A FREE WEEKLY E-ZINE OF MULTISPORT RELATED ARTICLES.
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Canadian Olympians.

1. Emilie's Run - The Emilie Mondor Memorial 5K Race for Women:
The RunnersWeb5K.com Race for Women has been renamed in memory of Canadian
Olympian Emilie Mondor who died in a car crash September
9th on her way to her high-school reunion. Emilie had just completed a 2 hour
plus run along the Ottawa River during which she
talked with her coach about the upcoming Philadelphia Half-Marathon (September
17th) and the New York City Marathon in November.
For a story on Emilie read Emilie Mondor: Life Cut Too Short at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060913_LB_Mondor.html
The first RunnersWeb5K.com Race for Women was held on June 24th at Ottawa's
Aviation Museum. Canada's #2 ranked marathoner, Nicole
Stevenson, won the race in 16:28.
Thirty-five women ran under 20 minutes. For a race report and photos go to:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20060624_RunnersWeb5K.html.
The 2007 race date will be Saturday, June 23, 2007.
The prize money will be increased from $3,000 to $5,000 for open and masters
runners. The team competition will be expanded to
include Open, Club and University Teams.
More information will be posted at:
http://www.emiliesrun.com

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

4. Toronto Waterfront Marathon. September 30, 2007.
http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/

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

6. Carmichael Training Systems
http://www.trainright.com/promos.asp?code=DSBYBFCSP


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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.
Carmichael Training Systems at:
http://www.trainright.com/promos.asp?code=DSBYBFCSP

* 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/Sale.aspx?BID=37234&AfID=103794&AdID=5075&LP=www.peakr\
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. Why women's races matter
2. Rest: It's required
Adequate sleep is as crucial to a healthy life as diet and exercise, researchers
are finding.
3. Science of Sport: Performance potion - The Zinc effect
4. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Team Welch
5. All Athletes: How Old Are You in Athlete Years?
6. 3 Great Marathon Predictor Workouts
7. Class Is In Session - How They Shape Up
8. All you need to know about running
9. Friends for Life: An Emerging Biology of Emotional Healing
10. Garmin's Foremost Forerunner
This combined GPS device and heart-rate monitor tracks a trove of data on your
running history.
11. The Sport Factory - Mental Peaking
12. Walnuts May Beat Olive Oil for Heart Health
Spanish study suggests they leave arteries more elastic.
13. Complete Rest: Benefits of Couch Time
14. Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You
15. This Week in Running
16. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine
17. Heed the Signs of Over- and Under-Training
18. Aerobic gains: Sprint vs endurance training
19. From Running Times
20. Morning Hydration
22. Eyes on the Prize :
How to Mentally Prepare for Your Next Race.
23. Compression shorts linked to infertility
24. Nordic Skiing Marathon Race Nutrition Tips
25. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Are you a member of a running or triathlon club?"

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:
"What is the highest entry fee you have paid or would pay to compete in a road
race or triathlon?" Answers Percent
Answers Percent
1. Under $25 16%
2. $25 - $34 2%
3. $35 - $49 8%
4. $50 - $74 16%
5. $75 to $99 14%
6. $100 to $149 16%
7. $150 to $199 4%
8. $200 - $299 0%
9. $300 plus 25%


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE WEEK: Road Runner's Club of America.
RRCA Launches New Website
Columbia, MD - On October 9, 2006, the Road Runners Club of America is pleased
to announce the launch of our newly, re-designed
website at http://www.RRCA.org.
"I'm really proud of the new site," explains Jean Knaack, executive director.
"There is useful information on the site for running
clubs, events, and individual runners. The new site would not be possible
without the dedication of our webmaster, Warren Finke. I
thank him profusely for the time and effort spent on bringing our members the
new website."
To navigate through the site, visitors will simply find the information they are
seeking from the navigation bar at the top of the
website and click on the desired page.
The new site has new web pages including ABOUT RRCA where visitors can find
information about the mission, the history, and the
general business of the organization. Supporters can even make a contribution to
the RRCA on the ABOUT RRCA page.
Under the link RUNNING, our visitors will find the new FREE service provided by
the RRCA where individuals can log on and track
their mileage. To motivate and reward runners, the RRCA has re-launched the
Personal Fitness Program in coordination with the new
website. Information about the new program can be found at
http://www.rrca.org/programs/personal/.
During the month of October, the RRCA has announced several great partnerships
that benefit our members as well as the organization.
For information about our new partnership with Active.com, visit
http://www.rrca.org/services/online/.
The new website contains many of the same great features from the old site such
as RRCA News, club and event listing, along with
information about RRCA programs, services, membership, benefits and more.
We invite you to visit our new site and spend time learning more about the RRCA.
Visit the site at:
http://www.rrca.org/


