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
health issues. The opinions expressed in the articles referenced by the Digest
are the opinions of the writers and not necessarily
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Visit the Runner's Web at http://www.runnersweb.com The site is updated multiple
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4. National Capital Race Weekend - Ottawa, ON May 26 - 28, 2006
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5. Toronto Waterfront Marathon. September 24, 2006.
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6. Sof Sole Offer:
A free pair of our technical socks ($9.99 value) with the purchase of any Sof
Sole insole.
http://www.sofsole.com/pages/promo/rwebsockoffer.html

7. The Toronto Marathon, October 15, 2006
http://www.torontomarathon.com

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:

GMail:
If you use Google's Gmail, you can use their new Web Clips function to add RSS
News Feeds to the top of your mail page. Click on
settings, then Web Clips and add the Runner's Web RSS Feed URL
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www.coreperformance.com. We hope you can take a look yourself
and then invite your audience to try us free for a week. If you do so, please
use code CP-IDINAMM..."

Check out our new RunnersWebCoach Interactive Training site at:
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Sign up today and try Runnerswebcoach.com for free for 14 days!
Sign up for 6 months with Gold or any Platinum package and get a free Timex
monitor at:
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The Runner's Web Store (www.store.runnersweb.com) updated with a number of new
products (Adidas eyewear, Bolle eyewear, Nike
watches, etc.) as well as the addition of the new Holiday Guide '05. You can
check out the new holiday guide at the following URL:
http://store.runnersweb.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=10

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,
Ottawa-based website which provides worldwide running and triathlon news updated
daily.
Full clinic details are available at www.TriathlonOttawa.com.


Buy Paula Radcliffe's book, My Story - So Far, from Amazon UK at:
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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:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/cts_columns.html.

* Peak Performance Online
Peak Performance is a subscription-only newsletter for athletes, featuring the
latest research from the sports science world. We
cover the whole range of sports, from running and rowing to cycling and
swimming, and each issue is packed full of exclusive
information for anyone who's serious about sport. It's published 16 times a
year, including four special reports, by Electric Word
plc. Peak Performance is not available in the shops - only our subscribers are
able to access the valuable information we publish.
Check out our article archive from Peak Performance Online at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/PPO_index.html

* 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 over
13 years, and in the past two it has been awarded the "Golden Shoe Award" in
recognition of it's outstanding achievements.
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Check out the Peak Running article index at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/PRP_index.html .

* 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,
practical, scientifically based information about
training, sports nutrition, injury prevention, and injury rehabilitation. The
purpose of this weekly e-zine is to improve
subscribers' training quality and to help them train in an injury-free manner.
Running Research News also publishes a complete, 12-page, electronic newsletter
10 times a year (one-year subscriptions are $35); to
learn more about Running Research News, please see the Online Article Index and
"About Running Research News" sections below or go
to RRNews.com.
Check out the article index at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/RRN_index.html


THIS WEEK'S PERSONAL POSTINGS/RELEASES:
We have ONE NO personal posting this week:

1. FROM: richard_loin@...
DATE: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 13:57:56 -0000
SUBJECT: Great Smaller Marathon In Virginia- April 15 2006
The Charlottesville Marathon is in its 4th year. it has been called in Running
Times ,the most scenic marathon in the East. Info
available at www.charlottesvillemarathon.com or
434-293-7115


THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Multisport: The Trouble with Relying on Heart Rate Monitors
Learning to Run Using the Alternative.
2. Athletics: A Runner's Guide To ITBS
3. The First Step: Aerobic Training
4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
5. Featured workout: Descending intervals:
6. Barley products can claim heart benefits: FDA
7. A new approach to strength training for runners
8. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - First Light
9. Bumper crop of scandal raised in Illinois cornfields?
10. Runners aiming for marathons should be cautious
11. From Runner's World
12. Just no stopping Freeman
Andover Olympian copes with diabetes.
13. Linking the Lab with the Runner
14. Sports Drinks Vs. Carbohydrate Gels
15. Concepts of Exercise Physiology for Runners
16. Swimming will only take you so far
17. The Physiology of Deep Water Running as a Training Program
18. The Trouble with Relying on Heart Rate Monitor
Learning to Run Using the Alternative.
19. Revelations kept coming in 2005
From chocolate's charm to fibre's failing, the nutrition news was often
startling.
20. Causes and solutions for runners' intestinal concerns
21. What's in a name?
Shin splints encompass a broad range of lower-leg ailments.
22. Fitness experts: 'Don't let kids hibernate'
Children may burn half as many calories in winter.
23. Three Great Marathon Predictor Workouts
24. Which Hydrates Better: Water or A Sports Drink?
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Which of the following roles have you played in sport?"
Athlete
Coach
Official
Sponsor

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:
"Which aspects of race organization are important to you?" The results at
publication time:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Certified course 27 12%
2. Accurate timing 31 14%
3. Traffic-free course 41 18%
4. Aid stations 24 11%
5. T-shirts 24 11%
6. Finisher medals 22 10%
7. Prize money 8 4%
8. Medical services 14 6%
9. Large field 7 3%
10. Other 26 12%
Total Votes: 224


