A FREE WEEKLY E-ZINE OF MULTISPORT RELATED ARTICLES.
The Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest is a weekly e-zine dealing with the
sports of running and triathlon and general fitness and
health issues. The opinions expressed in the articles referenced by the Digest
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6. Toronto Waterfront Marathon. September 24, 2006.
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7. The Toronto Marathon, October 15, 2006
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8. LifeSport by Lance Watson - Professional Coaching
Lance Watson has been coaching triathlon and distance running since 1987. Over
the years, Lance has coached some of the most
successful athletes in the sport of triathlon and duathlon. A Human Kinetics
graduate (sport psychology minor), Lance has had the
opportunity to work with and be mentored by numerous world-class swim, bike, run
and triathlon coaches and liaise with many top
sport professionals (scientists, psychologists, nutritionists, therapists, etc.)
Lance has coached at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 Commonwealth Games and 2003 Pan
American Games. He has been head coach at several
national-team events and coached at various Ironman, ITU World Cup and world
championship events. As well, he was an award recipient
as "Triathlon Canada Elite Coach Of The Year" four consecutive years from
2000-2003. He was the 2004 Olympic Team Head Coach
(Triathlon).
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/LifeSport.html


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Advertise your event on the Runner's Web.
TRAFFIC CONTINUES TO GROW
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Daily
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Andy O'Rourke of Dundas, ON who identified the photo as Ingrid Kristiansen,
Norway, has won our May Pegasus Quiz and receives a copy
of Pegasus RunLog Software.

Beginning April 30th and lasting through Mother's Day (5/11), adidas is offering
15% off women's products! Choose from a wide range
of both apparel and footwear for performance, plus adidas Originals for style!
Customers should use AFFILMD06 at check out.
http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=20812557&siteid=39999062&bfpage=17782\
49

The Ottawa Race Weekend, Canada's largest running event, announced its first
national charity partnership in 32 years with the
Canadian Athletes Now Fund.
The Canadian Athletes Now Fund is a not for profit organization that raises
direct financial support for Canadian athletes so they
can compete on the world stage. Since 1997, the Fund has raised over 4 million
dollars and supported over 500 able bodied and
paralympic athletes.
This is a fabulous opportunity to support our Canadian athletes when they need
the support the most. It takes tremendous dedication
and training to be the best in the world and it also takes financial support.
The Canadian Athletes Now Fund provides direct financial support to our Canadian
athletes. Athletes allocate the funds they receive
for equipment needs, coaching, training opportunities and proper nutrition.
The Canadian Athletes Now Fund is looking for 2008 passionate and proud
Canadians to run, walk or skate for our Canadian athletes
during the Ottawa Race Weekend. When you join the Canadian Athletes Now Fund
team you will find out which athlete your efforts will
be supporting plus donations of $25 or more will receive a tax receipt.
FREE Technical Running Shirt for all Canadian Athletes Now Fund Team members!
START TODAY! JOIN OUR TEAM: CLICK ON LINK BELOW:
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/startup.aspx?eventid=5828
To Donate or for more information visit: www.canadianathletesnow.ca
or Call us at:1-866-YES-2008 .

WIN a Trip for 2 to Scotiabank TORONTO WATERFRONT MARATHON
Flat, fast and festive!
Exciting, cosmopolitan, international, but right next door! "Experience middle
earth and marathon heaven all in one trip to
Toronto!" Join RW Hero Ed Whitlock, John "The Penguin" Bingham, and 10,000+
runners from 30 countries and 40+ states.
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Sub 18:00 5K women runners should contact me for FREE entry into the race.

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RUNNER'S AND TRIATHLETE'S WEB CONTENT PARTNERS

* Sports Nutrition by Sheila Kealey.
Sheila is one of Ottawa's top multisport athletes and a member of the OAC Racing
Team and X-C Ottawa. She has a Masters in Public
Health and works in the field of nutritional epidemiology as a Research
Associate with the University of California, San Diego. Her
column index is available at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/SK_index.html

* Carmichael Training Systems
Carmichael Training Systems was founded in 1999 by Chris Carmichael.
From the beginning, the mission of the company has been to improve the lives of
individuals we work with through the application of
proper and effective fitness and competitive training techniques. Whether your
focus is recreational, advanced, or you are a
professional racer, the coaching methodology employed by CTS will make you a
better athlete. Check the latest monthly column from
CTS at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/cts_columns.html.

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

* Peak Running Performance
Peak Running Is The Nation's Most Advanced Running Newsletter. Rated as the #1
Running Publication by Road Runner Sports (Worlds
Largest Running Store) , Peak Running caters to the serious / dedicated runner.
Delivering world class running advice are some of
running's most recognizable athletes including Dr. Joe Vigil (US Olympic Coach),
Scott Tinley (2 Time Ironman Champ) Steve Scott (3 Time Olympian) and many more.
This bi-monthly newsletter has been around for over

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

* WatsonLifeSport
Lance Watson is "Just The Winningest Coach in Triathlon". He has been coaching
triathlon and distance running since 1987. Over the
years, Lance has coached some of the most successful athletes in the sport of
triathlon and duathlon.
Check out the Lance Watson Online Article Index at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/LW_index.html

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


THIS WEEK'S PERSONAL POSTINGS/RELEASES:
We have NO personal postings this week.


THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Multisport by Lance Watson: The Taper
2. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
3. Multisport: Runners Stitch
Exercise Related Transient Abdominal Pain - "Runner's Stitch" .
4. Dynamic Duo - Running in Pregnancy
5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Talkathons
6. The ABCs of Heart Rate Monitors
7. With effort, it's possible to improve distance-running times
8. My 2006 Boston Experience
9. Long Road Back
Depressed? No way. She was a supercharged ultrarunner. She raced hundreds of
miles on the toughest courses, and won. Then one day
Lisa Smith-Batchen woke up and couldn't run a step.
10. SRM and PowerTap: How Accurate are They?
11. The Athlete's Kitchen
12. Ontario's Favourite Races
13. From Runner's World
14. Turn on the Power
Energy System Specific Training.
15. Muscle Cramps: Don't Cramp Your Style
Muscle cramps can ruin a run. Here's how to sidestep them for good.
16. Superfoods with oomph
Fortify your diet with these natural, tasty star performers.
17. Research Shows Anticipating Pain Hurts
Researchers using brain scans to unravel the biology of dread have an
explanation: For some people, anticipating pain is truly as
bad as experiencing it.
18. Easing race-day anxiety
19. The Complete Electrolyte Story
20. M2 Fuel-burning Efficiency---Food for Thought
21. The Facts about Menstruation and Running
22. New Rules of Stretching
Use this myth-busting plan for breakthroughs in flexibility, performance and
injury prevention.
23. Caffeine: Yes or no?
24. Eleven major marathon mistakes
25. Digest Briefs



RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"What attracts you to a road race or triathlon?"

