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
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7. The Toronto Marathon, October 15, 2006
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8. LifeSport by Lance Watson - Professional Coaching
Lance Watson 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.
A Human Kinetics graduate (sport psychology minor), Lance has had the
opportunity to work with and be mentored by numerous
world-class swim, bike, run and triathlon coaches and liaise with many top sport
professionals (scientists, psychologists,
nutritionists, therapists, etc.)
Lance has coached at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 Commonwealth Games and 2003 Pan
American Games. He has been head coach at several
national-team events and coached at various Ironman, ITU World Cup and world
championship events. As well, he was an award recipient
as "Triathlon Canada Elite Coach Of The Year" four consecutive years from
2000-2003. He was the 2004 Olympic Team Head Coach
(Triathlon).
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/LifeSport.html


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THIS WEEK:

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Runner's Web returns as the title sponsor of Ottawa's Dave Scott Clinic.
Triathlon Ottawa announced today the opening of online registration for the 2006
Dave Scott Iron Distance Triathlon Training Clinic
in Ottawa, Canada. From Jan. 20-22, the Ironman legend will be working with a
group of 25 local and visiting triathletes. The clinic
will focus on using the off-season to build a better foundation for the 2006
race season. Dave will work closely with the athletes
through a series of discussions and active sessions, covering a range of the
most critical topics for the iron-distance athlete.
For the second year running the Ottawa event has been made possible in part by
title sponsor RunnersWeb.com, a top-rated,
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* Sports Nutrition by Sheila Kealey.
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Team and X-C Ottawa. She has a Masters in Public
Health and works in the field of nutritional epidemiology as a Research
Associate with the University of California, San Diego. Her
column index is available at:
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* Carmichael Training Systems
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focus is recreational, advanced, or you are a
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better athlete. Check the latest monthly column from
CTS at:
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* Peak Performance Online
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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
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Time Olympian) and many more. This bi-monthly newsletter has been around for
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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

Running Research News:
RRN's free, weekly, training update provides subscribers with the most-current,
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purpose of this weekly e-zine is to improve
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Running Research News also publishes a complete, 12-page, electronic newsletter
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THIS WEEK'S PERSONAL POSTINGS/RELEASES:
We have NO personal postings this week:

THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Triathlon: "Meditation and water are wedded forever" -Ishmael (Moby Dick)
2. Multisport by Lance Watson: Holidays Hints - Training Through The Turmoil
3. Multisport: Cold Case - To Train Or Not To Train
4. Dehydration (Low Body Fluids)
5. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
6. Collapse in the Endurance Athlete
7. Hormonal doping and androgenization of athletes
A secret program of the German Democratic Republic government.
8. The Diet Detective: Exercise designed for the holidays
9. What's wrong with the Fat Burning Zone?
10. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Running Past the Finish Line
11. The Marathon Long Run
12. Coach's Tales with Cliff English - 3 run sessions to boost your off-season
strength
13. A changing position on stretches
Movements should encourage a full range of motion, not more, some trainers and
experts now say.
14. From Runner's World
15. A Little Dark Chocolate Does A Heart Good
It sweetly staves off hardening of the arteries in smokers, study finds.
16. Cold laser improves performance, heals injuries, pain
17. Chasing Lance:
The 2005 Tour de France chronicled by Martin Dugard.
18. The World B.C. (Before Cooper, That Is)
Running Before the Boom.
19. Beyond the Horizon
Is immortality achievable? Our Harvard doc responds
20. Study: Many Teens Would Flunk Fitness Test
21. Yoga best way of easing pain in lower back, group study says
22. Over Training
23. Making dietary changes: Willpower or nutrition skillpower?
24. Sleep: Use It or Lose It
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Which aspects of race organization are important to you?"

You can access the poll from our FrontPage (http://www.runnersweb.com) 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:
"Do you work out on Christmas Day?"
The results at publication time:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Yes 54 73%
2. No 20 27%
Total Votes: 74


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: TriChic.com.
TriChic is a company dedicated to female triathletes of all levels. Our team,
Team TriChic, is an internationally recognized team
for all female age groupers.
We provide team members special discounts for retail products, coaching,
nutrition planning, in addition to great articles, training
tips, workout plans, diet plans and team apparel.
TriChic is dedicated to promoting the sport and making it accessible to all
female triathletes.
Check out the site at:
http://www.trichic.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.