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: National Distance Running Hall of Fame.
On July 11, 1998, a hall of fame was established to honor the sport of distance
running. The National Distance Running Hall of Fame
is dedicated to honoring the athletes who have made contributions to the sport
of distance running, contributions that have brought
distance running fame and recognition. From the sport's top runners and most
decorated athletes to those who pushed the sport's
barriers and eventually broke them, the Hall of Fame honors their talents,
initiative and drive.
The only sport that is all inclusive, distance running can be enjoyed by
everyone from the amateur to the professional. It is
inexpensive and can be enjoyed throughout a lifetime. Running changes people's
lives. Within the Hall, visitors will find the
history of distance running shown through both the eyes of the runner and
spectator. Pictures, memorabilia and awards decorate the
exhibit rooms and pull the visitor into the runner's world, a place often
inhabited by the runner who alone challenges and pushes
the human spirit. The Hall of Fame celebrates the sport's greatest moments and
bestows the highest honor on outstanding athletes in
the sport - induction into the Hall of Fame.
Why Utica? Utica, N.Y. is the home of The Boilermaker 15K Road Race, the largest
15K in the nation with nearly 10,000 runners.
Though located in a small city, The Boilermaker consistently ranks as one of
Runner's World's Top 100 Races. The community's
widespread support, with 4,000 volunteers and over 30,000 spectators, has
garnered the Runner's World Community Spirit Award. The
Hall serves as a clearinghouse for information on the sport of distance running.
The Hall encourages races to submit applications
and race results. The Hall also welcomes writings about the sport, photography
and memorabilia.
Check out the site at:
http://www.distancerunning.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: Workouts in a Binder - Indoor Cycling.
By Dirk Friel and Wes Hobson.
Is your time on the trainer starting to feel a little stale? Workouts in a
BinderR for Indoor Cycling is here to rescue your indoor
rides. Choose from 60 workouts. Each one tackles a different objective with
enough variety to keep your indoor sessions fun and
productive. You can select one of the six training plans in the book or pepper
workouts into your personal program as needed. Each
set lets you use heart rate, perceived exertion, power output, or a combination
of all three to track your performance. And because
indoor rides are inevitable, these workouts are compact enough to travel and
sweatproof for when you redline. Only problem: Now
there's no excuse for bagging your ride on a rainy day. But then again, when you
turn on the hurt next spring, that'll be someone
else's problem. Spiral-bound paperback.
Buy the book from VeloPress at:
http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?velogear+eKkA9X+woinbiforinc.html



THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

1. Multisport: The Trouble with Relying on Heart Rate Monitors
Learning to Run Using the Alternative.
Heart monitors were one of the best tools to be made available to the public in
the mid 1980's . The average Joe was able to afford
a 'coach' and have their 'coach' with them at all times. If you thought you were
training too hard, all you had to do was look down
at your wrist and see what your HRM was telling you. Did you think you were
going too easy? The HRM told you that as well. It was
and is like having a coach right by your side
You can even program HRMs now to let you know when to start and finish an
interval. You can record data points for your HR, pace,
max altitude, distance run, calories burned and even the elevation gain of your
run. Pretty neat huh? Yeah, I think so too.
Somehow when we learned to be smarter about our training we got a little too
smart. We check our HRs when we get up, at lunch before
bed and !gasp! during our 'night time, indoor, under the sheets exercise'. We
know the altitude gain of our favorite runs and
measure our pace to the tenths of a mile. We chase monthly training numbers like
we are going to win a prize for compiling the most
miles or the most accurate log or maybe even the most anal log. C'mon people -
do we need to be that analytical about it? Some
people would like you to think so. Of course being a civilization of information
we constantly want to know how we are doing. We
have GPS and temperature gauges in our cars, we know how many monthly minutes we
use on our cell phones, how long to thaw the
chicken in the microwave and how long it takes us to relieve ourselves in the
rest room between commercials. It's not that this is a
completely bad thing, but we train to have fun, to relieve stress in our lives
and to live happier, healthier and longer lives. At
least that is why I do it. I enjoy the training a lot more than the racing and
even more than that, I enjoy the camaraderie. So it's
important we drop the paralysis by analysis.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051229_D3_HRM.html


2. Athletics: A Runner's Guide To ITBS:
Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) is the most common cause of pain on the outside
of the knee in runners, with an incidence as high as
12% of all running-related overuse injuries. Although it is not difficult to
diagnose, it can be a challenge to treat, especially in
higher mileage runners who place enormous loads on their bodies. This article
has been written to help the runner diagnose,
understand and begin to treat IT band friction syndrome.
What Is The Iliotibial Band?
The IT band is not a muscle. It is a thick band of tissue called fascia that
starts on the outside of the hip, passes down the
outside of the thigh and inserts into the side of the patella (knee cap) and the
tibia, (shin bone).
Fascia is a sheath-like tissue that surrounds muscles. The ITB has the tensile
strength of soft steel, which explains why it is so
difficult to mobilize.
As well as arising from the iliac crest, (hip bone) the ITB attaches into the
gluteal muscles at the back and tensor facia lata
muscle at the front. (See Figure 1)
When these muscles contract, they increase tension on the band. Often, one
muscle dominates the movement pattern causing an
imbalance to occur, which may lead to injury.
What Are The Symptoms Of ITBS?
. Pain from the ITB is easily recognized as a sharp or burning pain on the
outside of the knee when running. Typically, an athlete
is unable to "run through" ITB pain.
. Early on, symptoms will subside shortly after the run is over, but will return
with the next run, usually after a reproducible
amount of time.
. Later, if there has been no positive intervention, the pain may come on sooner
and persist with walking or going up and down
stairs.
. Tenderness may be felt on the outside of the knee when pressure is applied,
especially when the knee is slightly bent.
. There is not usually any swelling associated with this problem, but the band
itself may be thickened.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20051230_Schofield_ITBS.html


3. The First Step: Aerobic Training:
This is the third in a series of six articles on the art of coaching. The first
two articles dealt with goal setting and
establishing a periodized plan based on identified goals. Once goals have been
set, both long term and short term, and a periodized
plan has been established to meet those goals, then it is time to start specific
training. Developing a training program follows
logical steps. No matter where the athlete is on the ascending ladder of
performance, the place to begin a new program is always at
the first step: aerobic base building.
Aerobic training is the central feature of any effective training program. It is
the basis for all that comes between the beginning
of fitness and the culmination of a racing season. The term "aerobic" refers to
an organism's ability to function in the presence of
oxygen. The degree to which an endurance athlete can efficiently move oxygen
through their body and the extent to which the athlete
can effectively utilize that oxygen will determine, in large part, how fast any
athlete can run distance races. As coaches we can
usually improve racing ability in a beginning athlete by just gradually adding
more volume. Just by itself, increasing the training
load of an athlete doing less than 30 miles/week quite often improves racing
performance by expanding an under developed aerobic
system. For more experienced runners, who might already be training at 30+ miles
per week, the increased mileage often allows for
greater work loads of more intense running further along in the training cycle.
In other words, a lot of easy running early in the
training cycle builds a greater ability to tolerate relatively large loads of
intense training later. Increased aerobic ability
creates not only additional work tolerance and better racing but also enhances
an athlete's ability to recover from hard efforts. In
short, more is better... but only up to a point!
More...from Anaerobic Management at:
http://anaerobic.net/resources10.html


