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
those of the Runner's Web. To comment on any stories in the Digest visit our
Forum at:
http://excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=4655
The Original Runner's and Triathlete's Web was founded in January of 1997 and is
not in any way associated with the two UK "Runner's
Web" copycat sites or the Runner's Web Book Store in the USA.

Visit the Runner's Web at http://www.runnersweb.com The site is updated multiple
times daily. Check out our daily news, features,
polls, trivia, bulletin boards and more. General questions should be posted to
one of our forums available from our FrontPage.

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS:

1. Runner's Web Online Store:
Through a partnership with HDO Sports, the Runner's and Triathlete's Web has
opened an online store. Check it out for your shopping
requirements.
http://store.runnersweb.com

2. RunnersWebCoach
Through a partnership with HDO Training, the Runner's And Triathlete's Web now
offers Interactive Training.
http://www.runnerswebcoach.com

3. Road Runner Sports, the world's largest running store at:
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000009525499

4. National Capital Race Weekend - Ottawa, ON May 26 - 28, 2006
http://www.ncm.ca

5. Toronto Waterfront Marathon. September 24, 2006.
http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/

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

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


ASSOCIATIONS:
The Runner's Web is a member of Running USA, The National Professional
Organization for the Running Industry.
http://www.runningusa.org/


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If anyone is looking for a web mail provider, you might wish to consider
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Microsoft(r) Alerts on RunnersWeb.com Inc.
RunnersWeb.com Inc. now offers Microsoft(r) Alerts! This service lets you
receive important messages through your MSN(r) Messenger
or Windows(r) Messenger, your e-mail, or your mobile device. You can choose how
and when you receive these messages by specifying
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rsweb.com

Race Directors:
Advertise your event on the Runner's Web.
TRAFFIC CONTINUES TO GROW
Year Session Total Session Daily Pageviews Total
Pageviews Daily Hits Total Hits

Daily
2005 2,749,670 7,753.35 14,652,389
40,143.53 45,586,536 124,894.62
2004 1,786,510 4,881.17 9,564,629
26,132.87 34,204,661 93, 455.36
% Increase 54% 59% 53% 54%
33% 34%

For more information:
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You can also list your events for free in our Interactive Calendars and on our
Marathons, Races and Triathlons pages.


THIS WEEK:

Training: Free two week GOLD membership offer from www.RunnersWebCoach.com
********************************************************************************\
*******
www.RunnersWebCoach.com, in partnership with HDO Training, offers the ultimate
in online personal training. Our fully personalized
interactive training programs provide daily workouts and activities geared
toward helping you reach your specific fitness goals,
whatever they may be. Our community puts you in touch with like minded users
across the globe, and in constant contact with our
staff of fitness experts. Furthermore, our training tools, personal video
instruction, daily emailed workouts, and so much more
give you everything you need to succeed.
For THIS WEEK ONLY, RunnersWebCoach.com is offering a free, no risk, 2-week
trial of the Gold Community Membership (generally $14.99
per month). To try out our award winning fitness software all you have to do is
logon to www.runnerswebcoach.com and click the join
now button. Sign up for a free Basic membership, and then all you have to do is
ask RunnersWeb's own Ken Parker to be your workout
buddy (search for username: runnersweb45).
Once you are Ken's buddy you will be automatically upgraded to a free Gold
Membership within 24 hours - nothing to buy, no credit
cards to enter, just 2 weeks of award winning training FREE.
So what is so great about RunnersWebCoach.com? Read on..
Interactive, Personalized and Fully Customizable Workout Plans
Runnerswebcoach.com is the ideal way to get fit - your way. Our advanced
software schedules a complete personalized workout routine,
designed by elite athletes and personal trainers, based on your individual
fitness goals and profile.
The training plans are fully customizable and personalized to your specific
goals - whether that be loosing weight, toning up, or
running fast. Furthermore, the routines we provide are completely flexible
around your schedule and you can change your routine at
any time using an easy to use interface.
Runnerswebcoach.com also allows you to add your own workouts to form your own
routine - you can even add a complete routine from
your existing personal trainer or coach.
Find Workout Buddies - Share Your Fitness Goals!
Runnerswebcoach.com Members gain access into our exclusive fitness community
with thousands of like-minded people looking to improve
their health and fitness!
Here you can find "Workout Buddies", send them messages, or even team up to
reach your goals together.
World Class Coaching Help
Runnerswebcoach.com is a world class personal training solution. Our goal is to
service you and help you reach your fitness goals no
matter what level you are.
Our team of elite athletes and personal training staff are always available to
provide expert help and advice on using
Runnerswebcoach.com, scheduling a routine specific to your needs or to answer
any question you may have regarding your fitness
regimen.
Interactive Tutorials from Experts
Using the latest web technology, Runnerswebcoach.com brings world class trainers
directly to you. Each workout offers a streaming
video module to explain the benefits and focuses of each training session.
In addition strength workouts are accompanied with a 360 degree interactive
animation illustrating optimum training form.
Monitor and Plan Fitness Progress
Runnerswebcoach.com includes a wealth of features that allow you to monitor and
plan your progress simply and effectively.
Real-time graphing, powerful reporting and easy-to-use calendar views motivate
and optimize your training experience.
Take advantage of the RunnersWebCoach.com Special Offer
As a special introductory offer, HDO has offered to give every RunnersWebCoachT
customer a FREE two week GOLD membership. However,
this special offer lasts one week only, so act now.
All you have to do is sign up for the free package and add Ken Parker (username
is runnersweb45) as a workout buddy. HDO will do the
rest. If you have already signed up for the free package, just add me as a buddy
and HDO will upgrade your membership automatically.

At no time will it ask for a credit card as LONG AS YOU SIGN UP FOR THE BASIC
ACCOUNT. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SIGN UP FOR THE GOLD
ACCOUNT. IT WILL TAKE 24 HOURS FOR YOU TO BE UPGRADED TO GOLD!
This is a no-risk offer. If you choose not to continue, do nothing and your
membership will be downgraded to the basic package. The
basic package is still a great resource!
The gold membership gets you customized personal training, coaching videos and
nutritional analysis, while platinum members receive
one-on-one individual coaching from HDO's staff of personal trainers.
Ready to learn more?
To create your free GOLD account, go to: www.RunnersWebCoach.com.
Contact Runnerswebcoach.com:
Runnerswebcoach.com has round-the-clock staff ready to provide the quality
customer service we pride ourselves on.
Please feel free to contact us any time so we may answer your comments,
questions, and concerns.
Online: Live Help
(9am - 7pm EST, weekdays)
Phone: 1-877-RING-HDO (1-877-746-4436)
1-617-576-1706 (International)
(9am-7pm EST, weekdays)
Fax: 1-617-344-6425
Email: mailto:info@...
Snail Mail: Runnerswebcoach.com
c/o HDO Training (a division of HDO Group LLC)
Customer Service
276 Third Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
U.S.A.

If you are interested in prize money races in the USA, a new web site will be of
interest.
www.PerformanceRunner.com is dedicated to helping the top elite and sub-elite
runners in the country reach their goals. There are
numerous online race calendars available, but before now, none of them focused
solely on the races that offer prize money.
PerformanceRunner.com currently features 645 different US races with prize money
at the finish line. You are visiting the only site
online that has compiled this information and made it publicly available, free
of charge.
In making this elite race list available, PerformanceRunner.com has two main
goals:
Increased Competition: By making this race information readily available to top
runners, it increases the likelihood of better
competition at these races. With better competition will come better individual
performances and, eventually, more successful US
distance running as a whole. In hopes of enticing more top runners to compete at
the same events, we want you to know where to find
prize money. Running for prize money adds an extra element of competition to any
race, which leads to new PR's.
Athlete Support: Training to compete at highly competitive levels is expensive.
Until you become a sponsored runner, winning prize
money is essential in supporting your lifestyle.
PerformanceRunner.com will always keep race information as up to date as
possible, though you should confirm the various details on
the official race sites. We will always feature only races that can help
accomplish the two goals above; the races that can make you
into a stronger competitor.
Visit PerformanceRunner.com often to find your next race, sign up for the
PerformanceRunner Newsletter to receive important running
information, and get your name out to the public by becoming a
PerformanceRunner.com Featured Athlete.
Welcome to PerformanceRunner.com. Dedicated to Faster.
http://www.performancerunner.com

Up until April 1st (April Fool's Day!) you can get a FREE subscription to Geezer
Jock Magazine.
Check it out at:
http://www.geezerjock.com

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

We have 1,577 subscribers as of publication time. Forward the Runner's Web
Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join .

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.
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 FOUR personal postings this week:

ONE:
From: "djsteveboy" <djsteveboy@...>
Date: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:35pm
Subject: New Music Mix podcast geared toward runners djsteveboy
Just a quick note to let you guys know about a new music podcast geared toward
runners called "Podrunner." It's an hour of
high-energy, fixed-bpm dance music every mixed by me, dj steveboy. My wife is a
runner and I've been making these for her for years,
and I thought, well, why not podcast 'em for others while I'm at it? There's no
talking, no sales pitch -- just great music to help
you groove while you move.
There'll be a new mix every other week. The first mix is 150bpm. If you're
interested, the links are below. Hope you enjoy!
Direct RSS Feed:
http://www.djsteveboy.com/audio/podrunner.xml
iTunes Direct Link:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=124686671&amp;s\
=143441

TWO:
From: Cicero II Omero <omerophoto@...>
Date: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:07pm
Subject: Re: [RunnersWeb Digest] No Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest Today
omerophoto
Thanks a lot. This website has been a great help to me and to our running club.

