running: Don Lundell
An avid trail runner, Don talks about why ultra-distance running is his sport of
choice and how he prepares and completes
long-distance races
* Monday, August 8, 2005
Triathlon: Terry Pennington
Out of shape and a smoker, Terry was inspired to make serious lifestyle changes
after watching an Ironman race. He just completed an
Ironman himself and talks about the experience of training and racing.
* Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Triathlon: Linda Neary Robb
A triathlete for over 10 years, Linda was 1st at the St. Anthony's Triathlon and
for past two years has won her age-group at the
Florida Half-Ironman.
* Monday, August 1, 2005
Trail Running and Ultra-Running: Andy Jones Wilkins
Taking 2nd Place at this year's Western States 100 Endurance Run, Andy talks
about how he handles 130-mile training weeks and what
he gets out of ultra-running.
Listen to these interviews and more from Endurance radio at:
http://www.enduranceradio.com


9. A Runner's Guide to Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS):
Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) is the most common cause of pain on the outside
of the knee in runner's, with an incidence as high
as 12% of all running-related overuse injuries. Although it is not difficult to
diagnose, it can be a challenge to treat ,
especially in higher mileage runners who place enormous loads on their bodies.
This article has been written to help the runner
diagnose, understand and begin to treat IT band friction syndrome.
What is the Illiiotibial band?
The IT band is not a muscle. It is a thick band of tissue called fascia that
starts on the outside of the hip, passes down the
outside of the thigh and inserts into the side of the patella (knee cap) and the
tibia, (shin bone).
Fascia is a sheath-like tissue that surrounds muscles. The ITB has the tensile
strength of soft steel, which explains why it is so
difficult to mobilize.
As well as arising from the illiac crest, (hip bone) the ITB attaches into the
gluteal muscles at the back and tensor fascia lata
muscle at the front. (See Figure 1).
When these muscles contract, they increase tension on the band. Often, one
muscle dominates the movement pattern causing an
imbalance to occur, which may lead to injury.
More...from LW Coaching at:
http://www.lwcoaching.com/library/runnersguideitbs.htm


10. Post run stiffness - the ABC - the Andrew Bosch Corner:
Lactic acid build-up is the cause of post hard-run stiffness ……. Wrong! Most
runners believe that the stiffness and muscle pain felt
after a marathon or hard run is caused by lactic acid. While this was believed
correct some decades ago, we now know that lactic
acid, or more correctly, lactate, is not the cause of stiffness.
Although the precise cause of delayed onset muscle soreness remains unknown, all
runners are aware that the degree of pain depends
on the intensity and duration of the run. For example, you have probably noticed
that your muscles are more painful after a long or
hard downhill run than after running over flat terrain. Comrades runners,
particularly, will have noticed that the post-race
stiffness is worse after a "down" run than an "up" run. In fact, it is this very
phenomenon that begins to exclude a build-up of
lactic acid as a cause of the pain. In downhill running the concentration of
lactate in the blood and muscle is very low compared to
running at the same speed on the flat. Thus, the most painful post-race
stiffness occurs when the lactate concentration is lowest.
If we take a blood sample from a runner the day after a marathon, especially an
ultra-marathon such as the Two-Oceans or Comrades,
we find that the levels of an enzyme called creatine kinase are very high. This
is a marker of muscle damage as this particular
enzyme "leaks" from damaged muscle. The "damage" is in the form of minute tears
or ruptures of the muscle fibres. We can see this
trauma to the muscle if a sample of muscle is examined microscopically. However,
it is not just the muscle that is damaged. By
measuring hydroxyproline, it is possible to show that the connective tissue in
and around the muscles is also disrupted. What this
shows is that stiffness results from muscle damage and breakdown of connective
tissue.
More...from Time to Run at:
http://www.time-to-run.com/theabc/postrun.htm


11. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
"A marathon demands patience, as gratification is long delayed. The race doesn't
start on marathon morning, but months earlier with
the commitment to train. Along the way you spend more training days patiently
holding back than pushing ahead."
-Joe Henderson

* Injury Prevention
Knee extensions build quad strength, but these two exercises strengthen your
quads in a way that's more specific for running, and
will leave muscles less fatigued.
Sideways step-downs: Stand with both feet on a 6-inch step. Keeping your hips
level, slowly lower your left foot off the left side
of the step. Tap your heel on the ground, then return to the step. Repeat with
the right leg off the right side. Do one to three
sets of 15 to 20 repetitions on each side.
Wall slides: Stand with your back against a wall and your feet 16 inches from
the wall, knees slightly bent. Keeping your back
straight, slide your back and hips down the wall until your knees form a
90-degree angle. Pause, then slide back up the wall. Do
three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions with a 1- to 2-minute rest between sets.

* Performance Nutrition
Low fat, low fuss broccolini: a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale. You can
steam, sauté, poach, roast, or grill it. As long as
you don't overcook broccolini, you'll get brilliant green color and a crunchy
texture. Prep work is effortless--you eat the whole
stalk; no trimming needed. A 3-oz portion has 130% of the DV of vitamin C, and
30% of the DV of vitamin A (in the form of
beta-carotene).

* Editor's Advice:
"Feeling tired? When you're low on iron or certain B vitamins, you feel run-down
all the time. Consider a consultation with a sports
nutritionist who can identify the areas in your diet where you may be
deficient." -Kathleen Jobes, RW marketing merchandising
manager

* Training Talk:
"Running, of course, teaches us to move on. There is always another day, another
workout, another mile, another race. But more
important, it teaches us to listen to ourselves and believe in ourselves." -From
The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life, by Amby
Burfoot



12. Mid-season core tune-up, part 2: The extensor chain:
Last month we mentioned our second installment of foundational core exercises
would address the "extensor chain." The extensor chain
is a term used to denote the activation of the glutes, hamstrings and erector
spinae.
During extension, the glute is the primary muscle responsible for movement,
while the hamstring and erectors act together for
stabilization. Muscle functioning of the chain can include dynamic movement,
postural stability or a combination of the two.
A common dynamic (moving) example would be the motion of picking something up
from the ground (returning from a flexed position). A
postural example would be holding yourself upright or standing, as gravity works
to pull you over. A combination of the two is
exemplified during walking or running since the glutes, hamstrings, and erectors
perform movement and stabilization at the same
time.
Faulty link in the chain
Here are potential causes of muscle dysfunction or faulty activation in the
chain:
* weakness or inhibition of the glutes
* being de-conditioned due to inactivity or injury
* overuse due to excessive repetitive motion
* over-activity of an opposing muscle group
For endurance athletes, it's particularly important to recognize a dysfunction
to ensure muscle imbalances don't occur. The psosas
muscle (primary hip flexor) and the rectus femoris (synergistic hip flexor) are
heavily involved, overworked and overused.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12109&sidebar=17&category=activeusahome\
page


13. Aqua Running:
Water running in the deep end of the pool is quite advantageous as an
alternative workout for run training. There are a few reasons
why I schedule water running into an athlete’s plan. One of the primary reasons
is if the athlete has an injury that will not allow
him or her to run on a hard surface. Injuries such as Achilles tendonitis, ankle
sprains, soreness in the knees, lower back pain,
etc. I also schedule water-running workouts as recovery workouts after a long
run or bike session. Another benefit to water running
is that an athlete can do interval workouts in the pool that could be
substituted for road intervals or track work. Many athletes
get injured doing intense interval running on a hard surface. If done in a
structured manner, the benefits of an interval workout in
the pool can come close to that of an interval workout on land.
I let my athletes decide if they want to wear a flotation vest or not wear one
at all for their deep-water running workouts. Most
articles I’ve read on water running recommend use of a vest as this will help
with proper form while completing the workout. I
personally like using a vest as I have found that I can relax a bit more and
focus more on the actual running movements, but this is
up to the individual. Without the vest the athlete has the tendency to lean
forward, so try to concentrate on staying upright, try
to duplicate land running form by running tall and staying vertical in the
water.
More...from TriFuel at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/run/aqua-running-001001.php


