A FREE WEEKLY E-ZINE OF MULTISPORT RELATED ARTICLES.
The Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest is a weekly e-zine dealing with the
sports of running and triathlon and general fitness and
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THIS WEEK:
Runner's Web founder Ken Parker was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
on Wednesday evening for his 35 years of service to
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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:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/SK_index.html

* 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
individuals we work with through the application of
proper and effective fitness and competitive training techniques. Whether your
focus is recreational, advanced, or you are a
professional racer, the coaching methodology employed by CTS will make you a
better athlete. Check the latest monthly column from
CTS at:
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* Running Research News
Note: Owen Anderson has had to discontinue his weekly column on the Runner's Web
die to his increases commitments on his web site
which has recently been re-launched. He has agreed to carry on with his Question
and Answer feature and to allow us to publish his
weekly column from his Newsletter.

Running Research News is a monthly newsletter which keeps sports-active people
up-to-date on the latest information about training,
sports nutrition, and sports medicine. RRN publishes practical, timely new
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Send in your training related questions for Owen to answer to
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* Peak Performance Online
"Peak Performance is a subscription-only newsletter for athletes, featuring the
latest research from the sports science world. We
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* Peak Running Performance
Peak Running Is The Nation's Most Advanced Running Newsletter. Rated as the #1
Running Publication by Road Runner Sports (Worlds
Largest Running Store) , Peak Running caters to the serious / dedicated runner.
Delivering world class running advice are some of
running's most recognizable athletes including Dr. Joe Vigil (US Olympic Coach),
Scott Tinley (2 Time Ironman Champ) Steve Scott (3
Time Olympian) and many more. This bi-monthly newsletter has been around for
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http://www.clixGalore.com/EmailSale.aspx?BID=37234&AfID=103794&AdID=5075&LP=www.\
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Check out the Peak Running article index at:
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* WatsonLifeSport
Lance Watson is "Just The Winningest Coach in Triathlon". He has been coaching
triathlon and distance running since 1987. Over the
years, Lance has coached some of the most successful athletes in the sport of
triathlon and duathlon.
Check out the Lance Watson Online Article Index at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/LW_index.html


THIS WEEK'S PERSONAL POSTINGS/RELEASES:

We have NO personal postings this week.

THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Science of Sport: Demystifying Antioxidants for Active People
2. Dysmenorrhea and Injury Link
3. Nutrition: Determination of Run Calorie Needs
4. Joe Henderson's Commentary - Going Camping
5. Making Weight
6. Fit For Life
I came down with the one thing many female athletes get somewhat anxious about:
I had a full-blown case of pregnancy.
7. Steroid abuse: What about the kids?
8. Heart Monitor Training
9. Hitting "The Wall"
If You Understand the Scientific Reasons Behind "The Wall," You Should Be Able
to Avoid It.
10. Pure of heart
Your resting heart rate is a valuable tool.
11. Coaches continue working for schools and private teams after being caught
for sexual misconduct
12. Intensive boot camp for your back
Thousands turn to programs of vigorous exercise that build, not just soothe, the
muscles.
13. Run a Faster Race
Learn why better training isn't the only factor in making better times. You
need to have a sound pre-race plan.
14. Study: Exercise amount outweighs intensity
15. From Runner's World
16. Spinning for Runners
17. Gimme a brake: Brake options for 'cross
18. Warm-ups, cool-downs avoid burnouts
19. Running Science Research Update
The Myth of Lasting Energy
20. How much salt do you need while running?
21. Cycling and Preventing Bone Density Loss
22. Nutrition: Stay Sharp Longer, With Fish on Your Fork
23. Cyclists: Train with Less Muscle Soreness
24. Top (Real) Food Alternatives for Training
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Winter is coming! Where do you run during the winter months?"

You can access the poll from our FrontPage as well as 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 RESULTS:
Last week's poll was: " Paul Tergat set the current world marathon "best" (as of
October 14, 2005) of 2:04:55 in the Berlin Marathon
in 2003. When will the 2:04 mark be broken?"

The results at publication time were:
Answers Votes Percent
1. This year 3 7%
2. 2006 13 30%
3. 2007 4 9%
4. 2008 3 7%
5. 2009 4 9%
6. 2010+ 6 14%
7. Never 11 25%
Total Votes: 44


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: Human Kinetics
"The Information Leader in Physical Activity"
"Mission: To produce innovative, informative products in all areas of physical
activity that help people worldwide lead healthier,
more active lives.
The greatest challenge facing Human Kinetics is to convert all information about
physical activity into knowledge--information that
people can use to make a positive difference in their lives.
Rainer Martens, PhD
Founder and President
In today's world, survival of the fittest means survival of the best informed.
Information is now produced and exchanged on a scale unimagined even ten years
ago. When that information is integrated with life
experiences, we gain something even more useful: knowledge. Building that
knowledge is the role of Human Kinetics (HK) in the new
millennium.
Human Kinetics is the premier knowledge integrator in the physical activity
field. We synthesize vast amounts of information into a
constantly evolving array of products that utilize current technology to meet
the needs of our varied audiences. HK has served the
physical activity field since 1974, when it published its first book--a
proceedings from a sport psychology conference.
Today, HK produces textbooks and their ancillaries, consumer books, software,
videos, audiocassettes, journals, and distance
education courses. Our products will continue to take a variety of forms.
Our world headquarters is based in Champaign, Illinois, where we employ more
than 270 people in more than 130,000 square feet of
office and warehouse facilities. HK's offices in the United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand bolster our international
efforts. Our annual sales, including international operations, surpass $25
million.
A privately held company, HK's mission has been to meet the needs of teachers,
coaches, professionals, researchers, sport
participants, and fitness enthusiasts. Our objective is to make a positive
difference in the quality of life of every human being by
promoting physical activity through information. We do so by seeking out experts
to create our products; by hiring educated,
professionally qualified staff to develop those products; and by working closely
and cooperatively with leading scholarly and
professional associations.
This commitment, combined with innovation and the vision to anticipate
information needs for an exploding field, enables HK to
annually publish more than 120 books and 20 journals, to produce numerous videos
and software products, and to explore new
information forms using today's and tomorrow's technology.
Check out the site at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880

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.

