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
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6. The Toronto Marathon, October 15, 2006
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7. 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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% Increase 54% 59% 53% 54% 33% 34%

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THIS WEEK:

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:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/074325242X/runnersweb-21

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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
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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:
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* Peak Running Performance
Peak Running Is The Nation's Most Advanced Running Newsletter. Rated as the #1
Running Publication by Road Runner Sports (Worlds
Largest Running Store) , Peak Running caters to the serious / dedicated runner.
Delivering world class running advice are some of
running's most recognizable athletes including Dr. Joe Vigil (US Olympic Coach),
Scott Tinley (2 Time Ironman Champ) Steve Scott (3 Time Olympian) and many more.
This bi-monthly newsletter has been around for over
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recognition of it's outstanding achievements.
http://www.clixGalore.com/EmailSale.aspx?BID=37234&AfID=103794&AdID=5075&LP=www.\
peakrunningperformance.com
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 NO personal postings this week:


THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Multisport by Lance Watson: Early Season Technique
2. Multisport: The A,B,C's of Planning Your Race Season
3. Cycling: Using Pain to your Advantage
4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
5. Coffee Limits Blood Flow To Heart Muscle During Exercise
6. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Sharing Stories
7. Stress test: working out with the boss
8. From Runner's World
9. Take Advantage of Light Days and Rest Days
10. Make the Race Count - Make a New Year's Resolution That Lasts!
11. Eating correctly - Carbo-loading considered
12. What's in a name?
Shin splints encompass a broad range of lower-leg ailments.
13. Cycling: Are you Reaching your Personal Performance Potential?
14. Running Times History - Chicago '84
15. The Gift - A Runner's Story
16. A Personal Trainer, Right in Your iPod
17. Nutrition tips for the traveling athlete
18. Garmin Forerunner 301 - GPS tracking with heart rate monitor
19. Psychological Training - Creating An Inner Desire
20. The Tri Club Potential of Group Riding, Part I
21. Cycling: The lost art of roller riding
22. Benefits Of Pilates, Evaluation By American Council On Exercise
23. Meet water's cooler cousins
Fruit flavored H2O? Not enough anymore. These days 'enhanced' can mean herbs,
even fiber. Whether the drinks do much is debatable.
24. Beer drinkers' diet reason to wine
Is red wine really the best type of alcohol for your heart?
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Do you listen to an MP3 player (or equivalent) when working out?"

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:
"How much money did you spend on your sport in 2005, including gear, entry fees,
travel, memberships, etc.?"
Answers Votes Percent
1. < $500 19 23%
2. $500 - $999 13 16%
3. $1,000 - $1,999 12 15%
4. $2,000 - $2,999 13 16%
5. $3,000 - $3,999 3 4%
6. $4,000 - $4,999 6 7%
7. $5,000 - $5,999 4 5%
8. $6,000 - $ 6,999 2 2%
9. $7,000 - $9,999 2 2%
10. $10,000+ 7 9%
Total Votes: 81


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: Sydney Striders.
"Welcome to Sydney Striders!
We like to be known as Australia's foremost club for people who enjoy running.
We encourage people to participate in our sport
through excellence in the events we host and the ways we foster the fraternity
of running. Most of all, our Club has a great
reputation for fun, fellowship and mutual support.
Back in 1980 when we were founded, Sydney Striders Road Runners Club focused on
long distance running, especially the marathon. Over
the years though, the Club's profile has broadened to include every type of
runner from 10K fun runner to experienced triathlete,
orienteer, track runner, and ultra-marathoner.
The common thread is that you enjoy running. Sydney Striders welcomes every
runner - male or female, young or old, social or
competitive. The diversity of members' interests and abilities is one of the
Club's strengths."
Check out the site at:
http://www.sydneystriders.org.au/

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

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


BOOK OF THE WEEK: Advanced Marathoning
Peter Pfitzinger, Scott Douglas
Want to run a faster marathon? Commitment and hard work are essential but you
also need to train smarter to run faster. Advanced
Marathoning contains all the information you'll need to run faster, peak for
multiple marathons without injury, and meet your
marathon goal-whether it's running a personal best, qualifying for the Boston
Marathon or winning your age division.
Extensive, day-to-day training schedules are targeted to your weekly mileage and
length of training program (12, 18, or 24 weeks).
These training schedules will have you racing at peak speed, whether you're
targeting one race or several during the season.
The more you know about why and how the plan works, the more motivated you'll be
to stick with the workouts. You'll also be better
able to assess your progress as you get closer to the big race. You'll learn the
scientific principles behind what makes you a
faster marathoner and which workouts you need to improve.
Buy the book from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736034\
315


THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

1. Multisport by Lance Watson: Early Season Technique:
When building back from a break into a new year, one way to prevent injury is
let your main focus be technique. Your body has just
been at rest for a while and although it may seem ready to get back into
training it's important to remember not to over do it. Your
body and mind need a break every year and the best time is usually after race
season is over. It is replenishing to take a break and
because of that many athletes are raring to get started once the New Year
begins. Strangely enough injuries often begin early in the
season and before the hard training has even begun. This occurs because some
athletes start hitting each workout full throttle too
soon. Unfortunately our heart and lungs may allow us to push really hard early
on in the season however all the body's little
muscles, ligaments and tendons have to be eased back into that type of training.
Having a training log that you can look back on
from previous years can be very valuable at the beginning of the New Year.
Checking to see what sort of progressions worked or
didn't work in previous years can help you head down the right path and get off
to a healthy start.
After you and your coach, come up with a smart progression you should focus on
allowing the fitness to come through good form and
consistency. Think about creating workouts that are successful based on
technical goals and maintaining the appropriate HR zone or
speed that you should be at early in the season. It is encouraging to feel fast,
or light on your toes earlier on in the year. It
may feel like a bonus and that this may be "the year" that you're really going
to get faster because you feel so good so early. It
is paramount that you and your training partners are careful about getting too
focused on these feelings. It's not really important
that you're feeling fast in January so re-direct your focus. Challenge yourself
to be focused on technique. There will be plenty of
weeks later on in the year where you will have no choice but to be focused on
your speed and your times. Think of the beginning of
each New Year as an opportunity to get excited about the little things and once
the season starts to unfold you will be further
ahead because of it. You don't want to be trying to fix technical things when
being fast should be your main focus.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060116_LW_Early_Season.html