14. Heartbreaker:
Fit or not, it's time to wise up and listen to your ticker. It could be headed
for an untimely failure.
WE ALL KNOW SOMEONE LIKE JIM, a guy in his late twenties who exercises hard and,
as a result, thinks he can get away with eating
anything he wants. He chases a four-hour mountain-bike ride with a pepperoni
pizza and a pitcher of beer. With his concrete quads
and thoroughbred lungs, Jim is hyperfit, which is why he doesn't hesitate to
order a slab of carrot cake for dessert. "I'll burn it
off tomorrow," he smirks.
But he's wrong—perhaps dangerously wrong. Like many other outdoor athletes of
his generation, Jim is overlooking a tenacious enemy
that will linger inside him long after he sweats away the calories. One that,
without a change in diet, will grow even more
worrisome as he exercises into his thirties and forties. And someday, when Jim
appears to be in prime middle-age condition, it just
might kill him. The culprit is arterial plaque—a by-product of high levels of
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which lurks
in foods rich in saturated fat. Over years of après-sport cheeseburgers and
Saturday-morning doughnut runs, this plaque builds up on
the walls of arteries and hardens. Left unchecked, it will gradually strangle
the flow of blood to the heart—or even break off
during a routine workout and fatally block an artery.
More...from Outside Online at:
http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200508/heart-health-1.html


15. Run: The Perfect Runner:
By Mindy Solkin
Do you know how to run? This is not a trick question. It is vital for successful
running to understand both the physiology of
running (how our heart, lungs and muscles work) and the biomechanics of running.
If you picked the right parents you may be lucky
enough to be a genetically talented runner. But most people who run never think
about the movement of their bodies. They go through
the motions as if by rote, disassociating the sport from the task at hand. But
runners need skills training, just like a tennis
player needs to learn how to hold the racket. Assessing your body in motion and
correcting faulty biomechanics with technique and
strengthening exercises will ultimately allow us to “play” our sport to the best
of our ability. Here’s how.
Body Alignment
Because the running motion is a series of changing postures using ballistic
motions, the tendency is to displace the center of
gravity (the point under your navel) by running in a vertical hopping style
instead of the preferred forward-leaning position.
Creating one smooth line from head to toe with a 10-degree lean from the ankles
(not the waist), will allow for a controlled falling
movement. The smoother the motion, the less energy expended to cover a given
distance.
More...from MetroSports Boston at:
http://www.metrosportsboston.com/story.cfm?story_id=10451&publicationID=212&page\
ID=4783


16. The Right Level of Exercise to Keep a Healthy Heart:
Exercise capacity is a well-established predictor of cardiac mortality in women,
but now a new study indicates how much exercise is
enough.
In a report that compares the capacities of thousands of women with
cardiovascular symptoms and without them, researchers have
determined the degree of exercise required to assure cardiac health.
The 5,271 women without symptoms were recruited in the Chicago metropolitan area
to participate in a study of heart disease in
women.
The 4,471 women with symptoms had been referred from 1990 to 1995 for exercise
stress tests for the evaluation of suspected coronary
disease.
By following these women over more than a decade, the researchers were able to
predict what effect the right amount of exercise
would have. Age-predicted exercise capacity was established by averaging the
results of the stress tests in asymptomatic women.
The study found that women who scored less than 85 percent of their
age-predicted exercise capacity had double the risk of dying of
any cause, and more than two and a half times the risk of dying of cardiac
disease.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/science/16exer.html