THREE:
From: Dave B <ldbartho@...>
Date: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:07pm
Subject: Re: [RunnersWeb Digest] No Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest Today
ldbartho
Dear Ken,
This is just a note of THANKS!!! I really enjoy your
digest and appreciate all the sound information.
PLEASE keep up the GREAT JOB!!!! My running continues
to improve both physically and mentally because of
your input.
Dave Bartholomew
ldbartho@...

FOUR:
FROM: richard_loin@...
DATE: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:05:05 -0000
SUBJECT: Looking for info for Race Directors
I am port of a group of new race directors, resurrecting a 5k race. We need a
little bit of guidance and direction in this endeavor.

Does anyone have RD info we can use for our team.
Looking for Steps to take, who to see/contact, when etc...
A timeline on when would be great.



THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Working out with all the wrong moves
Gyms are filled with sweaty exercisers defeating the purpose. Here's how not to
be one of them.
2. Multisport: Does Flexibility Enhance Performance?
3. Athletics: The Myth of LSD
4. Four Ways to Improve Running Biomechanics
5. Aging: Too Old to Benefit From Exercise? Pish!
6. From Runner's World
7. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Marathon Fever
8. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
9. Exercise and weight control: Myths, truths and gender differences
10. Sunscreen 101 - a highly scientific study
11. Cycling Running Energy
12. High-Fat Diets and Exercise Performance
13. Tall Tales in HR Training
14. Less is More:
So did you stop, stretch and smell the roses this week? If not here's another
great reminder that less can be more.
15. The Off Season - You, Your Bike and Speed
16. How to Plan your Training and Racing
17. Rub out chronic muscle tears
18. Altitude Training for Improved Cycling Performance
19. You're burning calories right now
Using sensors in underwear, scientists can accurately zero in on small everyday
tasks.
20. High-tech, hard-core exercising
A new approach to getting fit is becoming a big hit with some athletes and
former couch potatoes as well.
21. Is your stride stiff enough?
22. A Pain in the Butt
Prevention and Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome.
23. Love your knees
24. Cross-Culture Running
Tales of Racing Abroad.
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
Which of the following changes to triathlon and duathlon do you support?
* Allow drafting
* Allow fixed times for transitions and do not count it
* Change the swim/cycle/run distances to equal duration
* Make the duathlon a run/cycle instead of run/cycle/run
* None of the above

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 of the following injuries (conditions) have you had:
Answers Votes Percent
1. Patellofemoral Syndrome 42 14%
2. Pulled Hamstring 26 8%
3. Iliotibial Band Syndrome 45 15%
4. Shin Splints 41 13%
5. Stress Fractures 27 9%
6. Exercise Induced Compartment Syndrome 25 8%
7. Achilles Tendonitis 31 10%
8. Plantar Fasciitis 29 9%
9. Hip Bursitis 31 10%
10. Mononucleosis 12 4%
Total Votes: 309

FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: LisaBentley.com
Official Site of Lisa Bentley, Ironman Triathlete.
Welcome
... to the official web site for Canadian super-smiler and Ironman triathlete,
Lisa Bentley. With eight career Ironman wins, Lisa is
one of the most successful Ironman athletes ever! What's Lisa up to now? Check
out her Race Schedule to see where she will be racing
next and stop by the News page for reports of her racing as we receive them! We
hope you enjoy your visit!
Check out Lisa's site at:
http://www.lisabentley.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: Perfect Distance Ovett & Coe: Ovett And Coe - the Record
Breaking Rivalry
by Pat Butcher
Review
'Few athletes have captured the world's attention as did Sebastian Coe and Steve
Ovett in the early 1980s... it was their fierce
rivalry, more redolent of professional boxing that middle-glass running, that
transformed their clashes at the Olympics into
unmissable events. A runner himself, Pat Butcher has chronicled the way these
two swift men spurred each other to glory and
redefined their sport in the process, though ultimately for worse rather than
better.'
Book Description
Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe presided over the golden era of British athletics.
Between them they won three Olympic gold medals,
two silvers, one bronze, and broke a total of twelve middle-distance records.
They were part of the landscape of the late seventies
and early eighties -- both household names, their exploits were watched by
millions (in an age before video, satellite and Sky
Sports, the BBC Nine O'Clock News was often interrupted to accommodate their
successes). As far apart as possible in terms of class
and upbringing -- Ovett is the art student, the long-haired son of a
market-trader from Brighton, a natural athlete; Coe's formative
years were spent under the rigorous training routine of Peter Coe, a self-taught
trainer who referred to his son as 'my athlete' --
their rivalry burned as intense on the track as away from it. The pendulum swung
between the pair of them -- each breaking the
other's records, and, memorably, triumphing in each other's events in Moscow in
1980 -- for the best part of a decade, until the
final showdown at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 . . . Twenty years on, Pat
Butcher, a runner himself and athletics correspondent
of The Times in the eighties, has spoken at length to both athletes; to Coe, the
Tory MP, and to Ovett, whom he tracked down in
Australia. He writes in depth about the British obsession with and dominance of
middle-distance running, the mile, and speaks to
many of the great 'milers' down the years, the likes of the Swedes Gunder Hagg
and Arne Andersson, John Walker and, of course, Roger
Bannister. The Perfect Distance is both a detailed re-creation and a fitting
celebration of the greatest era of British athletics.
Buy the book from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0297847457/runnersweb/102-0182896-9006569\
?v=glance&s=books


THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

1. Working out with all the wrong moves:
Gyms are filled with sweaty exercisers defeating the purpose. Here's how not to
be one of them.
By John Briley, Washington Post
Are you wasting precious gym time? Perhaps even courting injury? Here is some of
the dumbest, most counterproductive or dangerous
stuff people have been spotted doing on the gym floor.
. Failing at the core: Failing to engage the core - essentially, the muscles in
and around your belly - is "probably the biggest
mistake most exercisers make," says Jason Carden, fitness director at
Washington, D.C.'s Thomas Circle Sport Club. Keeping a mushy
middle increases risk of back injury and prevents you from building a strong
foundation.
The fix: Use your abs to pull your bellybutton in toward your spine and tighten
up - and hold it throughout a movement. Or tighten
as if bracing for a belly punch from a (small) child. Mayo Clinic experts
recommend coughing lightly to get that tight-belly
feeling.
. Loafing: Roger Mack, a master trainer at Tysons Sport & Health Club in
Virginia, ungenerously estimates that "about 99%" of
customers "don't even get their heart rate up" on the treadmill, meaning they
are devoting a lot of time yet burning few calories
and making little improvement in heart-lung health.
The fix: Using the heart-rate device installed on many gym machines, or counting
your pulse at your neck using the second hand of a
watch, estimate your heart rate. Determine your (very rough) maximum heart rate
by subtracting your age from 220. Your target heart
rate is 55% to 65% of that number. If you're 40, your maximum heart rate is 180
(220 minus 40) beats per minute; your target will be
99 to 117 beats per minute.
Working out at 55% of your maximum won't make you miserable, but it's enough to
do some good. If you get ambitious, buy a heart rate
monitor so you'll always know if you're working hard enough.
. Using lousy form: Many exercisers pull weights up too quickly, using momentum
or leverage. Carden gives the example of people who
elevate their shoulders from the bench as they reach the top of a bench press
repetition - a flourish that transfers pressure from
the target muscle (the pectoral, or chest) to the shoulder, raising the risk of
injuring the rotator cuff.
The fix: Choose a weight that lets you do eight repetitions slowly, in perfect
form. Your eighth rep should be hard enough that your
form starts to fall apart. That's probably far less weight than you now use.
Live with it.
. Aping the wrong apes: Given how many people make mistakes at the gym, Carden
says, it's dangerous to mimic other exercisers. For
instance, some women follow men's workouts, Carden says, even though they often
seek different results.
The fix: Ignore alien orders. Develop your own workout with a trainer, or at
least read a good strength training book aimed at the
sort of exerciser you are. That guy waddling around with the fat "lifting" belt?
He's a fool. The gal doing rapid-fire crunches with
her fingers laced behind her head? She doesn't exist.
From the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/fitness/la-he-dumb27feb27,1,6860883.story\
?coll=la-health-fitness-news