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


BOOK OF THE WEEK: The New Competitive Runner's Handbook
by Bob Glover, Pete Schuder
"Competitive running gives your running life a focus. Competition measures
progress. You set a goal and accomplish it." Bob Glover
and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover, authors of The Competitive Runner's Handbook,
know what they're talking about. Bob has run
competitively for nearly 40 years, coached for 30 years, and completed more than
30 marathons, while Shelly-lynn has raced for more
than 20 years and is an exercise physiologist with a master's degree from
Columbia University. They've coauthored several books on
running. Clocking in at over 600 pages, The Handbook covers basic training
techniques, gives tips on speed training, and outlines
regimens for specific races: short, 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon. There
are also sections on motivation and the mental
aspects of competitive running, proper running form, nutrition, dealing with
illness and injury, and more. In addition, the book
includes many helpful charts. Straightforward and authoritative, this is a
comprehensive reference guide that's suited to runners of
all levels.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140468374/runnersweb/102-0182896-9006569\
?v=glance&s=books

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: Demystifying Antioxidants for Active People:
By CTS Expert Coach Max Shute, Ph.D.
Millions of years ago plants ruled the Earth. It was a good time for them, as
the atmosphere was largely comprised of carbon
dioxide, a key ingredient in plant metabolism. As these plants took in carbon
dioxide and gave off oxygen they eventually began to
pollute their own atmosphere. Today's plants were forced to evolve in such a
manner that allowed them to tolerate oxygen. How did
they do it? They began producing antioxidant chemicals to protect themselves
from the highly reactive, and sometimes destructive,
oxygen molecules. As humans, and aerobic athletes, we can benefit from eating
certain antioxidant-rich plants, essentially borrowing
some of their antioxidant properties. We have also developed our own specific
antioxidant defenses. These defensive capabilities are
of particular interest to the aerobic athlete, as they help maintain cellular
function and, believe it or not, delay fatigue.
Oxygen, of course, is our ally in energy metabolism. In its absence, you would
soon cease to function properly and eventually cease
all together. Just try holding your breath; it soon becomes unpleasant. While
oxygen participates in a key step of aerobic energy
production, it also is the root cause of oxidative stress. As you can probably
imagine, our cells are not 100% efficient. Not every
molecule of oxygen serves perfectly in the energy production process. About 2-8%
of the oxygen consumed results in the formation of
free radicals. While these may sound like happy-go-lucky societal outsiders,
they actually can wreak havoc on the internal cellular
environment. In other words, free radicals can interfere with muscular
contraction and as a result are implicated as a central
mechanism in fatigue.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_CTS_20051021_Antioxidants.html


2. Dysmenorrhea and Injury Link:
A survey of 127 Swedish female endurance runners found that athletes with
menstrual dysfunction missed more training time recovering
from injury than those with normal menstrual cycles.
Fifty-seven percent of the surveyed women had been injured at least once in the
past year, experiencing tendonitis, sprained
ligaments, strained or inflamed muscles, fractures and other musculoskeletal
injuries.
Women who were injured suffered the same frequency and types of injuries
regardless of their menstrual pattern.
But those who menstruated less than once every six weeks were sidelined by their
injuries for much longer than those with more
frequent cycles - an average of 34 days for dysmenorrheic women, versus 25 days
for women with normal cycles on oral contraceptives,
and a mere nine days for women with normal cycles who were not on oral
contraceptives.
More...from ACE Fitness at:
http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitbits_display.aspx?itemid=312


3. Nutrition: Determination of Run Calorie Needs :
By: Kim Mueller, MS, RD, SDTC Sports Nutritionist
The Fall racing season has begun, which means many runners are in full swing of
marathon training for events like Chicago and NYC
while others, like me, are kicking up some dirt in cross country running. In
order to maximize performance, it is essential to fuel
yourself properly during training runs and racing, especially when runs are
prolonged (>90 minutes). As a nutritionist, I have found
that many runners tend to overestimate actually run energy expenditure, causing
them to overeat during the day and gain unwanted
weight during season. Furthermore, an overzealous calorie intake during training
can trigger a multitude of stomach issues (e.g.,
nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, side stitches, sloshing) and ultimately diminish run
performance. Below is a step-by-step guide to help
you determine your total calorie burn during training runs as well as your
target calorie replacement needs after about 60-90
minutes of running. Happy running trails ( :
Step One: Determine running calorie expenditure per mile (A)
0.63 x body weight (pounds)
Step Two: Determine goal race pace or how many miles/hour will you cover? (B)
Example: An 8-minute miler will cover 7.5 miles/hour
Step Three: Calculate hourly expenditure based on goal race pace (C)
Example: An 8-minute miler would multiply 7.5 by the figure from step one.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051020_KM_Run_Calorie.html


4. Joe Henderson's Commentary - Going Camping:
I must not have done enough camping as a kid, or not too much of it in the Army.
Going to camp is still a highlight of every year.
Growing up a farm boy, camp was a luxury my family couldn't afford. It wasn't
the cost but the time, which my brother and I couldn't
spare during our busy summers helping Dad on the farm. I went only once to a
Methodist Church camp, as a sixth-grader.
A long time later, my number came up in the heaviest military draft call since
the Korean War. Vietnam was my generation's battle,
and the basic-training center in South Carolina overflowed when I arrived. We
spent our entire nine weeks housed in six-man tents.
This experience soured me tent-camping. My wife Barbara still loves roughing it
this way but has long since quit asking me to join
her. She shakes her head in wonder, then, that I've become a professional camper
in my own way.
These are camps in name only. No one sleeps in a tent or eats around a campfire.
No drill-sergeant sound-alike shouts orders all
day.
These are camps for runners. Usually they are adults, though they sometimes use
camp as an excuse to act like kids again for a week.