2. Multisport: The A,B,C's of Planning Your Race Season:
By Matt Russ
This is an excellent time of year to consider what you would like to accomplish
athletically in the next. As with many things,
planning is the key to accomplishment for your race season.
If you are a recreational athlete, and your goal is simply to complete your
events, then you only need to train one aspect of
fitness; endurance. This entails planning enough time to slowly build your
mileage to within about 10-15% of the distance of your
goal race. Note that many overuse injuries are caused by too much mileage too
quickly. Do not increase your duration more than 10%
per week and take at least every fourth week as a rest and recovery week. During
a rest and recovery week you should cut back your
mileage by at least 25%, reduce your overall training volume, and add in an
extra rest or active recovery day. If you are a runner
take a day of non-impact cross training in place of a run.
Competitive athletes, however, must take a different approach. A competitive
athlete by my definition is any athlete that sets a
specific performance goal. This may be a simple as a personal record. You do not
have to win races to be competitive. If you would
like to set a personal record or race placement goal this season it will require
more careful planning and organization of your race
events. Start by prioritizing them into A, B, and C events.
Your "A" events are the ones you will direct your training efforts towards. For
best results they should be similar or the same
format (ex. sprint triathlon). These are your main goals for the season and your
training should gradually progress towards these
races or events. Put these on your calendar first. Note that A races take time
to train for. Plan on taking at least 12 weeks of
specific and directed training for an A races; this is called "peaking."
Schedule your A races in 4 week clusters or separate them
by at least 10-12 weeks. Your training should ramp in intensity and specificity
as you approach your A races. Your last work outs
prior to your A race taper should closely mimic race intensity and format.
What is a ??taper? ?? Tapering means reducing training volume prior to a goal
race in order to facilitate total and complete
recovery. You should incorporate a taper a week or two prior to A race(s). The
length of the taper will depend on the length of your
event; the longer the event the longer the taper length. From a training stand
point there is nothing you can do the week of a goal
race to physiologically increase performance but there are many opportunities to
reduce it. After completing an A race plan on
taking a week of active rest and recovery.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060117_TSF_Planning.html


3. Cycling: Using Pain to your Advantage:
If bike racing is all about who can suffer the most then certainly asking your
body to work beyond the point of comfort in order to
stay with a lead group becomes a requirement. Like inanimate pistons of a car
motor your legs must continue moving up and down
pushing the pedals while your mind ignores the cry of your muscles to stop.
Despite your heart pounding and moving up into your
throat, your mind has to ignore its pleas and continue sending signals to keep
working at that same level of effort. The mind is the
key component to this and critical to any success you'll achieve. You can follow
a training plan perfectly and prepare your body
well, but if your mind hasn't been trained to manage the pain, failure is too
much a possibility. This is simply about mental
toughness. If you too easily give in to the pain and stop or want some
strategies to use when you need to refuse to quit, read on.
As cyclists we all know the feelings that occur inside our bodies as the pace
goes from moderate to more intense. When the workload
becomes painful and the body wants to stop, we start searching within ourselves
for the moment when we will give in. Some days we
can stick it out a little longer than others, but eventually we reach the point
where we make the decision to pull off and slow
down. It feels good physically, but inside we know we need to be stronger and
somehow should be able to hold on longer before easing
up.
What I want you to consider is that instead of your mind being either on or off,
or in other words instead of mindlessly following
the group or maintaining an effort level to the point where our body looks to
the mind for permission to stop, involve the brain
much earlier. Do this by using the discomfort or pain as a trigger for several
strategies.
In the book, "Sport Psychology for Cyclists" the authors suggest several
strategies that I believe work well if you'll try them.
Below I've paired them down into my own words, but do suggest you pick up a copy
of the book and read it through. You might only
find one or two that work well for you, but I strongly encourage you to
experiment with them right now. Tempo work is a grueling
grind of a workout. It tests not only your dedication to becoming stronger, but
your desire and ability to suffer (though there is
more intensity to follow). The following suggestions are ideal for testing and
implementing during Tempo work. Do so and I'm sure
you'll find them useful out on the road and helpful when it's time to hammer.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060116_DT_Pain.html


4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Knee Injuries Are Forever:
Many sports injuries cause a progressive permanent osteoarthritis that will
prevent a person from exercising to cause the very
diseases that a regular exercise program is supposed to prevent. Sports
medicine surgeon James Garrick, writing in the medical
journal Lancet (December 2005), explains why. You are supposed to exercise. It
makes you stronger, faster, healthier and may even
prolong your life. However, every time you exercise, you risk injury and many
sports injuries last forever.
Depression, heart attacks, strokes, obesity and diabetes are all associated with
a sedentary lifestyle. A twisted ankle can change
an active person into a sedentary one. A torn anterior cruciate ligament or
meniscus of the knee has a greater than 50 percent
chance of causing permanent pain within five years, regardless of the treatment.
If you tear your anterior cruciate ligament of you knee, you must have it
repaired as soon as possible. After it is repaired at
surgery, you have an almost certain chance of tearing
it again if you try to return to a competitive sport. When your heel hits the
ground during running, your foot stops moving
suddenly, forcing the upper femur bone to slide forward on the lower tibia bone
at the knee. The anterior cruciate ligament prevents
the femur from sliding too far forward and shearing off the cartilage in your
knee. Once you tear your anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL), even if it is successfully repaired, you have a weaker ACL that still
lets the top femur slide forward on the tibia and
shear off cartilage. So running causes you to lose cartilage until you lose it
all, bone rubs against bone and you hurt 24 hours a
day. The only treatment then is a knee replacement. So anyone who has broken
cartilage or ACL in his or he knee should never run
again for the rest of his or her life.
On the other hand, strengthening the muscles of your upper leg stabilizes the
knee and helps to delay and prevent a knee
replacement. Anyone with broken cartilage or a torn
anterior cruciate ligament in the knee should try to pedal a bicycle every day.
Pedaling is done in a smooth rotary motion without
sudden stopping, so it does not cause sudden forward movement of the femur on
the tibia and does not shear off additional cartilage
from the knee joint. If you pedal against increasing resistance you will
strengthen the muscles around the knees and increase their
stability so there is less wear on the cartilage.
From: Dr. Gabe Mirkin at: http://www.drmirkin.com