17. Bigger Hearts OK for Elite Athletes?
Study: No Extra Heart Risks Seen in Athletes With Big Left Atrium of Heart.
New research shows that in world-class athletes, an enlarged heart may not raise
the risk of heartbeat problems.
Specifically, researchers looked at the heart's upper left chamber (the left
atrium) in more than 1,700 competitive athletes.
They found that relatively few athletes had left atrial enlargement and that the
condition didn't raise the odds of having an
irregular or abnormally fast heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.
But most of us are nowhere near that level of athletic achievement. It's always
wise to get any heart concerns checked out by a
doctor and to follow medical advice about heart care.
The study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The
researchers included Antonio Pelliccia, MD, of the
National Institute of Sports Medicine with the Italian National Olympic
Committee.
More...from WebMD at:
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/110/109578.htm


18. Triathlon 101 with Coach Lance Watson: Single-sport focus:
Triathlon is a complicated sport: You have to consider when to work on run
speed, or hill climbing and descending skills on the
bike, or stroke-rate or technical proficiency in the pool. There are always
areas to improve upon, and that’s what makes our sport
so challenging and intriguing.
Most people have a tendency to enjoy what they are good at, and therefore they
tend to train with a little more intensity or focus
in their area of expertise. To ensure well-rounded development, I regularly
incorporate single-sport focuses into my athletes’
training.
The focus phase: A natural time for this is in the fall. Take an early-September
active rest of 10 days or so and then start laying
down some foundation in your focus sport. Keep up the other two sports, but
limit them to two to three workouts each per week.
Increase the frequency of training sessions in your focus sport, but not
dramatically. You don’t necessarily have to do big miles;
instead, just make sure you are fresh when you begin these sessions to ensure
they are high quality.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050817_LW_Focus.html


19. The Feed Zone with Monique Ryan - The road to recovery:
With triathletes well into their race season, you likely have your favorite
pre-race foods and fluids menu planned out, and are
refining your on-bike and running drinking skills to maximize your race
performance. But have you thought about your race recovery
nutrition?
At this time in the season your nutritional focus should be on nutritional
strategies to improve race performance, and proper
recovery so that you are prepared for your next race. Your training is likely
focused on intensity, with a reduced training volume
as you prepare for an upcoming race. Proper recovery is especially important if
you are racing frequently in the build-up to the
season's most important races.
Recovery starts right after you finish a race, whether a sprint, Olympic, Half
Ironman or Ironman distance. Keeping up with your
fluid and fuel losses is challenging when training, but the pace and dynamics of
racing can make race drinking and fueling even more
challenging. Chances are that you will finish your race in a dehydrated and
depleted state, even after hard efforts lasting longer
than 60 to 90 minutes.
Immediate Recovery
Of course you need to plan ahead so that you can start the recovery process
within an hour after the race by packing the proper
foods and fluids. Your immediate recovery nutrition plan should include fluid,
sodium, carbohydrate, and even some protein if that
is convenient and suits your tastes
More...from InsideTri at:
http://insidetri.com/train/tips/articles/2890.0.html


20. Beginners Guide to Ironman:
Over the years I've seen so many fit people arrive at the start of an Ironman
event more than ready to complete the huge challenge,
yet they then come to grief on Ironman day - mostly because of silly errors that
could have been avoided. Ironman performance is
built on three key pillars. Fitness is obvious; you need to be able to cover the
distance physically. Arriving at the race, healthy,
injury free and fresh is difficult but by and large people are doing a better
job of this than ever. What they fail to do is
MAXIMISE their potential performance on the day.
So that brings me to the two biggies of Ironman Race Strategy, which are race
nutrition and race pacing/efficiency.
I think a huge number of first timers get this completely wrong and this costs
them a lot of pain and suffering, slowing them down
or worse still, stopping them completely.
Watching Lance Armstrong win his 7th Tour this year reminded me about the level
of detail that professionals put into this stuff.
It's not about the 1000+ km they do each week leading up to the tour but what
they do and experience DURING this.
Let me give you an example of this ?? it's the final TT of this years Tour and
Lance Armstrong is not using a disk wheel, he's using
a deep section carbon rim on the back, why? Because he has ridden the TT in
training on his race bike so many times before the Tour
started that he knew that it was faster and safer to do that. Not only that but
he knew how to dose his effort over the whole ride.
In my mind he shouldn't have won that stage, there was at least one ride
physically stronger, but the smartest rider won.
Now it's not possible for weekend warriors to get to that sort of detail BUT the
two biggies of race day need to be checked
thoroughly.
So what I thought would be helpful was a run though of some of the key
strategies the beginner can employ at Ironman (and ? Ironman)
events to help maximise their potential.
More...from the Sport Factory at:
http://thesportfactory.iuplog.com/default.asp?item=96908