I've gone to such camps almost every summer since 1974. They've taken me from
coast to coast, and into Alaska and Canada.
One camp per summer isn't enough anymore. This year I took in three of them.
Ask me, "Which did you like best?" and I couldn't tell you. Each one is as
different as its location and its director. Each is
special in its own way -- from those with luxury condos to others with
unlighted, unheated, unwatered cabins.
How do I compare my first camp in Brian Head, Utah, with the latest in
Minnesota? One featured the "10K 10K" -- a race of that
distance, all above 10,000 feet elevation. The other featured the incomparable
Dick Beardsley in his home setting.
I recall the Alaskan camp with its 20 hours of daylight. And the summer stays at
three different Winter Olympics sites, past and
future -- Squaw Valley, Salt Lake City and Whistler.
But I don't remember the camps nearly so much for the places as for the people.
This is what they all have in common: a chance to
meet some great people and really get to know them. These chances are too few,
even for runners who race.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/532.html


5. Making Weight:
By T.J. Murphy
If there's one fact that sports scientists, coaches and athletes agree on when
it comes to a common trait in top athletes, it's
this: a low body fat percentage. Sighting the facts in hundreds of case studies,
Dr. Michael Colgan, head of the Colgan Institute
and one of the most highly regarded sports nutritionists in the world, is frank:
"Body fat is dead weight."
To prove the point, Dr. Colgan, whose clientele have included the likes of Mark
Allen, Dave Scott, Peter Reid and Lori Bowden,
begins a session with a new client on the running track. "Yes, we've done this
for a long time," Colgan says. "We have them sprint a
full lap around the track at their best speed. We give them a chance to
completely recover, and then we have them do it again with a
10-pound bodybelt around their waist." The dramatic effect, Colgan adds, reveals
how much body fat erodes athletic performance.
"And that's just for the quarter-mile," he says. "For a triathlete out there for
hour after hour, the effect is disastrous."
Optimum Range
The upshot of this message is the obvious truth: Those seeking a direct path to
a substantial increase in performance are advised to
strategically and accurately steer their body fat percentage into an optimum
zone. Ranges both safe and optimal for endurance
athletes are as follows: Men 8-12 percent and women 10-15 percent.
Hazards of Popular Diets
After you've established that you want to burn off some dead weight, the first
thing to do is clarify the common mistakes and
pitfalls made by multitudes of athletes before you. Colgan has long said that
"often athletes use methods that decimate both their
performance and their health." Studies have shown time and time again that
endurance athletes restricting their food intake
nose-dive into a state of poor nutrition.
More...from triathlete Magazine at:
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=9027&publicationID=92&pageID=172\
9


6. Fit For Life:
By Laurie Kocanda
I've taken some time off serious training before. Plantar fasciitis, iliotibial
band syndrome, pulled hamstrings, Achilles
tendonitis, general fatigue, the flu.I've had it all. And, most recently, I came
down with the one thing many female athletes get
somewhat anxious about: I had a full-blown case of pregnancy.
Like many women, it was never a question of my wanting to start a family. I'd
always pictured myself someday having children. The
big question, however, was when was the "right time"? For an athletic woman in
the prime of her racing career, pregnancy can seem
like a threat to everything you've worked so hard to achieve. Does it mean
kissing the letters PR goodbye?
Does it mean standing on the sidelines watching other people race while you get
fat and out of shape? Or, worse yet, does it mean
that life as you know it will no longer include long runs on Sundays or
challenging yourself in new events each year?
Indeed, there is always another marathon around the corner, another triathlon
for which to train. Taking a season off to start a
family, however, doesn't mean you have to stop participating in these events
altogether. And, it certainly doesn't mean you have to
stop doing the things you love. Staying fit during pregnancy is important.
Provided you are not high risk, working out is important
to the health of both mother and baby. If staying fit and racing are important
to you, you can continue to do the same things after
the birth of your child. Committing to an active and fit lifestyle means setting
priorities, both personally and as a couple/family.
Keeping It Together During Pregnancy
For many people, the word "pregnancy" goes hand in hand with the word "craving."
The only craving I had during my pregnancy was to
work out to exhaustion, something I knew I couldn't do. But I knew I could
maintain some level of fitness-most likely more than what
others led me to believe.
More...from Sweat Magazine at:
http://www.sweatmagazine.com/story.cfm?story_id=8052&publicationID=308&pageID=56\
45


7. Steroid abuse: What about the kids?
It was always supposed to be about protecting the kids.
That aspect of the Great Steroid Scandal of 2005 seems to have been forgotten
amid the political spectacle of last spring's
congressional hearings focusing on some of the nation's leading sports figures.
As both houses of Congress push for legislation that would up the ante for
professional athletes found to have abused banned
substances, relatively little light has been shed on younger athletes, and such
basic questions as: Is there really an epidemic of
steroid abuse among young people? Are they as bad for kids as they are made out
to be? How do they do their harm?
Not least, what is being done about it?
Some surveys place steroid abuse among high school students nationally as low as
3 percent. But leading steroids researcher Charles
Yesalis, professor of health policy and administration and exercise and sport at
Pennsylvania State University, argues that the
national rate is much higher, 7 or 8 percent.
More...from the Austin American-Statesman at:
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/life_entertain\
ment_3405aaa8d02f4105009a.html


8. Heart Monitor Training:
By Alex Sinha
Athletic heart monitors have existed for several years now, but it wasn't until
relatively recently that the technology behind them,
and the development of heart monitor training techniques came together to make
training with a monitor both simple and effective for
the average runner. While many runners own heart monitors, often they may not be
using the devices to their full potential. Other
runners do not own a heart monitor and are unaware of the benefits of training
with one.
Why Use a Heart Rate Monitor?
Heart monitors are devices that are designed for wear during strenuous exercise,
and serve the purpose of measuring and recording
your heart rate, while giving you instant feedback about the work level of your
heart. The fitness of the heart is the key to one's
aerobic endurance - sometimes called 'cardiovascular respiratory endurance'.
Both for health and racing reasons, aerobic endurance
is a point of focus for almost any runner. Heart monitors are one of the most
effective aids for tracking and developing your
progress on the path to increased aerobic endurance.
1) Accuracy And Ease: Heart monitors are the only effective way to track and
record your heart rate over the course of an entire
workout. Not only do heart monitors provide you with a complete record of your
heart rate for the duration of your workout, but they
are also more accurate than manual methods. Stopping during a run to count your
pulse disrupts both your workout and your heart
rate, and even the application of pressure to the carotid artery - perhaps the
most common point for manual pulse detection - slows
down the pulse.
2) Monitor Your Fitness: Cardiovascular fitness is the single most significant
factor in your speed as a runner. Consequently, being
able to track your cardiovascular fitness - not to mention tailoring your
workouts to meet cardiovascular goals - is an extremely
useful training tool. Measuring the work-rate of the heart is the most accurate
method of determining how much benefit you are
deriving from your workout (a discussion on how to gauge results can be seen in
section III). Other methods, such as how hard one is
breathing, or how tired one feels, can reflect other factors and give imprecise
impressions of the effectiveness of your workout.
More...from Marathon Guide at:
http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/HeartMonitorTraining.cfm