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:
"Deena Kastor set a new American record of 2 hours 19 minutes 36 in winning the
recent London Marathon. She was assisted by two male
pacers one of which was her training partner despite the fact that the race was
supposed to be a "women's race". Should pacers be
allowed?"
Results at publication time:
Answers Votes Percent
1. No 56 70%
2. Yes 22 28%
3. No opinion 2 3%
Total Votes: 80


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: Ayesha Rollinson, Triathlete.
"I grew up in Midland Ontario on what I now affectionately call the Funny Farm.
My parents made sure they exposed us to as much as
they could when I was young. I competed in chess tournaments, I took Jazz
lessons, I cooked by my mom's side (ok, I mostly measured
ingredients and licked the bowl), I went to nature camps.but it was the sports
that I loved. The competitive sports. I loved the
feeling of winning. I loved setting tangible goals and reaching them. I loved
the unbiased result of timed sports.
Sport is the frame if my life is a picture. It has always been there and it has
held everything together. From age 8 until 12 I swam
competitively, then I decided to run with a competitive track team from 12 until
16. At the age of 16 I was recruited by the
national triathlon team coach at the time and turned my focus to triathlon. I
competed seriously for 4 years, once winning the
Junior National Triathlon title and racing on the national team at 3 World
Championships.
Once I started studying Engineering at University I could not continue to excel
at the sport of triathlon with the time I had
available to train. Instead I decided that swimming with the U of T Varsity Team
was more manageable. This turned out to be a good
decision for many reasons. First, I excelled under Byron MacDonald and Linda
Keiffer. I came away from my 4 years having qualified
for and medaling at CIAUs. Second, the sport of triathlon became draft legal,
which meant to be a top competitor you had to be a top
swimmer.
Upon graduating, I took 2 years to get back into the sport at a local and
national level, winning a provincial age group title in
the process. I signed on with Adam Johnston and the Endurance Lab at the
beginning of 2004 and that is when I hit the ITU circuit in
full force. Working with a team - including coaches, doctors, a sport
psychiatrist, a nutritionist, triathlon Canada - on every
facet of my race I have been able to move up from being globally 'unranked' to
being in the top 75 in the world in 2 short years. In
2005 I raced to 2 ITU podium placements and was named to the World Championships
National Team."
Visit her website at:
http://www.ayesharollinson.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: Lore of Running.
Now revised, expanded and updated, Lore of Running gives you incomparable detail
on physiology, training, racing, injuries,
world-class athletes, and races.
Author Tim Noakes blends the expertise of a physician and research scientist
with the passion of a dedicated runner to answer the
most pressing questions for those who are serious about the sport:
. How your body systems respond to training, the effects of different training
methods, how to detect and avoid overtraining, and
genetic versus trainable potential
. How to train for the 10K up through ultramarathon with detailed programs from
Noakes and several leading running experts
. How to prevent and treat injuries, increase your strength and flexibility, and
use proper nutrition for weight control and maximum
performance
Buy the book from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0873229\
592


THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

1. Multisport by Lance Watson: The Taper :

You've put in the hard work and there's a race coming up. What will you do to
prepare your mind and muscles to step up on the day
and give you the performance you are looking for? One of the tricks of tapering
is to allow yourself to freshen up without losing
feel or focus in getting ready for your big event.
For an Olympic distance triathlon with a moderate level of importance it is
typical to work hard up until one week before the race,
followed by an easy day on Monday, some moderate work
Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, and then have a very light Friday and Saturday
prior to racing on Sunday. Workload in the week of the race includes specific
range of motion and threshold-maintenance type sets
that open up the arteries and remind you of what the effort and pace feels like.
If you haven't raced since last season it is likely
that your body has forgotten the feeling of racing and pushing its max. Short,
high intensity sets will reduce the "shock" factor
that your body might feel once the race gets under way but keep in mind you
should not finish any set feeling completely empty or
fatigued. You may start to feel like you have increased energy due to a lower
volume of work however be aware and keep in mind that
this is the time to rest and not push your limits. Push you limits during the
race and save up for it.
To taper for an Olympic distance race with a high level of importance you should
start to unload two weeks out. Week No. 1 has
high-intensity sets intermixed with more rest to maximize threshold boost and
work on anaerobic capacity. There is no endurance
work. That means no long easy runs, rides or swims. Week No. 2 starts with two
days almost completely off (perhaps a light swim),
followed by three very light days including small amounts of work at race pace
(realistic race pace, not "dream race pace"), another
easy day on Friday, and some race-specific tune-up work on Saturday before the
big race on Sunday.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060504_LW_Taper.html


2. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine:
* Rests Between Intervals Should Not Be Too Short
Athletes train by "stressing and recovering". On one day, they take a hard
workout which damages their muscles, on the next day,
they feel sore and take easy workouts, and when the soreness goes away, take a
hard workout again. They also break down individual
workouts into intervals of stress and recovery. After warming up, they increase
the intensity of the workout until they feel burning
in their muscles, become short of breath, or exceed a certain heart rate. Then
they slow down and when they have recovered
partially, they increase their intensity again. They repeat these stress and
recovery intervals until their muscles start to stiffen
and they are then stop the workout. A report from The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown, West
Virginia shows that the shorter the rest during an interval, the longer it takes
to recover (Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, August 2005).
If you are a regular exerciser, you probably have already noticed this in your
own body. Runners may take an interval workout of
running ten quarter-miles averaging 65 seconds each, with a 110-yard jog lasting
three minutes between each hard run. If they
shorten their recoveries to two minutes, they tire earlier, their muscles feel
sorer afterwards, and it takes them longer to
recover. The same applies to weightlifters. A weightlifter may do four sets of
ten repetitions of lifting a 150-pound weight,
resting for three minutes between each set. If he shortens his interval rest to
one minute, he may not be able to finish his
workout, feels far more soreness during the workout and will be sore for many
days after that workout.
Athletes learn their ideal interval rest durations through trial and error. They
may want to rest until their pulses drops enough
for them to feel comfortable, or for them to be able to slow breathing rate down
towards normal, or wait until their muscles lose
soreness and they feel fresh. They do not wait for complete recovery of resting
heart or breathing rate, or complete recovery from
muscle soreness. Runners and cyclists often use heart rate monitors or a clock
to determine when they will do their next interval.
Weight lifters usually wait for their bodies to "feel" recovered. You can use
whatever yardstick for recovery you like, but if it
takes you longer than two days to recover from an interval workout, you are
probably exercising too intensely, doing too many
repetitions, or not taking a long enough interval rest.
From Dr. Gabe Mirkin at: http://www.drmirkin.com


3. Multisport: Runners Stitch:
By Jenn Turner, BPHE (hon), DC, ARTR, CPTN- CPT, CCSS(C) (resident) - April
10/06
Exercise Related Transient Abdominal Pain - "Runner's Stitch"
Runner's stitch, or runner's cramp, is an injury that nearly every runner has
experienced in the midst of or after a training
session. Although this pain affects approximately 60% of competitive runners (2)
and also other athletes (4), there has not been
much scientific research conducted on this topic. The anatomic mechanism of the
stitch is poorly understood. However, there are
several anecdotal-only suggestions regarding stitches available on the Internet
and in running/athletic magazines. More scientific
testing in this area is needed as it affects a large number of athletes.
84% of the athletes, who reported the presence of a stitch while exercising,
said it negatively affected their performance. Most of
these athletes simply reduced the intensity of their exercise while a few of
these athletes had to stop exercising altogether in
order for the stitch to cease (5). In a competitive environment, neither of
these options is desirable.
The scientific name for Runner's Stitch is Exercise Related Transient Abdominal
Pain (ETAP.) It is a pain that occurs in the
thoracic cage when running. Usually runners describe this pain as sharp or
stabbing usually at one side, and up under the ribcage.
Research has shown that the pain most often affects the right side and is more
frequent and severe in younger athletes (2).
Unfortunately, according to the research (5), runners suffered the stitch more
frequently than all other types of athletes. ETAP was
also found to occur commonly in horseback riders. Duathletes are also
susceptible to this injury with the transition from run to
bike and back to run again.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060504_JT_Stitch.html