21. Did Granny really know best?
How many health-related old wives' tales are actually true? Chloe Rhodes asks
the experts.
Granny, we like to think, always knows best. There's something about her advice
- those ancient pearls of wisdom, handed down
through the generations - that makes you believe in it for ever. The history of
medicine is rich with folklore that has been passed
on in this way, and many old sayings still have a powerful hold on us.
Carrots, apples, cheese: do they affect you in the way you imagine them to?
But last month, scientists at the University of Helsinki published findings that
suggest that one such long-established notion is no
more than a myth. Their research has found that even large doses of vitamin C
will do nothing to stop you from catching a cold.
So how many other health-related old wives' tales are really true? Here, we sort
the sense from the superstition.
'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'
Joanne Lunn, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, says there
is a lot of sense in this adage. "This is true in
many ways, though most of the benefits would be provided by any fresh fruit,"
she says. "Apples, in particular, are good sources of
some flavanoids, which are bioactive compounds that might have anti-mutagenic or
anti-carcinogenic effects."
'Feed a cold, starve a fever'
"There's no clinical evidence to support feeding a cold," says Dr Graham
Archard, vice-chairman of The Royal College of General
Practitioners.
"But it would be wise to eat plenty of vitamin C-rich foods - especially fresh
citrus fruits, as research has proved that these can
reduce the duration of a cold. If you have a fever, though, you have an
increased metabolic rate, which causes you to burn energy
more quickly, so it's best not to starve, and vital that you don't withhold
fluids."
More...from the Telegraph at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2005/08/15/hgran15.xml&\
sSheet=/health/2005/08/16/ixhmain.html
[Long URL]


22. Cycling: Stretches Before Riding:
Note: If you've had any recent surgery, muscle or joint problems, please consult
your personal health-care professional before
starting a stretching or exercise program.
How to stretch: Do a light warm-up of walking or jogging for several minutes
prior to stretching. Stretch slowly without bouncing.
Stretch to where you feel a slight, easy stretch. Hold this feeling for 5 to 30
seconds. As you hold this stretch, the feeling of
tension should diminish. If it doesn't, just ease off slightly into a more
comfortable stretch. The easy stretch reduces tension and
readies the tissues for the developmental stretch.
After holding the easy stretch move a fraction of an inch farther into the
stretch until you feel mild tension again. This is the
developmental stretch, which should be held for 5 to 30 seconds. This feeling of
stretch tension should also slightly diminish or
stay the same. If the tension increases or becomes painful, you are
overstretching. Ease off a bit to a comfortable stretch. The
developmental stretch reduces tension and will safely increase flexibility. Hold
only stretch tensions that feel good to you. The
key to stretching is to be relaxed while you concentrate on the area being
stretched. Your breathing should be slow, deep and
rhythmical. Don't worry about how far you can stretch. Stretch relaxed and
limberness will come as one of the many by-products of
regular stretching.
1. To stretch your calf, stand a little ways from a solid support and lean on it
with your forearms, your head resting on your
hands. Bend one leg and place your foot on the ground in front of you leaving
the other leg straight, behind you. Slowly move your
hips forward until you feel a stretch in the calf of your straight leg. Be sure
to keep the heel of the foot on the straight leg on
the ground and your toes pointed straight ahead. Hold an easy stretch for 20
seconds. Do not bounce. Stretch both legs.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20050818_Cycling_Stretching.html