9. Hitting "The Wall":
If You Understand the Scientific Reasons Behind "The Wall," You Should Be Able
to Avoid It.
"It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was
making me carry it the rest of the way in."-Dick
Beardsley, speaking of hitting "The Wall" at the second marathon of his career,
the 1977 City of Lakes Marathon.
"I wasn't wanting to talk much. And when I'm not talking, you know I'm
hurting."-Don Frichtl, a runner who encountered "The Wall"
somewhere after mile 21 of the 2002 Chicago Marathon.
"At around mile 23, I was beginning to feel like the anchor was out."-George
Ringler, speaking of his 1991 Lake County Marathon.
"The Wall." It evades easy definition, but to borrow from Supreme Court Justice
Potter Stewart's famous definition of obscenity, you
know it when you see it-or rather, hit it. It usually happens around mile 20,
give or take a couple of miles. Your pace slows,
sometimes considerably. Some runners say that it feels as though their legs had
been filled with lead quail shot, like the stomach
of Mark Twain's unfortunate jumping frog of Calaveras County. Others can't feel
their feet at all. Thought processes become a little
fuzzy. ("Mile 22, again? I thought I just passed mile 22!") Muscle coordination
goes out the window, and self-doubt casts a deep
shadow over the soul.
The bad news is that more than half of all nonelite marathon runners report
having hit The Wall at least once. The good news is that
more than 40 percent of all nonelite marathon runners have never hit The Wall.
In other words, while it certainly doesn't hurt to be
prepared for the possibility of hitting The Wall, doing so is far from
inevitable.
Energy Dynamics 101
"Hitting The Wall is basically about running out of energy," says Dave Martin,
Ph.D., Emeritus Regent's Professor of Health Sciences
at Georgia State University in Atlanta-chemical energy, that is, stored in the
form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and obtained
from the breakdown, or metabolism, of energy-containing fuel. The runner's
primary fuel sources are carbohydrates (in the form of
blood glucose and glycogen, a polymer of glucose stored in the muscles and
liver) and fats (free fatty acids in the bloodstream and
muscle triglycerides, molecules containing three fatty acids).
Fats might seem to be the logical first choice of fuel for endurance events; not
only are they the most concentrated form of food
energy, but even the thinnest runners have enough body fat to get them through
600 miles. Alas, it's not quite that simple. Fatty
acid metabolism requires plentiful circulating oxygen, a precious commodity when
you're running at marathon race pace. Carbohydrate
metabolism, on the other hand, requires less oxygen. In fact, cells can derive
energy from carbohydrates either aerobically (in the
presence of oxygen) or anaerobically (in the absence of oxygen).
If you start your marathon at a reasonable pace for you, your fuel consumption
ratio will be about 75 percent carbohydrates to 25
percent fatty acids, according to Martin. During the race, as carbohydrate
supplies begin to dwindle, that ratio changes as your
body begins to rely more heavily on fatty acids.
What does all of this have to do with hitting The Wall? Let's start with the
pace. It's common, in the excitement of the moment, to
start out at a pace that's too fast for you. Big mistake. Your heart cannot pump
enough blood to ensure a steady supply of oxygen to
the muscles. At this point, your muscles have no choice but to burn glucose in
the absence of oxygen. The anaerobic metabolism of
glucose, as it's called, is inefficient, yielding only about 1/18 as much energy
(in the form of ATP) as aerobic metabolism. To make
matters worse, among the by-products of the anaerobic metabolism of glucose are
lactic acid and hydrogen ions. As these waste
products continue to accumulate in the blood and tissue, they will not only make
your muscles feel as though they are on fire, but
they can also inactivate the enzymes that govern glucose metabolism. You're
toast.
More...from Marathon and Beyond at:
http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/latta.htm


10. Pure of heart:
Your resting heart rate is a valuable tool.
Use it to your advantage and save yourself from wasting valuable training.
One of the best barometers available to runners and coaches in determining both
health and fitness is resting heart rate. It can
warn a runner of impending illness long before he or she begins to feel bad.
This allows for preventative action and adaptation of training which could save
days, if not weeks of training and allow the runner
to get back to training sooner.
Once you've mastered the art of monitoring your heart you will be able to remain
healthy and injury-free, get over illness sooner,
peak better, recover effectively and generally manage your training to a far
greater effect.
Why heart rate?
In cycling it is relatively easy to measure a rider's power output by means of
fancy machinery, but this is not yet practically
achievable in running. For example, many coaches and scientists (myself
included) have tried to work with lactate sampling, but this
not only leaves runners with sore fingertips from all the pricking, it's
difficult to use practically to assist training.
I have resorted to using heart rate as a measure of work rate and found that, if
I use accurate results from regular testing, I am
able to precisely prescribe distance and intensity for training each individual
runner.
Accurately determine your resting heart rate
You should take your pulse first thing after waking in the morning. Use either
the radial artery of your wrist, the carotid artery
on your neck (on either side of the Adam's apple on the throat), or ideally a
heart rate monitor.
For the manual readings, place either your index or middle finger on the pulse,
pick up the rhythm of the beat and then begin to
count the beats for a full minute and record your result. Press lightly, as too
firm pressure will stop the pulse and provide no
reading. Do not use your thumb - it has its own beat and leads to inaccurate
measurement.
You need the right circumstances and a set routine to accurately measure your
resting heart rate. This will ensure that all the
possible influences and variables remain constant from day to day and from
measurement to measurement.
There are a number of factors that can affect your resting heart rate, and these
should be taken into account before you take a
measurement:
Waking up to an alarm elevates your heart rate. Lie back, after you have shut it
off and relax until your breathing is even and
rhythmical before taking your pulse.
Being awoken by doors slamming and other unforeseen occurrences also have the
same impact as an alarm - follow the same procedure.
Be sure you are fully awake. If you fall asleep while taking your pulse, you
have been drowsy - these low, semi-awake pulse rates
are not your resting, awake pulse.
If you are under emotional stress, having bad dreams, or awakening with a start,
this will give and explain higher readings. Factor
these into your interpretation of your resting heart rate.
Too little sleep also tends to elevate your resting heart rate.
Any physical activity prior to taking your pulse will elevate the result (If you
know what I mean!)
More...from Runners' World South Africa at:
http://www.runnersworld.co.za/training/archive/march_05.php