4. Dynamic Duo - Running in Pregnancy:
By Elaine Cooper
First published in Australian Runner and Athlete magazine - March/April 1997.
Pregnancy, what does this word conjure up in the mind of the uninitiated, female
runner? The obvious answer is that it's part of the
process of creating another little athlete. Yes, but what about the actual
process, the nitty gritty of those amazing nine months.
What is it like through the eyes, or indeed feet, of a runner? Friends, family
and complete strangers will ply you with graphic
details and advice even before that 'pink ring of confidence' has dried in your
pregnancy test kit. You begin to contemplate nine
months of nausea, piles and a declining max V02, followed by another year of
'crawling legless' out of a mire of nappies,
breast-feeding, sleepless nights and exhaustion, trying to rebuild a runner from
the ruins.
Its at about this stage that you start to seek out other women runners who have
trodden the path before you. Unfortunately,
individuals vary. Some will depress you with tales of morning sickness and
discomfort that brought their progression to a lumbering
halt in about the sixth month. Others will stretch your boundaries of belief
with accounts of marathons, cross-training and of how
they didn't look pregnant until their tenth month.
Ingrid Kristiansen is one such immortal. She carried on her usual regime of 200
km per week and couldn't work out why she was a
little off par until she found she was pregnant in her fifth month. If that
doesn't make you feel inferior, she also managed to run
a PB marathon (2:27) around five months later, despite dropping her running
back.
Frustrated by a plethora of confusing and often, contradictory information, the
runner seeks out the experts hoping for illumination
and a handy set of rules. The pregnant runner soon begins to realise that there
isn't a lot of research being done in this area,
especially on subjects who have a reached a fairly high level of pre-pregnancy
training.
More...from Running Writing at:
http://www.geocities.com/ewen_99/r1997_10.html


5. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Talkathons:
Two of the best reasons to run have little to do with staying in shape or with
training to race. These attractions are thinking and
talking.
They aren't opposites but companions. Team running lets you talk freely with
friends, while solo running allows a heart-to-heart
talk with yourself. Both opportunities are scarce in a world long on loud noises
and short on calm voices.
Running alone with my thoughts is my choice most days. This hour a day is all
mine -- time away from the phone, radio and computer
that share my office, time to clear away the mental clutter so the good thoughts
can bubble up. I don't carry pen and pad, but
usually come back from run with ideas begging to be captured on paper.
George Sheehan, one of the sport's all-time great writers, said he did his best
"writing" away from his desk -- while running. He
treasured the solitary times "when I've been able to withdraw from the world and
be inside myself. Such moments can open doors
impervious to force or guile."
Talk with runners fills the rest of my day, so I feel little need to run with
them. If I worked outside the sport, I'd want to talk
my way into a partnership or group.
Something in the act of running -- the rhythm, the sweat, the common purpose,
the stripping of outer roles and inner restraints --
loosens up one set of muscles above all others: those that operate the jaws.
Listen in on two or more runners talking, and you'll
never again believe that long-distance runners are a lonely breed.
Dr. Sheehan balanced aloneness with togetherness. He once wrote that talking on
the run "frees me from the polysyllabic jargon of my
profession, removes me from the kind of talk which aims at concealing rather
than revealing what is in my heart... For me no time
passes faster than when running with a companion. An hour of conversation on the
run is one of the quickest and most satisfying
hours ever spent."
Two of the best reasons for running, according to St. George, are contemplation
and conversation. His third reason: competition,
which he defined not as competing against others but joining them to bring out
better work than we could ever do alone.
A race is as different from a daily run as a private chat is from a public
lecture. Conversing is easy, as taking a casual run is.
Speaking before a group is as hard -- and as fearsome -- as racing, but the
audience brings out the speaker's best words just as a
race crowd brings out the best runs.
I've always enjoyed talking casually with almost anyone about almost anything.
But the prospect of speaking in public used to
tongue-tie me with fear. I went through college hiding behind the tallest
student in class to avoid being called on to comment.
Soon after graduation I was forced to take the stage at running events and later
was doing it voluntarily. Now I look forward to
facing friendly crowds. The butterflies in my belly are now an expected and
accepted part of the warm-up, as they are before any
race.
Even George Sheehan, perhaps the most skilled speaker this sport has known,
paced and stewed before his lectures. Once onstage he
spoke calmly and beautifully.
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/home.php?article=2054


6. The ABCs of Heart Rate Monitors:
by Beverly Whelan
The size of a regular sports watch, a Heart Rate Monitor is a digital unit that
displays your pulse. The pulse's signal is
transmitted wirelessly from a chest strap that accurately records the pulse from
your heart vibrations. Most chest straps are so
comfortable and feel so natural that it's easy to forget you're even wearing
one.
The features of Heart Rate Monitors vary widely; the most basic ones simply
record and display current heart rate, as others come
with speed and distance devices and measure caloric expenditure. While those
extra features are useful for certain types of
training, the most valuable feature is the heart rate measuring itself.
Resting Heart Rate
Before exercising with a Heart Rate Monitor, you need to know a few guideline
numbers. First, you need to find your Resting Heart
Rate. This should be measured within the first few minutes of waking up. Just
put on your chest strap and watch, and they will
automatically display a base heart rate number. Resting heart rate is normally
between 60 and 72 bpm (beats per minute).
Variance in your Resting Heart Rate indicates a change in physiological state.
It increases just before you get sick, as well as
when you are deficient of certain nutrients. For instance, anemia (low blood
iron) increases a need for oxygen circulation by the
blood, and so increases the heart rate. It is wise to measure your heart rate
every morning, in order to prevent or quickly cure
illnesses and deficiencies.
More...from Runner's Web Coach at:
http://www.runnerswebcoach.com/magazine/hrmabc.aspx


7. With effort, it's possible to improve distance-running times:
One question often heard from runners who have become racers is, "How do I run
faster?"
The usual reply is, "Train faster."
Sounds easy enough, but how do we do it?
With top runners clocking five-minute miles or less for the marathon distance of
26.2-miles, and shorter distances being covered
well under that pace, what is their secret?
The top runners cover more ground in the same time as most of us do. This is
done through a longer stride. Some of the top runners
cover nearly 6 feet in each stride they take.
At 5-minute-per-mile pace, most top runners take 90 strides, or 180 steps. That
pace means they are covering 1,056 feet per minute,
or 5.8 feet per stride and this helps explain why they are so fast.
Most of us cannot cover that much ground because our natural stride length is
far from that of an elite runner, and increasing your
stride length is very limited.
It is possible though, to increase our cadence, the natural rhythm, or turnover
of our legs.
First, determine how many strides you are taking per minute by counting your
steps for a half-minute, then doubling it to give you
your base cadence.
More...from the Sheboygan Press at:
http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/SHE0204/60428\
0634/1088/SHEsports


8. My 2006 Boston Experience:
By Clint Verran
6:35 AM
I woke up five minutes before my alarm on Monday, April 17th, Patriot's Day in
Boston. I took a hot shower and started filling my 8
fluid bottles with Powerade Advance. Halfway through filling my bottles, Brian
Sell knocks on my door.5 minutes early. He was ready
to go. He helped me finish off filling my last couple of bottles, then we set
off for the Copley Plaza Hotel, across the street.
At the Copley Plaza, we place our fluid bottles on tables marked for each 5K
elite fluid station. Before we knew what hit us, our
coach Kevin Hanson has a 6 page course map with the current temperature and wind
conditions for each stage of the race. "He's been
up all night" I think to myself.
7:10 AM
Brian and I head back to the John Hancock Convention Center for breakfast. I eat
a medium sized plate of plain pasta (no sauce), a
banana, a large banana-nut muffin, and 2 pieces of bacon. I wash it all down
with some Gatorade Endurance and a cup of coffee. Time
to head back up to my room.
7:45 AM
In my room, I double check the bag I'm taking to the start. Singlet with bib
numbers, check. Racing flats with chip, check. Fresh
socks, Vaseline, hat, gloves, cell phone.check! I grab up everything I think I
need and head down to the second floor, where John
Hancock race officials are staging the elite runners. The officials actually
check MY bag to make sure I've got my bib number and
chip. While they check, they tell tales of professional runners arriving at the
start in Hopkinton with 2 left shoes. What a
surprise that would be!
8:45 AM
Our Hancock escorts take us down through the Convention Center lobby through a
tunnel of volunteers clapping and cheering. The buzz
was definitely in the air. And the race start was still over 3 hours away. Brian
and I piled into the 3rd of three coach-style buses
with about two dozen other athletes, coaches, agents, and race-volunteers. At
exactly 9AM our bus leaves for Hopkinton.
As with 2002, I was amazed at how long the trip to Hopkinton is. This is despite
a police escort! Keith Hanson was on the bus with
us and commented, "This is how the President travels." I said, "Yeah, or a
funeral procession!"
More...from RunGuru.com at:
http://www.runguru.com/boston.htm