23. Crashing Through the Wall:
recent Gatorade commercial shows Australian triathlete Chris Legh at the 1997
Ironman Triathlon World Championship in a near-fatal
meltdown. While that sort of excruciating crawl just meters from the finish line
may make for great drama, it also demonstrates that
the human body has well-defined limits when it comes to endurance exercise.
Endurance cyclists often refer to “bonking” and marathoners to “hitting the
wall” when the proverbial fuel in the human energy tank
runs painfully low. If you’ve ever had either experience, you know that it’s as
agonizing as it sounds.
And while in some instances it’s unavoidable, there are scientifically proven
training tips, nutritional strategies and things to
avoid that will increase the likelihood that your next long-distance endurance
event will be much less dramatic.
Bonking Defined
Exercise physiologists and researchers usually define the hitting the wall
phenomenon during long-distance endurance exercise as a
significant depletion of glycogen, the fuel that helps muscles do what muscles
do. But more than that, being low on muscle glycogen
sets off a cascade of events in your body that leads to more than just soreness.
Some cycling coaches actually define bonking as a subsequent stage of hitting
the wall when glucose stored in the liver is
diminished. This leads to lowering of glucose in your bloodstream, depriving the
brain of the vital energy it needs to function
properly, which is pretty much why you may start hallucinating a sag stop during
the last few miles of your next century.
More...from MetroSports Boston at:
http://www.metrosportsboston.com/story.cfm?story_id=10440&publicationID=212&page\
ID=4779


24. Community - The Long Road to Equality:
In years past, top women runners like Doris Brown Heritage fought for a chance
to train and compete. Celebrate the great strides
forward with this intergenerational perspective.
Imagine training hard, relentlessly improving your speed, fueling a burning
desire to compete—and being prevented from entering a
race. Imagine achieving world-class times—only to have your accomplishments go
nearly unrecognized. Imagine what kind of dedication
it would take to maintain your efforts in the face of continued discrimination.
Today's runners have such a range of opportunities, it's hard to imagine a time
when an entire class of runners experienced
roadblocks to their pursuit of a personal best. But women runners of a certain
age remember a time when they had few formal
opportunities to train or compete; a time when their passion, hard work and
accomplishments were ignored, denied or dismissed.
Charlotte Richardson is one of these women: As a national-caliber runner in the
1970's, Charlotte won numerous New England and
Regional track and cross country titles and was consistently ranked nationally
in the mile and 1500 meters. Yet in one New England
10K event, for example, race officials bodily prevented her from crossing the
finish line.
More...from Nike.com at:
http://www.nike.com/nikerunning/usa/home.jhtml?loc1=tools_training&loc2=runners_\
library&loc3=112&promoID=em_081505#runners_library
[Multi-line URL]


25: Digest Briefs:
* Big Marathon Cities To Work Together For Love Of Sport: Race directors from
the world's biggest city marathons in London, Boston,
Berlin, Chicago and New York, announced at a reception last Saturday that they
wish to create a historic alliance, which aims to
work toward the better good of their sport. Mary Wittenberg, New York City
marathon race director, stated that the other directors
and herself, see athletics at a fork in the road, and they want to work together
to strive for excellence. Specifically, they will
work on the sharing of and improving of race day operations, technology to
better service the media, TV, fans and participants and
marketing and promoting the top athletes and the sport. They also hope to build
a competition element modeled on the success of the
Grand Slams in professional golf and tennis.