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


BOOK OF THE WEEK: Chasing Lance: The 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's
Ride of a Lifetime.
by Martin Dugard
Acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Martin Dugard tells the
extraordinary story of Lance Armstrong's final race, guiding us
on a 2,240-mile journey through the bucolic French countryside, up the rugged
peaks of the Pyrenees, all the way to one final ride
down the Champs-Élysées. Never before has the Tour de France experience been
captured so fully and vividly. We are there among the
rabid fans as they cheer on their favorite riders; in the frenzied media room,
where top journalists plot to score an interview with
the fiercely private Armstrong; and deep inside the heart of the peloton as the
Discovery team's top lieutenants sacrifice
themselves to protect their leader. Dugard was granted the most exclusive press
credential offered by the Tour's organizers, so he
had total access to the riders, their teams, the courses, and the back rooms. As
a result it's all here: the daring breakaways and
heartbreaking crashes, the mind games and the intense competition, the strategy
and the courage. We see Lance Armstrong's fearsome
drive, his jubilation when his most loyal teammate wins a stage, and his rocky
relationships with young, up-and-coming American
riders. But Chasing Lance is not just an account of Armstrong's incredible
triumph. Dugard gives us the full Tour, from the yellow
jersey up front to the struggling riders who bring up the rear; from the quiet
countryside to the Paris pavement; from the lavender
fields of Provence to the fields of drunken tourists who have come not only to
see if Lance can win one last time, but to consume as
much fine wine and cheese as possible-an endurance contest of a different sort.
A gripping portrait of a champion at sunset, an illuminating exploration of what
it means to persevere-on the road and in life-and a
vibrant journey through France, Chasing Lance takes us to the Tour, and inside
the mind of Lance Armstrong, as no other book ever
has.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316166235/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. Triathlon: "Meditation and water are wedded forever" -Ishmael (Moby Dick):
CZ athlete Jordan Rapp reports from his winter Swim Focus Phase
Like's Melville's Ishmael, I too found it necessary to set out upon the "sea"
during a literal cold and drizzly November. Only the
sea in this case was merely a four-lane, 25 yard pool near my house, and the
white whale in this story is my swimming technique.
Like the great monster that Ahab pursues so relentlessly, proper form in the
water is a truly elusive thing. Having spent several
months undergoing extensive physical therapy after I tried to do a swim focus
block last year, without the necessary understanding
of how to do it, I could also relate to the idea that chasing good swimming
technique can doom you, well at least doom your rotator
cuffs.
The swim is far and away the shortest section of any standard distance
triathlon. The longest relative swim is at the "Escape from
Alcatraz," and even there, it is still only about 75% the length of the other
two legs. "So," you might say, "why bother to do a
swim focus when you can gain so much more by putting your time and effort into
the other sports?" It is a common perception among
triathletes that the race is not won or lost during the swim. While this is
usually true in the strict sense of minutes and seconds,
coming out of the water several minutes down will often put you in a whole
different environment. You can miss out on that energy
"train" that comes from being in the thick of a race on the bike. And, beyond
that, there is generally very little metabolic cost
associated with getting faster in the swim, as it almost always the result of
changes in technique, whereas bike and run gains are
generally the result of hard, physically intense labor.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051221_CZ_Rapp.html


2. Multisport by Lance Watson: Holidays Hints - Training Through The Turmoil:
While the holidays are a joyful and relaxing break for most people, they can
present endurance athletes with quite the opposite!
With restricted training times and an interruption to their otherwise
conventional routines, what is supposed to be a time of
tranquility can be seen as a time of inability for many athletes. Holidays can
be a challenge to training if you are traveling quite
frequently, visiting friends or relatives in a snowy climate or visiting people
in a small town whose only pool is forty kilometers
away. On that note, planning to have a down week is a good way to give yourself
a break from having to fit your training around the
schedules of others or pool closures due to Christmas break and New Years.
If you have already planned to train through the Christmas holidays, then
prepare your training ahead as much as possible by taking
into account that you will have to be flexible. Even if you can do little else
while running errands, or visiting numerous family
members, it is very realistic to plan a week of only run training. As you well
know, running is the easiest and most time-efficient
of the three sports to fit in, with simply running shoes, a nice warm get-up and
the outdoors necessary. A week of running will be
enough for maintaining your overall fitness. If you are able to travel with your
bike, stationary trainer and your swim cords, then
you can easily perform minimal bike and swim maintenance workouts over the
holidays
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051220_LW_Holiday_Training.html


3. Multisport: Cold Case - To Train Or Not To Train:
Common cold infections are so widespread in North America that there can be very
few humans who escape this infection each year and
most will even suffer multiple bugs. This very general cold is a frequent and
expensive disease - leading to some fifteen million
days taken off work annually in the United States. Of course our concern here is
not for a couple of lost work days, but rather for
the loss of what may seem like some valuable training days!
The good news for recreationally active athletes is that their incidences of
cold and flu are lower than that of the general
population. In contrast, the harder training athlete, who may train long hours
and until their total point of exertion, is at a
greater risk of contracting a winter illness compared with the general
population. Their immune systems are often times at a greater
danger because of the constant demands that excessive exercising puts on the
body. However if your symptoms seem to be fading
rapidly and you are feeling rather well, some short and easy training (all at a
low heart rate, for thirty minutes or less) is
possible and could even help. Essentially the common cold is brought into the
body by a stressor, and exercise, at a very low level,
is known to help relieve stress. However it is important to remember that
fundamentally your body is trying to attack the virus; so
rest will give it a chance to fight off the infection, and get you back into
some solid training as quickly as possible.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051217_LW_Cold_Case.html


4. Dehydration (Low Body Fluids):
The Facts on Dehydration
Two thirds of the human body is made up of water. That means that if a person
weighs about 70 kilograms (154 pounds), their body
contains about 46 litres of water. Almost 70% of this water is inside the body's
cells, 20% is in the space surrounding cells, and
slightly less than 10% is in the bloodstream. The water in the human body is
essential to keeping it healthy.
When the amount of water you intake matches the water you excrete, the body's
water supply will be balanced. If you are healthy and
do not sweat excessively, you should drink at least 2 to 3 litres of fluid a day
to maintain your water balance and protect against
the development of kidney stones.
Dehydration results when there is a deficiency in the body's water supply. If
the brain and kidneys are functioning properly, the
body will be able to manage minor changes in water intake. It's usually possible
to drink enough water to make up for any water
loss. However, it may be difficult to drink enough water if you are vomiting,
have severe diarrhea, are exposed to excessive heat,
or have a fever.
Some dehydration is relatively mild, but it can be potentially life threatening.
When the body's supply of fluids falls below a
certain amount, a condition called hypovolemic shock may result.
Dehydration is a serious problem in young children and infants due to their
larger skin surface area and can occur even after a few
hours of vomiting or diarrhea or even profuse sweating.
More...from AOL health at:
http://aol.mediresource.com/channel_condition_info_details.asp?disease_id=153&ch\
annel_id=44&relation_id=9335


5. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Knee Injuries Limit Future Athletic Activity
A study from East Germany shows that athletes who tear the anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) in their knees will have permanent knee
damage if they return to competitive sports
(Arthroscopy, June 2005). The anterior cruciate ligament runs from the top bone
of the knee to the bottom one and prevents the top
bone from sliding forward when the foot hits the ground during running and
walking. If it is torn, the knee becomes so unstable
that a person will have difficulty walking, so all torn anterior cruciate
ligaments must be repaired.
In this study, East German Olympic athletes who tore their knee ligaments in
1963-1965, and returned to competition after having
their ligaments repaired, were examined 10 and 20 years later. Virtually all
had severe knee cartilage damage and more than half
had total knee replacement surgery.
Athletes with repaired torn ACLs probably should never run or jump again,
although they may be able to pedal a bicycle.
Another study showed that people who have broken cartilage in their knees can
walk and cycle, but should not run or jump.
To keep your bones from wearing down at the joints, their ends are covered with
a thick white gristle called cartilage. Even one
bleed into a joint damages its cartilage forever. Doctors cannot replace or heal
broken cartilage, they can only replace entire knee
joints. Operating and removing broken cartilage probably increases a person's
chances of needing a knee replacement, particularly
if the exerciser continues to run and jump. Sheering forces on the knee are
very great during walking downhill and running, and
minimal during walking on level ground and cycling. So people who have ever
damaged cartilage in their knee should walk on level
ground, swim or cycle, and avoid running and jumping.
*
From Dr. Mirkin at:
http://www.drmirkin.com


6. Collapse in the Endurance Athlete:
Collapse is perhaps the most dramatic of all medical problems affecting
athletes. Though collapse can be seen in any athletic event
requiring maximal exertion, it is most common in endurance events, such as
marathons and triathlons. The incidence seems to increase
as the race distance, temperature, and humidity increase (O'Conner et al.,
2003).
In endurance events, about 85% of the cases of collapse occur after the athlete
crosses the finish line (Holtzhause & Noakes, 1997).
Most of these cases are benign and the athlete suffers no lasting deleterious
effects, but in some circumstances collapse can be
severe and life threatening. For this reason, medical personnel attending
endurance events or caring for these athletes should be
aware of the proper evaluation and management of the collapsed athlete, which
can sometimes be the difference between life and
death.
RESEARCH REVIEW
Defining Exercise-Associated Collapse
Exercise-associated collapse can be defined as the inability to walk unassisted,
with or without exhaustion, nausea, vomiting, or
cramps (Holtzhause & Noakes, 1997; O'Conner et al., 2003). An athlete who
collapses may have a body temperature that is normal,
high, or low. For the purposes of this article, exercise-associated collapse
excludes orthopedic conditions such as knee or ankle
injuries that could potentially prevent an athlete from walking unassisted but
can be easily distinguished from the more traditional
causes of collapse.
The conditions that usually cause exercise-associated collapse are relatively
few in number and can generally be grouped into benign
and serious conditions. The most common benign causes of collapse include
exhaustion, postural hypotension, dehydration, and muscle
cramps. Serious causes include hyponatremia, heatstroke, hypoglycemia,
hypothermia, cardiac arrest, and various other medical
conditions.
More...from GSSI Web at:
http://www.gssiweb.com/reflib/refs/699/sse95.cfm?pid=58&CFID=2902382&CFTOKEN=681\
26117


7. Hormonal doping and androgenization of athletes:
A secret program of the German Democratic Republic government.
Several classified documents saved after the collapse of the German Democratic
Republic (GDR) in 1990 describe the promotion by the
government of the use of drugs, notably androgenic steroids, in high-performance
sports (doping). Top-secret doctoral theses,
scientific reports, progress reports of grants, proceedings from symposia of
experts, and reports of physicians and scientists who
served as unofficial collaborators for the Ministry for State Security ("Stasi")
reveal that from 1966 on, hundreds of physicians
and scientists, including top-ranking professors, performed doping research and
administered prescription drugs as well as
unapproved experimental drug preparations. Several thousand athletes were
treated with androgens every year, including minors of
each sex. Special emphasis was placed on administering androgens to women and
adolescent girls because this practice proved to be
particularly effective for sports performance. Damaging side effects were
recorded, some of which required surgical or medical
intervention. In addition, several prominent scientists and sports physicians of
the GDR contributed to the development of methods
of drug administration that would evade detection by international doping
controls.
Note: This document is very a long technical overview of the GDR doping program.
More...form Clinical Chemistry at:
http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/43/7/1262