9. Long Road Back:
Depressed? No way. She was a supercharged ultrarunner. She raced hundreds of
miles on the toughest courses, and won. Then one day
Lisa Smith-Batchen woke up and couldn't run a step.
Lisa Smith-Batchen didn't even know why she was behind the wheel that afternoon
in early 2005, until she saw the long plunge to the
rocky canyon floor beneath Teton Pass and it suddenly made sense. She hates
heights, but for once the view didn't frighten her. It
felt restful. It felt-responsible.
"Everyone will be better off without me," she told herself. All the misery her
husband, Jay, had gone through because of her. All
the terror her 5-year-old son, Joshua, had endured because of the mistake she'd
made. All the chaos that 20-month-old Annabella had
been through. All because of her.
She hadn't planned to drive off the bridge when she set out this afternoon. Or
had she? Was it a coincidence that after months of
barely being able to drag herself around the house, she had this overpowering
urge to get behind the wheel and go? Maybe she just
refused to admit, even to herself, the real reason she was backing the van away
from her home in Driggs, Idaho, and heading east
toward Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"There's no other way you'll escape this pain," she told herself, which would
have surprised anyone who knew her, because pain was
her fame; she'd made such a specialty out of mastering pain that she looked
forward to it in a race, the way a power lifter looks
forward to the feel of steel. But a lot about Lisa had changed; her friends
wouldn't have recognized her as the same freckled blond
beauty with the chiseled midriff who'd dazzled on the cover of Winning magazine
a few years before, or who-just six months
earlier-had glowed at the completion of the first, and only, "Badwater Grand
Slam."
To accomplish that, she'd run four major 100-mile races and the Badwater
Ultramarathon, which stretches 135 miles across Death
Valley in the blistering heat of summer: 535 miles and 80,000-plus feet of
elevation, the equivalent of 20 trail marathons in just
10 weeks. At one point during her adventure she had to red-eye directly from a
finish line in Vermont to a starting line in
California. But when she had crossed the fifth and final finish line, Lisa
looked as fresh and beautiful as the day she'd started,
beaming that apple-cheeked grin that attracts every eye in every room she
enters.
More...from MSN at:
http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/ArticlePage.aspx?cp-documentid=10012631\
8&GT1=8157


10. SRM and PowerTap: How Accurate are They?
By Dr. Stephen Cheung, Ph.D.
Most of us have been inundated with the beauty of power as the purest and
best training variable to monitor. Before jumping on
the power bandwagon however, it's important to understand just how accurate and
reliable these units are. Fortunately, the Aussie
sports scientists have done exactly that.
Power to the People
It is no secret that the use of power monitors have revolutionized training in
cycling, providing quantifiable data that advances
and complements heart rate monitoring. The problem however, even for the most
well-heeled amongst us, is justifying the huge
financial outlay. Being a science geek, I'm not here today to sell you on the
merits of power training (see our recent articles on
why Santa should bring you a power monitor and also on the power output of
T-Mobile pros during a stage race), but suffice to say
that power monitors can be a vital cog in maximizing your training.
Accuracy and Reliability Defined
What DOES interest me, however, is whether these tools are accurate and
reliable, which is by far the most important parameter in
monitoring tools. Accuracy refers to whether the tool is actually measuring what
it claims to be measuring. In this case, is the
readout of 200 W on the monitor actually 200 W, or is it 210 W in reality?
Reliability refers to the repeatability of measurement.
If an identical power (e.g., 200 W) is recorded on this interval, will the same
power output read 200 W again the next interval? The
next day?
In many senses, reliability is the more important of the two parameters when
talking about the utility of a tool, whether it be a
power monitor or a bathroom scale for measuring body weight. That's because, the
vast majority of the time, the important thing is
not to compare your values with anybody else, but to track your individual
response over time. To further the bathroom scale
analogy, it is more important that my weight reads the same when I weigh myself
twice in a row, and not as important whether my
"real" weight is 64 or 65 kg.
What the Aussies do for Fun
Thank goodness for us that the sport scientists at the Australian Institute for
Sport have a lot of toys on their hands, along with
the time to play with them. In a 2004 scientific article in the well-respected
journal Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise,
Gardner et al. (1) systematically tested the accuracy and reliability of two of
the dominant power monitors on the market - SRM and
PowerTap.
More...from Pez Cycling at:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3803


11. The Athlete's Kitchen:
Copyright: Nancy Clark, March 2006
Sports Nutrition Tidbits
If you are eager to learn more about how to best fuel your body for top
performance, you might enjoy muscling through three pounds
and 557 pages of Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals. The new
fourth edition of this in-depth resource was
recently released by SCAN, the sports nutrition practice group of the American
Dietetic Association. (It is available at
www.eatright.org. Click on Shop Online.)
Although this resource book is written primarily for sports dietitians, strength
coaches, athletic trainers and other health
professionals who influence an athlete's eating practices, serious runners might
also like to feast on this hard-core (but well
written and relatively easy to read) book that will answer all sports nutrition
questions from A to Z, including alcohol, carbs,
calories, fats, fluids, protein, vegetarian, diet, weight gain, zinc-plus more!
To give you a taste of the information in the book,
here are a few sports nutrition nuggets that might be of interest.
. The average 150-pound runner has only 1,000 to 2,000 calories of stored
carbohydrates (glycogen), but over 80,000 to 120,000
calories of stored fat. Most of the fat is deposited in adipose tissue under the
skin, but a little bit is also stored directly in
the muscles and is an important source of fuel, especially during long runs.
. Don't try to eat a fat-free diet! The recommended intake for athletes is about
0.5 grams fat/lb. body weight/day. This equates to
60 to 80 grams per day of dietary fat for runners who weigh 120 to 160 pounds.
That's 15 to 20 teaspoons of butter! Preferably, the
fat comes from healthful sources: nuts, peanut butter, olive and canola oil, and
avocado.
. While some fat is good, excess calories of fat are fattening. Your body easily
stores excess dietary fat as body fat. That's why
you want to carefully carbo-load on pasta and breads, not fat-load on Alfredo
sauce, butter, cheese or chips.
. Your body stores carbohydrates in the muscles in the form of glycogen (1,200
to 1,600 calories) and also in the liver (300 to 400
cals); this feeds into the bloodstream (100 cals) and fuels your brain. During
hard training that depletes your muscle glycogen and
you enhance your body's ability to store even more glycogen; this enhances your
ability to run for longer before "hitting the wall."
. Runners should eat at least 2 grams carb/lb. body weight per day. That's a
minimum of 240 gm carb (about 1,000 calories) per day
for a 120 lb. woman and equates to 10 pieces of fruit or 5 cups of cooked pasta.
Runners in hard training actually should eat 4 to 5
gm carb per pound body weight. No Atkins diet here!
. Adult runners require about 0.5 to 0.75 gram protein per pound (1.2 to 1.7 g
pro/kg). Scientific evidence suggests if you eat more
than 0.8 gm pro/lb. (1.8 gm pro/kg), you'll burn the excess protein for energy.
In other words, eating a very high protein diet does
not result in greater muscle gain, even with intense resistance training. To
bulk up, eat more overall calories so you'll have
abundant energy to do the hard work needed to build muscles.
. Because eating before exercise can enhance performance. Research suggests you
should target: 0.5 gram carb/lb body weight 1 hour
pre-exercise; 1.0 gram carb/lb 2 hours pre-exercise; 1.5 gram carb/lb 3 hours
pre-exercise; 2.0 gram carb/lb 4 hours pre-exercise.
This means if you weigh 150 pounds, you need about 75 grams carbohydrates-about
300 calories-of carb one hour pre-run, and 1,200
calories four hours out. This tends to be far more than most runners consume.
Experiment to learn how much your body can tolerate,
and try to build up to this target if you currently eat less than this.
. Consuming carbs during endurance runs can delay fatigue by 30 to 60 minutes.
Target about 1 gram carb per minute of
running-equivalent to 240 calories of carbs per hour if you weigh about 150
pounds. That's about 1 quart of Powerade per hour.
. Consuming carbs as soon as tolerable after a hard run enhances muscle glycogen
replacement because-
1) the blood flow to the muscles is faster immediately after exercise, so carbs
can get carried to the muscles faster;
2) the muscles are better able to take up the carbs because of increased
sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that helps
transport carbs into muscles. Plan to have banana, fruit yogurt, fruit smoothie,
and/or fig bars readily available.
. Both liquid and solid carbs refuel the muscles equally well, so take your
choice: chocolate milk or a pasta dinner.
. While many runners believe "thinner is better," don't try to get your body fat
below five percent (men) or 12 percent (women).
Each runner has a fat percentage and body weight at which he or she performs
best. Hence, you should listen to your body, and take
note of how you feel and perform, as opposed to force your body to achieve a
self-selected number.
. Warning: Body fat measurements-even under research conditions-can be plus or
minus three to four percent. If you are told your
body fat is 16 percent, it might be 13 percent or 19 percent. Just having a
different person measure your body fat can significantly
alter the measurement. Use body fat measurements only as a guide and give
yourself a body fat range.
. At rest, your body burns approximately 0.45 calorie per pound per hour. If you
weigh 150 pounds, you burn about 70 calories per
hour of bed rest, or about 1,700 calories during 24 hours of doing nothing
except staying alive. Doing moderate exercise, such as
brisk walking at a pace of 15 minutes per mile, you burn about 375 calories per
hour. Running at a pace of 5.5 minutes per mile you
burn about 1,200 calories per hour.
Clearly, the harder you exercise, the more you can eat! But take heed: hard
workouts followed by naps reduce your daily calorie
needs. Runners who turn into post-exercise couch potatoes commonly reward
themselves with too much food and fail to attain their
desired weight goals.
Sports dietitian Nancy Clark, MS, RD teaches runners and other active people
how to eat to support their hard training. She has a
private practice at Healthworks (617-383-6100) in Chestnut Hill, MA. Her books,
Sports Nutrition Guidebook ($23), Food Guide for
Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions ($20) and Cyclist's Food Guide ($20)
are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com or PO Box
650124, Newton MA 02465.
www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com
Phone: (617) 795-1875 Fax: (617) 795-1876