5. Coffee Limits Blood Flow To Heart Muscle During Exercise:
In healthy volunteers, the equivalent of two cups of coffee reduced the body's
ability to boost blood flow to the heart muscle in
response to exercise, and the effect was stronger when the participants were in
a chamber simulating high altitude, according to a
new study in the Jan. 17, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of
Cardiology.
"Whenever we do a physical exercise, myocardial blood flow has to increase in
order to match the increased need of oxygen. We found
that caffeine may adversely affect this mechanism. It partly blunts the needed
increase in flow," said Philipp A. Kaufmann, M.D.,
F.A.C.C., from the University Hospital Zurich and Center for Integrative Human
Physiology CIHP in Zurich,.
The researchers, including lead author Mehdi Namdar, M.D., F.A.C.C., studied 18
young, healthy people who were regular coffee
drinkers. The participants did not drink any coffee for 36 hours prior to the
study testing. In one part of the study, PET scans
that showed blood flow in the hearts of 10 participants were performed before
and immediately after they rode a stationary exercise
bicycle. In the second part of the study, the same type of myocardial blood-flow
measurements were done in 8 participants who were
in a chamber simulating the thin air at about 15,000 feet (4,500 meters)
altitude. The high-altitude test was designed to mimic the
way coronary artery disease deprives the heart muscle of sufficient oxygen. In
both groups, the testing procedure was repeated 50
minutes after each participant swallowed a tablet containing 200 milligrams of
caffeine, the equivalent of two cups of coffee.
More...from Medical News Today at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=36164


6. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Sharing Stories:
Young neighbors of ours don't have time for the old folks across the street and
up a long driveway. They're too busy with children
and jobs and friends their own age to think much about us.
They see us working in the yard, walking to the mailbox or driving up the
street. We might get a wave, but I doubt if they know my
wife Barbara's and my names. To them we have no history, little going for us now
in apparent retirement and few prospects for the
years we have left.
I'm no better that way. I don't know much more about these neighbors, or about
most of the people met in passing each day. I don't
hear the stories they could tell.
Barbara wants to hear such stories. Her writing project this year involves
interviewing and then profiling what she calls
"remarkable ordinary people."
These are folks that others might pass by without noticing. Yet they often have
led, and still lead, lives that would amaze anyone
who took time to learn about them.
Barbara asked for my help with her list. Naming only women of 50 or more years,
we came up with dozens.
I don't have such a list myself. But if I did, it would lead off with a man who
keeps my car fueled.
Not one customer in a hundred at the local Chevron station would even know his
first name, let alone his last. If they notice him at
all, it's only as "that skinny black guy."
Occasionally someone might ask, "Are you the one I see running all the time?"
But hardly anyone would know how good a runner he once
was, and still is.
My single previously published sentence about him appears in my least-read book,
the Running Encyclopedia. It reads, "A rare
African-American in road racing, Odis Sanders won the first three national 5K
championships -- in 1979, 1980 and 1981."
Odis moved from New York City to Eugene the year of that final title. I happened
to arrive here at the same time and saw him often,
usually where he worked.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/554.html


7. Stress test: working out with the boss:
The long, tough workday is finally over, highlighted by two missed deadlines, a
surge of paperwork and a run-in with your
supervisor. Before heading home, you decide to unwind at the company gym.
Hopping on the treadmill and popping in some ear buds, you
settle in for a bit of cardio and private time.
Then you realize that next to you is . your boss.
The company fitness center, dandy perk that it is, can also be a minefield of
awkward situations, inelegant faux pas and
professional claustrophobia.
Say you fail to wipe down the elliptical trainer after leaving copious amounts
of sweat. Or you let loose with loud grunts while
training. Come promotion time, don't think your manager is going to forget that.
And if you're the boss who slips on the gym
etiquette now and then, you can bet such actions will be hot topics around the
water cooler later.
Even casual conversations in this arena can spell trouble. This is not a time to
chat up your superior - or your underling - about
work or your new puppy, especially if he values his workouts like his stock
portfolio.
Craig Mutch, director of corporate staffing at Mattel Inc. in El Segundo,
learned to keep it short and sweet with his boss, as in
30-second updates. "For the most part," he says, "I try to leave him alone. I
don't try to press agendas."
And then there is the locker room, where neither bizarre grooming habits nor
playful towel snapping is welcome. The code of conduct
dictates being discreet, keeping a friendly demeanor - and always cleaning the
hair out of the sink.
As more companies build on-site fitness centers or spring for health club
memberships, their employers and employees are learning to
cope with the resulting awkwardness.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-bodywork16jan16,1,5708862.s\
tory?coll=la-health-fitness-news


8. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
Run the tangents. Every time you round a curve, scope out the flow of the course
ahead and position yourself so you can take the
inside of the next turn. Running the tangents will help you run the shortest
distance possible.
* Injury Prevention
Even though running is primarily a lower-body activity, your arms aren't just
along for the ride. Your hands control the tension in
your upper body, while your arm swing works in conjunction with your leg stride
to drive you forward. Keep your hands in an
unclenched fist, with your fingers lightly touching your palms. Imagine yourself
trying to carry a potato chip in each hand without
crushing it. Your arms should swing mostly forward and back, not across your
body, between waist and lower-chest level. Your elbows
should be bent at about a 90-degree angle. When you feel your fists clenching or
your forearms tensing, drop your arms to your sides
and shake them out for a few seconds to release the tension.
* Performance Nutrition
Powerhouse Parsley: 1/2 cup of fresh, chopped parsley packs 2/3 the daily value
for vitamin C (40 mg.) and that's two times the C in
1 whole cup of pineapple, 1 whole lime or 1 cup of blueberries. It contains
twice the folate (46 mcg.) found in 1 cup of lettuce and
is a virtual "ironmaster," with 10 times more iron (1.86 mg.) than 1 poached
egg. It also has a good supply of calcium and
beta-carotene.
* Words That Inspire
"Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of
it is slog and drudge." -David Bedford, English
distance runner who sometimes ran 200 miles a week in training
* Editor's Advice
"Don't get caught up in someone else's race pace. It's easy to ignore your
body's signals and run too fast too soon. Have a pacing
plan and stick to it. When the gun goes off, focus inward, stay relaxed, and
trust your ability to pace yourself." - Richetta
Coelho, RW editorial intern
* Training Talk
"It's important to cut your training during a cold and cease it entirely if you
have the flu (with elevated temperature) because you
may increase your chance of an injury while in a weakened condition." -From
Marathon by Hal Higdon