4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Hypothermia and Frostbite
Hypothermia is a sudden drop in body temperature that can kill you. If you
dress properly and exercise vigorously enough, it should
never happen to you. Your body sends you
signals as your temperature starts to drop. With a one-degree drop in
temperature, your speech becomes slurred. This, in itself, is
not dangerous, and occurs when people stay out in temperatures below 35 degrees,
but it serves as a warning that you are losing more
heat than your body is producing. To protect yourself, you can produce more heat
by exercising harder or you can conserve heat by
adding more layers of clothes. With a drop of three degrees, you'll find it
difficult to coordinate your fingers.
Seek shelter immediately. When your temperature drops five degrees, you won't be
able to walk and you'll stumble and fall and not be
able to get up. Then you may not be able to get out of the cold and your body
temperature can continue to drop rapidly and you can
die. If your clothes are wet, your temperature will drop even faster. Take the
warning signals seriously; if you have slurred speech
or difficulty using your hands, take action or you may not get another chance.
Frostbite means that your skin is frozen. You have plenty of warning before that
happens. Your normal skin temperature is around 90
degrees. As your skin temperature starts to drop, blood vessels close and your
skin turns white. When the temperature reaches 59
degrees, your body attempts to rewarm your skin by opening the blood vessels,
causing your skin to tingle, itch, burn and turn red.
When this happens, get out of the cold. If you don't, the blood vessels in your
skin will close down again and your skin temperature
can drop below 30 degrees and start to freeze.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Will fasting before a big race improve my endurance?
No. Fasting became popular because of a study that showed rats can run further
after fasting than after eating. But rats are
different from people. In rats, fasting increased the rate
that a rat's muscles use fat, to preserve stored muscle sugar. In humans,
fasting does not cause muscles to burn more fat. After
fasting, human muscles continue to burn primarily their own sugar. Fasting for
24 hours uses up the same amount of muscle sugar as
running for 90 minutes.
How long you can exercise a muscle depends on how much sugar, called glycogen,
you can store and how long you can keep glycogen in
that muscle. When a muscle runs out of its stored glycogen, it hurts and you
will have difficulty coordinating it. Every time that
you move a muscle, some of the stored glycogen is used up. Every time that you
eat, some of the food can be stored as glycogen in
that muscle. When you go for a long time without eating, you use up glycogen
without replacing it. If you fast before a race, you
will start that race with reduced stores of glycogen in your muscles and you
will not be able to compete at your best.
It is nonsensical to claim that fasting increases endurance by causing muscles
to burn more fat and less glycogen so that muscles
can retain their stored glycogen longer.
When you start with less glycogen, you still use it up faster and run out of
fuel earlier. You can increase your endurance by
markedly cutting back on exercise four days before your
competition and eating as much or more than usual. If the competition lasts more
than two hours, you should also eat and drink
during the event.
From http://www.drmirkin.com


5. Featured workout: Descending intervals:
Descending intervals (DIs) train your body to buffer lactic acid, produce
anaerobic power, and sustain the repeated hard efforts
that often occur in a race.
This is a very intense workout that should only be performed once or twice a
month. You can perform DIs on your stationary trainer
or on a long flat section of road.
Start out with a high cadence (110) at a maximum effort. Your first effort can
be two or three minutes in length. Recovery time
between efforts should be the same as the effort. So if your effort is two
minutes, your recovery time will also be two minutes.
After each effort, cut the length of the next effort in half. For example, a
typical DI workout would be two minutes, one minute, 30
seconds, 15 seconds. I recommend two or three sets of DIs with at least 10
minutes recovery between sets. All efforts are performed
at maximum effort with a sustained high cadence.
Matt Russ has coached and trained athletes for over 10 years around the country
and internationally. He currently holds licenses by
USAT, USATF, and is an Expert level USAC coach. Matt has coached athletes for
CTS (Carmichael Training Systems), and has been
certified by Joe Friel's Ultrafit Association. Matt's fitness articles can be
found online and magazines such as Inside Triathlon.
Visit www.thesportfactory.com or e-mail him at mailto:info@... for
more information.


6. Barley products can claim heart benefits: FDA:
Cereals, breads and other products containing whole or milled barley grain can
now claim to reduce the risk of heart disease, U.S.
health officials said on Friday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ruling allows companies to immediately
begin advertising the benefit on their product
packages, which many food makers hope will help boost consumer sales.
"Consumers can expect to see whole barley and dry milled barley products such as
flakes, grits, flour, meal, and barley meal bearing
the health claim," the FDA said in a statement.
To qualify, barley-containing foods must provide at least 0.75 grams of soluble
fiber per serving, the agency said.
Shares of major food producers were mixed or flat in afternoon trading. The Dow
Jones U.S. Food Product Makers Index .DJUSFP> was
barely lower at 209.73.
Representatives for Kellogg Co. and General Mills Inc., the top two U.S. cereal
makers, could not be reached for comment. Archer
Daniels Midland Co., the world's largest grain processor, and ConAgra Foods
Inc., also could not be reached.
Barley is a cereal grain grown mostly in the Western United States as well as in
Australia, Canada and other countries, according to
the National Barley Foods Council, which first petitioned the FDA for the
decision in 2003.
More...from Reuters at:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-12-2\
3T191554Z_01_EIC367773_RTRUKOC_0_US-BARLEY.xml
[Long URL]


7. A new approach to strength training for runners:
I have been a strength and conditioning specialist for over ten years and a
runner/endurance athlete for six of those years. During
that time a few things have become readily apparent to me.
First I realized to win my age group (or even place for that matter) I should
have picked better parents since genetics is a big
factor. The second thing I realized is that if I have some free time I would
rather be outside running. Third and most importantly,
it amazes me that very few of the runners/endurance athletes I encounter ever
step foot inside the gym. If they do go to the gym it
is usually because of bad weather and they need to use the treadmill.
When I ask runners why they do not lift, the answers are invariably the same.
They feel that the additional pounds added from
strength training will be a decrement to performance. This is a common
misunderstanding. The truth is that the additional strength
and power output gained from the additional muscle mass far outweighs the stress
of carrying a few extra pounds. Furthermore the
ability of the endurance athlete to gain lean muscle mass is limited by an
endurance based program as well as the fact that most
runners (like myself) are not genetically predisposed to great gains in mass
(ectomorphs). Others feel that if they have free time
they should be out running.
More...from Cool Running at:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/a-new-approach-to-strengt.shtml


8. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - First Light:
I write this page on the shortest day the year. For early-morning or
late-evening runners, which is most of us, this also is the
darkest day for running.
My recent column titled "Traveling Light" (November 6th, 2005) told of a small
victory over the darkness. I started wearing a
headlight while running.
A bigger victory came soon afterward when I tweaked my schedule to take greater
advantage of the light source that shines brightest,
even in winter and through clouds. That's the sun.
Going out a little later on winter mornings let me run into daylight, if not
always to start in it. Rereading an old RC column,
rerun here from December 1998, helped me see -- and seek -- the light.
Wet and cold I can take. But the dark runs of winter are my least favorite --
and not just because my feet go down on faith that
they'll find safe ground, not because I feel unseen by drivers, not because time
is invisible unless I stop and squint at the pale
light of the watch.
I'm a morning runner by choice and habit. But in winter six A.M. isn't the
morning; it's still nighttime.
Here in the gray Northwest we wait until almost eight o'clock to see full
daylight. This keeps earlier runners in the dark for most
of their runs, which can become depressing.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/546.html


9. Bumper crop of scandal raised in Illinois cornfields?
It began on a September day in 2003 with a search warrant for a building just
south of San Francisco International Airport, with two
dozen law enforcement agents screeching up in unmarked cars and a police
helicopter pounding overhead.
Soon the tentacles of the BALCO doping case had reached into professional
baseball and football, into Olympic track and field, into
championship boxing, into the very consciousness of the American sports fan.
There was grand-jury testimony and U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency sanctions and congressional hearings with pumped-up athletes stuffed into
designer suits talking about designer steroids.
And now the trail has led to a three-story beige building in the cornfields of
central Illinois, to a nutritional supplement company
called Proviant Technologies and what investigators believe is the true genius
behind the whole operation. To a 39-year-old organic
chemist who signed off his frequent Internet postings with: "Fist in the air in
the land of hypocrisy."
To Patrick Arnold.
"The real message is," says Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping
Agency, "for once, the upstream folks are going to be in
at least as much trouble as the athlete users."
Victor Conte - founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative for which the
BALCO scandal is named - ultimately negotiated a plea
deal; he is serving a four-month prison term at a minimum-security camp in the
San Joaquin Valley, followed by four months of home
confinement. Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds' personal trainer, got three months in
prison and three months' home confinement. James
Valente, BALCO's vice president, got probation.
More...from MercedSearch.com at:
http://www.mercedsearch.com/news/516.html


10. Runners aiming for marathons should be cautious:
Audacious would-be athletes who plan to add "complete a marathon" to their list
of new year's resolutions should exercise caution
and common sense, say running experts.
"Goal setting is really important because you don't want to set an unrealistic
target and then be disappointed and even hurt
yourself," said Bruce Kidd, a former Olympian who is now dean of the faculty of
physical education and health at the University of
Toronto.
"That's true of any participant in physical activity - whether it's someone just
starting out or it's someone entering the
Olympics."
In recent years, marathons have become a matter of course for baby boomers
seeking an ultimate fitness experience.
Celebrities have also got in on the act, with megastars like Sean (Diddy) Combs
and Oprah Winfrey extolling the life-altering
virtues of a 42.2-kilometre run.
But the marathon boom has also brought a new hurdle: many people aiming for
running's holy grail are simply not prepared to complete
such a gruelling task.
Case in point: the popular Toronto running group JeansMarines was recently
banned from the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington.

The move came after group founder Dr. Jean Marmoreo was accused of helping some
runners take a shortcut to shave 6.4 kilometres from
the course so that they could avoid disqualification at this year's event.
More...from CTV at:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051226/marathons051226/200\
51226?hub=Health


11. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
When the weather gets downright nasty, cross-training can keep you fit,
condition muscles you usually don't use while running, and
leave you highly motivated to get out on the roads whenever you can. Alternating
short winter runs with other forms of exercise can
also eliminate any nagging aches and pains that may have accumulated during the
past year of running.
* Injury Prevention
Many runners wear braces, sleeves, and other knee-support devices needlessly. "I
know a number of runners who wear them without
consulting their physician," says sports physician Lewis Maharam, M.D. "If you
have chondromalacia or ITB syndrome, for example, you
may make it worse by wearing a knee support."
* Performance Nutrition
Cheers to Chilean Red: To reduce your risk of cancer, drink red wine from Chile.
Compared with Cabernet Sauvignon from France,
Chilean Cabernet contains 38 percent more flavonols, antioxidants that plunder
cancer-causing free radicals.


12. Just no stopping Freeman :
Andover Olympian copes with diabetes.
CANMORE, Alberta - Luke Bodensteiner sprints alongside Kris Freeman with an open
bottle of sports drink, in case the American skier
senses his blood sugar is low.
"Kris, if you need it!" hollers Bodensteiner, the U.S. Nordic director.
Freeman skates right past -a sign he is strong and the race is going well. Two
days later, during the longer 30-kilometer classic
World Cup cross-country race, he gladly accepts his signature mixture of soda
and espresso.
It's been more than five years since Freeman received the shocking news during a
routine U.S. ski team blood test that he had Type I
diabetes. Doctors told him his days as an elite athlete were probably over. Yet
two hours after the diagnosis, Freeman went to work
out. He cried the entire training session.
"I wasn't going to stop," says Freeman, who grew up skiing in the back woods of
Andover. "I didn't let it slow me down. I've gone
around the country and I've done a fair amount of speaking at diabetic events,
and the thing I think is the worst is when you see
parents pull their kids out of activities they love because they're concerned
about it. You've got to keep the kid living a normal
life and don't let them give up."
More...from the Concord Monitor at:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051227/REPOSITORY/512\
270342/1222