12. Ontario's Favourite Races:
Favourite Races
Over the past year, volunteer Bill Cook has been collating race quality forms
and providing feedback to directors to improve their
races. Completing quality forms at races contributes to improving those races.
Additionally, quality forms give you the chance to support your favourite races.
Bill has assembled the top ten races in Ontario.
The Snow Flake Series in Orillia are the most popular races by far.
Congratulations to Barry Dobson on running the most popular
races in Ontario.
The St. Joseph Island Cornfest and the Mad Dog Scramble in Toronto/Scarborough
round out the top three races.
1. Snowflake Series, Orillia (5 & 10km races), 56 votes / 3 races
2. St. Joseph Island Cornfest 5 & 10km Run/Walk, 48 votes
3. Mad Dog Scramble 8km, (Toronto/Scarborough), 29 votes
4. Collingwood Half Marathon, 14 votes
5. (Tie) Massey Marathon (and Half), (Massey), 12 votes
5. (Tie) Ottawa National Capital Marathon, 12 votes
6. Night Crawler 5 Miler, (Toronto), 10 votes
7. Achilles (Peterborough) 5km, 7 votes
8. Scotiabank Marathon (Toronto), 6 votes
9. (Tie) Ganaraska 25 & 50km, 5 votes
9. (Tie) Toronto Zoo 10km (Toronto), 5 votes
Plus a special mention to " Run for the Toad " in Cambridge. There were six
forms, plus 18 mail-in votes. I think this is one of the
few races that people have written in to tell us about!
Smaller town races seem to be the more popular than the big city events.


13. From Runner's World:
* Coach's Corner
"Never underestimate the value of a good training partner, even if it's your
dog. Training allies will get you out the door on
those days when exercise might otherwise be reduced to a finger on the remote
control button." -Runner's World Editors
* Injury Prevention
Ease side stitch pain:
When a stitch strikes, concentrate on breathing from your belly with every
exhale, then pull your abdomen and chest in on every
inhale. After four full breaths, visualize the cramp and try to direct your
breath to it, as if you were massaging it away.
* Performance Nutrition
The Brighter Your Veggies, The Better They Are For You!
Many of the natural pigments in fruits and vegetables are potent antioxidants,
so the more pigment a fruit or vegetable has, the
more healthful it is to eat. Many berries are already naturally dense in
pigment. So eat a variety of naturally brightly colored
fruits and veggies every day for maximum antioxidant punch.
A helping of herbs can add formidable flavor--and antioxidant powers--to any
meal
* Editor's Advice
Go for the goal:
"Use racing to keep you motivated. It's hard to keep on an exercise program if
you don't have a significant goal in sight." -Traci
Nicholas, RW marketing designer
* Training Talk
"At the track, Webb dives into each repetition, bursting off the line like a
sprinter coming out of the blocks, leaning forward,
pumping his legs in short, quick strides, and straightening up slowly after
that." From SUB 4:00 by Chris Lear


14. Turn on the Power:
Energy System Specific Training.
We usually talk of energy in vague terms. "I don't have a lot of energy today,"
or "You can feel the energy in the room." But what
really is energy? Where do you get the energy to run? And how do you get more of
it so you can run faster?
As our high school biology teachers taught us, the energy to move our bodies
comes from the chemical breakdown of a high-energy
metabolic compound found in our muscles called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
Simplistically speaking, running faster comes down to
increasing the rate at which ATP is produced so it can be broken down to
liberate energy for muscle contraction.
Like many other animals, humans produce ATP through three biochemical pathways.
The phosphagen system (also called the ATP-CP
system) uses our muscles' store of creatine phosphate and their small store of
ATP to anaerobically power short bursts of running.
Anaerobic glycolysis, which occurs in the fluid-filled portion of cells, breaks
down blood glucose and glycogen (the stored form of
carbohydrate in your muscles and liver) to get ATP. Finally, the aerobic system,
which includes the biology teacher's
often-mentioned Krebs cycle and electron transport chain, uses blood glucose,
glycogen, and fat to synthesize ATP aerobically in the
mitochondria of cells.
Despite the anaerobic nature of the phosphagen system and glycolysis, oxygen is
still present. These two anaerobic systems simply do
not use oxygen to produce ATP, since that is a much slower process. Which system
you use for the primary production of ATP depends
on how quickly you need it and how much of it you need. A sprinter, for
instance, needs energy much more quickly than a distance
runner and will thus rely on different systems. The production of ATP is never
achieved by the exclusive use of only one energy
system, but rather by the coordinated response of all energy systems
contributing to different degrees.
More...from Running Times Magazine at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=7792