9. Take Advantage of Light Days and Rest Days:
There are as many different types of runners as there are people who run. But
one misconception that many runners hold in common is
a work ethic that too often precludes rest.
Some runners have to be held down in order to get the rest the body requires.
Sooner or later that will come by way of injury or
overtraining syndrome. For those runners, understanding that rest and recovery
does not mean doing nothing, can break through the
mile-aholic's misconceptions and change training habits for the better.
For starters, we need to differentiate between rest and recovery days and light
workout days. They are two different things.
Rest and recovery days are just that. They are days primarily designed to rest
and recover. Healthy runners need rest maybe once per
week, or even just once or twice a month. Obviously injuries, illness, aging,
staleness, increases in distance or intensity, and
overtraining can create demands for more rest.
Although rest is needed, it is still important to remain active on those days.
The body, just like the mind, needs stimulation every
day. Even after a grueling marathon, many people find it's a good idea to move
around, maybe take a walk, as early as the day after
to avoid stiffening up
More...from the Sport Factory at:
http://www.thesportfactory.com/article_76.shtml


10. Make the Race Count - Make a New Year's Resolution That Lasts!
Kim Vivian BSc ND is a Naturopathic Doctor and the only registered Advanced
Bowen Therapist in the Halton Region. Kim's practice
includes clinical nutrition, Bowen technique, botanical medicine, homeopathic
medicine, acupuncture and lifestyle modification. Her
practice is located at 327 Bronte St. S. Unit 14 Milton ON L9T 4A4, email
kvnd@..., cell ph. 416-859-6079.
Happy New Year! I wish you health and happiness in 2006!
This is typically the time that we reflect back on the year that has just past
and tick off our mental checklist of the resolutions
we made early last year. What did we actually accomplish and what resolutions
went by the wayside. Improving diet and increasing or
adding exercise to our weekly regime are typical items that make this list.
Excellent choices, as even small changes to both can
reap huge benefits to your energy levels, boost your immune system and general
well-being today as well as.in the future.
Unfortunately, more often than not, it is these two things that also end up
falling apart very early. One of the great things about
a new year is the feeling that we do have a fresh start and that we can motivate
ourselves to make changes that will enrich our
lives.
Why is it so hard to keep these resolutions that we felt so strongly about at
the time of their inception? In most cases we either
make too many and become overwhelmed, or we make resolutions that are not
possible to accomplish, as they are just not realistic.
The best resolutions to make are those that will improve the quality of your
life, not just for a few months, but for years to come.
Improving your diet and exercise regime are great ways to do this, but again,
make your resolutions attainable and long lasting.
Many people feel they need to go on diets, especially after indulging over the
holidays. However, these diets are usually seen only
as a short-term solution. Once a particular weight goal is achieved, the diet is
usually put aside and the individual typically goes
back to eating the same foods in the same portions and the weight comes back,
sometimes very quickly. Dieting can alter your
metabolism, which can contribute to extra weight gain after discontinuing a
particular diet. What usually results is the 'yo-yo
dieting cycle'.
So, what can you do? We need to make healthy changes that are for life, not just
for a few months. We all have some idea of things
that are lacking or need increasing in our diet, or we're consuming too much.
However, do we really have a true picture of what our
everyday diet is? You might be surprised!
I'm going to challenge you. Now that most of the festivities are over and our
lives slowly get back to some form of normalcy, try
this simple exercise. Write down the things you would like to change in your
daily diet. Then write down what you eat and drink for
a full week. Be as precise as possible, also take note of how much of each item
you've eaten, be honest! Don't leave anything out.
By doing this simple exercise, it makes it much easier for you to have a true
picture of what and when you eat and therefore makes
it easier to make resolutions or goals that are specific for you. Just by
writing down what you eat, can have an impact on your
choices. You may think twice before having that extra cookie.
At the end of the week, take a good, hard look at each day. Take a look at that
list of things you wrote about your diet before you
began your diary. Do you need to change or add anything to the list? Perhaps you
hadn't realized that you drank so much coffee over
the week or you thought you ate more fruits and vegetables, but the reality is
that your diet is lacking in both? Look at the
portions, the amount of sugar or processed foods you're eating, how much water
are you drinking. OK, enough of the analysis. Now,
look at your earlier list of improvements. Do you need to add anything?
You may have a large list. However, I don't want you to try to implement them
all at once. Trying to change too many things at one
time is unrealistic and in most cases is doomed for failure. Choose one thing
that you feel confident you can incorporate into you
life and concentrate on that. We want these changes to be permanent.to become
part of your lifestyle.to be incorporated into your
life to the point where you don't even think about them. Then you move on to the
next item you want to change and so on. This
process may take some time. The important thing is that these changes are here
to stay.
Now diet and exercise go hand in hand when it comes to attaining long lasting
health benefits and if you're thinking of doing a
triathlon for the first time, you've come to the right place. You'll find many
articles with suggestions on how to train properly
and stay motivated through out the year.
So remember, have fun, eat well and make the race count!
If you have any suggestions for future topics send them to Kim at
kvnd@.... I will continue to look at specific vitamins and
minerals and their role in your health and exercise in future articles.
From www.WomensTriathlon.com


11. Eating correctly - Carbo-loading considered :
Serious athletes who train strenuously for many hours a day and participate in
premier sporting events use carbohydrates to
fine-tune their performance. Fine-tuning is achieved by means of a process
called carbo-loading.
Glycogen is a compound used by the body to store carbohydrate or readily
available fuel in the liver and muscles. These carbohydrate
stores are not extensive and are easily depleted if the athlete does not
replenish them thoroughly before an event.
Carbo-loading is undertaken to prevent the following:
* too rapid depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles;
* development of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) during exercise.
The above-mentioned factors can cause fatigue and poor performance. It is,
therefore, in the best interest of any serious athlete to
ensure that his or her glycogen stores are optimally filled before an event.
Carbo-loading before an event
a) Non-endurance events
Events that last for 60 to 90 minutes can be classed as non-endurance events.
According to Burke and Deakin (2000), an athlete can
normalise his glycogen stores by resting for a period of 24 hours and ingesting
between 7 and 10 g of carbohydrate per kg of body
weight per day.
An athlete weighing 70 kg would need to eat 490 to 700 g of carbohydrate for at
least 1 to 1,5 days before a non-endurance event to
refuel his glycogen stores adequately. This is a large amount of carbohydrate to
ingest and many athletes fail to meet this
recommendation.
In some cases athletes, particularly female athletes, are unwilling to increase
their food intake to such levels because they fear
that they will gain weight. To achieve maximum performance, it is essential that
dietary restrictions are postponed and the athlete
carbo-loads for 1 to 1,5 days before an event.
More...from Health24 at:
http://www.health24.com/fitness/Diet_Supplements/16-481-512,27898.asp