11. Coaches continue working for schools and private teams after being caught
for sexual misconduct:
The bond between athlete and coach can be powerful, and the one between a
15-year-old Port Townsend girl and a 34-year-old
basketball coach was especially strong.
The girl, raised in a troubled home, saw Randy Sheriff not only as a mentor on
dribbling and jump-shooting, but as surrogate parent,
confidant and "the greatest dad in the world."
Sheriff showered her first with attention, then with flowers and chocolates,
then with kisses.
Before long, the coach - a married man with two children of his own - was
sending the teenager love notes. By the time she was 16,
she says, they were having sex.
People around them suspected as much but looked the other way as Sheriff
isolated the girl from her friends and family.
Although Port Townsend school officials believed Sheriff was having an intimate
relationship with her, they simply nudged him out of
town, allowing him to land a coaching job in the Cascade Mountain burg of Cle
Elum, where he was ultimately accused of preying on
another girl.
He had to leave that school, too, but continued to coach, this time for girls on
elite private teams in the Seattle area.
This is the secret side of the fast-growing world of girls sports. In a yearlong
investigation that involved an ongoing court battle
with school districts and the state teachers union, The Seattle Times
discovered:
. Over the past decade, 159 coaches in Washington have been fired or reprimanded
for sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to
rape. Nearly all were male coaches victimizing girls. At least 98 of these
coaches continued to coach or teach.
More...from the Seattle Times at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/coaches/news/dayone.html


12. Intensive boot camp for your back:
Thousands turn to programs of vigorous exercise that build, not just soothe, the
muscles.
AFTER two back surgeries to correct a bulging disc, Andy Alexander didn't want
to go under the knife for a third time.
The 36-year-old had always been active, running marathons, skiing, weightlifting
and playing football in college. And the back
operations had enabled him to resume his active lifestyle. But when the
excruciating pain returned in 2003, he couldn't stand for
more than five minutes.
This time, Alexander decided to do something different. After doctors ruled out
serious structural problems, he embarked on an
aggressive physical rehabilitation program tailored to his needs. Three times a
week at Spine Care in Los Angeles, Alexander warmed
up for 10 minutes on the treadmill or stationary bike, then spent 45 minutes
strapped in specially designed Nautilus-like machines
to target specific muscles (such as the back, gluteus, abdominals and
hamstrings) that support the spinal column but can atrophy
from disuse.
A year later, he was back to normal, and he's now able to run and work out
regularly. "If I had known about this before," says
Alexander, who still goes to Spine Care for monthly tune-ups, "I might have
avoided surgery."
Alexander, a real estate agent in El Segundo, is among thousands of chronic
back-pain sufferers who have gotten better after
participating in one of the medically supervised exercise programs that have
cropped up nationwide in the last decade.
"This is the next generation in diagnostics and treatment," says Dr. R. David
Sibley, an orthopedic surgeon who founded Spine Care,
formerly the Spine Institute, as an alternative to surgery 14 years ago. "When
you fix the problem, the pain goes away."
Such regimens are based on research that shows exercise relaxes and strengthens
cramped muscles. That in turn relieves pain,
restores function and improves circulation, speeding healing.
Not everyone who commits to such a program gets better, but the vast majority
report Lazarus-like results. "Patients who were once
chronically incapacitated by back pain tell me they've gotten their life back,"
says Dr. Carol Hartigan, a physiatrist at Harvard
Medical School and New England Baptist Hospital's Spine Center in Boston, where
roughly 20,000 back patients have gone through
aggressive physical rehabilitation.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-backpain17oct17,1,6845938.s\
tory?coll=la-health-fitness-news


13. Run a Faster Race:
Learn why better training isn't the only factor in making better times. You
need to have a sound pre-race plan.
Ready to Race
You've chosen a race to run. You've done the training and now race day is
quickly approaching. You are ready to race, right? Not
quite.
Racing can be a frightening experience, or it can be another exciting aspect of
being a runner. Racing is important to do. It is
how you get better as a runner and how you get the experience to be a better
competitor.
Over the many years of racing and coaching I have both experienced and observed
what I will call 'race day disappointment'. This is
when an athlete is fit to run but not prepared to race. No matter how fast you
are, every athlete who steps up to the starting line
needs to be physically, emotionally, and intellectually ready to race.
You have spent time doing the mileage, doing the intervals and the tempo runs.
You have run the hills and run the course, but have
you done all the steps that will get you to the starting line ready to use your
fitness and to do your best?
More...from Nike at:
http://www.nike.com/nikerunning/usa/home.jhtml?loc1=tools_training&loc2=runners_\
library&loc3=114&promoID=USRU_EM_10172005_octNewsMen
#runners_library
[Multi-line URL]


14. Study: Exercise amount outweighs intensity:
How much you exercise may be more important than how hard you exercise in terms
of heart health, according to a study of sedentary
overweight men and women. And, many will be happy to hear, exhaustive amounts of
exercise are not needed for heart health.
In journal CHEST, researchers from North Carolina report that people who walk
briskly for 12 miles per week or for about 125 to 200
minutes per week will significantly improve their aerobic fitness and lower
their risk of developing heart disease.
"Anything beyond walking briskly for 12 miles per week, whether increasing your
intensity or the amount of miles, has additional
benefits," Brian D. Duscha from Duke University Medical Center in Durham who was
involved in the research said.
"So there is a separate and combined effect."
He also emphasized that the 12-miles-per-week walkers in the study improved
their fitness without losing any weight. "People need to
know: even without losing weight, you are getting significant benefits by
exercising -- you're improving your fitness level,
decreasing fat and increasing muscle and improving your lipid panel -- so don't
stop exercising," Duscha said.
More...from CNN at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/11/health.exercise.reut/index.htm\
l


15. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
Negative-split workout: By starting a little slowly in your key speed workouts
and speeding up during the last couple of repeats,
you'll learn to do the same in a race. It's never a good idea to finish a
workout running all-out, so pace yourself accordingly."
-Jeff Galloway
* Injury Prevention
Got Achilles pain? Then keep it low and slow. Drastic changes in your running
routine can cause Achilles problems. Don't rapidly
increase your mileage or speed. And be careful not to overdo hill running or
stair climbing, or run too much after a lay off.
* Performance Nutrition
Jot it Down: Keep a food diary for a few days, a couple of times a year. "A food
diary can help you determine why you become
injured, why you fade at the end of a run, or why you're suffering from your
third cold of the year." -Liz Applegate, Ph.D.
* Words That Inspire
"If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You
have to have confidence in your ability, and then be
tough enough to follow through."
-Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady and wife of 39th President of the United
States Jimmy Carter
* Editor's Advice
"A morning run jump-starts your day with a lasting jolt of energy and relieves
you of worrying about when you're going to squeeze in
a workout later. If you have children, a dawn-time run allows you to exercise
before they get out of bed and need your attention."
-Carol Goodrow, RW kids running editor
* Training Talk
"The most sophisticated way to have your stride analyzed is in a laboratory
environment. But if you're simply trying to improve your
efficiency, there is nothing you can learn there that you can't learn through
the simpler (and cheaper) methods. You need a
biomechanics lab only if you're trying to retrain your gait to prevent injury
recurrence."
-From Runner's World: The Cutting-Edge Runner by Matt Fitzgerald



16. Spinning for Runners:
You've seen them in the health clubs, clad in tight-fitting lycra outfits, armed
with sweat towels and large water bottles, with
bodies bouncing and legs whirring to the sound of loud music.
Nope, it's not a new weird kind of rave music. It's spinning!*
For many runners, spinning (or indoor stationary cycling) can be intimidating.
You simply don't want to make a fool of yourself
despite all the benefits.
Be intimidated no more! It's time to stride comfortably into that studio and
reap the benefits of stronger legs and thighs and a
beefed-up cardio-vascular system - without any impact.
But why spin in the first place?
Firstly, one or two spinning classes a week will add variety to your training
schedule, which in turn will help you avoid both
mental and physical burn-out. The cycling action also strengthens your
quadriceps and gluteus muscle groups, which will improve your
running strength and improve your resistance to injury. (There is a belief that
the dreaded ITB Friction Syndrome can be aggravated
by weak glutes.)
More...from Super Cycling at:
http://www.supercycling.co.za/default.asp?id=159497&des=article&scat=supercyclin\
g/bicycling


17. Gimme a brake: Brake options for 'cross:
Center-pull cantilever brakes, once common on mountain bikes, are now gone from
the racing circuit. However, as summer winds down,
the leaves turn and cyclo-cross bikes come out of hiding, the center-pull
cantilever can once again enjoy the spotlight.
To understand what makes a good cyclo-cross brake, we first must touch on some
of the intricacies of cantilever geometry, lever
ratios and the whole idea of mechanical advantage.
Linear-pull brakes are cheap and strong, but you have to jump through a few
hoops to make them work on a 'cross bike
At the most basic level, a brake and its lever must be matched in terms of
mechanical advantage. A prime example is a linear-pull
brake (the "V-brake" to most of us). It has a very high mechanical advantage
(MA), meaning the end of the brake arm moves a long way
in relation to the brake pad. In turn, the pad contacts the rim with a lot of
force. A linear-pull brake lever, on the other hand,
has a low mechanical advantage. It needs to be able to pull a lot of cable, yet
doesn't have to pull with a lot of force. Matching a
linear-pull brake to a lever with a high MA will give you no end of trouble.
Most times you won't even be able to get it to work on
the repair stand.
For cyclo-cross, it is a given that an STI or Ergo Power lever is the best
choice. These levers have a rather high MA. They don't
pull a lot of cable, but they do pull the cable with greater force. This means
picking the right brake is critical. Ideally one
would pair a high-MA lever with a medium- or low-MA brake to achieve the optimal
performance. This is not always as easy as it
sounds.
More...from Velo News at:
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/9054.0.html


18. Warm-ups, cool-downs avoid burnouts:
"Oh sure," used car salespeople typically boast, "this little beauty's got
200,000 on it, but those were all highway miles."
It's the stop-and-go of city driving that ages an automotive engine before its
time. And, when it comes to our own bodies, too
little respect is given to cold starts and sudden stops.
"I think it's always a good idea to warm up beforehand," said UNC team physician
Mario Ciocca.
Proper warm-ups prior to the height of rigorous physical activity and proper
cool-downs afterwards can go a long way toward keeping
athletes' engines in good working order.
A Well-designed Workout
Four components of a well-designed workout:
General warm-up -- including cardiovascular warm-up and general stretching.
Specific warm-up -- where movements resemble more closely the actual "meat" of
the workout -- stretching, throwing a ball, shooting
lay-ups, etc.
Main part -- when the main task of the activity (game, race, workout) is
realized.
Cool-down -- a less-strenuous version of the main activity until sweating stops
and breathing becomes regular.
Experts on both muscle use and muscle cars say the owners' manuals read pretty
much the same on the subject. Olympic hopefuls and
weekend warriors will both benefit from a gradual start to a workout and a
measured finish to any high-rpm training.
"When you go out, start your car up, and take off at 60 miles per hour without
warming up, the car usually doesn't respond well and
could require major repairs," Jen Doyle wrote on the training Web site
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com. "Your body is the same
way. When you warm up and get the blood to the muscles, they begin to warm up
and work better than when you start off cold."
More...from Chapel Hill News at:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/sports/story/2819547p-9267103c.html


19. Running Science Research Update:
The Myth of Lasting Energy
Many athletes believe they need to fuel themselves with sources of "lasting
energy" during workouts and races. This view is promoted
by sports drink makers that promise their products provide long-lasting energy.
However, the reality is just the opposite. You need
fast energy during exercise, whereas any supplement that provides "lasting"
energy provides it slowly.
Even during easy workouts, your muscles burn carbohydrate at a much faster rate
than you could ever replace it with carbs consumed
in a sports drink. The only fuel source that needs to last during exercise is
the carbohydrate stored as glycogen in your muscles
and liver, because when these stores run low, you bonk. A sports drink that
provides fast energy allows your muscles to conserve
glycogen and thus extends endurance.
A sports drink that is designed to provide lasting energy will deliver carbs too
slowly to delay the glycogen bonk. Examples include
sports drinks whose main sugar is galactose, which must pass through the liver
before it reaches the muscles and therefore delivers
energy at half the rate other sugars like glucose do.
The best way to get fast energy is to maximize insulin, the carbohydrate
delivery hormone. Research has shown that insulin release
and rate of carbohydrate delivery are maximized in a sports drink that combines
easily metabolized carbs and protein, another
insulin trigger, in a 4:1 ratio. Such products have been proven to extend
endurance 24% longer than a conventional sports drink.
Fitness waters: helpful or hype?
More...from Powering Muscles at:
http://69.94.64.50/poweringmuscles.com/article.php?article_id=42