15. Muscle Cramps: Don't Cramp Your Style:
Muscle cramps can ruin a run. Here's how to sidestep them for good.
At mile 18 of the Shamrock Marathon last March, Scott Young's right calf began
to cramp. The sharp pain came and went for the last 8
miles of the race. "The worst cramp nearly doubled me over just as I crossed the
finish line, keeping me from finishing the race
with my head up," says Young, 51, a social worker who lives in Virginia Beach,
Va. Needless to say, Young's finish-line photo left
something to be desired.
His experience is common to runners. Muscle cramps are disabling, involuntary
spasms that often occur during exercise or
competition, most often in the large muscles of the lower leg. Although, be
aware: They can hit anywhere.
And once you've had these cramps, you never forget them. "Every time I go out
for a long run now, the fear of cramping is always in
the back of my mind," says Young.
Causes
Muscle cramps are one of the most common medical complaints from athletes during
endurance events, especially marathons and
triathlons, according to Martin P. Schwellnus, M.D., professor of sports
medicine at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa.
No one really knows for sure what causes them, and there is ongoing debate on
the subject. The theories are varied and range from
excessive heat, dehydration, and the loss of electrolytes, to muscle fatigue,
insufficient training, and poor stretching habits. The
newest theories focus on the interaction between nerves and muscles.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-78-0-0-2860,00.html


16. Superfoods with oomph:
Fortify your diet with these natural, tasty star performers.
grandma have been right about carrots making you see in the dark? Human beings
have always sought the fountain of youth. At the very
least, we want that elusive silver bullet that will keep us feeling bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed well into old age.
Could it be garlic? Broccoli?
The hunt is on for superfoods: Foods with extra nutritional oomph, qualities
that will supposedly combat all those vile trans fats
and vicious free radicals that cause premature aging. (Free radicals are harmful
molecules that are blamed for cancer, heart
disease, even Alzheimer's.)
The superfood movement began as research into functional foods went mainstream
when celebrity authors Dr. Steven Pratt and Dr.
Nicholas Perricone began popping up with books and appearances on Oprah and Good
Morning America.
According to Edmonton health food retailer Shelley Robertson of The Big Fresh,
"We're now looking toward whole food as supplements,
rather than vitamin supplements. Foods like acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee)
berries; in fact, most dehydrated berries (blueberries,
cranberries) are extremely high in antioxidants, and are aggressive free-radical
scavengers."
Dale Wishewan, president and CEO of Booster Juice, is a huge fan of acai, and
sells three different versions, all of which are going
like hotcakes.
"It's a terrific energy booster," says Mr. Wishewan, who sells it in his shops
in Canada, the U.S. and the Middle East.
"A natural sports drink, it has the potassium and sodium we need for recovery
after strenuous activity. It's also extremely high in
antioxidants. Acai, and matcha green tea, are both extremely popular with our
customers."
More...from Canada.com at:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=2dea9294-eb17-4241-8538-1\
b7c9a574f62&k=15775


17. Research Shows Anticipating Pain Hurts:
Researchers using brain scans to unravel the biology of dread have an
explanation: For some people, anticipating pain is truly as
bad as experiencing it.
Anyone who's ever taken a preschooler to the doctor knows they often cry more
before the shot than afterward. Now researchers using
brain scans to unravel the biology of dread have an explanation: For some
people, anticipating pain is truly as bad as experiencing
it.
How bad? Among people who volunteered to receive electric shocks, almost a third
opted for a stronger zap if they could just get it
over with, instead of having to wait.
More importantly, the research found that how much attention the brain pays to
expected pain determines whether someone is an
''extreme dreader'' -- suggesting that simple diversions could alleviate the
misery.
The research, published Friday in the journal Science, is part of a burgeoning
new field called neuroeconomics that uses brain
imaging to try to understand how people make choices. Until now, most of that
work has focused on reward, the things people will do
for positive outcomes.
''We were interested in the dark side of the equation,'' explained Dr. Gregory
Berns of Emory University, who led the new study.
''Dread often makes us make bad decisions.''
Standard economic theory says that people should postpone bad outcomes for as
long as possible, because something might happen in
the interim to change improve the outlook.
In real life, the ''just get it over with'' reaction is more likely, said Berns,
a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
He offers a personal example: He usually pays credit card bills as soon as they
arrive instead of waiting until they're due, even
though ''it doesn't make any sense economically.''
So Berns designed a study to trace dread inside the brain. He put 32 volunteers
into an MRI machine while giving them a series of 96
electric shocks to the foot. The shocks varied in intensity, from barely
detectable to the pain of a needle jab.
Participants were told one was coming, how strong it would be, and how long the
wait for it would be, from 1 to 27 seconds.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Science-of-Dread.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


18. Easing race-day anxiety:
You're at the start line -- palms sweating, pulse racing, stomach churning.
You're in such a state -- untying and retying your
shoes, jogging in place -- you're not sure you'll reach the first mile marker,
much less the finish.
"Butterflies," multiple trips to the port-o-potty, even forgetfulness (Where did
I put that packet of Gu?) are all classic signs of
race-day anxiety. And if you experience any of these symptoms, rest assured
you're not alone.
Everyone from Olympic athletes to weekend warriors experience hiccups in
self-confidence, putting their performance at risk.
But race-day nerves in themselves aren't bad. It's a matter of degree. A little
nervous energy can elevate your body's adrenaline
level, enhance your alertness and build your competitive edge. Too much, though,
can ruin your results.
So how do you stay in control? It comes down to mastering a few simple mental
techniques, experts say.
More...from Active.com at:
http://active.com/story.cfm?story_id=13017


19. The Complete Electrolyte Story:
Reviewed and Updated by ERB member Neal Henderson MS, CSCS: Director of Sports
Science at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine
Introduction:
Electrolytes, the mineral salts that conduct the electrical energy of the body,
perform a cellular balancing act by allowing
nutrients into the cell, while helping to remove waste products. Certain
elements, sodium, chloride, magnesium, calcium and
potassium, play a primary role in cellular respiration -- that of muscle
contraction and nerve impulse transmission. It is at the
cell membrane where these electrolytes conduct electrical currents similar to
nerve impulses. Hydration is the medium which aids
electrolyte transport and is crucial for both the health and performance of the
cell. Your hydration state is mostly dependent upon
water intake or loss thru sweat but is also heavily influenced by electrolyte
status.
Sweat: Endurance performance is compromised more by warmer temperatures than by
cooler temperatures. Here's why: to control an
excessive rise in body temperature, the blood flow to the skin increases in
order to dissipate heat to the environment. This shift
of blood to the skin will result in a lesser proportion of blood, and hence
oxygen, being delivered to the working muscle. In some
individuals the circulatory adjustments may not be adequate and the body
temperature will rise rapidly, leading to hyperthermia
(excessive body heat). Individual sweat rates vary, but those that sweat early,
heavily, and cake with salt tend to be more prone to
muscle cramps during exercise (Burke, 2001). Evaporation of sweat in a hot
environment can purge as much as 3 liters an hour.
Alberto Salazar reportedly lost an average of 3.7 liters per hour of sweat
during the hot and humid 1984 Olympic Marathon in LA
(Armstrong et al. 1986). About 99% of sweat is water, with a number of major
electrolytes found in varying amounts. Since sweat is
derived from the extracellular fluid (fluid outside the cell) the major
electrolytes found are sodium and chloride. The
concentration of salt in sweat is variable, but averages about 2.6 grams per
liter of sweat loss. Potassium, magnesium, calcium,
iron, copper, zinc, amino acids and some of the water-soluble vitamins can also
be found in sweat.
Too much water? Hyponatremia is defined as a decrease in sodium concentration in
the blood, which can have adverse effects on muscle
contraction and performance. One study observed 27% of participants following a
three-day cycling stage race competition were
hyponatremic. Symptoms of hyponatremia include headache, nausea, muscle
cramping, fatigue, and possibly death. Although there may be
many causes of hyponatremia, the most common one for athletes is overhydration.
Athletes tend to superhydrate in the days leading up
to a race without an appropriate increase in electrolytes. In some cases,
superhydrating can produce hyponatremia prior to the race
ever starting. However, drinking only water during a race can also causes
hyponatremic conditions because the body requires
electrolytes to effectively maintain hydration status. Hyponatremia, rare in
events lasting less than 4 hours, has been shown in
recent medical studies of slower marathon runners and ultra-distance triathletes
to be at least as problematic and dangerous...if
not more so...than dehydration.
Sodium and Chloride: Sodium is one of the principle positive ions in the body's
fluid and is found primarily outside the cell
(extracellular). Chloride, another extracellular electrolyte, is a negative ion
and works closely with sodium in the regulation of
body-water balance and electrical impulses across the cell membrane. Consuming
adequate amounts of sodium and chloride, more
commonly known as table salt, is crucial to maintaining the volume and balance
of fluids outside your body's cells and in your
blood. Sodium is especially important because it plays a key role in
transporting nutrients into cells to be used for energy
production, tissue growth, and repair. Sodium also assists in muscle contraction
and nerve impulse transmissions. During exercise,
your body loses fluids and sodium through sweating. This causes a decrease in
your blood volume, thereby increasing sodium and
chloride concentrations in the blood. The increased concentration of
electrolytes in the blood through decreased blood volume is
what triggers the thirst mechanism. By the time you have become thirsty, your
electrolytes are already out of balance, so
restoration of blood volume is critical for the prevention of dehydration. Water
consumption is effective in increasing your blood
volume, however there is a consequential dilution of sodium in your blood due to
the increased blood volume and excessive sodium
losses in sweat, so electrolyte replenishment is key. Drinking fluids with added
electrolytes instead of just plain water is the
best option, particularly when your exercise bout lasts longer than one hour and
is in a hot or humid environment.
More...from First Endurance at:
http://www.firstendurance.com/newsletter_electrolytes_06.html