8. The Diet Detective - Exercise designed for the holidays:
OK, I almost regret doing this to you; however, in the spirit of the holidays --
and good fun -- I wanted to give you a sense of
what you're going to be eating over the next few weeks. Does that mean you can't
eat any "fun" food during the holidays?
No, not at all. The idea is to get some perspective on what a calorie means in
terms of what it will take to burn it off so that
maybe -- just maybe -- you'll be able to have fun and eat responsibly.
One Genoa salami slice on a cracker with cheese = Wrapping presents for 55
minutes
Those tiny little slices may seem harmless, but take a closer look. See those
little white flecks, the ones that take up a good 25
to 50 percent of the slice? Those are little bits of calorie-laden lard. So, if
you plan to go to town on the salami appetizers, I
hope you've also gone to town on your present buying.
Fit tip: If you have a salami weakness, at least make sure to skip its best
friends -- the crackers and Cheddar cheese. One cracker
adds 16 calories, and just a half-ounce of Cheddar tacks on another 55. So if
you really want the salami, enjoy it by itself.
Two Christmas cookies = Shoveling snow for 27 minutes
Holiday cookies vary in size and shape, but what with the butter or shortening,
sugar, frosting and sprinkles, expect the calories
for a typical sugar cookie to be in the range of 50 to 120. And a gingerbread
cookie, also made with butter or shortening with the
addition of molasses, can be even worse at up to 190 calories.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12601


9. What's wrong with the Fat Burning Zone?
As a Personal Trainer it is not uncommon to hear the following statement: "I am
trying to lose some extra body fat and was told the
best way to accomplish this was to perform aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise at
a low intensity for a long period of time since the
lower the intensity of exercise the higher the percentage of body fat that will
be burned for energy during exercise."
This concept is based on what is known as the Fat Burning Zone. During low
intensity exercise the human body is designed to use a
higher percentage of fat for energy while during higher intensity exercise the
human body is designed to use a higher percentage of
carbohydrates to generate energy for muscular contraction. To understand why
this is so, a crash course in metabolism is needed.
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Carbohydrates in the form of glucose or glycogen (stored carbohydrate in the
muscle and liver) can supply the working muscle with a
very fast and powerful source of energy for muscle contraction. This function
makes carbohydrates an important energy source for
exercise of higher intensities (greater than 65% of maximal effort) since the
muscle will need a faster source of energy. However,
stores of carbohydrate are limited and will be used up after approximately 1
hour of high-intensity exercise. Following this,
fatigue will set in unless a source of carbohydrate is supplied (e.g. Gatorade).
To prevent depletion of carbohydrate stores, the
body will use fat at lower exercise intensities since exercise at this intensity
can be performed using a slower source of energy.
Fat Metabolism
Unlike carbohydrates, the human body has a large storage of fat stores (adipose
tissue) and thus, fat can supply an endless amount
of energy for exercise. However, using fat for energy during exercise is much
slower than carbohydrates. Therefore, fat can only
supply a higher percentage of energy for exercise than carbohydrates at lower
exercise intensities.
Researcher Dr. George Brooks developed the crossover concept of exercise
metabolism, showing that the body uses mostly fat as fuel
below 65% of maximum effort and mainly carbohydrates at higher exercise
intensities. Recently it was determined that between 61.5
and 63% of maximum effort (maximum heart rate/VO2max) as the intensity resulting
in the greatest amount of fat use (maximum fat
oxidation) for energy generation.
Many gym goers, personal trainers and aerobics equipment manufacturers have
mistakenly interpreted this information to mean that
training at low intensities is best for losing body fat. This is more of a
concern for many than using up carbohydrate stores.
However, there are many faults to this fat burning zone theory. While many
studies have shown that you use more fat as fuel when you
exercise slowly, the final outcome of losing body fat, looking better and being
more physically fit is what is important in the end.
This is why it is important to know that research tell us to exercise intensely
to lose body fat.
More...from Fuel for Life at:
http://www.fuelforlife.ca/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=60


10. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Running Past the Finish Line:
You have trained weeks or months for this moment. Now your big race is at its
finish line... but not yet finished. Just as this race
didn't start at the starting line but when you began training for it, it doesn't
end at the finish line but when you're finished
recovering from it.
Your recovery phase starts at the finish line and will take days or weeks to
complete. You must approach this postrace repair as
systematically as you did the prerace training. This begins with knowing that
letdowns -- both physical and emotional -- occur as a
normal after-effect of racing.
Realize that raceday is magic. The crowd of runners pulls you to a pace a minute
or more per mile faster than you could run alone
for this racing distance -- or carries you twice as far at a certain pace as you
could go solo.
But realize also that this magical effort comes at a price. You start repaying
it immediately after finishing and keep paying for a
while afterward.
The hardest most of us ever run is in a marathon. A newly minted marathoner
e-mailed me in the second week after his race, worrying
about recovering too slowly.
"My aches and pains have left," he wrote, "but I don't seem to have my energy
back in spite of staying well hydrated and
carbo-reloading. What has surprised me the most is, I don't feel motivated to
run like I did before the race."
This runner's post-marathon reactions were textbook-normal: the leg soreness,
the low energy, the lost interest in running. This all
will pass in time, but a longer time than you might think.
Recovery comes by stages, each longer lasting and more subtle than the one
before. Here's what you can expect to feel at each stage,
how to deal with it, and for how long:
1. Immediate recovery. Besides happy, you feel hot, tired and maybe woozy from
fatigue. Resist the urge to sit; keep moving until
the body calms down. After drinking and eating, take another walk later in the
day to assure yourself that some energy has returned
and your legs still work.
2. Muscle recovery. Soreness has settled in the next day, then you feel even
more stiff the second day after racing. Rest or
cross-train gently (walking, biking or swimming) on these days. Don't try to
"run out" the soreness, which only delays healing and
risks injury. Wait out the pain, which seldom lingers longer than a week even
after the toughest races.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/545.html