13. Linking the Lab with the Runner:
by Greg McMillan, M.S.
As an exercise physiologist, I believe understanding sports science can help you
train smarter and achieve your best performances.
As a professional coach and full-time runner, I understand that the scientific
jargon can be like, well, scientific jargon. There's
often a "disconnect" between what the physiologists say and what those in the
real world of training and racing say (and do!).
In this article (the first of many offered on this website), I present a simple
method to make the connection between science and
reality and show you how to use this connection to improve your running. This
way of looking at sports science gives you an idea of
the underlying tenants of my philosophy of training. It would be presumptuous to
say that this philosophy is a new, "magical"
method. It's essentially just the simple process I've used to make sense of
physiology and how it relates to the time-proven methods
of great runners and coaches - who are our greatest teachers of how to train and
race. The result is as close to a foolproof way to
plan your training as I've found.
More...from McMillanRunning.com at:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/Running%20University/Article%201/training%201.htm



14. Sports Drinks Vs. Carbohydrate Gels:
There is a lot of confusion among endurance athletes about the appropriate uses
of sports drinks versus carbohydrate gels. Most
endurance athletes understand when and how to use sports drinks, but many have
questions about when gels can substitute for sports
drinks and whether and how their use can complement that of sports drinks.
Let's answer these questions.
During exercise, the body loses fluids comprised of water and electrolyte
minerals and it burns carbohydrate. Athletes can enhance
their performance and delay fatigue by consuming these nutrients in appropriate
forms during exercise. Sports drinks - the better
ones, anyway (e.g. Accelerade, Revenge Pro) - are formulated to replace water
and electrolytes in the proper balance and to provide
carbohydrates in a form that is quickly absorbed and metabolized. Abundant
research has shown that consuming sports drinks during
workouts and races lasting an hour or more enhances performance significantly.
One feature of sports drinks that is consistently under-appreciated by athletes
is their osmolality, which refers to how quickly
they are absorbed through the stomach and intestine. Sports drinks are
generally formulated to be as concentrated as possible
without negatively affecting their absorption rate, because if they were too
concentrated they would pool in the stomach and
intestine, where they would not only do no good but would also cause nausea and
cramps. For this reason athletes should not combine
the use of sports drinks with the use of other ergogenic aids such as energy
bars and carbohydrate gels during intense exercise.
These combinations are too concentrated and will absorb too slowly to provide
the blood and muscles with the nutrients they need.
More...from Powering Muscles at:
http://69.94.64.50/poweringmuscles.com/article.php?article_id=98


15. Concepts of Exercise Physiology for Runners:
Capillaries. Myoglobin. Slow-twitch fibers. Glycogen. These are the stuff of
long-distance running. The Kenyans have lots of them.
President Bush (#1 and #2) has them. And you have them too. This is also the
stuff of exercise physiology.
Exercise physiology is the science behind what you do on the roads and trails
every day. And while you may run to improve your
racing times, to relieve stress, or to lose weight, your body is constantly
adapting and improving. Running does many wonderful
things to make your body a more efficient running machine. Here are 6 concepts
from exercise physiology for runners:
I. Your muscles adapt very specifically to training
This means is that if you run on flat terrain, you will not have trained your
muscles to run uphill. And if you run slowly, you will
not have trained the additional fast-twitch muscle fibers needed to race at a
faster pace.
Your muscles are composed of several types of muscle fibers. You have probably
heard the terms "slow-twitch" and "fast-twitch"
fibers. The fast-twitch fibers actually come in 3 varieties, fast-twitch A, B
and C. When you run slowly you use your slow-twitch
fibers almost exclusively, but as you increase speed, you also use your
fast-twitch A fibers, and at peak speed you use all types of
fibers.
What does this mean for your running?
When you train slowly, you only activate your slow-twitch fibers, so the
fast-twitch fibers stay untrained. You need to train those
fast-twitch fibers in order to improve your racing performances!
Sounds like lots of speedwork, right?
Not necessarily. Dr. Phillip Gollnick, an exercise physiologist and biochemist
at Washington State University has shown that the
recruitment of additional muscle fibers is determined by the amount of force
required by the muscle, not the speed. What this
suggests is that you can increase your speed by increasing the force your leg
muscles can exert.
More...from Copacabana Runners at:
http://www.copacabanarunners.net/i-exercise-physiology.html


16. Swimming will only take you so far:
Q. I have a question concerning a cross-training article I read. Basically, it
stated that for runners, swimming will improve your
running because of your increased ability to handle lactate. The author
theorized that when you run, you don't use your arms much.
When you swim, you use them a lot. Therefore, by cross-training with swimming,
you can create extra "lactate buffering capacity" in
your arms that your body can utilize while running. It sounds good, but it
sounds too good to be true.
--Andy Winch, Portsmouth, VA
A. I think you're right; this idea probably is too good to be true. Its validity
depends on three important assumptions, which we
will evaluate below.
ASSUMPTION #1: Lactic acid causes fatigue.
This assumption is somewhat controversial. In the old days, fatigue during
exercise was usually attributed to a buildup of lactic
acid (also called lactate, which technically is the non-acidic part of lactic
acid). It is now clear that many factors other than
lactic acid can cause fatigue, and some researchers have even suggested that
lactic acid does not impair muscle function (Nielsen et
al., Journal of Physiology 536: 161-6, 2001; Stackhouse et al., Physical Therapy
81: 1897-1903, 2001). Nevertheless, at least three
lines of evidence indicate that an accumulation of lactic acid can be
detrimental to performance.
First of all, the so-called "lactate threshold" -- the running speed at which
the amount of lactic acid in your blood rises above a
certain baseline value -- is an excellent predictor of running performance at
distances of 5 kilometers to the marathon (Tanaka et
al., Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 16: 278-82, 1984; Coyle,
Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 23: 25-63, 1995).
Second, the ingestion of buffers that counteract the acidity of lactic acid can
delay fatigue, at least in some types of exercise
(McNaughton et al., European Journal of Applied Physiology 80: 64-9, 1999).
Third, muscles' ability to generate ATP -- their main
source of chemical energy -- is impaired by acidic conditions (Paganini et al.,
American Journal of Physiology 272: C501-10, 1997;
Walter et al., American Journal of Physiology 272: C525-34, 1997; Conley et al.,
Journal of Experimental Biology 204: 3189-94,
2001). Collectively, this evidence suggests that lactic acid can indeed cause
fatigue.
More...from Greg Cowther at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/RBC/QandA4.shtml