20. How much salt do you need while running?
Every endurance athlete knows that sweat is salty. That's why sports drinks
contain salt (i.e. sodium). By replacing both the water
and the salt you lose in sweat, sports drinks do a better job than plain water
of keeping your body temperature down and your
performance level up.
There's a debate, however, about whether the typical sports drink contains
enough salt. The typical sports drinks contains less salt
than sweat does, so it can't fully replace the salt lost through sweating.
Some experts believe that this discrepancy poses no threat to the athlete's
performance or health. Others believe that it does, and
advocate the use of salt supplements such as Lava SaltsR and/or extra-salty
sports drinks such as Gatorade Endurance FormulaR during
prolonged exercise.
Who's right? Do runners really need to fully replace salt losses during long
workouts and races? A quick look at the relevant
research answers this question easily. The evidence clearly demonstrates that a
typical sports drink provides enough salt to
optimize performance and protect the athlete's health, provided he or she
doesn't overdrink. There's no measurable benefit
associated with consuming extra salt. Let's look at some of the details.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12336&sidebar=13&category=running


21. Cycling and Preventing Bone Density Loss:
As the year winds down and your season draws to a close, the oft-hyped end of
year celebration known as Transition rolls around.
Transition is a time to rest, recuperate, and generally recharge your badly worn
down batteries after a long and hopefully
successful season. As a cyclist, you participate in an activity that is almost
completely non-weight bearing. This is good for
avoiding impact related injuries but a complete absence of load bearing
activities can lead to crippling skeletal maladies far down
the road. One study found Tour de France racers had bone mass densities between
10 and 17 percent lower than those of age-matched
counterparts.
A solution? Use Transition to get off the bike and apply some weight bearing
force to your body- run, hike, jog, or jump rope. I
know a pro cyclist who can't stand the idea of downtime, so he uses October and
November as a time to devote to running. He races
numerous 5k's before settling into the ardors of a hard winter. Don't stop at
the end of Transition though; maintaining bone density
is an ongoing process.
More...from the Sport Factory at:
http://thesportfactory.iuplog.com/default.asp?item=102661


22. Nutrition: Stay Sharp Longer, With Fish on Your Fork:
Fish just may be brain food.
In a new study, people 65 and older who ate fish once a week showed a 10 percent
slower rate of cognitive decline per year compared
with those who ate no fish. Eating fish two or more times a week was linked to a
13 percent slower decline, the study found.
The researchers collected data on 3,718 men and women. Each participant's diet
was assessed with a questionnaire that asked about
the frequency of intake of 139 foods over the last year.
Nondietary factors like physical activity, alcohol consumption and symptoms of
depression, heart disease and hypertension were
included in the questionnaire. The study, now online at
http://www.archneur.ama-assn.org, will appear in the December issue of
Archives of Neurology.
Over the six years of the study, those who ate fish did significantly better on
tests of memory and mental acuity than those who did
not. The slower rate of decline among the fish eaters was the equivalent of
being three to four years younger than those who ate no
seafood.
Why fish seem to have this effect is still unclear, according to Martha C.
Morris, an associate professor at the Rush University
Medical Center and a co-author of the study.
"It could be the omega-3 fatty acids are the protective dietary component of
fish," Dr. Morris said. "Or it could be that the fish
meals are replacing other meals - for example, red meat - that are higher in
saturated fat and lower in polyunsaturated fat."
Replacing fish with omega-3 pills or capsules may not help, Dr. Morris said,
adding, "There is no evidence at all at this point that
omega-3 fatty acid supplements have protective benefit."
From the New York Times


23. Cyclists: Train with Less Muscle Soreness:
Muscle soreness is an unavoidable side effect of endurance training. The only
way to avoid post-exercise muscle soreness completely
is to avoid exercise. However, there are several things you can do to minimize
muscle soreness - caused mainly by damage to muscle
proteins - without sacrificing fitness. Some obvious ones include warming up and
cooling down properly and building up your training
workload very gradually.
Less known and less widely practiced are some nutritional means of minimizing
post-exercise muscle soreness that are based on
cutting-edge sports science research. By consuming the right balance of
nutrients before, during, and immediately following
workouts, this research shows, you can minimize the amount of muscle protein
degradation that is caused by workouts and maximize the
rate of post-exercise muscle protein repair and rebuilding. And this will allow
you to perform better in your key workouts and
bounce back quicker afterward.
Start with a Full Tank
Carbohydrate, mainly in the form of muscle glycogen, is the primary fuel for
moderate- to high-intensity exercise. But amino acids,
supplied in part through the breakdown of muscle proteins, also provide some
energy. The longer a workout or competition lasts, the
less carbohydrate contributes and the more amino acids contribute to the body's
energy needs. Athletes can minimize the number of
muscle proteins that must be broken down to supply energy by beginning their
workouts with more glycogen stored in their muscles.
In a university study, subjects performed a prolonged one-leg strength exercise
first with a randomly chosen leg and then with the
opposite leg. They began the workout with normal glycogen levels in one leg
(again randomly chosen) and depleted glycogen levels in
the other. The researchers found that muscle protein breakdown was much greater
in the glycogen-depleted leg than in the normal leg
during the course of the workout.
More...from Powering Muscles at:
http://69.94.64.50/poweringmuscles.com/article.php?article_id=14