11. The Marathon Long Run:
How I Prescribe Long Runs for Maximum Success by Greg McMillan, M.S.
Ahh, the marathon long run. What a worrisome thing for most runners. And for
good reason, the long run is such a crucial part of
marathon training. I don't think there's any other race distance where one
single workout plays such a large part in the success or
failure of the race. As a result, you're often left with many questions: How far
should I run? Do I run for time or distance? What
about pace? What to eat and drink? The list goes on and on.
In this article, I'll answer these questions for you as I describe my thoughts
on the marathon long run and how I utilize long runs
for the marathoners I coach. As I like to do, I'm not only going to give you the
"how-to" but I'm going to provide you with the
rationale for why I think this plan works. This way, you can take the
information and incorporate it into your specific training
plan.
I will preface this article with a note that these are simply my ideas. Some of
them have been widely criticized in forums. I aim to
address these concerns but in the end, you have to do what you think works for
YOU. And, I would also recommend that you experiment
in your training to determine what works for you. With that, here is how I
prescribe long runs in the marathon phase. The results
have been consistent and positive. You can hear from some McMillan Running
athletes by clicking here.
Two Types of Marathon Long Runs You Should Use
With long runs during a marathon program, you are trying to accomplish two
distinct purposes. On the one hand, you are trying to
maximize your ability to burn fat and spare your limited muscle carbohydrate
(glycogen) stores as well as improving your leg
strength and resistance to fatigue (both physical fatigue and mental fatigue).
You are also trying to teach your body to better
handle lowered blood glucose levels. On the other hand, you are trying to become
more economical at your marathon race pace
(learning to burn less fuel for a given pace) along with testing out your race
equipment and nutritional plan. You also want to give
the mind a taste of the focus and determination that will be required in the
latter stages of the marathon itself
More...from McMillanRunning.com at:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/Running%20University/Article%204/marathonlongrun.\
htm


12. Coach's Tales with Cliff English - 3 run sessions to boost your off-season
strength:
The off-season is the perfect time of the year to work on your limiters (those
skills or abilities that you feel may constitute a
comparative weakness), boost strength and build a strong foundation of aerobic
base. This week I will focus on the run and outline
several key components you should include in your training at this time of the
year.
After deciding upon your race schedule for 2006 and selecting your key races,
you should then plan your various training phases.
This is simple stuff; it really doesn't need to be something that you would be
handing in for a master's thesis. Still, I strongly
recommend that you jot down a general plan for your year or season.
The longest and one of the more important training phases of the year is the
general-preparation phase. Here, the focus is on
developing your aerobic base to build your foundation for the year. This phase
should last between eight and 12 weeks but can be up
to 16 or even 20 weeks depending upon the athlete.
Most of the training intensity in this phase is done below your
anaerobic/lactate threshold; however, at times, especially further
into the base phase, you can start to build to LT or at least to within a few
beats. Often overshadowed during the base phase by our
desire to simply get in the mileage, however, are good run technique and
sport-specific strength. Even in the base phase you want to
ingrain good form.
More...from Triathlete Magazine at:
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=11393&publicationID=92&pageID=17\
05


13. A changing position on stretches:
Movements should encourage a full range of motion, not more, some trainers and
experts now say.
PEOPLE who savor an old-fashioned stretch can find themselves limber but lost in
today's fitness world.
Yoga and Pilates have muscled in on stretching's turf, providing similar moves
but with a hefty dose of strength and balance
training. The familiar hurdler's stretch of the quadriceps has been found
dangerous.
And a recent study in the Journal of Athletic Training found that pre-exercise
stretching doesn't seem to decrease injury and
post-exercise stretching doesn't seem to reduce soreness.
That research, an analysis of previous stretching studies, comes on the heels of
evidence that stretching can impair performance of
explosive moves such as sprints and jumps.
Some experts even question the need for regular stretching at all. People with
perfect mechanics and alignment may not need to
stretch, they say.
"Sitting at your desk in good posture," says Dr. William Roberts, past president
of the American College of Sports Medicine, "will
do more to decrease your risk of repetitive injury than stretching."
Even the term has fallen into disfavor. "The word 'stretching' alone isn't
something you hear much in our industry," says Keith
Shiles, a personal training manager at Equinox in Westwood.
That's not to say stretching is useless. It does play a role in good health. But
that role is more limited than once thought - and
should be combined with strength and general fitness training. The goal of
stretching should be, simply, to ensure full range of
motion.
"It's a different form of exercise," Shiles says.
Practically speaking, "full range of motion" means being able to reach a top
shelf comfortably and to bend over to pick up a pin. If
those movements aren't possible, gentle exercises - and stretching - can make
daily activities easier.
"Most normally active individuals only need to maintain normal range of motion
to function at a high level and to function safely,"
says Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on
Exercise.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-stretch19dec19,1,1520271.st\
ory?coll=la-health-fitness-news


14. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
Get Inspired With Quotes: "Keep a file of inspirational quotes or a shelf of
motivational books, and pull one out on those days when
you're not fired up for training. I find that a thoughtful article also works
well. Most mornings, I run for 45 minutes after
reading several features in the Wall Street Journal. During my run, I "debate"
with the journalists who wrote the stories. The best
part is, I always win!" -Jeff Galloway
* Injury Prevention
Holiday Hip Hikers - Strengthen your buttocks and hip muscles by doing the
following: Stand sideways on a step or low bench with
your weight on your left leg and your right leg unsupported over the edge of the
step. Keep both knees locked so that your legs are
perfectly straight throughout the exercise. Lower your right heel toward the
floor by tilting your right hip down. Don't bend your
left leg at the knee! Then raise or "hike" your right hip as high as it will go.
Lower and raise the right hip 12 times before
switching to the left hip. Perform two sets with each hip twice weekly, on
nonconsecutive days.
* Performance Nutrition
Party food makeover: Try this recipe to slash the calories, fat, and sugar from
this classic holiday beverage.
Egg Nog (Calories cut: 200 per cup)
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons sugar
1 13-ounce can evaporated fat-free milk
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rum flavoring
Fat-free whipped topping
Whip together egg substitute and sugar, add evaporated milk, half-and-half, and
flavorings. Mix well with whisk and chill for at
least three hours. Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream and a dusting of
nutmeg or cinnamon. Makes six servings.
* Words That Inspire:
"Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will
accomplish them."
-Warren Bennis, professor of business
* Editor's Advice:
"Do you know your stride rate? Try to hit about 180 strides per minute (both
legs), or 90 if you're counting just one leg (left or
right). To maintain stride length at this frequency, do hill running and
strength training (concentrate on the quadriceps and calf
muscles)."
-Adam Bean, RW features editor
* Training Talk:
"Just as fast running makes your standard pace easier, long runs make your
regular distance seem shorter-thus easier. By pushing the
pace on some days and lengthening the distance on others, you'll be able to
cruise in the effortless zone on the rest of your runs."
-From Runner's World complete book of Beginning Running by Amby Burfoot


15. A Little Dark Chocolate Does A Heart Good:
It sweetly staves off hardening of the arteries in smokers, study finds.
Just in time for the candy-clogged holidays, a new Swiss study finds a little
dark chocolate each day could slow hardening of the
arteries in smokers.
Chocolate is still no substitute for quitting smoking, of course, and the
researchers add that the findings are not an excuse to
binge on fattening sweets.
However, the results do "provide new important information about the potential
beneficial effects of cocoa," said study author Dr.
Roberto Corti, from the University Hospital in Zurich.
His team assigned 20 male smokers to either eat about 1.5 ounces of white
chocolate or dark, then evaluated the effects of each on
blood flow and other parameters. Before the men ate the chocolate, they were
instructed to abstain for a full day from other foods
that are rich in the same antioxidants found in cocoa. Those foods include
apples, other cocoa products and onions.
Then researchers then subjected the smokers to ultrasound scans and blood tests
More...from Health Scout at:
http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/529784/main.html


16. Cold laser improves performance, heals injuries, pain:
One local business owner has been handing out Christmas miracles all fall by
healing local athletes with injuries and improving
performance for others.
Kevin Gendron owner of Better Athletic Development in Shelton has been using a
cold laser to enhance athletic performance and treat
injured athletes, speeding up healing time. Better Athletic Development helps
athletes improve their speed, strength and
conditioning.
"It has been discovered that the laser can have a profound effect on cells in
the body. Cells communicate through coherent light.
The laser gets all the cells in the body to communicate with each other much
better, resetting the body and putting the body in
balance if it is out of balance," Gendron said.
He came across the laser after he did a camp at Pomperaug High School. A
chiropractor in Bethlehem gave him a demonstration and
since then Gendron has been through a certification and training program and has
been using it at his facility.
"The laser has a profound effect on strength and flexibility because it gets
cells to communicate with each other and increases ATP
production," Gendron said. "It increases strength and flexibility in our
athletes. Now our athletes will have a major advantage over
their opponents."
Gendron has used the laser on numerous athletes young and old. Shelton High
School baseball player Marco Garamella injured his arm.
After the laser treatment the bruising was reduced and his strength and range of
motion were increased, according to Gendron.
"We've had athletes who were injured and initially elected the normal physical
therapy rout. After they learned about the laser from
me or other athletes in one to three sessions we've gotten them back on the
field," Gendron said.
Also, a linebacker on Shelton High School's football team, Geoffrey Schultz, saw
significant improvements after only one treatment.
Gendron said Schultz was suffering from back spasms and a fractured vertebra but
was back on the field a week after the treatment.
More...from the Shelton Weekly at:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15792623&BRD=1648&PAG=461&dept_id=1178\
4&rfi=6


17. Chasing Lance:
The 2005 Tour de France chronicled by Martin Dugard.
By Jim Woodman
For those who followed Active.com's 2005 Tour de France coverage, Martin
Dugard's blog was arguably some of the best Tour writing on
the Internet. Dugard's daily blog entries brought the Tour's sights, sounds,
smells and culinary delights to colorful life --
delivering us a very intimate backstage peek into one of the world's greatest
sporting events.
As we mentioned within the blog, Dugard's daily entries were serving as a
foundation on which to weave together a compelling story,
in a new book aptly dubbed Chasing Lance, describing what it was like to follow
the Tour and Lance Armstrong through his final,
historic seventh Tour de France victory.
As an acclaimed journalist and best-selling author, Dugard was granted the most
exclusive Tour de France credentials to give us a
backstage look at what the riders, organizers and fans experience on a daily
basis.
Chasing Lance isn't just another bike racing narrative nor is it a Lance
Armstrong chamois-sniffing love fest. Dugard, a
self-proclaimed history buff, takes us on our own ride through the French
countryside with just the right amount of French history
sprinkled into each chapter. Instead of designated chapter names, Dugard mostly
uses the numbered stages to organize the book.
For those that followed the Tour closely, none of the action will come as a
surprise, obviously, but the reader comes away with a
very good feel for the French people, the Tour's organization and the press
mayhem at the end of each stage. With 2,500 credentialed
journalists on hand each day, not to mention the interview requirements that
come with the yellow jersey, we understand why
Armstrong would gladly give up yellow during the Tour's middle stages in order
to snag extra recovery time between stages.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12646
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316166235/runnersweb/102-0182896-9006569\
?v=glance&s=books