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


BOOK OF THE WEEK: Daniels' Running Formula-2nd Edition
By Jack Daniels
Get in the best shape of your running career with the scientifically based
training in Daniels' Running Formula. In the book that
Runner's World magazine called "the best training book," premier running coach
Jack Daniels provides you with his proven VDOT
formula to guide you through training at exactly the right intensity to become a
faster, stronger runner. Choose from the red,
white, blue, and gold programs to get into shape, target a race program, or
regain conditioning after a layoff or injury. Race
competitively with programs for 800 meters, 1500 meters to 3000 meters, cross
country races, 5K to 15K, and half-marathon up to the
marathon. Each program incorporates the right mix of the five training
intensities to help you build endurance, strength, and speed,
and Daniels' intensity point system makes it easy to track the time you spend at
each level. The formula can be customized to your
current fitness level and the number of weeks you have available for training,
and it provides the perfect solution for short
training seasons. Get the results you're seeking every time you lace up your
shoes for a training run or race with the workouts and
programs detailed in Daniels' Running Formula.
Buy the book from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736054\
928
For more books on running visit:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/human_kinetics.html and
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/amazon.html


THIS WEEK'S FEATURES:

1. Why women's races matter:
by Kelly Kruell
Standing on the starting line of the L'Eggs Mini Marathon in 1979, I was
overwhelmed by the electricity of thousands of women
runners. It was so thrilling, so impressive. During the race, I could only
marvel at the athletes ahead of and around me. More
amazing, however, was watching the almost endless stream of women finishing
behind me. My aunt, finishing some 20 minutes later, had
difficulty even finding room to run. It was a pivotal event in our lives.
Women-only races offer a special atmosphere for athletes of all levels. For the
front-runners, it is a chance to see their
competition. Racing tactics change dramatically when there are no men: no one to
dictate pace, to block the wind, to obscure the
race unfolding. It's a rare challenge one that many competitive women eagerly
seek. As a reward, women, for once, get center stage
and the biggest prizes.
Certainly for all women, the camaraderie and support of a women-only race adds
so much to the atmosphere. Often the profits from the
race are given to women's causes, like breast cancer research or scholarships
for women runners, which tends to draw out even the
most casual runners. The Portland Race for the Cure, for example, drew 18,000
women last year. Nancy Hautala of Seattle notes that
when she has invited other women to a race they are more apt to participate if
it's an all-women event.
Women in the middle of the pack say they love the feeling of being swept along
in a joyous parade of women. Beginning runners feel
less self-conscious about their speed and more encouraged about their efforts.
"Many women are self-conscious about their abilities
or looks and feel that women would be less judgmental," says Hautala.
Women seem to flock to women-only races, but do men want men-only races? Runners
on the Internet pointed out that high school,
intercollegiate, Olympic, and international events are usually segregated. To
the top male competitors, there is no point to having
men-only road races. Bryan Beel of Washington says, "I wouldn't have interest in
a men-only race because I already spend most of my
racing time in front of the first woman, so I'm already getting that feeling."
Many other male runners state that women-only races
do not bother them, but they admit they don't always see the appeal of such
events.
Twenty years ago, women-only races made a statement about women being able to
run long distances. Today, they highlight women's
competition while still welcoming participation of women runners of all ages and