17. The Physiology of Deep Water Running as a Training Program:
Introduction
Running related injuries are common and frequently due to overuse. The
prescription of an appropriate training protocol to maintain
an injured athlete-s cardiovascular and muscular fitness is a major challenge
for the treating clinician. Often part of the
treatment program involves reducing or discontinuing training. This inactivity
can result in a significant loss of cardiovascular
fitness (Coyle 1984). Research has shown that a six- week break from training
can result in a 14-16% decrease in maximal oxygen
uptake (VO2max), a significant indicator of aerobic performance (Coyle 1984).
When athletes have been required to avoid full weight-bearing activities often
forms of non-weight bearing exercise, such as
swimming or cycling, is prescribed to maintain fitness levels. Such activities
lack specificity to running. Deep water running (DWR)
however, involves the simulation of running while being suspended in deep water
by the use of a floatation device. This essentially
weightless environment eliminates the ground reaction force associated with heel
strike. It has gained popularity in the
rehabilitation of injured runners as it is seen to have high specificity by
simulating the same muscle groups in a similar movement
pattern to running on land (Hamer and Morton 1990). The research to support this
theory has often been of poor experimental design
with low subject numbers. This paper aims therefore to examine the available
literature in an attempt to evaluate the efficacy of
DWR as an alternative to running on land. Parameters such as frequency,
intensity and duration of training are examined with regard
to their effect on maintaining cardiovascular fitness and strength.
Aerobic Performance
Following injury most athletes are concerned regarding their loss of aerobic
fitness during the recovery process. If DRW is to be
prescribed as an alternative to land running it is important to examine the
effect of this exercise on maintaining or improving
aerobic ability.
Hamer and Morton (1990) performed a study that examined DRW with regard to
aerobic, anaerobic and muscular parameters. Twenty
untrained subjects were randomly allocated into a DWR and a control group. The
DRW group underwent an eight-week interval- training
program with 20-45 minutes per session three times per week. Aerobic performance
parameters measured were maximum O2 consumption
(VO2max), maximal oxygen pulse (O2 pulse max), maximal ventilation (VEmax) and
sub-maximal and maximum heart rate (HRmax). These
were measured on an incremental treadmill test to volitional exhaustion.
Muscular endurance was examined by measuring knee flexor
and extensor torque output on a Cybex II. A graded exercise test was performed
by the DWR group to determine VO2max and the
relationship between HR and oxygen consumption during running in water. Training
was performed three times per week and target HR's
increased from 60% (wks 1-2) to 70% (wks 3-6) to 80%VO2max (wk 6-8).
Significant increases in VO2max and O2pulse occurred in the DWR group that were
not found in the control group. Significant
decreases occurred in HRmax of the DWR group compared to the control. The DWR
group also demonstrated a 13% increase in anaerobic
peak power, anaerobic mean power and anaerobic total work. As in other studies
they found lower heart rates (6-12b/min) at VO2max
and O2pulsemax measured while DWR compared with treadmill running. Hamer and
Morton (1990) concluded that the six-week training
protocol used demonstrated DWR to effectively increase both aerobic and
anaerobic fitness.
More...from the Curtin School of Physiotherapy at:
http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/resources/educational-resources/exphys/00/dee\
p_water.cfm


18. The Trouble with Relying on Heart Rate Monitor:
Learning to Run Using the Alternative.
Heart monitors were one of the best tools to be made available to the public in
the mid 1980's . The average Joe was able to afford
a 'coach' and have their 'coach' with them at all times. If you thought you were
training too hard, all you had to do was look down
at your wrist and see what your HRM was telling you. Did you think you were
going too easy? The HRM told you that as well. It was
and is like having a coach right by your side.
You can even program HRMs now to let you know when to start and finish an
interval. You can record data points for your HR, pace,
max altitude, distance run, calories burned and even the elevation gain of your
run. Pretty neat huh? Yeah, I think so too.
Somehow when we learned to be smarter about our training we got a little too
smart. We check our HRs when we get up, at lunch before
bed and !gasp! during our 'night time, indoor, under the sheets exercise'. We
know the altitude gain of our favorite runs and
measure our pace to the tenths of a mile. We chase monthly training numbers like
we are going to win a prize for compiling the most
miles or the most accurate log or maybe even the most anal log. C'mon people -
do we need to be that analytical about it? Some
people would like you to think so. Of course being a civilization of information
we constantly want to know how we are doing. We
have GPS and temperature gauges in our cars, we know how many monthly minutes we
use on our cell phones, how long to thaw the
chicken in the microwave and how long it takes us to relieve ourselves in the
rest room between commercials. It's not that this is a
completely bad thing, but we train to have fun, to relieve stress in our lives
and to live happier, healthier and longer lives. At
least that is why I do it. I enjoy the training a lot more than the racing and
even more than that, I enjoy the camaraderie. So it's
important we drop the paralysis by analysis.
There are days when we feel great during a workout, but our HRM tells us
otherwise. There are days when we can't get our HRs above a
certain threshold, yet we have our best workouts. So what happens when the HRM
is not in line with how we 'feel'? Do we listen
anyway or should we ignore the HRM and keep on our merry way? In my opinion,
sometimes it's ok to ignore that little number on your
wrist, and run by 'feel' or exertion.
More...from TriFuel.com at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/triathlon-training/the-trouble-with-relying-on-\
heart-rate-monitor-001165.php