12. 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."
When asked, she describes a pain on the bony part of the shin, the tibia, which
not only hurts during exercise but also hurts when
she pushes on her shin. "Ouch, that's the spot", she says, when I push on the
inside of her tibia, the bigger bone in the lower leg
(the smaller is the fibula).
So what do these two stories tell us about shin pain? Although both are
characterized as shin splints, pain in the shin from
running, the pathophysiology, meaning the biological cause of the pain, is quite
different with these two stories.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12619&sidebar=13


13. Cycling: Are you Reaching your Personal Performance Potential?
By Marlon Familton, Familton, CSCS, USA Cycling Expert Coach
3 Steps to getting stronger without pedaling
Why do we cycle? Is it because we enjoy being one with nature? When you're
climbing that monster hill with your heart in your throat
and the muscles in your legs screaming to ease up - yet you fight to stay on
that wheel directly in front of you - are you thinking
about how much you love to be outside with the wind flowing through your hair?
Doubtful.
We ride our bikes for the challenge of seeing how good we can get. Pedaling a
bike twenty five miles might have been an optimistic
goal once, but soon that was achieved. Next came thirty miles, forty and now
fifty miles every Saturday is nothing more than base
miles. Some of us find distance events the call to action; others need the
intense pressure of racing head to head to satisfy our
inner warrior. The one single thread through all our different motivations is
simple; we want to know what we are capable of
accomplishing. We want to know if we can reach our Personal Performance
Potential given the time and resources available.
Unlike traditional team sports, cycling is an opportunity to compare ourselves
in 100% real time with others around us. We either
keep up or get dropped. If you want to be first to the top of the hill, there is
only your strength and your will power to get you
there. There is no team mate to pass the ball to, no referee to affect the play,
and no fans to cheer you on. It's all about your
inner desire to be better than last weekend; better than the other riders in the
group.
We've all heard the story of Lance Armstrong weighing his food and true or not,
shake our head in the certainty that this
exemplifies a commitment to detail that led to great success. We all recognize
this as working smarter not harder; yet do you strive
for this? While you might not be ready to weigh your food before every meal, why
not take inventory of your own lifestyle and
consider what details might better support your performance goals, or conversely
may be prohibiting them?
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060119_DT_Potential.html


14. Running Times History - Chicago '84:
by Phil Stewart and Jim Ferstle
Armed with a nearly $1 million war chest to lavish on invited athletes,
Chicago's Executive Director Bob Bright spent the last year
courting and making generous offers to most of the world's proven top
marathoners. His objective was simple: to capture the
limelight as the country's most competitive marathon and garner the lucrative
sponsorship and TV support that goes with it.
By mid-summer, Bright appeared to have a lock on many of the top runners, and
after the LA Olympics he boasted about commitments
from gold medalists Carlos Lopes and Joan Benoit. In addition, world champion
Rob deCastella and bronze medalist Rosa Mota also
enrolled in Chicago. With the action-as well as the money-tilting toward the
windy city, other runners like Geoff Smith and Steve
Jones climbed aboard.
Most of the pre-race speculation centered on Lopes and deCastella, with Jones
considered to be among the second tier of contenders.
"He's the kind of runner I like," said Bright. "I invited him to run here last
year after I saw him run a 10K on the track in
England. He has real determination. He just, sort of, puts his head down and
runs." In 1983, Jones stepped in a hole and twisted his
ankle the night before the marathon. At 16 miles on race day, the pain returned
and he dropped out of his first marathon attempt.
Bright says Jones even tried to return the $1500 in travel money he had
received, since he had failed to perform. Instead, Bright
took a raincheck.
More...from the Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/01sept/history.htm


15. The Gift - A Runner's Story:
Chapter One
The top step sagged under their weight as he watched the landlord brush
aside the cobwebs and open the apartment door. The creak
of the hinges did little to forewarn
him of the rank odor about to escape from the small room and assault his senses.
"Jesus, this place stinks," said the runner as he walked across the
doorstep.
"What do you expect?" asked the old landlord chewing on the moistened stub
of an unlit cigar. "Lifestyles of the rich and famous
for four hundred bucks a month?"
There was no reason to dispute the point as he looked over the studio
apartment.
After a quick survey of the cracked paint, stained carpeting, and yellowed
linoleum, he grudgingly admitted the humble dwelling was
an undeniable fit for his meager
belongings.
"It's perfect. Reminds me of Hef's mansion."
The landlord looked at him quizzically before responding. "And don't forget,
Mr. Brett Rodgers," he said as he looked at the
application, "rent is due the first of the month...and oh yeah, no parties
either."
"Not even for me and one and a half of my closest friends?"
He knew he wouldn't be living there long...eight, nine months tops he had
estimated. With sixteen credits left before getting
his masters degree in exercise physiology, he was set to graduate from the
University of Milwaukee by the fall. He had come to view
his latest re-location as another regretful passage in his life that he would
weather just as he had done so many times before. But
deep down there wasn't a whisper of a doubt in his mind that he was destined to
leave this town as inconspicuously as he had
arrived. When he heard the winter swells howling outside the window, he wondered
where those very same winds of fate would blow him
in the future.
He climbed down the back stairwell and felt the cold blast of a January
snowfall hit him squarely in the face. The Wisconsin
winter was in full force and he found it hard to take a full breath. He laughed
out loud as he walked toward his car in the back
lot. "I look like the damn Beverly Hillbillies moving into town," he said
looking at the snow-covered mattress attached firmly to
the roof of his rusted Civic. He remembered the shaky ride he had taken from
Ohio and was ultimately grateful the car had at least
gotten him to Milwaukee in one piece. After a pensive look at the band-aids he
had stuck on the balding tires in a moment of whimsy,
it suddenly dawned on him the car was a parallel of himself -- a little beat up
but still running.
With his frozen breath hanging in the air he started to unpack his humble
personal treasures from the old vehicle. Even working
alone he knew the three suitcases of clothes and boxes wouldn't take him long.
He struggled with the cardboard boxes one by one and
felt the familiar burn in his legs as he climbed the steps. He gladly welcomed
the sensation and he was more than ready to let even
the simplest of workouts begin.
More...from Paul Maurer at:
http://www.pcmaurer.com/samplechapter.html