2. Multisport: Does Flexibility Enhance Performance?
By Marlon Familton
You might have caught news articles about a recent study arguing that stretching
doesn't prevent injuries. In a report published in
the March 2004 issue of the "American College of Sports Medicine Journal,
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise," researchers
looked at studies that compared stretching along with other strategies to
prevent training injuries.
"We could not find a benefit," said Stephen B. Thacker, director of the
epidemiology program office at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said in a recent interview. "Athletes who stretch might
feel more limber, but they shouldn't count on
stretching to keep them healthy." He said.
I think these researchers must have been in the forest looking at the individual
trees. The fact is that you need adequate
flexibility to balance your body and move into correct postures, particularly
those required by cycling. If you have tight
hamstrings when you move low into an aero position, your back will be the
looser. It will have to compensate with excessive flexion
putting your discs at risk. So stretching tight hamstrings would directly help
avoid injury.
As an athlete, you need to consider your body as a system, not individual parts.
Let's look at what happens in the body and why
stretching is important.
Joint Motion Inside the Body
Arthrokinematics is a basic term in kinesiology that describes how the motion
occurs on the articulating surfaces of joints. In
short, your bones need to move around in their sockets in a certain way. In
figure one, joint A has poor dynamic stability. When the
upper bone moves, it merely rolls across the surface of the joint and winds up
at an extreme end range.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060228_DT_Flexibility.html


3. Athletics: The Myth of LSD:
By USAT Level II Coach, Mike Ricci
Most of us have heard the acronym 'LSD' and we know that it stands for 'Long
Slow Distance'. I decided to write this article about
LSD to debunk a few myths. I don't think of 'Long Slow Distance' as being as
slow as most people think. Years ago we were taught
that running slow would make us faster and I admit that I harped on this when I
first started running. What I have learned over the
years is that LSD or "running slow" is relative to each person.
Having started running at the back of the pack, it took me some time to improve,
but to be honest it caused me to use more brain
power than aerobic power. I was walk-on at my college for the cross country team
because they needed a seventh man. Most of my
teammates ran at 5:15-5:35 per mile pace for a 10k. I started out at 7:00 per
mile pace and one of my goals was to break 40:00
someday - a blazing 6:25 pace! That is pretty slow especially in the world of
cross country running. I had a lot of work to do to
reach my goals.
I didn't start out with a heart rate monitor, knowing my max heart rate, VO2 max
or anything else. I knew that my five mile time was
34:50 which makes my pace just about 7:00 per mile. From here I worked backwards
and decided to run about 1:00-2:00 slower per mile
for my training pace or somewhere between 8:00 to 9:00 pace. I typically ran 10
mile runs in 85-90 minutes and for shorter runs I
ran 3 mile runs in 25 minutes. My running wasn't anything blazing fast; it was
just simply 'running'. I ran hard enough to stress my
system, and easy enough that I could repeat it day after day and week after
week. Those two facts were the keys to my improvement:
Frequency and Repeatability.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060228_D3_LSD.html


4. Four Ways to Improve Running Biomechanics:
Before reading this article, please understand that there is no such thing as
"perfect" running form. Since everyone has different
limb lengths, varying muscle fiber sizes and angles, diverse masses, and
separate running distance requirements, no single athlete
will run the same. But there are *characteristics* of a good runner that remain
fairly constant from person to person. Allow me to
introduce you to four, and present a drill to improve each.
1. Increase knee range of motion during the swing phase. This means that your
right knee should be more flexed (towards your butt)
when your right thigh is flexed forward during the run, as opposed to your right
knee being more extended (away from butt). Same
goes for the left, of course. Think of it this way - if you were swinging a
weight attached to the end of a stick, you could move
the weight faster with less effort if the stick were shorter. In this case, the
stick is your leg, and the weight is your foot. By
having your knee (the stick) more bent (or shorter), you are able to move the
weight (your foot) much faster with less effort. The
result will not only be a faster swing time (meaning a faster foot turnover),
but also reduced fatigue in achieving the desired
stride length.
Drill: Heel-to-butt kicks. During your normal run, begin to exaggerate knee
flexion, touching the butt with the heel during each
stride. Do 20 touches for both the right and left legs, then continue in your
normal gait pattern.
2. Maintain flexible quadriceps and hip flexors. These are the muscles along the
front of your thigh that act to straighten the leg.
If they are tight, insufficient flexibility can inhibit your ability to fully
extend the leg in the push-off phase of the running
gait.
Drill: Platform stretch. Ideally, your pelvic bone should be tilted backwards
when stretching the quadriceps and hip flexors. To
achieve this, find a platform or elevated surface that is approximately at knee
height or slightly higher. Facing away from the
platform, and standing on your right leg, bend your left knee and lock your left
foot, shoelaces down, onto the surface. Hold 15-30
seconds, then switch.
3. Deliberately focus on pushing backwards with each step. This will not only
incorporate your gluteal and hamstring muscles in the
push-off phase of the running gait, but also keep your center of gravity
consistently rolling forward. Rather than focusing on using
the muscles around the knee to provide the driving force, focus on running from
the hips.
Drill: Lean-fall-run. Stand completely still and as tall as possible. Without
bending the knees, let the entire body lean forward
until you "fall" toward the ground and are forced to take your first step
forward. Transition directly into a short 10-20 yard run,
continuing to lean forward and push backwards with the hips.
4. Avoid excessive ankle and hip flexion. Do not bend your knees or flex your
ankles excessively during the landing phase. While it
may seem that this decreases joint impact forces, there is no empirical evidence
that runners who bend the knees more have less
injuries than runners who do not. However, there is evidence of increased time
spent in contact with the ground, which decreases
your elastic rebound from the ground and the overall power of each stride. You
will naturally avoid excessive knee and ankle flexion
if your focus on minimizing footstrike time.
Drill: Cadence counts. During your run, count the number of right footstrikes
achieved in a span of 20 seconds. There should be 30
or more, indicating a cadence of 90 or higher. Increased cadence indicates
decreased ground contact time.
Focus on making these changes to your gait pattern, and you will notice a marked
increase in efficiency and economy. As you prepare
for race season and design your weekly and monthly training plans, look into the
triathlete training specials offered by Pacific
Elite Fitness.
Until next time, train smart,
Ben Greenfield
NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Triathlon Training Overview:
http://www.pacificfit.net/triathlete_training_overview.html


5. Aging: Too Old to Benefit From Exercise? Pish!
People are never too old to gain health benefits from exercise, a new study
suggests.
More Vital Signs Columns Researchers divided a group of 64 volunteers with an
average age of 84 into three groups. The first group
exercised by walking, the second did resistance training, and a control group
did no exercise.
After 16 weeks of regular exercise twice a week, the exercise groups had lower
systolic blood pressure, improved upper and lower
body strength, improved hip and shoulder flexibility and improvements in tests
of agility, balance and coordination when compared
with members of the group that did not exercise.
All of the participants, who ranged in age from 66 to 96, were healthy enough to
take care of daily tasks on their own, but some
exercisers used canes or walkers during their sessions. Three-quarters of the
participants were women, and only five participants
were younger than 75. The study appears in the February issue of The Journal of
Aging and Health.
Ross Andel, a co-author of the study, suggested that the exercise program would
also be suitable for older people who had greater
handicaps. "Based on our findings," he said, "it is reasonable to expect that a
similar exercise program would be successful in
older individuals who have difficulties in activities of daily living." Dr.
Andel is an assistant professor of gerontology at the
School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.
Both the resistance program and the walking program led to significant
improvements, leading Dr. Andel to suggest that the exercise
itself, and not the type of exercise, provides the benefit. "It is at least as
important to exercise in advanced age as earlier in
life," he said.
From the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/health/28agin.html


6. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner 1
When you practice running with a lighter, quicker turnover, you become a faster,
more efficient runner. An increased cadence also
decreases your risk of injury, because your feet spend less time pounding the
pavement. Try counting the number of times your right
(or left) foot hits the ground during a 30-second period. Jog for a minute or
two and repeat the 30-second drill eight times, trying
to increase your count by one or two footstrikes each time.
Coach's Corner 2
* To Hill With It: "Think of a hill workout as a running-specific weight
workout. The exaggerated knee-lift, driving arms, and
pronounced toe-off necessary to run up hill strengthens you every bit as much as
hitting the weight room. Hill running also works
the cardiovascular system as your heart tries to keep pace with the increased
energy required to fight gravity." -Ed Eyestone
* Injury Prevention 1
A Shoe Thing: "Don't let your shoes get worn down. Beat up shoes increase
injury. Alternate between two pairs of shoes and buy new
ones every 300-500 miles." -Jeff Galloway
* Injury Prevention 2
Piriformis syndrome: Massage tight areas deep in the hip and backside. Lie down
on the floor, and place a tennis ball under the
affected buttock. Rest your weight on the ball for 10 seconds, move over an
inch, and repeat until you've massaged the entire
problem area. It hurts a little at first, but eventually loosens the muscle and
speeds healing.
* Performance Nutrition 1
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are packed with health-enhancing
antioxidants. To get more antioxidant-packed herbs in your diet,
consider these five easy preparation tips:
* Oregano: Sprinkle in spaghetti sauces, over pizza, or on French bread.
* Dill: Sprinkle over baked salmon, along with onion and lemon.
* Thyme: Splash thyme and garlic onto poultry, green beans, or add to soups.
* Rosemary: Use when cooking or grilling shrimp, scallops, pork, chicken, or
filets.
* Peppermint: Mix peppermint into your favorite cookie, cake, or brownie recipe.
* Performance Nutrition 2
Feel Fatigued? Try Iron: Eat dark-meat poultry, beef, beans, lentils, wheat
germ, green leafy vegetables, and figs with vitamin
C-rich foods to boost iron absorption.
If you're iron-deficient you can boost your aerobic capacity by simply
increasing your iron intake.
* Editor's Advice 1
Fast-finish training: "You can practice fast finishes every day as part of your
normal run. Mimicking your race speed for a small
part of your daily run can improve your final kick at the finish of a race. It
also teaches you how to make a longer, more
sustained, more controlled push for the finish."
-Michele Ervin, RW assistant photo editor
Editor's Advice 2
Fool Yourself: "If you procrastinate heading out into the winter mix because
you don't like the cold weather, try this trick: Heat
your body up BEFORE going outdoors. You can throw your running clothes in the
warm dryer prior to going out, or you can do some
jumping jacks or pushups to get your blood moving."
-Tish Hamilton, RW executive editor
* Training Talk 1
"Initially, moving to a higher level of fitness means moving up a little on the
scale of perceived effort. Getting into better
cardiovascular condition means working those systems at a higher rate than rest
for some period of time. It means requiring your
entire body to do more than it's accustomed to doing, and doing it for a bit
longer that it wants."
-From No Need for Speed by John Bingham
Training Talk 2
"I've experimented with various gels on training runs and have run several
marathons using them. I feel that they are a very useful
product. Depending on the brand, they provide 80 to 120 calories per packet,
theoretically enough to get you another mile down the
road."
-From Smart Running by Hal Higdon


7. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Marathon Fever:
At first I thought that my accidental marathon, Napa Valley 2000, had left me
off easily. The post-race pains were no worse or
longer-lasting than if I'd trained right, maybe because I'd run so slowly and
walked so much.
Normal running resumed soon, probably too soon. Long after the soreness was
gone, the tiredness persisted.
My defenses stayed down, so low that they couldn't repel a mysterious illness.
Its symptoms were flu-like -- low-grade fever,
persistent cough, heavy fatigue -- and they hung on for two full months.
I ran almost nothing for those months, and began to worry that I'd never feel
better. Just getting from one end of the day to the
other was a "marathon."
My doctor never identified that illness. The best he could do was rule out the
worst possibilities.
The long-lasting fever finally cooled. More months passed as I inched back
toward normal runs. You appreciate those more after
you've lost them for a while, or what you thought might be forever.
After recovering fully, I still avoided making the efforts that racing required.
Almost six years passed without a run longer than
an hour. Only a few times each year was my pace faster than comfortable.
I still went to races, but now mostly to watch other runners. "Why aren't you
running?" they would ask.
Two answers. The first, "I forgot to train," usually drew a laugh. The second,
"I like to run too much to race," brought a look of
bewilderment, as if I were speaking poorly translated Swahili.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/home.php?article=2044


8. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Endurance Cyclists Must Strengthen Their Legs
An Australian research team has shown why training for strength is important for
cyclists. Untrained men who were not cyclists used
a hack-squat apparatus (a weight-lifting machine used to strengthen the legs and
buttocks) to lift 85 percent of the heaviest weight
that they could lift once, five times in a row. Then they rested and repeated
the sets of five. They did this four times, in three
sessions per week. They did no cycling during the strength-training period of
the study. They were given cycling endurance tests
before and after. The study concluded that the strength training made men far
more efficient in cycling (Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise, July 2005.)
Efficiency is the amount of energy a person uses to perform a certain amount of
work at high intensity. However, strength training
did not improve the men's aerobic capacity: the ability to use oxygen or
circulate blood. So strength training did not improve heart
or lung function, but it did give the participants extra power to push the
pedals harder, which helped them ride faster.
Top-level competitive cyclists train for endurance by riding for three to eight
hours a day. They usually cannot push heavy weights
with their legs because their cycling schedule does not give them time to
recover from strenuous weightlifting workouts. Since this
study used untrained cyclists, it does not suggest that professional cyclists
should change their training methods. Competitive
cyclists gain tremendous leg muscle strength just by climbing steep hills very
fast, which exerts as much force on their leg muscles
as weightlifting and makes them very strong.
* Principles Of Training
You will not become a better athlete by doing the same training regimen each
day. Athletes train by taking hard workouts on one day,
feeling sore on the next, and not taking another hard workout until the muscles
stop feeling sore.
It's called the hard-easy principle. If you want to become stronger or faster or
increase your endurance, you have to exercise hard
or long enough to make your muscles burn. Then your muscles will be sore for one
or more days. If you try to exercise hard when your
muscles are damaged, you will tear them and the muscles will weaken. If you wait
for the soreness to disappear, your muscles will be
stronger than they were before your workout. As you continue to take stressful
workouts only after the soreness disappears, you will
become progressively stronger and faster and have greater endurance. Athletes in
most sports train once or twice a day in their
sports, but they do not exercise intensely more often than every 48 hours.
There is a difference between the good burning of training and the bad pain of
an injury. The good burning usually affects both
sides of your body equally and disappears almost immediately after you stop
exercising. The bad pain of an injury usually is worse
on one side of your body, becomes more severe if you try to continue exercising
and does not go away after you stop exercising.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Is honey more healthful than sugar?
A: You may have heard that honey is better than sugar because it's a quicker
source of energy, a richer source of minerals and less
fattening, but actually, honey and table sugar are almost the same. Both contain
two simple sugars called glucose and fructose.
Table sugar has its sugar bound into one molecule, but it is split immediately
in your intestine to two single sugars. Since honey
and table sugar are processed the same way, honey is not a quicker source of
energy.
They are equally fattening even though ounce for ounce, honey has fewer calories
than sugar. Honey contains water which has no
calories and refined sugar does not. A tablespoon of table sugar has 64 calories
while a tablespoon of honey has 46 calories, but to
obtain the same amount of sweetness you must use enough more honey to make the
calories equal. Honey does contain iron and calcium
while table sugar does not, but to meet your needs for iron, you would have to
eat 10 cups of honey a day, and for calcium, you'd
need to eat 40 cups.
* Low-Carbohydrate Diet Slows Time Trial
A recent study from South Africa shows that eating a low-carbohydrate diet
slows extended sprint performance of cyclists
(Journal of Applied Physiology, January 2006).
Competitive bicycle racers ate a high fat or high-carbohydrate diet for six days
followed by a high-carbohydrate diet for one day
and completed time trials on their bikes. Then they ate the opposite diet for
six days followed by a high carbohydrate diet for one
day and repeated their time trial. Diets did not affect their times or power
output for 100 kilometers (62 miles), but the high fat
diet slowed their sprint performance over one kilometer (0.6 miles.)
Muscles get their energy from sugar and fat stored in muscles or from the
bloodstream. The limiting factor in how fast an
endurance athlete can exercise is the time it takes to transport oxygen from the
blood in the lungs to the muscles. Muscles require
far more oxygen to burn fat than to burn sugar for energy. So when a muscle runs
out of its stored sugar, called glycogen, it
becomes less efficient, hurts, is difficult to co-ordinate and slows you down.
Many previous studies show that it doesn't make any difference what an trained
endurance athlete eats on the week before
competition because the muscles of trained athletes store the most glycogen when
they reduce training for several days, regardless
of what they eat. Any sprint that takes less than 50 seconds is not affected by
diet, because you can work up to 50 seconds
anaerobically, without requiring additional oxygen. This study shows that a
high-fat diet before extended sprinting hurts
performance. A high fat diet causes muscles to burn a higher percentage of fat.
Using fat for energy requires more oxygen than
carbohydrates do, and how fast you can sprint 0.6 miles on a bicycle is limited
by how rapidly you can deliver oxygen to muscles.
Restricting carbohydrates before a sprint taking more than 50 seconds increases
oxygen needs which slows you down.


9. Exercise and weight control: Myths, truths and gender differences:
By Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D.
"For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil thin!"
"Am I the only runner who has ever gained weight training for a marathon?"
"Why does my husband shed pounds when he exercises and I don't?"
When I listen to athletes complain about their lack of success with losing body
fat, I hear abundant frustration: "Why can't I do
something as simple as lose a few pounds!" Why? Because weight loss isn't simple
and often includes debunking a few diet and
exercise myths. Perhaps this article will offer some insights that lead you to
weight-loss success.
Myth: You must exercise in order to lose body fat.
To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit. You can create that deficit
by adding on exercise (which improves your overall
health and fitness) or by simply eating fewer calories. For example, sick people
commonly lose body fat, but they don't exercise;
they create a calorie deficit.
Similarly, injured athletes can also lose fat despite lack of exercise. The
story "I gained weight when I was injured because I
couldn't exercise" could more correctly be stated "I gained weight when I was
injured because I was bored and depressed and I
overate for comfort and entertainment."
Myth: The more you exercise, the more fat you lose.
Often, the more you exercise, the hungrier you get, and:
* the more you eat, or;
* the more your believe you "deserve" to eat, or;
* the more you want to eat as a reward for both getting to the gym and surviving
the workout.
But if you spend 60 minutes in a spin class and burn off 600 calories only to
reward yourself with 12 Oreos (600 calories), you'll
wipe out your weight-loss efforts in less than three minutes!
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12783