18. The World B.C. (Before Cooper, That Is):
Running Before the Boom.
Whenever someone asks me about my race times back during the 1950's and '60's,
what I call the B.C. (Before Cooper) years, I plead
ignorance.
The truth is I don't remember them. But it's also true that if I did remember
them, I wouldn't tell. They were so much slower than
times I ran during the late 70's, after I had turned 40, that I would be
embarrassed to mention them.
As I look back to those years before Dr. Kenneth Cooper's 1968 bestseller
Aerobics kicked off what came to be known as the "running
boom," I marvel at how so many things have changed, not only in participation
numbers but in training, attitude, logistics and
philosophy.
Before Cooper, distance running was strictly an unpopular sport involving a
small number of young, wiry, seemingly masochistic
males. Cooper's book stressed the physical fitness aspects of running, or
"jogging," as it was called, and appealed to a nation that
had apparently reached an all-time low in fitness. As hundreds of thousands of
couch potatoes took Cooper's advice, they slowly
adapted to running. Many decided to test themselves in the sporting arena. The
merger between fitness and sport was slow at first,
primarily because jogging/fitness is a no-risk activity while running/sport
calls for risk taking (i.e., the risk of injury and
unfitness). By the mid- and late 70's, the merger was fully materializing and
participation was mushrooming.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/02mar/bc.htm


19. Beyond the Horizon:
Is immortality achievable? Our Harvard doc responds.
FARGO, N.D.: The quest for immortality has been a past and a current obsession.
How will medical advances contribute to longer life
spans? Is there a limit to how long we can live? DR. ANTHONY L. KOMAROFF: In the
20th century, in the developed nations, our life
span increased from about 50 years to about 80 years. In just 100 years, our
species (which has been on earth for more than a
million years) increased its life span by 60 percent. Right now changes in our
lifestyle have more power to extend our life span
than any medicines yet invented: sitting around waiting for a magical
life-extending elixir isn't healthy. Still, there have been
some remarkable advances in identifying genes that affect aging. Manipulating
those genes extends the life spans of some simple
animals by 500 percent. I think our grandchildren may see a world in which
people live healthier and considerably longer. But I
won't be there to find out if I was right.
HARRISBURG, N.C.: Are the dangers of advancing medicine too far ever taken into
consideration? What happens when there is no more
sickness and people live so long that we overpopulate the planet? How far is too
far?
I agree with you that longer lives and larger populations could cause problems.
This is particularly true in overpopulated parts of
the world, where hundreds of millions of people live in hunger and squalor.
While discovering how to extend the healthy human life
span, we also need to make major advances in cheap energy and food production.
Otherwise we risk making the problems of
overpopulation and uneven distribution of resources even worse.
More...from Newsweek at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9961716/site/newsweek/


20. Study: Many Teens Would Flunk Fitness Test:
CHICAGO -- About a third of U.S. teens would flunk a treadmill fitness test, a
new study shows, meaning that more than 7 million
youngsters could face higher risks for heart disease later in life.
While that finding is not surprising _ given previous research showing that
about 16 percent of U.S. schoolchildren are seriously
overweight _ it's "very concerning," said Dr. David Ludwig, director of the
obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston.
Ludwig, who was not involved in the study, called treadmill tests a good measure
of fitness. He said the results show that "at a
time in life when adolescents and young adults should be at peak levels of
fitness, there's in fact a very high prevalence ... of
very low fitness."
The analysis of nationally representative data from government health surveys by
Northwestern University researchers found that 34
percent of girls and boys aged 12 to 19 showed a poor level of cardiovascular
fitness on an 8-minute treadmill test.
The tests became faster and steeper after a 2-minute warmup, and a rapidly
increasing heart rate after just a short period of
exercising defined poor fitness.
The study included 2,205 adolescents and 3,110 adults aged 20 to 49 who
participated in the 1999-2002 surveys.
About 14 percent of the adults showed a poor level of fitness, but that
underestimates the true number who are unfit because adults
with high blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors were excluded
from the treadmill test, said lead author Mercedes
Carnethon.
More...from the Washington Post at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122100576.\
html


21. Yoga best way of easing pain in lower back, group study says:
Exercise, not bed rest, is the best way of easing chronic lower back pain,
according to a well-established body of research.
But what type of exercises should be used to overcome this debilitating
condition? A new U.S. study suggests that a gentle yoga
program produces better results than conventional exercises.
As part of the study, 101 adults were divided into three groups. One group
attended 12 weekly classes to learn yoga and practised
the routines at home. A second group attended 12 weekly sessions of aerobic,
strengthening and stretching exercises, plus did them
at home. And a third group was given a self-care book on back pain.
After 26 weeks, the patients in the yoga group had much better back function and
less pain than the other two groups, says Karen
Sherman, who was the lead researcher in the study at Group Health Co-operative's
Center for Health Studies in Seattle. In fact, they
were using less than half the pain medication as the other patients -- a clear
sign they were doing better.
More...from the Globe and Mail at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051223/HTAYLOR2\
3/TPHealth/