abilities. What hasn't changed is the immense
empowerment that the participants feel as part of a large group of athletic
women. After hundreds of races, I still get a special
charge from all-women events.
Death of a race, birth of a law
Nineteen ninety-five saw the demise of a Minneapolis/St. Paul running tradition:
the annual women's 10K race sponsored by the
Northern Lights Running Club. The decision was based, in part, on a man's
repeated lawsuits claiming discrimination and the race
sponsor's decision to discontinue support. (Other factors were increased costs
and, therefore, less money for the scholarship fund,
and the heavy volunteer burden placed upon the small club in maintaining the
race.)
This was a difficult decision for the Northern Lights Club, and many women
mourned the race's passing. Club president Sue Wurl
points out that "many positives occurred as a result of our decision." Other
individuals stepped forward with ways to help preserve
women-only racing in Minnesota. While the litigant may have won the battle, he
did not win the war.
Phyllis Kahn is short, smart, and a fierce competitor. When NLRC decided to drop
its women-only event due to the lawsuit, Kahn raced
into action. The suit claimed that a man had been discriminated against when he
was not permitted to enter the race because he was
denied equal access to a "public accommodation" (the roadway and sidewalk), in
violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Kahn, a
Minnesota state representative, introduced legislation in the House that amended
the Minnesota act relating to public
accommodations. The statute formerly defined "public accommodation" so broadly
that attorneys for the race feared that they would
lose the lawsuit. The proposed change provided an exemption from the
antidiscrimination statute when "restricting membership on an
athletic team or in a program or event to participants of one sex if the
restriction is necessary to preserve the unique character
of the team, program, or event and it would not substantially reduce comparable
athletic opportunities for the other sex."
The measure attracted lengthy hearings and a heated debate. The talk-radio hosts
and media had a field day with the issue, first
supporting the amendment, then lambasting it. Ultimately, the measure passed,
securing the right to hold women-only (and men-only)
competition in the state.
The victory was sweet, but it was nothing new for Kahn. Sixteen years ago, she
led efforts to institute separate qualifying times
for masters women in the Boston Marathon, which then had only open men's, open
women's, and men's masters qualifying times.
Race organizer Jack Moran, on the other hand, had a much later start in
supporting equal opportunity for women. In the early days of
road racing, Moran was a vocal critic of equal prize money for women racers. As
a result, the women's running community soundly
denounced him, and several leading women boycotted his races. In recent years,
however, Moran had softened his views.
After the cancellation of the Northern Lights race, Moran, who operates a race
results and management business, decided to risk a
lawsuit himself and hold another women-only race on the traditional weekend. He
found another course and a sponsor and named the 10K
race in memory of a local woman runner who had been murdered. On a beautiful
June day, the race drew a thousand runners. Though some
women questioned his motives, Moran's actions spoke much about his commitment to
women's racing.
While the loss of the Minnesota's premier women's event was very sad, the
women's running community in Minnesota triumphed in the
end. They have insured the right to hold women-only events in all sports, a
greater victory than the shallow one the litigant
gained.
WDF history
The first RRCA Women's Distance Festivals were held in the summer of 1980 to
celebrate women's running and to publicize the fact
that, at that time, women did not have the same running opportunities in the
Olympics that men enjoyed. Since then the women's
Olympic marathon was added in 1984, the 10,000 in 1988, and the 5,000 in 1996.