10. Sunscreen 101 - a highly scientific study:
Mirror, mirror on the wall, why oh why do I have to be the fairest of them all!
When I was growing up I knew I was fair skinned, but being from the upper
Midwest meant, so was everyone else. When I migrated to
warmer climates as an adult I began to realize just how fair I really am. Then
I started running and during longer distance runs it
became apparent I needed to take sunscreen much more seriously. One of my son's
favorite things to do now is count mama's moles.
I'm being totally serious; I know just what Fred Savage felt like in Austin
Powers III.
Mole! There's a big Mole!"
Trouble is I have very sensitive skin as well. My skin reacts to certain
chemicals in sunscreen called "Absorbers" with a red rash
that burns. So does my son by the way. I will never forget putting "baby"
sunscreen on my 10 month old and watching him turn
florescent red within minutes. After that lovely day, I have taken to testing
sunscreens on myself, on my friends, and finally on
my son. I have been helped along by my father-in-law, who is a Dermatologist
specializing in skin cancer (one more reason for me to
wear sunscreen). What to do with all this tremendous knowledge I have
collected? I feel it only "fair" that everyone benefit. So,
below is a list of sunscreens and sunblocks that work very well for runners.
There is something here for everyone, so do your skin
a favor on your next run and try one of these out. If not, maybe I'll add a
link to my Father-in-law's Practice.I warn you though,
he's a lot more expensive than any of these sunscreens!
Drugstore Deals - great deals for body coverage that lasts.
Hawaiian Tropic Ozone Sport spf 60 - for those long days in the sun this stuff
is cheap and works great. An Epinions reviewer says
"Hawaiian Tropic has proved spreading tar on a child will block the sun's
harmful rays." I wouldn't put this on my face because
removal is quite a workout in itself.
Banana Boat Sport - The best thing about this line is the variety. They have spf
15, 30, 50, a sport spray, and sport stick. If you
don't like the typical scent of sunscreen this may not appeal to you. I might
put the lotion on my face, but not the spray.
Bull Frog Quickgel spf 36 - May not be the easiest to find but a great cheap
sunblock. The gel dries quickly and doesn't leave a
weird residue like other sport gels I've tried. I don't know if I would put this
on my face, but its good for arms and legs.
More...from You Run Girl at:
http://www.yourungirl.com/sunscreenpart1.html


11. Cycling Running Energy:
Whenever you exert a running effort you push against your internal metabolic
resistance to effort, which I call energy. You will
always experience a measurable amount of energy during a running workout. If you
happen to have a lot of energy, your effort
encounters little resistance and you feel like you're flying. But when you're
out of energy, even an easy run can be tough to do.
The ability to distinguish different levels of energy is one of the most
important skills in running. Being successful in the
competitive game depends on coordinating your training effort with your
fluctuating sense of energy. Thus, your energy is not merely
an arbitrary factor that sometimes hinders performance and sometimes enables it.
Rather, measuring and accommodating fluctuations in
your energy should be the primary focus of the training process.
Fortunately, you don't need a special energy monitor to measure your energy. All
you need to do is take a run and feel it: no
energy, little energy, some energy, ample energy, or abundant energy. The
interesting thing about running energy is the way it can
change from moment to moment during a run. Most runners have noticed, for
example, how they can start off with only some energy, but
after a while they develop ample energy-even enough for a hard workout.
This changeability of energy is a quality of its cyclic nature. Left to its own
designs, your energy always fluctuates from the
start of a workout to the finish. First it contracts, then it expands, then it
contracts again. These fluctuations form the basic
cycle of energy pictured in Figure 3-1.
More...from BC Endurance Trainings at:
http://www.bcendurancetrainings.com/articles/cyclingrunning.html


12. High-Fat Diets and Exercise Performance:
Eat More Carbohydrate!
The ability to exercise for long periods is largely dependent upon the
availability of energy sources, typically carbohydrates and
fats. Fat is the primary fuel for low intensity exercise and is stored in large
amounts within the body, while carbohydrate fuels
higher intensity exercise and is stored only in limited sites as glycogen. It is
well documented that fatigue during endurance
sports is closely related to depletion of carbohydrate within muscle and that
increasing carbohydrate intake increases endurance.
Much, although not all, research also suggests that high fat diets are
associated with cardiovascular disease, some cancers, and
depressed immune function. These facts, taken together, have led exercise
professionals to recommend high carbohydrate diets to
seriously training athletes.
No, Eat More Fat!
There is a line of evidence, however, which suggests that seriously training
athletes need not be so restrictive of their fat
intake. Many of the previously mentioned studies have used sedentary or
moderately trained research subjects. Well-trained endurance
athletes demonstrate enhanced ability to use fats for energy at rest
[Calles-Escandon] and during exercise [Karlsson].
Muscle glycogen levels are directly related to exhaustive exercise. It is
apparent that one of the main effects of training is to
spare glycogen by enhancing utilization of fats. Consistent with this idea is
the significant depletion of intramuscular fats during
strenuous exercise and the increase in enzymes which control fat oxidation in
trained subjects [Karlsson].
Endurance ability has not been adversely affected by high fat diets in some
studies [Phinney], and in fact high carbohydrate diets
may lead to greater utilization of carbs during exercise [Jacobs], thus
obliterating the "sparing" of carbohydrates that training
generally produces. The possibility that increasing fat in the diet might
enhance fat utilization during exercise therefore is
intriguing. Work done at the University of Buffalo attempted to determine
whether sedentary individuals differed from well trained
subjects in their ability to use fats during high intensity exercise. Indeed,
well trained subjects were better able to utilize
fats, thus maintaining work output despite glycogen depletion [Pendergast].
Furthermore, trained runners given a moderate to high
fat diet [35-55% of total calories] for 2 months improved running performance,
presumably by increasing fat stored in the muscle and
by lower lactate production [Pendergast].
More...from NISMAT at:
http://www.nismat.org/hot/highfat.html


13. Tall Tales in HR Training:
Over the course of time, it has been demonstrated that that if one repeats an
idea or concept frequently enough, it can become an
accepted notion regardless of its basis in truth. People that accept these
mantras are often ignorant of the facts, while the
purveyors of these concepts often point to happy believers as evidence of their
truth.
In the world of endurance and cardio-vascular training, one such example is that
of using baseless heart rate training concepts as a
method for training.
Many of you will recall the exercise charts that appeared on gym walls or on the
panels of pieces of exercise equipment which showed
a formula of 220 minus your age as a method for determining your various
training zones. While the appearance of HR as a training
tool signaled the beginning of more scientific approaches to training, it
naturally took some time before valid heart rate based
training methods supplanted demonstrably false formulas.
Thankfully for training purists, the 220 minus your age formula has been
thoroughly discredited but for the most antiquated of
trainers and the general gym world which loves to put up fancy looking charts in
spin rooms. Yet, amazingly, the random and patently
false 220 method has been reborn in some dubious training quarters, where an
equally random 180 is used as a subtraction point for
determining HR training zones.
Indeed, these days there are several widely advertised training programs that
use HR based training calculations which have no basis
in science or reality.
HR should be one of the fundamental training tools in any substantive program.
However, like any tool, heart rate training methods
are only useful if properly applied.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that methods which use arbitrary
HR calculations such as the concept of 180 minus your
age to determine performance training zones are fundamentally flawed. A training
program based on sound training principles cannot
have at its core a formula that is demonstrably false.
It is not difficult to demonstrate why a one size fits all pie in the sky isn't
this convenient phoney-baloney burn fat too numeric
calculation (whose acronym is BS) does not work. The BS-180 method runs into
serious difficulty when one considers the following:
Age is irrelevant to HR training zones
Heart rate zones are clearly sport specific
Heart rate zones are unique to the individual
Age is entirely irrelevant in determining training zones.
More...from Michael McCormack at:
http://www.triathloncoach.com/articles/hrtales.html


14. Less is More:
So did you stop, stretch and smell the roses this week? If not here's another
great reminder that less can be more.
I swam today with two great coaches and both said essentially the same thing.
During the winter, during the base phase of triathlon
training, less is certainly more.
Luis Vargas, who coaches with Mark Allen Online, made that point that on current
long runs my heart rate (I'm 42) should never
exceed 140 bpm. He said that often on his training runs with Mark Allen they
would actually walk up hills to keep their heart rate
below this threshold.
The idea behind this proven training method is to teach your body to burn fat
and not sugar.
Wes Hobson, a former long-time pro, ITU champion, and coach basically echoed the
same training philosophy. But I'll let him explain.
Below is his take on winter training. You can also listen to him explain more by
clicking HERE for my interview with Wes. You can
also learn more by visiting his web site HERE.
Wes Hobson on Winter Base Training
During the winter months, if I was your coach and I oversaw your training, I
would rather see you swim 500 meters of near perfect
freestyle than 3,000 meters of inefficient freestyle. I would rather see you
bike for an hour at a cadence that is efficient for
you, than see you ride four hours with inefficient pedal and power output. I
would rather see your running form efficient and proud,
than seeing it breaking down in several areas.
We are triathletes. We are self-motivated and self-disciplined. No one forces us
out of bed every morning to drive to swim practice
in the dark or to go for the morning run when there is a chill in the air. This
is a great attribute you have, but it can also
contribute later in the year for not improving your performance.
The winter months is a time to improve your form in all three disciplines so
that later, when it is time to train your body at a
higher intensity, you will be more efficient with your energy usage and perform
better. I often see athletes training too hard early
in the year, only to burn out both physically and mentally weeks before their
big race. It is important to set your goals and to
have constructive workouts during the base phase.
More...from EveryMan triathlon:
http://www.everymantri.com/everyman_triathlon/2006/02/less_is_more.html