* Health Tip: Learning to Stretch
Never stretch a cold muscle.
Stretching before and after exercising is key to avoiding injury. But the way in
which you stretch is just as important.
Montana State University, Northern, offers these safe stretching tips:
* don't stretch a cold muscle. Warm up by walking, jogging, or by taking a warm
bath.
* Use a static stretch, which is stretching to the point where the muscle feels
tight but not painful. Hold for 20 seconds to a
minute.
* Avoid lunging or bouncing.
* Breathe naturally and stay relaxed.
* Ease into the stretch slowly and rhythmically.
-- Felicity Stone, HealthDayNews

* Q. I am a 26-year-old runner preparing for the Richmond marathon. For about
six weeks, I have had an extremely bad case of
bronchitis due to my allergies.
It has been very difficult to train, especially the first couple of weeks, due
to my cough and fever.
I am feeling better now, but I wonder whether I will be fit enough to run the
marathon. I have not been able to run any distance
longer than 5 miles yet, but I still have three months left to train.
A. I need to address two problems regarding your training regimen and your goal
of running the marathon. First, your present mileage
might not be sufficient for you to run and enjoy the marathon unless you had a
significant base of miles before becoming sick.
Secondly, but most important, exercising with a serious illness is not
recommended. It could cause significant consequences.
Severe bronchitis can impair any potential aerobic training due to the
infection's negative effects on pulmonary function. When you
were running a fever, your body's fluid status was affected, and this could
impair endurance training.
In addition, a fever can inhibit your body's ability to dissipate heat, making
you more susceptible to heat stroke and/or
exhaustion.
Some respiratory diseases are caused by an enterovirus, which can cause viral
myocarditis, an infection around the heart. This has
been linked to sudden death during exercise.
It is important to realize that the benefits of exercise are decreased during
illness, so you might as well wait until you recover.
[Dr. Doug Cutter is director of the Sports Medicine Center at CJW Medical
Center]





THIS WEEK'S FEATURED EVENTS:
*Please verify event dates with the event websites*

August 6-20, 2005:

Canada Summer Games - Regina, SASK
http://www.2005jeuxducanadagames.ca/english/index.html

August 20, 2005:

Grizzly Marathon, Choteau, Montana
http://www.grizzlymarathon.com/

Guidant Heart of Summer 5K/10K, Minneapolis, MN
http://www.heartofsummer.org

August 20-21, 2005:

Apple Triathlon - Kelowna, BC
* Canadian Championships *
http://www.appletriathlon.com/

ING Edmonton Marathon - AB
http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=1192

European Triathlon Championships - Lausanne, Switzerland
http://www.etu-triathlon.org

Powerman Zofingen - Switzerland
http://www.powerman.ch/content.cfm?pub=2

August 21, 2005:

Hamot 10k/Mayor's Cup, Erie, PA
http://www.erie-runnersclub.org/hamot/

Humpy's Marathon, Anchorage, AK
Half-Marathon, 5K
http://www.humpysmarathon.com/

Ironman UK - Sherborne - Yeovil, UK
http://www.ironmanuk.com/

See You In Torino Races - Ottawa, ON
http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=1749

Thousand Islands Triathlon and Duathlon - Brockville, ON
http://www.somersault.ca/2aug21.html

August 26, 2005:

Ivo Van Damme Memorial - Brussels, Belgium
http://www.sport.be/memorialvandamme

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

For Triathlon Coverage check out The Sports Network at:
http://www2.sportsnet.ca/tvschedule/tvsked_sport.php?region=ONTARIO&schedule_id=\
\25

Send this to a Friend:
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
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YOUR FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS:
Comments, contributions and feedback are always welcome via this list at:
mailto:runnersweb@yahoogroups.com and in our Runner's Web
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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
Runner's Web Online Store
http://store.runnersweb.com

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The TRACK PROFILE Reader 2004, an in-depth review of the 2003 season by Bob
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How To Run And Enjoy The Marathon By James Raia:
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**END...OF DIGEST...**