There were 35 Women's Distance Festivals that first
summer. For the past half-dozen years close to 100 have been held annually.
Initially the WDFs were all held on the third Saturday in July, the weekend
closest to the men's Olympic marathon in Moscow in the
summer of 1980. The RRCA continued that tradition through 1989, when the RRCA
membership voted to allow a window of time, July 1
through October 31, so that more clubs in the hotter climates could accommodate
a Women's Distance Festival in their annual
schedules.
The WDF program supports to all RRCA clubs who choose to host a Women's Distance
Festival, no matter the size race they hold. The
program has enabled many smaller clubs to hold races for women. The RRCA
encourages clubs to keep fees small and race distances
short to attract more beginning runners and first-time racers.
The WDF program has given women members in RRCA clubs additional chances to get
involved in the administrative aspects of the club
as well as experience with race directing and opportunities to compete. As women
have become involved they have inspired yet more
women to take up running or be more active in their clubs.
Women runners who compete can't always run by themselves, but a Women's Distance
Festival provides a chance to run only with other
women and gives faster women a chance to cross the finish line first. Some WDF
races are open to men it's wholly up to the
individual clubs to decide but the spirit of the original festivals was to give
women a chance to shine and to compete only against
other women. For the most part, men runners have understood and supported these
goals, and have helped in any way they can in this
celebration of women's running.
For the past three years the Women's Distance Festival title sponsor has been
Saucony, with Moving Comfort, Inc., Runner's World,
and Women's Sports and Fitness as national sponsors.
Henley Gibble, director of the WDF program from 19801987, is now executive
director of the RRCA.
Legal self-defense
In an age when lawsuits proliferate, directors of women-only races are becoming
nervous. The legal costs of fighting even a
frivolous suit could sink many a nonprofit running club. While in general it
seems that only races with large corporate sponsors
(that is, sponsors with money) are targets for discrimination lawsuits, smaller
races should be cautious as well. George W.
Campbell, Jr., the RRCA's legal counsel, has advice for race directors faced
with a challenge to the women-only status.
Let the male entrant formally enter and ignore him during the race.
Specifically state that prizes will be awarded to first woman overall and in
various age categories.
Have senior members of the race organization available to talk to the male
applicant.
Be prepared with a list of alternative mixed races in the area at or near the
same time.
Offer the male entrant membership in the organization and emphasize that the
organization does not discriminate.
Do not use force, threats, or intimidation to try to keep the male applicant
from entering or completing the race.
Enlist an attorney to investigate local discrimination statutes and their
potential application as well as the precedent from the
local Human Rights Commission.
Review local and state ordinances to see if an exemption such as Minnesota's
(see page 16) could be implemented.
Our local Women's Distance Festival had another approach. We proposed a men's
fun run, on the same course 30 minutes after the
women's race, as an alternative. Billed specifically as a noncompetitive event,
it was easy to cancel if no one turned out to be
interested.
Concerned race directors should contact the RRCA national office for a copy of
Campbell's excellent article "Women-Only Races: An
Overview as to Legal Challenges and a List of Practical Pointers." K.K.
Kelly Kruell's last FootNotes article, "Running after children," appeared in the
Fall, 1995 issue. She lives in Portland with her
husband and daughters and just took the bar exam there.
Permission granted to redistribute, as long as you acknowledge the author,
FootNotes and the Road Runners Club of America.
From the RRCA at:
http://RRCA.org.