19. Revelations kept coming in 2005:
From chocolate's charm to fibre's failing, the nutrition news was often
startling.
Like many other years, 2005 brought a mix of good news and bad news to the world
of nutrition. It's fair to say it was a good year
for omega-3, whole grains and chocolate. Even coffee lovers rejoiced when their
daily brew grabbed positive headlines.
But it wasn't all rosy. Along with the news we embraced, came unsettling -- and
surprising -- news. Our national waistline suffered
a strong blow. And it was a bad year for vitamin E supplements, low-carb diets
and our morning bowl of bran. Nutrition flip-flops
are to be expected. After all, nutrition is an evolving science. For every
positive study, there is usually a negative study and
this year was no exception.
The following is a look at some of the nutritional highlights of the past year:
Crash of the low-carb diet
Concerned for their health and bored with bacon and eggs, bun-less burgers, and
countless cheese sticks, dieters finally lost faith
in the low-carb lifestyle. This year was the demise of an era in which millions
of North Americans adopted high-protein diets packed
with meat and cheese and shunned breads, pasta, rice, fruit and milk in an
effort to shed weight.
The most popular low-carb regime, developed by Robert Atkins, was first
published in 1972 as Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. The Atkins
diet exploded in the 1990s and remained popular until last year. (Atkins died in
2003 after slipping and hitting his head on an icy
sidewalk.) Dr. Arthur Agatston's South Beach Diet (a version of low carb that's
not high in cholesterol-raising saturated fats like
the Atkins plan) hit bookstores in April of 2003 and flew off the shelves.
More...from the Globe and Mail at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051228/HBECK28/\
TPHealth/?query=leslie+beck


20. Causes and solutions for runners' intestinal concerns:
"More marathons are won or lost in the porta-toilets than at the dinner table"
proclaimed marathon king Bill Rodgers while talking
to a group of runners.
You can fully understand the truth in that statement if you're among the many
athletes who worry about unwanted pit stops, abdominal
cramps or diarrhea. Transit troubles and gastrointestinal (GI) concerns are
surprisingly common among both athletes and non-athletes
alike.
* An estimated 30 to 50 percent of distance runners experience intestinal
problems related to exercise.
* The vast majority (83 percent) of 471 marathoners who completed a survey
reported they suffered GI problems occasionally or
frequently during or after running: 53 percent experienced the urge to have a
bowel movement and 38 percent reported diarrhea. Women
were more likely than men to experience these problems.
* Among 155 mountain marathoners, 24 percent had intestinal symptoms; two
dropped out due to GI troubles.
Dieters (including athletes -- and those with eating disorders) are more likely
than non-dieters to report abdominal pain, bloating,
diarrhea and constipation.
* In a random survey of 2,500 Americans, 40 percent reported one or more
digestive symptoms in the month prior to the interview:
diarrhea (27 percent), abdominal pain (22 percent), bloating (16 percent). These
problems were more prevalent than expected and more
prevalent among women than men. Given the above data, we need to acknowledge
this fact: Bowel problems are a concern for many active
people. Yet this topic is rarely discussed; few athletes feel comfortable
discussing their dilemma with diarrhea. This article
addresses this concern and hopefully can reduce your transit troubles.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12440&sidebar=13


21. What's in a name?
Shin splints encompass a broad range of lower-leg ailments.
Allison is a 27-year-old scientist and runner who comes to the office
complaining of shin pain. "Doc, my shins hurt when I run," she
says. When asked, she describes a tightening pain in the soft, outside, muscular
part of the shin.
"Do your shins hurt more during exercise?" I ask. "Yes, once I get past 10
minutes or so, I get this tightening feeling in my shins.
It has become so bad that I can't run anymore. The weird thing is that 20
minutes after I stop running, the pain goes away, but it
comes back the next time I try to run."
Jennifer, a 25-year-old physician's-assistant student and triathlete, comes in
also complaining of shin pain. "I've been building my
running mileage, and over the past few weeks, my shins have been aching like
crazy."
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12619


22. Fitness experts: 'Don't let kids hibernate':
Children may burn half as many calories in winter.
It's cold. The noon sky is gray and the sledding hill is all ice. Dave
Hilderbrandt stands at the crest, watching his 8-year-old
daughter and her friend gleefully zoom down on their plastic sled.
Neither cold nor snow can keep the Hilderbrandts from getting regular exercise.
"We've been out here in blizzards," said Hilderbrandt, a resident of this Albany
suburb. "Of course, we don't stay long."
Keeping kids active when the weather is warm is child's play. But parents can
have a hard time keeping them moving when ice crystals
are forming on the windows. Even though winter weather can be a powerful
inducement for kids to play video games, watch TV and just
generally hibernate, pediatricians say it is important to make the effort.
Researchers believe children burn about half as many calories in the winter as
they do in the summer. Fitness expert Peter Rehor of
Camosun College in British Columbia, Canada, said that while children tend to
eat more in the winter, the larger problem is a
decrease in activity.
More...from CNN at:
http://us.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/12/28/winter.activekids.ap/index.html


23. Three Great Marathon Predictor Workouts:
By Greg McMillan, M.S.
As the race approaches, marathoners want to know which pace is the right pace -
the one that achieves the fastest time possible and
avoids the all too common fade in the final few miles. This article discusses
the three workouts that I use to gauge the best race
pace for the marathoners I coach. The predictions are not fool-proof, but I find
them to work for the vast majority of marathoners.
As you prepare for your next marathon, these workouts can be helpful in your
race planning.
The 3 Best Marathon Predictor Workouts
Fast Finish Long Runs
The Fast Finish Long Run has quickly become a mainstay for competitive
marathoners. I learned it from Gabriele Rosa - the coach of
world record holder Paul Tergat - but many other coaches and athletes have used
it successfully for years. On my website, a detailed
article on how to run a fast finish long run is presented. I recommend that you
read the article in addition to this section.
In the fast finish long run, you run the first eight to 12 miles of a 14- to
18-mile long run at your normal steady running pace
(usually 30 seconds to one and a half minutes slower than marathon pace).
However, over the last three to 10 miles of the run, you
run faster and faster. Once you've become accustomed to this workout, I've found
that the pace you can 'average' for the last six to
10 miles of a fast finish long run is the pace you can likely sustain for the
marathon.
More...from McMillan Running at:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/Running%20University/Article%205/marathonpredicto\
rs.htm