20. M2 Fuel-burning Efficiency---Food for Thought:
Nutritional strategy is a popular and oft-analyzed subject in the triathlon
training world. Indeed, the multi-sport world has a
habit of working itself into a state of indigestion when it comes to the subject
of fueling and nutrition for endurance events.
Having observed yet another Tri-forum thread on fueling for a 1/2 IM event and
the varying exhortations of how much to eat (see the
Biggest Whopper below), I thought it would be more useful to redirect the
conversation to how little one should eat, while also
viewing the never-ending fueling discussion within the context of better
considered general training methods. It is my experience
that during training, endurance athletes should practice eating as little as
possible while not bonking. Common sense tells us that
the body does not enjoy ingesting and digesting large amounts of food while
exercising vigorously under what are often uncomfortable
weather conditions. Energy diverted to the digestive process would be better
spent if directed to the legs and arms we use to move
us forward. Logical enough. If training is a practice in bodily adaptation, then
more thoughtful consideration ought to be given to
teaching the body to perform without having to rely upon systemically disruptive
additive fuel. Let us consider the oft-regurgitated
mantra that "we must train slow to teach the body to burn fats." Must we really?
More...from Michael McCormack at:
http://www.triathloncoach.com/articles/m2fuel.html


21. The Facts about Menstruation and Running:
Virtual Coach Dave Spence
A number of old wives' tales have percolated down the years on this subject: "My
mother says I mustn't have a bath, go swimming or
running while I have my period..." This is nonsense!
A female athlete's performance may depend on the phase of the menstrual cycle
she is in. The menstrual cycle ranges from 21 to 35
days and is rarely the often-quoted 28 days, and comprises of three phases:
menstrual phase (menses), pre-ovulatory phase and the
post-ovulatory phase.
The menstrual phase is the periodic discharge of 25 to 65ml of blood, tissue
fluid etc and lasts for approximately 2 to 9 days. The
exact timing of the menarche is affected by genetic, racial, socio-economic and
climatic factors.
Stress can either shorten or lengthen the menstrual cycle.
All sport is a stress, and usually lengthens it. Females, who go to altitude to
compete or train, have an added stress due to the
lack of oxygen, which usually shortens the cycle. It is important for a
sportswoman and her adviser to know what is going on in her
body and at what stage the cycle is at.
Hormones and PMS - a matter of timing?
Oestrogen and progesterone are steroids. It is the pre-menstrual fall in these
that, in some women, cause the phenomena of
pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). However, while both decline to the 14th day,
progesterone climbs to a peak on the 20th day and it is
that this hormone is the major cause of PMS.
The sportswoman and her coach have for many years searched for the ideal time in
the menstrual cycle when performance will be at its
peak. They have equally searched for natural ways of neutralising any
psychological and physical handicaps caused by PMS and the
actual period.
Some research in 1993 (Menstrual Cycle Phase and Running Economy, Medicine and
Science in Sports and Exercise, Vol. 25(5), pS74,
1993) goes some way towards solving part of the equation. Eight fit, normally
menstruating females were asked to run at intensities
of 55% and 80% VO2 max during different stages of their menstrual cycles.
This intensity approximates to 70% and 88% of the maximal heart rate,
respectively. The mid-luteal phase of the cycle (about a week
after ovulation, i.e. a week before actual menstruation), turned out to be a
time when exercise became more difficult and
psychological health took a nosedive (depression, fatigue and confusion
increased while feelings of vigor declined).
However, the lactate threshold - the exercise intensity above which large
amounts of lactate begin to accumulate in the blood - was
not influenced by the menstrual cycle phase. In further research, eight female
distance runners were asked to run at close to top
speeds for short periods of time and also ran as far as possible at an intensity
of 85% VO2 max, about 90% of maximal heart rate.
None of the variables measured - VO2 max, blood lactate, lactate threshold,
maximal heart rate and fat oxidation - were different at
any stage of the menstrual cycle.
More...from World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/article.asp?a_id=366619


22. New Rules of Stretching:
Use this myth-busting plan for breakthroughs in flexibility, performance and
injury prevention.
Unless you need to build your tolerance for boredom, most stretching is a waste
of time. After all, when you review the research,
it's clear that the most widely held principles of flexibility training simply
don't work. Which is why few guys ever stick with it
and even regular practitioners struggle to touch their toes. Worse, follow those
age-old rules closely, and studies show that you'll
actually be more likely to suffer a pulled muscle than if you hadn't stretched
at all.
That's why it's time we rewrite the book on stretching and provide you with a
flexibility plan that's not only effective, but also
simple, fast and painless. Your first order of business is to forget everything
your high-school gym coach, workout partner, or
yoga-loving girlfriend ever told you about stretching. Then memorize the new
rules that follow. The benefit? You'll reduce your risk
of injuries, improve your overall athleticism and have an easier time tying your
shoes.
Flexibility 101
Before we get to the rules, it's important to understand the basic-but typically
misunderstood-science of stretching. First, a
couple of definitions. There are two major types of stretching: static and
dynamic.
You're probably more familiar with the former. For instance, a static stretch
for your hamstrings is what you think it is-a movement
in which you lean forward until you feel a slight discomfort in the target
muscle, then stretch the muscle by holding that position
for a few seconds.
Although it's often prescribed as an injury-prevention measure, static
stretching before a workout might be the worst of all
strategies. Because it forces the target muscle to relax, it temporarily makes
it weaker. As a result, a strength imbalance can
occur between opposing muscle groups. For example, stretching your hamstrings
causes them to become significantly weaker than your
quadriceps. And that may make you more susceptible to muscle strains, pulls and
tears in the short term.
More...from MSN at:
http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100134732