16. A Personal Trainer, Right in Your iPod:
WHEN Suganthi Balasubramanian started exercising after three decades of
inactivity, she found her effort worthwhile but monotonous.
Like a child forced to swallow bitter medicine, she followed workout videotapes
she didn't enjoy, only because they were good for
her. She bought a treadmill but couldn't make herself use it. "It was just too
boring," said Mrs. Balasubramanian, 39, of Guilford,
Conn. "I couldn't handle it."
But that was before she tried MP3 workouts. Taking advantage of sale prices last
January at www.cardiocoach.com, she downloaded the
first three volumes of a five-part series. Cardio Coach audios are designed to
be used during any kind of cardiovascular exercise:
running, stair climbing, even walking. For 30 to 60 minutes Sean O'Malley, the
personal trainer who created the programs, offers
encouragement as he guides the listener through a series of sprints - and for
those exercising on machines, hills - that alternate
with easier periods. Original music accompanies the ebb and flow of the
intervals.
"Five down, one to go," Cardio Coach told Ms. Balasubramanian as she ran on her
treadmill. "Hey, I know you're tired. But now is the
time - time to decide if you want to get better." Mrs. Balasubramanian, a
genomics researcher at Yale, took to interval training
immediately. "I wanted to run again," she said. "I had never had that feeling."
A year later she is one of legions of users who post their workout results on
Cardio Coach's online forum, where her screen name is
cccrazy, for "cardio coach crazy."
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/fashion/thursdaystyles/19Fitness.html


17. Nutrition tips for the traveling athlete:
Thinking about registering for an out-of-town race, but nervous about leaving
the comforts of home? Local races are always easier
since there's access to familiar foods, you know where the best carbo-loading
restaurants are, you can preview the race course
during training, avoid travel-stiffened legs, and of course you have that
race-day support from your friends and family.
Well, don't fret; it's possible to race at your best out of town. Try these
nutritional tips to make your next race away from home a
success.
Plan for acclimatization
Altitude: If you're racing at an altitude above 5,000 feet, ideally you should
arrive two weeks prior to the race. If that's not
possible, arrive a day or two before the race, as you'll feel your worst from
days three through 10.
Heat: The consensus is that you should allow two weeks for acclimatization to
heat, but you shouldn't train hard in hot, humid
conditions in the few weeks leading up to the race. Ideally, complete some of
your earlier and critical training days in warmer
conditions to help the heat adaptation process.
Proper heat adaptation includes improved control of cardiovascular function
(expanded plasma volume, reduced heart rate), increased
sweat rate, conservation of sodium chloride, reduced perceived rate of exertion
and better hot-weather performance.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12698


18. Garmin Forerunner 301 - GPS tracking with heart rate monitor:
As a former triathlete, I've done my share of running over the last 25 years.
From 5Ks to marathons to the Hawaii Ironman, I've done
a little bit of everything. Back when I ran much more often, I used to pride
myself on knowing my current pace per mile within 15-20
seconds. I could tell this based on perceived exertion and verified it on marked
trails and courses.
Today when I head out for a run, especially on trails, I always think I'm
running faster than I am. At times, I'm off by as much as
a minute on perceived current pace per mile. Whether I'm just kidding myself or
getting older and slower is obviously up for debate.
But one thing is certain. Technology has changed everything. Who would've
thought that a GPS (Global Positioning System) device worn
on your wrist could deliver accurate results on current pace per mile, distance
covered and all the heart rate data you'd ever want?
For the last couple months, I've been playing around with the Garmin Forerunner
301. For those unfamiliar, Garmin has been quietly
dominating the portable GPS industry with its wrist-mounted lightweight units
that track your outdoor movements via satellite. The
301 is the upgrade version of the old 201 with the added heart rate function.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12713
Buy the Garmin Forerunner at:
http://store.runnersweb.com


19. Psychological Training - Creating An Inner Desire:
(Excerpt from the book YOUR PERFORMING EDGE)
by JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Ph.D.
Look around you, find your passion, see what makes you whole To excel as an
athlete you must be hungry - hungry for success, for
results - hungry simply to become the best athlete you can be. It starts with a
dream, but somehow you must be inspired, or you will
never be able to reach your goal. We often read about athletes overcoming
physical disabilities. Lance Armstrong survived testicular
cancer and won the Tour de France two times. Marla Runyan ran in the 1500 meters
of the 2000 Olympics while being legally blind. It
is out of these challenges that athletes develop a fierce, burning desire to
succeed. They need to prove to themselves that they can
achieve their goals. Through these kinds of examples we can begin to understand
that desire is sometimes more important than even
talent or a healthy body.
The movie "Prefontaine" depicts the life of a running legend who had one leg
shorter than the other, and did not necessarily have
"the perfect runner's body". Yet from a very early age he developed an
insatiable love for running. Through his drive and
determination Steve Prefontaine went on to break the American record in every
distance from 2,000 - 10,000 meters, a feat never
attained by any other American man.
Without a true love for your sport and a burning desire to be the best you can
be, you will never be able to push yourself to do
what has to be done. It will be too easy to skip a workout now and then. A coach
or parent can give you support and guidance, but
you have to supply the rest. Only you can push yourself when you're tired, or
make yourself work out when distractions get in the
way. After Steve Prefontaine had reached the height of his running career, he
lost to Lasse Viren in the Olympic 5,000 meters in
Munich. The loss led him to consider quitting the sport. His coach Bill Bowerman
told him: "If you're gonna run, be at the track and
I'll give you the workouts; or if your gonna stop running, then do that. You
decide. I can't coach desire."
More...from the Napa Valley Marathon at:
http://www.napavalleymarathon.org/articles/psych-training.asp