15. The Off Season - You, Your Bike and Speed:
Lee Zohlman, USAT/USAC Certified Coach
It's pretty unanimous that the bike is most athletes' favorite part of
triathlon. Whether they are fast, slow or middle of the
packers most people enjoy the exhilarating feeling of flying down the road in a
full aero tuck watching the scenery pass them at a
bullet's pace. No matter what level rider you are, the off season provides a
time for a single sport focus, so why not make your
bike your weapon this off season. You'll be able to put in the hours since your
swimming and running volume will be reduced. No, I'm
not just talking about riding more miles, although you will be. I'm talking
about what type of workouts will help you go faster next
season, what you can do take weight off the bike and what can you buy to get
more aero and have less drag. We'll look at some ways
of making road bikes into tri bikes and how much time really can be saved with
aero equipment. So strap on your helmet and grab a
gel, we're going to dive head first into your body and the bike.
"Ride lots" is what the great Eddy Merckx said when asked how to get faster on
the bike. The reason to put in big miles is to help
your body build a large sport specific aerobic engine. You'll increase your
body's ability to uptake oxygen and this is the most
crucial component to cycling. If you can get more oxygen to the working muscle
groups then you will ride faster. In essence you are
improving your endurance on the bike. You'll also improve your body's ability to
burn fat as an energy source. The off season is not
the time of year to hammer the rides two or three days per week. Rather, to
achieve that big engine you'll need to do lots of riding
between 65-75% of your maximum heart rate. If you're currently riding 6-8 hours
per week then start increasing your time in the
saddle by 10-15% until you are riding 12-14 hours per week. Aim for one long
steady ride of 3-4 hours of uninterrupted time. You can
throw in some surges of two to four minutes to break up the monotony of riding
at one pace and group rides are also good to mix
things up. The group rides are also good to develop better reflexes and handling
skills. You can also work on pulling through the
bottom of the pedal stroke to help develop a smoother power transfer from your
legs to the pedals. One great workout is 6 x 2:00 on
each leg focusing on this basic but crucial element of cycling.
Go carbon. If you are looking at taking more weight off your bike then buy some
lighter components. Carbon fiber bottle cages and
cranks are a good start. The best things to save weight on are those that are
rotating, like tires, pedals and crank arms. Going
from aluminum cranks to carbon can save you 80-100 grams and going from aluminum
to carbon bottle cages can save 40-50 grams. As
well, reducing one pound from your pedals and shoes will help decrease your
power requirement by 2.3 percent. If you want to climb
better then aim to reduce more of the static weight from the bike like
seatposts, bars and stems. You can even buy some nifty
titanium bolts to replace your aluminum ones. All the little things add up to
big weight savings and we didn't even mention the
holiday turkey and stuffing.
More... from BodyZen.com at:
http://www.bodyzen.com/htmlsite/offseason.html


16. How to Plan your Training and Racing :
The importance of planning
If you have read the last article on the basic underpinning principles of sports
physiology, you will understand that training needs
to be structured. Structuring your training over the year requires you to break
your year into cycles. The process of breaking up
your year is known as, "periodisation". Without periodisation, you will not be
able to peak properly for your major races of the
year.
Where to start - setting your goals
For any successful plan the first initial step is to work out the major goals.
Once we have the goals set in place, we can work back
from our goals and structure our training accordingly. It is important also to
state what you want to achieve with these goals. The
first two questions should be:
. Step 1. What are my major goals this year?
. Step 2. What do I want to achieve within these goals this year?
For this you should ideally get out a piece of paper and write down all the
races you want to peak for. So for example, you may want
to peak for the National Championships on 6th June and the regional championship
final on Sept 2nd. These are your peak "A" races.
Write down the dates. These two major goals should be 'set in concrete'. You
won't want to change these goals because all your
training and racing relies on knowing these dates.
Next you need to consider your "B" secondary events, which are important, but
not major season peak races. You may have quite a few,
but don't chose all your races. Stick to quality. You will shortly see that you
cannot peak for all your races! These races are not
'set' so rigidly as "A" races because you may want to have the flexibility in
deciding which B races you want to do.
The weekend gaps left in your diary are races or trainings that will be
'stepping stones' to achieving you desired goals. Normally
these are races you use as training. You obviously have freedom of choice as to
when you chose to train.
Step two asks what you want to achieve within the major races of the year. It is
important therefore to take a look at your current
level of fitness and analyse what your strengths and weaknesses are within
races. You have to ask yourself what you aim to achieve.
Is it to win the race? Is it to come in the top 10? Remember to be realistic.
Please read my article on the how to progress in
International Cycling to get a perspective on how to 'progress up the ranks'.
Although that particular article is aimed at women, it
is a good read for the male cyclist too.
Breaking down the year - periodisation
Periodisation categorises the year into cycles. These cycles can vary in length
depending on how close you want to look at your
programme. The longest cycle is called the "macrocycle" - this is the full
yearly cycle of racing and training from beginning to
end.
The next length cycle is termed the "mesocycle". You may have up to five
mesocycles of varying length in a year. You can divide up
the 12 months and add each training objective within it. The diagram below shows
how this works.
More...from Easy Cycling at:
http://www.easycycling.com/training02.htm


17. Rub out chronic muscle tears:
Written by: T.J. Murphy from www.triathletemag.com
If cross-friction massage doesn't work, maybe your masseur is being too easy on
you
"The chronic muscle tear is probably the third most common injury among all
groups of runner," writes Dr. Timothy Noakes, the
quintessential runner/doctor in his encyclopedic work, The Lore of Running(1991,
Leisure Press).
I came across these words in my own frantic quest for an answer to a hamstring
injury that had plagued me for nine months. The words
that leaped up at me from off the page were the following:
"Chronic muscle tears are usually misdiagnosed, can be very debilitating and
will respond to only one kind of treatment. The
characteristic feature is the gradual onset of pain, in contrast to the acute
muscle tear's dramatically sudden onset of pain." This
characteristic matched my problem exactly.
"In contract to bone or tendon injuries, both of which improve with sufficient
rest, chronic muscle tears will never improve unless
the correct treatment is prescribed"
Noakes' book rang another bell for me here, as I had tried taking days off, and
later weeks with no running, only to lace up my
shoes, hit the road and feel as if, in terms of my injury, an hour hadn't
passed. Noakes goes on to say that he was witness to one
runner who had struggled with a chronic tear for five years.
More...from Metro Sports Running at:
http://localrunning.com/ny/training.php?article_id=4


18. Altitude Training for Improved Cycling Performance:
Whether you're planning on ascending high into the Alps or Rockies, or just want
more power for crushing your buddies in sea-level
criteriums and road races, breathing in the thin air of high elevation may help
you improve your performance. Cycling performance is
largely a function of oxygen uptake, delivery, and utilization by the body; and
altitude training, whether by traveling or sleeping
in a tent, may help you bring more precious oxygen to your working muscles.
The Physiology of Altitude
As we ascend in altitude, there is a drop in barometric pressure that is
associated with a decrease in the partial pressure of
oxygen. This starts a cascade of decreasing oxygen pressures in the lungs,
arteries, capillaries, and, eventually, tissues. The end
result is an insufficient supply of oxygen to tissues (hypoxia) that is
especially apparent during exercise when the oxygen demands
of working muscle increase. Because the oxygen cost of work at altitude is
unchanged from that at sea level, to train or compete at
the same absolute power requires adaptations that overcome or minimize this
decrease in oxygen supply.
In general, all the various systems of the body respond and adapt to the hypoxic
stress of altitude. Some of these adaptations have
the potential to enhance endurance performance, while other changes may actually
hinder it.
The body's initial response to altitude is to increase breathing rate and heart
rate at both rest and during submaximal exercise. In
addition, blood is concentrated by reducing the fluid or plasma component.
Collectively, these changes improve oxygen uptake by the
lungs and its delivery to tissues. The disadvantages of these changes are that
perceived exertion at any workload is increased and
circulating blood volume is reduced.
With prolonged altitude training and continued acclimatization further
adaptations take place. Perhaps the most sought after
altitude adaptation results from kidney hypoxia that stimulates release of
erythropoietin (EPO). In turn, EPO stimulates red bone
marrow to increase production and release of new red blood cells (RBC). This
increase in circulating RBCs leads to enhanced oxygen
carrying capacity of blood and, therefore, improved oxygen delivery to tissues.
At the same time, blood plasma volume increases so
that overall blood volume rebounds toward sea level values.
Why We Train at Altitude
Altitude training can be an effective way of improving your cycling performance,
at any elevation. Both acclimatization to altitude
and training at altitude have been shown to stimulate the following adaptations:
. enhanced oxygen uptake in the lungs
. increased red blood cell numbers to improve oxygen delivery to tissues
. skeletal muscle changes which improve oxygen use by muscle
. increased buffering capacity to possibly delay the onset of fatigue.
More...from Road Cycling at:
http://www.roadcycling.com/news/article1452.shtml