24. Top (Real) Food Alternatives for Training:
By Kim Brown, MS, RD, Sports Nutritionist
Are you sick of that same old sugary sports drink, that gooey sports gel, that
bland sports bar? You're not alone. After so many
training hours put in each year, it is not uncommon for an athlete to get
extremely bored with manufactured sports food. In the
past, athletes didn't have such a vast array of sport product to choose from, so
they resorted to using real food to help refuel
during longer training bouts. You can do the same. Get out of your eating rut
today and try using the following real foods during
your next training bout.
Bananas
There is a good reason why triathlon aid stations are often loaded with a ton of
bananas. Some health professionals believe the
banana is the perfect sport food, loaded with fast-release carbohydrate, vitamin
B6-which helps fight infection-and potassium, which
aids muscle hydration and recovery from fatigue. Furthermore, as an easily
digestible source of fiber, the banana is valuable in
preventing the onset of GI distress during training, a symptom that many
athletes experience with other fibrous fruits such as
apples and pears.
For a tasty alternative to a whole banana, with a nutrient composition similar
to two energy bars, spread a mixture of one mashed
mature banana, one tablespoon salted almond butter, and one tablespoon dark
honey between two whole-wheat tortillas. Slice into
wedges and place in baggy for easy access during training. The protein within
the almond butter may help prevent premature depletion
of muscle glycogen, while the sodium will help prevent muscle cramping. Almond
butter is also rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that
may help delay muscular fatigue and enhance recovery by reducing
exercise-induced oxidative injury. Another bonus within this whole
food concoction is the honey, which has been shown to significantly boost
average power and endurance, perhaps due to its blend of
sugars, B-vitamins and amino acids.
More...from Triathlete Magazine at:
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=9031&publicationID=92&pageID=172\
9


25. Digest Briefs:
* An inspirational athlete's story
Oprah Winfrey rated it a "must-see" film, one to take your children to view and
spread the word to all your family and friends.
She's describing a documentary that she also narrated, Emmanuel's Gift, which
follows the story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Yeboah
rode his bike across Ghana with one good leg, becoming an ambassador to Ghana
for disabled citizens and who never allowed a
deformity interfere with his dream.
Aside from gaining legislation and aid for citizens in Ghana who have
disabilities, Yeboah desires to train for a triathlon with
none other than Jim MacLaren-his co-recipient of the 2005 Arthur Ashe Profile in
Courage Award, former Ironman triathlete and
new-inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame-as his coach. When Yeboah
participates in events, he represents Ghana as well as the
Challenged Athletes Foundation, which initially provided him with a bicycle and
then helped him get fitted for a prosthesis. CAF has
also helped such athletes as Rudy Garcia Tolson, who has participated in the
Accenture Chicago Triathlon, and Sarah Reinertsen, who
became the first female amputee to finish the Hawaii Ironman at the World
Championship over the weekend. The movie opens to the
public on October 21 at the Kendall Square Cinemas in Cambridge. More
information is available at www.emmanuelsgift.com.

* A Better Carbohydrate Loading Method
Carbohydrate loading is a strategy to maximize glycogen storage in the muscles
and liver prior to endurance competition for the sake
of maximizing energy availability. The original carbo-loading protocol called
for three days of very low carbohydrate intake
combined with heavy exercise in order to deplete glycogen stores and trigger a
"sponging" effect. During the final three days before
competition, the protocol called for very high carbohydrate intake combined with
light exercise. Research confirmed that this method
was very effective for maximizing carbohydrate storage.
However, it had its drawbacks. In a word, it was brutal. Consuming very low
levels of carbohydrate for three days causes fatigue,
irritability, and potentially nausea. Working out hard while in a carbohydrate
depleted state is a truly unpleasant experience.
So the original carbohydrate protocol was replaced by one that simply cut out
the depletion phase and called for very high levels of
carbohydrate intake in the three days immediately preceding a long race. It was
shown to work just as well. But consuming as much as
80 percent of one's calories in the form of carbohydrate for three days still is
not easy, and crowding out the other macronutrients
for this amount of time is not ideal from an overall nutrition perspective.
Researchers at the University of Western Australia have therefore devised
another refinement to the carbo-loading strategy. This one
combines depletion and loading and condenses them into a one-day time frame. In
an experiment, the researches had athletes perform a
short-duration, high-intensity workout consisting of 150 seconds at 130% of VO2
max followed by a 30-second sprint. During the next
24 hours, the athletes consumed 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of lean
muscle mass. This resulted in a 90 percent increase in
muscle glycogen storage.
Endurance athletes have cause to be very pleased by these findings. Doing just a
few minutes of high-intensity exercise the day
before a competition will not harm performance, yet it does suffice to stimulate
the desirable carbohydrate "sponging" effect that
was sought in the original loading protocol. This allows the athlete to maintain
a normal diet right up until the day before
competition and then load in the final 24 hours.
From Powering Muscles at: http://www.poweringmuscles.com/index2.php





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

October 22, 2005:
Great Pumpkin Challenge, Saratoga Springs, NY
http://www.saratogaarcfestival.org/pumpkin.htm

Napa Valley Country Classic, Calistoga, CA
http://www.envirosports.com

October 23, 2005:
American Zofingen, Ultra Distance Duathlon - New Paltz, NY
http://www.americanzofingen.triathletesonline.com/?pp=1

Arturo Barrios 5K / 10K - Chula Vista, CA
http://www.eliteracing.com/exec/elite/Arturo_Barrios.cfm?publicationID=4
North American 5K Team Challenge

Dannon Georgia Half-Marathon - Alpharetta, GA
http://www.pem-usa.com/

Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon - MI
http://www.detroitfreepressmarathon.com

Frank Lloyd Wright Races, Oak Park, IL
http://www.oakparksports.com

Mystic Places Marathon, East Lyme, CT
http://www.mysticplacesmarathon.com

Niagara Falls Marathon - ON
http://www.niagarafallsmarathon.com/

Nike Women's Marathon - San Francisco, CA
http://www.nike.com/nikemarathon

Nissan Xterra World Championship - Maui, Hawaii
http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/race.cfm?race_id=203

Rattle Me Bones 5/10K - Ottawa, ON
http://www.ohfoundation.ca/events/community/2005_rattle_me_bones_e.asp

Standard Charters Marathon - Nairobi, Kenya
http://www.nairobimarathon.com

The Other Half - Moab, UT
http://www.moabhalfmarathon.org


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

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

Send this to a Friend:
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

Ken Parker
Runner's Web
mailto:webmaster@...
http://www.runnersweb.com/running.html
A running and triathlon resource portal
Runner's Web Online Store
http://store.runnersweb.com

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**END...OF DIGEST...**