20. The Tri Club Potential of Group Riding, Part I:
As the founder of Crucible Fitness and the Pasadena Triathlon Club I find myself
wearing both hats quite often. My season has ended,
I've put Ironman in the closet for a couple years, and have subsequently found
myself taking a more active roll in organizing fun
training events for the club. I've been reflecting on the potential that group
riding has for the growth of a triathlon club and its
members.
From a training perspective, it's very simple: if you want to ride far and/or
fast, you need to ride far and/or fast. I'm convinced
that the limitations we place on ourselves are largely a function of the
limitations our peers place on themselves. If you ride by
yourself or with a small group at 17-18mph, 20mph is FAST, 40 miles is FAR. That
is your perspective, your performance envelope. I
believe that perspective can limit your potential to accomplish many goals in
the sport.
Tri clubs offer all of us, from beginner to advanced athletes, a venue in which
to realign our perspective of what 'fast' and 'far'
are, pushing us to new and greater heights of performance, fun and enjoyment of
the sport.
However, I believe many organizations miss out on this tremendous club and
athlete growth potential through adherence to an almost
cultural snobbery regarding group riding skills. In the meantime, the club, a
social structure, trains largely as separate
individuals, limiting the great social potential of cycling. Club members do the
same rides, at the same speed, week after week,
yielding the same results.
I founded the Pasadena Triathlon Club I wanted to create an organization that
would encourage and support the members as they
explored new boundaries. The cornerstone of this was the creation of a roadie
culture within the club.
More...from TriFuel.com at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/general/the-tri-club-potential-of-group-riding-\
part-i-001185.php


21. Cycling: The lost art of roller riding:
By Jimmy Archer
At this time of year most of us are forced to do some amount of indoor cycling
due to cold or sloppy conditions on the roads.
Luckily, we have numerous options when it comes to indoor bike training. Your
local gym will have stationary and spin bikes as well
as spinning classes. At-home options include everything from basic stationary
resistance trainers to state-of-the-art trainers that
allow you to program custom courses and monitor everything from heart rate to
wattage. While modern technology can be very useful,
one of the best forms of indoor training is also the most simple. Rollers.
Rollers represent the oldest and most basic form of indoor (or at least
stationary) cycling. The first rollers appeared in the early
19th century and were constructed of large wooden drums simply bolted to a steel
frame and connected by a central belt to keep the
front and rear drums rolling, allowing the wheels of the bike to spin. Since
that time, rollers have come a long way, now using
high-tech materials, sealed bearings, resin drums and offering add-ons such as
resistance devices and cooling fans. However, rollers
still basically consist of three drums connected to a central frame.
Unlike all other forms of indoor training, on rollers the bike is not connected
to the training device. Rather, the rear wheel rests
between two drums (keeping the bike stationary) while the front wheel rests just
behind the center of a third drum, which can be
positioned to fit different bikes -- allowing the wheels to rotate and the rider
to actually ride and steer the bike. This
real-world riding is what sets rollers apart from all other forms of indoor
training and gives them the following benefits:
More...from Triathlete Magazine at:
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=11545&publicationID=92&pageID=17\
05


22. Benefits Of Pilates, Evaluation By American Council On Exercise:
Check out the group fitness schedule at most health clubs and it's clear that
Pilates is still one of the hottest trends in fitness.
But is Pilates also a good calorie-burning workout? In an exclusive study, the
American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's
nonprofit fitness advocate, examined the calorie expenditure of an average
Pilates Workout.
Lead researchers Stefanie Spilde and John Porcari, Ph.D. at the University of
Wisconsin, La Crosse, recruited 15 healthy women, ages
18 to 26, with at least an intermediate level of Pilates experience. Each
subject participated in two 50-minute Pilates mat-training
sessions (one beginner, one advanced), following a videotaped routine for
consistency.
Each subject first followed a beginner mat Pilates routine, which consisted of
five minutes of breath-linked alignment exercises,
followed by 40 minutes of basic Pilates exercises that followed the original
Method of sequencing. The session ended with five
minutes of stretching and realignment. The advanced routine was similar to the
beginner routine except that it utilized advanced
techniques of positioning and pacing for each exercise. During each session,
heart rates and oxygen consumption were measured and
recorded, and subjects rated their perceived effort using the 6-20 Borg scale.
More...from Medical News Today at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=36350


23. Meet water's cooler cousins:
Fruit flavored H2O? Not enough anymore. These days 'enhanced' can mean herbs,
even fiber. Whether the drinks do much is debatable.
Strolling the aisles of the supermarket, the hip and health-conscious know
better than to stop at the endless array of sparkling and
spring waters. These bottles offer only hydration. The aqua-chic want something
more.
Their water must be enhanced. With herbs, chemicals, even supposed twists on the
inherent structure of water, alluring new brands
promise a host of health benefits that regular water doesn't provide. Fortified
with a potpourri of nutrients, caffeine, fiber and
ever more exotic extras, they build on a following created by their
now-pedestrian cousins, those waters spiked merely with fruit or
a few run-of-the-mill vitamins.
They have names like Skinny Water and Woman on Top's Slimmer You H2O (with an
appetite suppressant to help you lose weight), Penta
and HiOsilver Oxygen Water (structured and oxygenated to help you hydrate
better), and Smartwater, Vitaminwater and Propel (with
electrolytes, vitamins or minerals, to help you energize, immunize and
rejuvenate yourself).
Not all of the products look like water; they can be pink, yellow, green or
blue. They don't always taste like water - they may be
flavored with cherimoya, pomegranate, sugar or herbs. And unlike regular H20 (or
"dead water," as it is sometimes called by
enhanced-water marketers), these beverages often contain calories, although not
as many as, say, a Coke.
Packaged with much more pizazz than regular bottled water, enhanced waters are
also marketed more artfully. Some are sold only in
high-end boutiques. Others, such as Ed Hardy Structured Water - from the hipster
icon considered the godfather of the modern tattoo
- are niche to the extreme. Hardy's water is available only at his flagship L.A.
store, exclusive gyms, raw food restaurants and
really hot healthy restaurants, according to Jeff Carrillo, founder of the
water.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-water16jan16,1,6717015.story?coll=l\
a-headlines-health



24. Beer drinkers' diet reason to wine:
Is red wine really the best type of alcohol for your heart?
Score of studies have already found that drinking any type of alcohol in
moderation has beneficial health effects. But some
connoisseurs argue that red wine, which is rich in cholesterol-lowering
resveratrol from grape skins, is the superior choice. Now, a
new Danish study in today's British Medical Journal is bound to stir up the
debate.
Researchers analyzed 3.5 million transactions from two large Danish supermarket
chains where customers can buy food as well as wine
and beer. Wine buyers tended to purchase foods resembling a heart-healthy
"Mediterranean diet," researcher Ditte Johansen said in an
interview. In particular, they bought more olives, fruits, vegetables, poultry,
cooking oil and low-fat cheese, milk and meat than
other shoppers.
Beer drinkers tended to buy a lot of prepared dishes, sugar, cold cuts, chips,
pork, butter or margarine, sausage, lamb and soft
drinks -- food that wouldn't be deemed heart-healthy.
That means lifestyle factors, such as diet, "could certainly account for at
least some of the [health] differences we see between
beer and wine drinkers," said Morton Gronbaek, part of the team at the National
Institute of Health in Copenhagen.
Other studies have tried to take into account lifestyle factors when assessing
alcohol's effects on the body. But these studies
often relied on food questionnaires, which can draw unreliable responses. The
Danish researchers are the first to actually match
food purchases with alcohol purchases.
More...from the Globe and Mail at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060120/HTAYLOR2\
0/TPHealth/