19. You're burning calories right now:
Using sensors in underwear, scientists can accurately zero in on small everyday
tasks.
In the 10 minutes it takes to read this article, you'll expend about 15
calories, assuming you're sitting upright and weigh 150
pounds. If you're reading this while lying down, you'll burn even less. If you
plan to spend the next hour leaning over a casino
table, you'll burn 156 calories. Praying to hit the jackpot? Praying (while
kneeling) is 68 calories.
Scientists have assigned a calorie value to a dizzying array of activities.
Cleaning out an illegal dump site: 450 calories.
Painting over graffiti: 342. Digging worms: 272.
"People have measured just about everything," says John Porcari, an exercise
researcher at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse.
"They've compared regular vacuuming to self-propelled vacuuming. Hand-held snow
blowers to automatic ones."
For more than a century, scientists studying calories and physical activity have
approached the task in pretty much the same way -
slapping masks on subjects and analyzing their exhalations. But now scientists
can do it more accurately. Some, in fact, are taking
calorie-counting to a new level, outfitting subjects with high-tech underwear
packed with delicate motion sensors that can track
calories expended in activities as minute as twitching.
It may be tempting to dismiss the idea of assigning calorie values to everyday
activities as a frivolous parlor game, but the
research, these scientists say, is providing a trove of data on why some people
stay lean while others slide into obesity, and
documenting historic declines in daily activity that are slowly expanding the
American waistline.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-calories27feb27,1,776313.story?coll\
=la-headlines-health


20. High-tech, hard-core exercising:
A new approach to getting fit is becoming a big hit with some athletes and
former couch potatoes as well.
High Intensity Training Centers -- known as HIT Centers -- use state-of-the-art
testing and exercise specialists with college
degrees to develop personalized training plans that push participants to their
personal maximum.
As the name suggests, the workouts are intense. In each of the one-hour sessions
three times a week, they cover cardiovascular and
strength training, as well as flexibility, and work to improve the core
abdominal and back muscles.
Workouts take place in a large, open facility that includes a sand pit and a
mini field and 65-yard dash artificial turf track, as
well as brand-new treadmills, weights and other equipment.
But even exercise novices shouldn't be scared off by the name, said Rob Hinton,
executive director of HIT Center in Green. Hinton
and his father, Bob, opened the first Northeast Ohio location of the burgeoning
national franchise in late 2005.
With the help of extensive testing, HIT Center staff know exactly how hard to
push each client, whether they're college or high
school athletes or everyday people getting back in shape, Hinton said.
``We do all the tests to find out what your high-intensity level is,'' he said.
``It's individualized.''
HIT Centers offer three types of programs: ``Lighten Up'' for people who want to
lose weight; ``HIT Fit'' for novices who want to
get in shape; and ``Speed Up'' for athletes who are trying to enhance their
speed and agility.
The programs cater to savvy consumers who want access to the latest technology.
More...from the Beacon Journal at:
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13979696.htm


21. Is your stride stiff enough?
By Matt Fitzgerald
When you watch world-class runners like Berhane Adere and Kenenisa Bekele in
action, the last word you might conjure up to describe
their running style is "stiff." These runners look smooth and fluid, not stiff.
It's the back-of-the-pack runners shuffling along in
their lock-kneed manner who look stiff.
Nevertheless, a certain type of stiffness is actually a hallmark characteristic
of the best runners' strides. Elite runners like
Adere and Bekele have the most of it, while lesser runners like us could use a
lot more of it. The type of stiffness I'm referring
to is the type that physicists talk about in relation to springs.
The human body does in fact function as a sort of spring during running, and
just as a spring with adequate stiffness will bounce
more efficiently than a spring that's too loose, a runner who exhibits
sufficient muscular stiffness when his or her foot strikes
the ground will run more efficiently than a runner whose muscles are too loose
on impact.
A spring works by reusing energy. When it falls to the ground from a given
height it compresses, which converts the "kinetic" energy
of the fall into "potential" energy stored in the form of tension in the spring.
As the spring returns to its natural length it
converts this potential energy back into kinetic energy in the form of a
directional force directed into the ground. As a result,
the spring bounces back up into the air.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12809&sidebar=13


22. A Pain in the Butt :
Prevention and Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome.
You're 12 weeks into your marathon training program; while out on a long run,
you develop a sharp pain in your buttocks. As you
continue to run, the pain persists. Your hamstrings feel tight and even a little
sore, though by slowing the pace the symptoms
subside a little, and you finish the run. While sitting at your favorite
post-run hangout, there is a tingling sensation in the back
of your thigh and calf.
You've just been introduced to your piriformis muscle. This muscle arises from
the sacrum, passes through the sciatic notch (an
opening in the pelvic bone) and attaches to the bony prominence on the side of
the thigh (greater trochanter). The piriformis plays
a role in the outward rotation of the hip. The sciatic nerve is formed by five
nerves exiting from the spinal cord; it typically
passes through the notch in front of the piriformis. In approximately 15 percent
of the population, the nerve passes through the
muscle.
Problems occur when the piriformis becomes inflamed. This may be due to direct
trauma (falling on your butt), overuse, or a sudden,
forced rotation of the hip, which may occur when running on an uneven surface.
The inflamed muscle may cause pain in the center of
the buttock or may compress the sciatic nerve causing pain, aching or tingling
in the leg. Pain may be increased by sitting,
climbing stairs, or squatting. Deep palpation of the center of the buttocks will
cause pain, as will sudden stretches of these
muscles. Initially you can run through the pain, but in many cases, symptoms
become severe enough to restrict activity. The muscle
tightens and may even spasm during activities, which can cause an alteration in
gait. The affected side of the pelvis is pulled
upward, creating a functional leg length difference; stride on the affected side
is shortened. These alterations in gait can cause a
number of overuse injuries due to poor biomechanics.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=4220


23. Love your knees:
By Frank Claps, M.Ed., C.S.C.S. - Her Sports Magazine
Whether running, cycling or romping around the yard with the dog, your knees
take the brunt of all your fun. But they were hardly
built for such rude treatment.
Just take a closer look -- a hinge joint with four bones connected by five
ligaments, two that cross, two on each side and one up
front. Add some cartilage and a tendon or two, and you have all sorts of areas
ripe for pain and suffering, given how active you
are.
However, with the right combination of tender loving care and tough love,
there's plenty you can do to avoid injury and keep
striding and spinning for the long haul.
The terrible toos
Perhaps the most frequent warning of experts is beware of the "terrible toos" --
too much, too soon, too often -- without adequate
preparation and recovery.
Part of the problem is that athletes often have "less than optimal lower leg,
hip and core strength," says Diane Vives, president
and director of training for Austin-based Vives Training System.
Couple that with increasing mileage or training hours too quickly and not
allowing enough recovery time, and you can wind up with
overuse injuries, the major preventable source of knee pain for activities like
running and cycling.
In tandem with overuse, the repetitive nature of these sports -- knees bending
and straightening again and again -- can result in
injuries both outside and inside the knee joint. For starters, the iliotibial
(IT) band, a tendon that runs from the hip down the
outside of the thigh to the outside of the knee cap (patella) can become
inflamed through overuse, causing pain on the outside of
the thigh and knee.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12825&sidebar=630&category=activewomen


24. Cross-Culture Running:
Tales of Racing Abroad.
"Bon course!" said the runner behind me as we stumbled through the chute. I told
him he had run a good race too, and, in my limited
French and his limited English, we compared the experience that had taken us
along cobbled streets, up steep roads, past ancient
churches, and through the deep mud that now covered our shoes and legs and
backs. We made our way to the community center where I
managed to obtain a sausage and drink and settle into a corner to enjoy the
familiar feeling of a hard-run race and the wonderfully
different experience of running in Belgium.
My wife and I had moved to the European capital a few weeks earlier, although it
felt like much longer. My days had been spent
slogging through a muddy morass of complex bureaucracies-immigration, insurance,
banking-when not stumbling over linguistic and
cultural cobblestones that made my heart race with embarrassment. Racing had
been the first thing that had been "bon" in a while.
The rest of life improved exponentially in the coming months, but running
continued to be a cornerstone of my appreciation of my new
home. I explored the rues, avenues and parcs that crisscross Brussels on foot.
Through races I met members of a club and soon was enjoying speedwork at a local
track and long runs through the forest-complete
with French conversation-with a new set of friends. I traveled throughout the
country on weekends, learning to appreciate both the
diverse geographical and cultural terrain of Belgium and the fun and quirky
racing scene, with bizarre distances like 14.35
kilometers on courses that wander from roads to trails and back or do multiple
loops around a village-and always end at a community
party.
My experience is not unique: Racing abroad often bridges cultural divides and
provide unique experiences. We present here two
stories of cross-cultural running.
-Jonathan Beverly
More...from Running Times Magazine at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=7274


25. Digest Briefs:
* Health Tip: Signs You've Had Too Much Caffeine
If you're jumpy and can't sleep.
According to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, the time to
think about decaffeinating your diet occurs when:
* You've become frequently restless, moody, anxious or irritable.
* You're having trouble sleeping.
* You're taking certain medications, like some antibiotics and herbal
supplements, which can heighten the effects of caffeine by
interfering with the body's ability to process the chemical.
If you have any of these symptoms, cut back to two to four cups of coffee or
caffeinated soft drinks per day, and see if that does
the trick.
-- Deborah DiSesa Hirsch
Copyright C 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.