24. Which Hydrates Better: Water or A Sports Drink?
Water is by far the most popular fluid choice during exercise. However, sports
drinks actually do a better job of hydration.
Why do sports drink hydrate better than water? There are three reasons. First,
fluids are absorbed through the gut and into the
bloodstream faster when their osmolality closely matches that of the blood
itself. Osmolality is the concentration of dissolved
particles in a fluid. Sports drinks contain dissolved minerals (sodium, etc.)
and carbohydrates, whereas water does not, so water
does not reach the bloodstream as quickly.
Sodium and other nutrients also play important roles in regulating fluid balance
in the body. In other words, they help determine
how much fluid enters into muscle fibers and other cells, how much remains in
the blood, and so forth. Again, because sports drinks
contain these nutrients, they do a better job of allowing the body to maintain
optimal fluid balance, which is an important aspect
of hydration.
A third advantage of sports drinks over water with respect to hydration is that
the sodium content of sports drinks stimulates
thirst, so athletes usually drink more when they have a sports drink than when
they have plain water.
The Protein Advantage
Conventional sports drinks such as Gatorade contain no protein. Yet new
research shows that sports drinks containing a small amount
of protein hydrate even better.
One of the most important characteristics of any sports drink is its gastric
emptying rate - that is, how fast empties from an
athlete's stomach. The faster a sports drink enters the bloodstream from the
stomach and intestine, the faster it hydrates the body.
More...from Powering Muscles at:
http://69.94.64.50/poweringmuscles.com/article.php?article_id=117


25. Digest Briefs:
* (Buzz Factor)
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have discredited the belief that
downing caffeine-a known diuretic-increases the risk
of dehydration in active people. During a 2005 study, fit male subjects who
exercised four times a week were split into three
groups. One group knocked back a placebo, one gulped down the caffeine
equivalent of 14 ounces of coffee, while the other swallowed
a double dose of the energizer. The results showed no increase in urine
production by any group, indicating that a caffeine boost
each day won't put the active set into a liquid deficit.
* Winter Warm Up
By Coach Matt Russ
The great thing about winter training is that your body does not have to expend
a lot of energy cooling itself. Core body
temperatures stay lower when compared to training in the heat and sweat rate is
reduced. The downside is that it takes longer to
warm up. Starting a training session without a proper warm up in cold
temperatures can lead to injury. This is a good time to get in
the habit of warming up.
A proper warm up can be as easy as gradually bringing up your work out pace. For
a run you may want to fast walk for 10-15 minutes
before starting a slow run that proceeds to work out pace. I am not a proponent
of extended stretching prior to a work out but a few
minutes of dynamic callisthenic stretches are a good way to get blood flow to
the joints, tendons, and ligaments.
From the Sport Factory at: http://www.thesportfactory.com
* From Runner's World:
Words That Inspire:
"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable."
-Coco Chanel, designer
Editor's Advice:
"Instead of being locked into a long run on a specific day each week, remain
flexible. When good weather is forecasted, be ready to
go. Also remember that a short run is better than no run. Run for 15 minutes
here, 20 minutes there as the weather permits." - Katie
Herrell, RW.com associate producer
Training Talk:
"To minimize damage both in training and in racing, keep your weight low, wear
shoes with plenty of support, and run with a
shuffling style to lessen the pounding on your legs and feet." - From Runner's
World Complete Book of Running by Amby Burfoot



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

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

First Night Saratoga 5K Run, Saratoga Springs, NY
http://www.firstnightsaratoga.org

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

Sunday, January 1:
Resolution Run 5K, Seattle, WA
http://www.promotionevents.com/reso-06/home.htm

New Year's 5K, Columbus, OH
http://www.premierraces.com


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

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:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join

YOUR FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS:
Comments, contributions and feedback are always welcome via this list at:
mailto:runnersweb@yahoogroups.com and in our Runner's Web Forum, available off
our FrontPage. If you post to the mailing list and
get your email returned, please contact the Runner's Web at
mailto:webmaster@... to notify us of the problem. To update your
Runner's Web eGroups subscriber's profile, go to the web
site at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join, sign in and update your changes.
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join

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
RunnersWebCoach
http://www.runnerswebcoach.com


********************************************
RUNNER'S WEB AFFILIATE PROGRAMS:
*********************************************

Mental Strength Training Center:
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National Bike Registry
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Axill
Sony vs Panasonic:
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Buy Paula Radcliffe's book, My Story - So Far, from Amazon UK at:
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Endurance Films
Triathlon Training DVDs
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Instant Stretching Routines
Design unlimited stretching routines today, starting from scratch, in under 60
seconds!
http://www.instantstretchingroutines.com/cgi-bin/a.cgi?a=runnersweb

ShoeWallet.com has set out on a mission to enable people to easily carry ID and
medical information at all times. Basically, anyone
who is out on the roads or trails needs a convenient place to carry this vital
information.
http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?joggerscompanion+pXgxpm+index.html+

SportsShoes in the UK
http://www.sportsshoes.com/index.php?id=149

Visit on AssociatesShop.com Online Bookstore for running and triathlon books:
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LX Sport - Leading Edge Sports Products for Women.
"We strive hard to bring you the best fitness and sports products on the market
that we can find. Our product range is constantly
evolving"
http://www.lxsport.com/products.php?PARTNER=runnersweb. Use the promotion code
"RWEB".
This application was recently featured on National TV - please see the following
link:
http://easylink.playstream.com/networknewssource/hdo/onlinetrainer.wvx

TrainingPeaks.com by Wes Hobson.
Find the training program that fits you at:
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/rw

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

TriSwim Coach - The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming
http://hop.clickbank.net/?rhianyth/triswim1

adidas' running apparel at 15% off! All running shorts, pants, and
shirts at reduced prices .
http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=20812557&siteid=39999062&bfpage=15745\
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If you have an accident while running or cycling, do you want your family to be
contacted? Do you want to receive immediate and
proper medical treatment?
If so, make this cool item part of your gear -- for safety and peace of mind.
Road ID has created 4 awesome ways for athletes to
wear ID: the SHOE, the WRIST, the ANKLE, and the NECK. Get your RoadID at:
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The Stretching Handbook:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cmd.php?af=245575
The Stretching Video in a DVD version. With the DVD version you're able to use
the convenient menu facility to:
* Go directly to a specific stretch;
* View only stretches for a specific muscle group;
* Pause each stretch to get a good look at how it is performed;
* View only the introduction and rules for safe stretching; or
* Play the entire video from start to finish.
Buy the DVD at:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cgi-bin/at.pl?a=286905&e=products/video-dvd\
.htm

Buy all your sporting goods at Fogdog Sports, your anytime, anywhere sports
store.
Click here: http://www.fogdog.com/cgi-bin/affiliate?siteid=40054907

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