22. Over Training:
Over training (staleness, over fatigue, chronic fatigue, over training syndrome)
is a rather usual problem among athletes. The
physiological homeostasis of an over trained athlete's body has become
disturbed. Regulatory mechanisms of the body can not return
back to the balance during the one or two days which is a normal recovery time.
At first the over training state can be mild, and if an athlete rests, his body
recovers fast. Later it may be more severe, and an
athlete will be exhausted. The exhaustion is typical for experienced endurance
athletes, who usually react in this way.
Overtraining-like states can also be induced by mental, social, economical and
environmental stress. These factors together with
physical training cause total stress which influences on the body.
Stress can be caused by both positive and negative psychological factors. These
may be e.g. holiday, vacation, personal achievement,
change in residence, school or job, change in social and recreational habits,
financial problems, divorce, trouble at school,
trouble with the law, death or birth in the family.
Physiological factors cause stress as well. This kind of factors may be e.g.
travel, sleep loss, races, changes in training,
environmental changes (altitude, humidity, temperature), illness, injury,
menstrual cycle or pregnancy.
Highly motivated athletes have to keep in mind that the balance between
training, other stressors and recovery has to be right,
i.e., they have to periodize their training in the right way. If there is an
uncompleted recovery time after exercises, fatigue
starts to accumulate and after a few days or weeks symptoms of over training
with a drop in performance will arise. As a result,
recovery may take weeks or months.
More...from Whole Fitness at:
http://www.wholefitness.com/overtraining.html


23. Making dietary changes: Willpower or nutrition skillpower?
"I wish I had more willpower. I just can't seem to stick to any diet and lose
weight."
"If only I had more willpower, I wouldn't be tempted by the vending machine.
Every afternoon at 3:00, it's like a magnet for me ..."
"I'm a junk food junkie. I need some willpower to clean up my diet."
For the athlete with a sweet tooth or excess body fat who has cravings for junk
food, willpower is deemed the missing character
trait that leads them into nutrition temptation. Athletes who lack willpower
commonly beg me to put them on the straight and narrow
and empower them with the ability to "just say no" to food sins. They're
convinced lack of willpower is the root of their food
struggles. I tend to disagree.
The following case studies explain why I disagree and offer another way of
thinking about food management. I believe in nutrition
skillpower more so than willpower.
Case #1: Sweets craver
"If only I had more willpower, I could get sweets out of my life" complained
Rick, a 27-year-old triathlete. He trained hard, tried
to eat healthfully but inevitably would succumb to his "downfalls": chocolate
chip cookies, candy bars and ice cream. These sweets
undermined his intentions to fuel his body healthfully. "I just have no
willpower in the afternoon when my training is done for the
day. I want a reward ... and chocolate rewards me well!"
More...form Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12617


24. Sleep: Use It or Lose It :
By Jeff Anders, M.D.
Most Americans do not get enough sleep. A poll conducted by CNN found that
two-thirds of us sleep less than eight hours per night,
and one-third of us sleep less than seven hours.
Unfortunately, triathletes, while more fit than the average person, may not be
unique in their sleep habits. Many triathletes do not
get adequate sleep or view sleep as central to the recovery process. Like many
of their sedentary peers, they see sleep as time
spent away from more "productive" activities, such as training.
Sleep as Recovery
In fact, sleep is an effective training tool that promotes growth and strength.
"Sleep, in my opinion, is one of the most overlooked
elements of performance in athletics," said six-time Ironman World Champion Mark
Allen. Without proper rest, hard training is not
beneficial and may even be harmful and counterproductive. 2002 Ultraman winner
and 2003 top-10 Ironman New Zealand finisher Gordo
Byrne refers, in part, to sleep when he says "your recovery strategy is the most
important part of your plan. Recovery is when you
make all your fitness gains."
The Physiology of Sleep
Sleep is a physical and mental resting state that allows the body to be inactive
while vital metabolic, hormonal and immunologic
processes are rebuilt and restored. Without this physiologic downtime, the body
simply cannot recover from the rigors of daily
living, much less the added stress of hard endurance training. During a typical
eight-hour sleep cycle, the body goes through five
distinct stages, beginning with light slumber in transitional stages one and
two, and progressing to deeper so-called slow-wave
sleep in stages three and four. After slow-wave sleep, the body enters the rapid
eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, where we
typically dream and somewhat paradoxically exhibit brain wave activity similar
to that in an awakened state. Typically, humans cycle
through these sleep stages four to five times per night.
More...from Triathlete Magazine at:
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=9036&publicationID=92&pageID=173\
2



25. Digest Briefs:
* Sex makes women sprinters faster, says German coach
BERLIN: Women sprinters who have sex before competing generally perform better
but men should avoid amorous exploits before taking
to the track, the trainer of Germany's men's sprinting team said on Friday.
"With women, it's not true that sex before competitions has negative effects. On
the contrary, we have scientific evidence that
women who have sex shortly before competing run better. It boosts performance,"
Uwe Hakus told Germany's Fit for Fun magazine. "With
women the testosterone levels rise when they have sex. But, unfortunately, male
testosterone levels fall after orgasm. And their
muscles are less able to contract," Hakus said.
However, Hakus warned that sexual intercourse before running could hit any
athlete's concentration. -Reuters



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

December 25, 2005:
Santa's Gold Rush 5-Mile, Richmond, CA
http://www.allsportrunning.com/EventInfo.cfm?EventID=11725

December 31, 2005:
Emerald Nuts Midnight Run - New York, NY
http://www.nyrr.org/nyrrc/org/home.html

December 31, 2005 - January 1, 2006
Running Times Guide to New Year's Races
http://www.runningtimes.com/special/05nyraces.htm

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

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:
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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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http://www.runnerswebcoach.com


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Triathlon Meetup
http://triathlon.meetup.com/r/d5n6/d5n6/0/http://triathlon.meetup.com/?a=d5n6/
Triathlon Meetups! Happening THIS month, find out when .

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The Stretching Video in a DVD version. With the DVD version you're able to use
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**END...OF DIGEST...**