23. Caffeine: Yes or no?
When the noted physiologist David Costill announced in 1978 that a cup of strong
black coffee taken before running a marathon could
improve performance by as much as 10 minutes, it was common to see runners just
before they embarked on their 42 km spin, drinking
not just one cup of strong black coffee, but several.
Costill found that the caffeine in coffee stimulated the sympathetic nervous
system to burn fatty acids for fuel preferentially.
This would save valuable glycogen until needed later in the race around the 35km
mark.
Without coffee, only 19 per cent of fatty acids were burnt, but this was doubled
after swigging a cup of strong black coffee. Fatty
acids may be classed as "the commercial fuel" for the human machine, while
glycogen can be considered a high octane premium fuel
which is preferentially oxidised for energy.
As with all alleged ergogenic aids, there are plenty of people around who tried
it and because they didn't become champions
overnight, were quick to criticise Costill's findings. Some even said that
caffeine was a banned substance in sport. It is not. The
permitted amount is 12 microgrammes per millilitre in urine. To reach this
level, requires mega dose of pure caffeine and such an
amount will cause violent stomach pain.
So, what went wrong? Well, the first thing is that the user must be
well-trained. Caffeine will not transform a poorly prepared
athlete into a better one. Two-thirds of the studies with trained athletes
showed significant benefits of caffeine on performance or
physiological responses or both.
This was not the case when sedentary subjects were coerced into exercise. The
next thing was pretty obvious to the physiologists and
not to the majority of runners: if a person is a three to six cups of coffee a
day individual, the effect of just one or two cups of
strong coffee will be minimal.
For any benefit to show, it would be necessary to abstain totally from the
beverage for at least 14 days before competition and this
applies equally to the consumption of tea. In fact, any caffeine-containing drug
or herb, such as guarana, should be avoided in the
run-up to the race.
More...from the World of Endurance at:
http://worldofendurance.com/article.asp?a_id=592362


24. Eleven major marathon mistakes:
By Owen Anderson, Ph.D.
It's strange, isn't it? The marathon is clearly the least-forgiving of all
popular race distances, and yet runners probably make
more mistakes preparing for this event than they do for all other competitions
combined.
The majority of runners can prepare for a 5K or 10K without major difficulty,
but a variety of problems pop up almost as soon as
they begin getting ready for a marathon. These troubles range from feeling tired
and performing poorly to being truly overtrained,
and they include the possible development of a painful, serious injury which
thwarts training or even stops it completely.
Few competitors enter a marathon in optimal physical condition, and many never
make it to the starting line because of fatigue,
illness or physical breakdown. Those who do manage to hear the starting gun
often sabotage their own efforts during the race by
doing something really silly.
Marathon challenges
True, part of the problem is the race itself; the marathon presents some unique
challenges. First, it's important to complete some
very long runs as you prep for a marathon, a practice which isn't necessary for
the 10K and 5K. Optimal carbo-loading is essential
before a marathon, too, whereas fairly normal eating can get you through the 10K
and 5K just fine.
More...from Active.com at:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=13004


25. Digest Briefs:

* Running Off The Bike
by Coach Matt Russ
You have probably experiencing the sensation of trying to run on two dead legs
coming off the bike. Running off the bike is highly
stressful and you are most likely to cramp or get an injury in this critical
juncture, especially in sprint races. Your muscles
have been firing hard, at a high rate, and in a certain pattern and must now
quickly make a transition to a different one. Blood
flow that has pooled in the quads must be redirected to the hamstrings and calf
muscles. There are a few techniques you can use to
reduce the amount of stress on your legs as you bring them up to pace in the
final leg of your race.
* Before you even get to your race you should train to run off the bike at race
speeds. You do not need to do this every work out
but several times per week in the final phases of your training. You may even
perform transition intervals in which you switch
sports multiple times at speed and practice transitions.
* As you approach T2 begin stretching on the bike. Get out of the saddle and
stretch your quads by moving your hips towards the
handle bars. Drop your heels and stretch your calf muscles. Cross your knee
over the top tube and rotate your torso stretching
your gluteals and IT band. Repeat this process more frequently as you approach
transition.
* Coming out of T2 assume a rapid stride rate and shorter stride. A faster
stride will shift more stress to you cardiovascular
system and off of your muscular system. This is especially important if there
is a hill right out of transition.
* Allow your pace to build progressively over several minutes as your body
acclimates to the run. A may take you up to a half mile
or more to build to your normal race pace. Try to let your pace build
progressively and stay relaxed.
Once a cramp or pull occurs it will probably get progressively worse. By using
these techniques you will adopt a smooth and injury
free transition from the bike to the run.
From the Sport Factory at:
http://www.thesportfactory.com

* Ask the experts: In praise of yogurt
By Lisa Dorfman, M.S., R.D., L.M.H.C.
Her Sports Magazine
I love yogurt, but I'm lactose intolerant. What are the potential health
benefits of eating yogurt with live and active cultures?
And is it true that people who are lactose intolerant may find them easier to
digest?
It's the good bacteria -- such as lactobacillus bulgaricus, streptococcus
thermophilus, lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus --
that convert pasteurized milk to yogurt during fermentation. These live and
active cultures also break down lactose, the sugar in
milk, which allows lactose-intolerant individuals to eat yogurt without side
effects like abdominal cramping, bloating and diarrhea.
Scientists have long studied the positive impact of yogurt's live and active
cultures on gastrointestinal infections, the immune
system, cancer and osteoporosis. In addition to helping relieve diarrhea and
other digestion-related distress, live cultures have
been found to prevent urinary tract infections. And eating yogurt may not only
keep you from catching the common cold, it may also
help prevent cancer and lower your cholesterol.
Why yogurt's live cultures augment health is still mostly a mystery, but some
scientists speculate that they stimulate
immune-enhancing cells, as well as the production of antimicrobial and
antibacterial agents that fight disease-causing
microorganisms.
Some food processing methods, like heating yogurt to prolong shelf life and
lessen its naturally tart flavor, can destroy the
cultures. So check the nutrition labels to make sure you're getting live and
active cultures. You can also look for the National
Yogurt Association's "Live & Active Cultures" seal, an indication that
refrigerated products contain at least 100 million cultures
per gram, and frozen products have 10 million cultures per gram.



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

May 6, 2006:
Diefenbooker Classic - Carp, ON
http://diefenbookerclassic.ncf.ca/Diefenbooker2006/index.html

Modesto Relays - CA
http://www.modestorelays.org

Ogden Marathon, Ogden, UT
www.ogdenmarathon.com

White Rock 'n' Roll 5-Mile, Dallas, TX
www.whiterocknroll.com

May 6 - 7, 2006:
Wildflower Triathlon - Monterey County, CA
http://www.tricalifornia.com/wildflower/2006

May 7, 2006:
Bloomsday Run - Spokane, WA
http://www.bloomsdayrun.org

Blue Cross Broad Street Run, Philadelphia, PA
www.broadstreetrun.com

Flying Pig Marathon - Cincinnati, OH
http://www.flyingpigmarathon.com/

Great Caledonian Run - Edinburgh, Scotland
http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=8

Long Island Marathon - NY
http://www.thelimarathon.com/2006

Nevada Wide Open Marathon de Mayo - Reno, NV
http://www.marathondemayo.com

Orleans Half-Marathon & 5/10K - Orleans, ON
http://www.somersault.ca/eventorleansruns.htm

Run Berlin 25K - Berlin, GER
http://www.runberlin.de

Sporting Life 10K - Toronto, ON
http://www.canadarunningseries.com/sportinglife/index.htm

St. Croix Triathlon - VI
http://www.stcroixtriathlon.com

Vancouver Marathon - BC
http://www.vanmarathon.ca/hm

Vienna City Marathon - Austria
http://www.vienna-marathon.com

June 24, 2006:
RunnersWeb5K.com Race for Women - Ottawa, ON
http://www.runnersweb5k.com



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

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

Send this to a Friend:
Forward the Runner's Web Digest to a friend and suggest that they subscribe at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join

YOUR FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS:
Comments, contributions and feedback are always welcome via this list at:
mailto:runnersweb@yahoogroups.com and in our Runner's Web Forum, available off
our FrontPage. If you post to the mailing list and
get your email returned, please contact the Runner's Web at
mailto:webmaster@... to notify us of the problem. To update your
Runner's Web eGroups subscriber's profile, go to the web

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

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


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