*The Last 10%
As you get closer to your race goals your training should become more precise,
specific, and step towards race intensities. This is
a precarious and technical process called "peaking." A base training block is
relatively easy to design but a race specific block is
tricky. Maximum results often occur in that last 10% of intensity or duration.
This may mean that extra little push needed to get
into your aerobic capacity zone, a few more seconds of anaerobic endurance, or
another 5 minutes at threshold. Mentally these
efforts are the hardest to focus for and require the most fortitude to complete,
but they may be the necessary stimulus to prepare
you for your next race.
Conversely race specific training requires the most recovery and sensitivity to
recovery. A bit more may be too much and can put you
into overreaching, the predecessor to overtraining. The extra weight work out, a
few added miles, another sprint could break your
body down too much or perhaps even injure it. An extra 10% can leave you flat
and tired on race day.
This careful balancing act is what we coaches build into our athlete's plans.
Each work out has a recovery period attached to it and
each athlete will recover differently based on a wide variety of factors. The
athlete, however, knows their body best. In my
experience elite athletes do not take enough rest days and focus too much on
quantity of training over quality. Listen to your body;
if you are showing signs of overreaching such as lethargy, irritability,
digestive problems, performance drop, or frequent
infections, it is time for a day of (or two). Realize that the extra rest may
give you a better quality work out the following day,
enough to put you in the last 10% that you could not achieve without it.
-Coach Matt Russ

* Absorb, Process, Persevere
One of the key ingredients to being a successful athlete is not motivation, or
talent, or mental focus, it is the ability to learn
from your mistakes. Bad races happen to everyone and they will likely happen
again at some point. A race is only "bad" however, if
you do not take away some knowledge that will help you in the future.
Having worked with many elite athletes one of the key mental skills is the
ability to absorb an injury, bad race, equipment failure,
or other setback, learn from it and move on. I have observed talented athletes
that did not have this ability fall by the wayside,
victims to their own discouragement.
It is ok to be disappointed, but then you must look for answers. If it was
something out of your control such as a mechanical,
weather, or illness then you must simply shrug it off. There are numerous
accounts of unlucky athletes that stuck with their sport
and came back to achieve their goals. If it is a factor within your control,
break it down, come up with a plan, and keep moving. A
successful athlete is like Teflon; they do not let negativity stick to them.
- Coach Matt Russ from the Sport Factory at:
http://www.thesportfactory.com

* Health Tip
Taking your medicine - Get savvy about drug side effects
Tedd Mitchell, M.D.
Are you experiencing depression, fatigue, or a low sex drive? Side effects from
your medications could be the culprit. Here are five
easy ways to get the best results from the drugs you need.
Americans are living longer and that's partly because we have medications that
were not around 30 years ago.
Of course, there is a downside. More prescription drugs means more potential
side effects. If you are among the many Americans who
require prescription medication, it is up to you to be active in your health
care. Just be sure your actions don't increase the risk
of developing a drug side effect.
Here are some tips to keep you savvy.
1. Keep a written list of everything you take. Then, have your list handy for
every physician you visit. Physicians generally are
good about asking whether you have specific drug allergies, but they're less
thorough when it comes to going over a patient's entire
list of medications -- prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs and nutritional
supplements. Moreover, patients may be taking
medications from a number of doctors. After one of my patients was placed on a
beta-blocker by his cardiologist, he developed
depression. He figured it was related to some new stress in his life, so he
referred himself to a psychiatrist who placed him on
antidepressants. When I saw the patient for his general checkup, he presented me
with his list of medications, which included the
two new drugs. Suspecting his depression was related to the beta-blocker, his
cardiologist and I took him off it, and the depression
went away. If it hadn't been for the drug list he had prepared for me, I might
have made the same assumptions the psychiatrist had.
2. Do your homework. While no doctor expects you to understand the biochemistry
by which a drug works, it helps to ask the right
questions (see tips, below). Making it your goal to understand the answers can
save you potential suffering. If you or a loved one
simply is not cut out for this, work with your doctor.
A patient of mine, a delightful woman, simply doesn't get it when it comes to
medications. Sometimes she thinks her cholesterol
medicine is for treating blood pressure, her arthritis medicine is for
cholesterol, and so on. So we schedule periodic appointments
for her to bring in everything she is taking. We review medications, "clean up"
extra pills that have gotten into the mix, and keep
her treatment as simple and specific as possible.
3. Have a medication "quarterback." Just as the quarterback's job is to know
what every player is doing, you need one physician who
"quarterbacks" your medication. This doctor doesn't have to write every
prescription, but he or she should be aware of everything
you take. Years ago, one of my patients asked if I would see his father, a
lawyer in his 70s whose energy and alertness had slipped.
On the first visit I reviewed the father's extensive list of medications, some
of which he'd been taking for years. But medical
records didn't give good reasons for the drugs; in fact, the doctor who first
prescribed them had retired, and an unquestioning
young doctor had been giving him regular refills. So we simply cleaned house. We
tapered the father off many of the medications, and
soon he was like a new man. Nearly 10 years later, he's in his 80s, practicing
law, mentally alert, and doing quite well physically.
4. Don't miss doses. Some patients treat their medications like their exercise
and diet -- on again, off again. A common problem is
missed doses. Remember, medicines for chronic disease work only when taken
regularly. Develop a routine in the morning and evening
to take your medications. Talk to your doctor about "streamlining" medications
by using once-a-day dosing when possible. For those
that must be taken at various times throughout the day, get a pillbox so your
medicines can travel with you.
5. Remember your over-the-counter medicines and nutritional supplements. Too
often people don't think to include these on their list
of medications. One of my patients began taking a supplement for "good prostate
health," thinking it was a smart thing to do. But at
his checkup, he complained that his sex drive had dropped off significantly. He
didn't relate it to the supplement he was taking. A
few months after discontinuing it, he said things were improving.
One of the marvels of modern medicine is the arsenal of drugs we have to treat
illness. But as with any arsenal, it's critical to
know how and why to use each weapon. A little time and effort can ensure that
you get the most out of your prescriptions.
TIPS: Questions to ask about your drugs
What does this treat?
In general terms, how does this work?
What's the best way to take it (morning or night, with or without food)?
What are the major side effects?
Will it interact with other drugs I take?
Tedd Mitchell, M.D., is the medical director of Cooper Wellness Program. Cooper
Wellness Program offers one- and two-week lifestyle
modification programs that focus on losing weight, managing stress, and
developing proper nutrition and exercise habits for life.
For more health articles visit www.CooperComplete.com


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

March 4, 2006:

Ironman New Zealand - Taupo, New Zealand
http://www.ironman.co.nz

Little Cow Harbor 4-Mile Run, Greenlawn, NY
http://www.nrcrun.org

Point Bock 5-Mile, Stevens Point, WI
http://www.pointbockrun.com

March 5, 2006:

Albritton Fruit Sarasota Marathon - Sarasota, FL
http://www.sarasotamarathon.com

BMW Malta Marathon & Half Marathon - Mdina - Sliema, Malta
http://www.maltamarathon.com/html/index.htm

Kuala Lumpur Marathon - Malaysia
http://www.klmarathon.gov.my/index.php

Little Rock Marathon - Arkansas
www.littlerockmarathon.com

Napa Valley Marathon - Napa, CA
http://www.napavalleymarathon.org

Palm Springs Half Marathon, Relay, 5K, Palm Springs, CA
www.kleinclarksports.com

March 6, 2006:

Lance Armstrong Motivational Talk - Ottawa, ON
http://www.powerwithin.com/event_lance_ottawa.aspx

March 10 - 12, 2006:

11th IAAF World Indoor Championships - Moscow, Russia
http://www.moscow2006.ru/eng/

March 15 - 26, 2006:

2006 Commonwealth Games - Melbourne, AUS
http://www.melbourne2006.com.au
Fox Sports Australia
http://foxsports.news.com.au/commgames/?from=FS_othersports
The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/commonwealthgames


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:
http://www.memberstar.com/redir_a.php?LFAId=1027

National Bike Registry
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=vVGS2V*0iZg&offerid=21387&type=3&sub\
id=0

Axill
Sony vs Panasonic:
http://www.axill.com/trackingcode.aspx?affid=8001&pid=1762&bid=4677&c=8001

Buy Paula Radcliffe's book, My Story - So Far, from Amazon UK at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/074325242X/runnersweb-21

Endurance Films
Triathlon Training DVDs
https://endurancefilms.hivelocity.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_C\
ode=EF&Affiliate=runnersweb

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:
http://associatesshop.filzhut.de/shop/index.php?ID=90c9f271c1a519abc4a69299be707\
5a9

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\
37

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:
http://www.roadid.com/?referrer=50

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...**