25. Digest Briefs:
* The Sport Factory Newsletter (http://www.thesportfactory.com)
** A New Year, A New Season
You may be facing the post holiday "blahs" with a bit of extra weight to boot.
This is not a good time to let your training fall by
the way side, but rather to switch modes.
Find a training group, set your season goals, join a class, or find a place to
train indoors. Your training must be adaptable to
the seasons, your lifestyle, and your interest levels. Unless you are a paid
professional athlete training should be a source of
enjoyment not a drag.
** Maximizing Vitamin Intake
Supplements should be considered just that: "to supplement" is defined as "in
addition to" and "not to replace". Furthermore, the
nutrients from food tend to be more bioavailable than from pill form. It is
therefore important for athletes to rely on foods rather
than vitamin and mineral supplements for obtaining needed nutrients. Eating a
varied, nutrient dense diet that contains lots of
complex carbohydrates (whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals, fruits and
vegetables, and beans) helps to guarantee that you obtain
all the vitamins and minerals you need in the right proportions. Calcium and
iron have been found to be low in some athletes, so a
regular consumption of low-fat foods that are high in calcium (low fat dairy
products, dark green leafy vegetables, canned salmon,
etc.) and iron (lean meats, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, etc.) is
desirable.
To maximize vitamin intake from your diet, try the following:
Eat a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.
When possible, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those in season.
Do not overcook vegetables; Long cooking times can reduce nutrient content.
Steam or microwave vegetables rather than boiling them; nutrients seep out in
boiling water only to be poured down the drain.
By Ilana Katz
** Focus On The Bike
By Coach Matt Russ
Triathlon coaches recommend you spend your majority of the time developing your
cycling because you spend the most time in a
triathlon on the bike; right? This is true, but the power needed to propel a
bike at 25 mph versus 20 mph in almost double
(without wind). Aerodynamic drag increased exponentially which makes cycling a
very challenging sport to progress at. If you are a
newbie you may have noticed a plateau in your cycling once you have reached a
certain speed.
Make sure you are spending at least 50% of your time developing your cycling
abilities. If you are moving beyond the novice stage
you may also want to look at your bike fit and position. With some modification
you may be able to reduce your aerodynamic drag by
20% at speeds over 20 mph. This can add up to a significant speed increase.

* Tips for running a marathon
Virtual Coach Dave Spence
26/09/2005
There is loads of advice out there on running a marathon and your running mates
will give you all the advice that works or doesn't
work for them. Here are some of my top do's and don'ts to take into account when
running a marathon.
DO'S:
1. You have done your training, be determined that you will finish. You can do
it
2. Taper down well in the last week. It is better to go into the race under
trained than over trained. In the former you can always
find energy from somewhere. Over trained, once you're gone, you're gone!
3. Check your shoes and kit carefully. Lay it out three or four days before the
race. Then you know you haven't forgotten anything.
4. Have an easy, gentle run the day before the race. 3 to 5 km will not deplete
your energy reserves and it will relieve any tension
or any pre-race apprehension you may be having.
5. Get a good book to read the night before the race or the morning of the race.
It will stop your mind dwelling on the task ahead.
6. Eat a balanced meal the night before the race. This would normally include
protein, carbohydrate and some fat. A nice dessert
would be fine
7. A pint the night before will do no harm. But no more than that. It will help
you relax and sleep.
8. Tape up and grease. Surgical tape on nipples (male and female) and vaseline
between the legs, under the arms and maybe on toes,
if you are blister prone.
9. I used to shower and soap down the morning of a marathon. I felt this removed
body oils and helped the body stay cool, which is
important to prevent premature dehydration. I won't go into shaving legs at this
stage!
10. Split the race into chunks. 8 or 5 km, so that you feel you are making
progress. I've often told faster runners to relax to 27
km then treat the rest as a 15 km road race.
11. Stick to an even pace you know you can finish in. Carry a watch and don't
get distracted in the excitement. Back markers start
your watch as you cross the start line, you will then know your true time for
the distance.
12. Carefully plan your route and timing to the start, so you don't end up
rushing or panicking.
DON'TS:
1. Don't get carried away in the excitement of the start, run too fast and 'die'
at some stage. It is always better to be passing
people after half way than be constantly over taken. Stick to your 'pace'.
2. Don't be on your feet all day the day before the race sight seeing or
shopping. Take it easy the day before.
3. Don't wear any new kit, especially shoes. All your kit should be tried out
and tested in the days before the race.
4. Don't over hydrate before and during the race. Your body can only absorb so
much liquid.


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

January 21, 2006
Dave Scott Clinic - Ottawa, ON
http://home.cogeco.ca/~geordiem/triathlonottawa/dave_scott/2006/home.htm

Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run - International Falls, MN
http://www.internationalfallsmn.us/iceboxdays.shtml

New Balance Games - New York, NY
http://www.armorytrack.com/meets/NewBalance/index.htm

January 22, 2006
Clearwater Half-Marathon - Clearwater, FL
http://www.clearwaterhalf.info/

January 27, 2006:
Trinidad & Tobago Marathon & 5K - Port of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago
http://www.clico.com/marathon

January 28, 2006:
Boston Indoor Games - Boston, MA
http://www.BostonIndoorGames.com

January 29, 2006:
ING Miami Marathon / Half Marathon - Miami, FL
http://www.ingmiamimarathon.com

Marathon de Marrakech & Half Marathon - Marrakech, Morocco
http://www.marathon-marrakech.com

Osaka International Ladies Marathon - Japan
http://www.ktv.co.jp/marathon/english/

Standard Chartered Lahore Marathon - Lahore, Pakistan
http://www.lahoremarathon.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:
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YOUR FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS:
Comments, contributions and feedback are always welcome via this list at:
mailto:runnersweb@yahoogroups.com and in our Runner's Web 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
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Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

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


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TrainingPeaks.com by Wes Hobson.
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Triathlon Meetup
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The Stretching Handbook:
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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...**