2. Rest: It's required:
Adequate sleep is as crucial to a healthy life as diet and exercise, researchers
are finding.
THE alarm clock in Thom Stys' bedroom goes off at 4 a.m. every weekday, a scant
four to five hours after his head hits the pillow.
By 5 a.m., he's left his Chino Hills home for the freeway, and before the sun is
up, he's at his desk in Long Beach, making a round
of phone calls to clients in Europe. "If I left later, it would take me an hour
and a half to get to work," says the 57-year-old
vice president of an aerospace forging company. "I simply can't afford to spend
time caught up in freeway traffic."
Most working blokes know that the more they work, the less they sleep. What they
may not know is that the more time they spend in
their cars, the less they sleep. Drive time - not television viewing, computer
addiction or exercise - is second only to hours on
the job as a reason people don't get the shut-eye they need.
"The most deadly combination," says David F. Dinges, chief of the division of
sleep and chronobiology at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, "would be long commute time, long work hours
and living in a place where you have to get in the car
and drive to get anything."
Sound like home?
The combination is deadly because a good night's sleep now appears to be every
bit as important to good health and long life as a
nutritious diet and regular exercise.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-sleep9oct09,0,3650596.story


3. Science of Sport: Performance potion - The Zinc effect:
This article originally appeared in the sports science newsletter, Peak
Performance
When athletes try to organize a balanced diet, they think about good carbs and
the correct amounts of protein, but who really cares
about zinc levels? Only in a recent study has it been proved this could be a
mistake.
Fourteen young healthy men were randomly divided into two groups, both fed a
typical Western diet for a period of nine weeks.
However, one group's diet contained low-zinc foods, providing a daily intake of
around 3.8mg per day, while the other included
high-zinc foods, providing a daily intake of around 18.7mg per day. After a
six-week washout period (during which both groups
returned to their normal eating habits), the protocol was reversed for another
nine weeks - ie the low-zinc group followed the
high-zinc diet, and vice-versa.
At the beginning and end of the two nine-week dietary regimes, peak work
capacity was determined by means of a graded, progressive
cycling test and a prolonged sub-maximal test (70% VO2max for 45 minutes). The
researchers also checked on blood levels of zinc and
iron because very high levels of zinc intake can interfere with iron absorption,
which could in turn impair oxygen transport and
aerobic capacity.
More...from the Runner's Web at:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news/rw_news_20061010_PPO_Zinc.html


4. Joe Henderson's Running Commentary - Team Welch:
If Priscilla Welch hadn't been such a fine runner, I never would have met her
husband Dave. And without Dave, Priscilla never would
have become the runner she was. They were a team that way.
About two months ago my wife Barbara and I shared a breakfast with the Welches.
I'd known Priscilla and Dave a long time, almost
since they'd moved to this country from England.
Priscilla was about to turn 40 that year, 1984. She'd only run for about five
years but had improved enough to place in the top
half-dozen at the Los Angeles Olympics. In 1987 she won the women's race
outright at the New York City Marathon and set a world
masters record that still stands, almost 20 years later.
Dave was responsible for that success. He first encouraged "Cilla," as he called
her, to stop smoking and start running. They both
served in the British military at the time.
After Priscilla finished her first marathon in about 3-1/2 hours, she set what
seemed at the time like an outlandish goal: to
improve by an hour. That would have been within five minutes of the world record
back then.
Dave didn't say, don't be silly. He said, "I'll do what I can to help get you
there." With his coaching, she peaked at 2:26:52.
Her professional career was easing down in the early 1990s when we worked on a
book together. Along with Bill Rodgers, the result
was Masters Running & Racing.
That project was rather ironic because Priscilla said, "I don't think of myself
as a 'masters' racer. I try to do my best against
all the ladies in the field, regardless of age."
More...from Joe Henderson at:
http://www.joehenderson.com/archive/home.php?article=2077


5. All Athletes: How Old Are You in Athlete Years?
by Dirk Friel
Have you ever heard the saying that one human year is equal to seven dog years?
This got me thinking about how a lot of older
athletes are actually in many respects equal in age to people much younger. Do
athletes have two concurrent timelines-age in human
years, and age as an endurance athlete?
The number of training years an athlete has endured says a lot about the
physical maturity and "depth" of their fitness. It seems
the more years an athlete has trained the more consistent and predictive their
performances become. In many respects this is an
envious characteristic of older athletes. Several key adaptations that signal
physical peaks take years to develop. Some of these
adaptations include: development of muscle (including a stronger heart muscle),
mitochondrial density, increased VO2 max, economy,
fat and lactate oxidation.
One of the primary indicators of endurance performance is the ability to clear
and utilize lactic acid as a fuel source. When
exercising at low intensities your muscles can easily produce the chemical
reactions necessary to dissipate and use lactic acid as a
fuel. However, at some point, as intensity increases, the amount of lactate
builds beyond what the body can clear and acidity rises,
which inhibits proper muscular contractions.
Improvement in lactate threshold pace (wattage, speed) is a primary focus for
endurance athletes and can take years to develop
before diminishing returns are seen. Pace at lactate threshold is not only
determined by chemical reactions, but also highly
dependent upon economy of movement and strength.
Economy and biomechanical efficiency can easily take years to maximize. In fact
athletes never really do reach perfect economy-even
elite athletes constantly focus on trying to improve their economy of movement.
This can be viewed as a welcome opportunity for
older athletes who may have reached a plateau with their lactate buffering
capabilities. By switching focus to speed and skills
development an older athlete can many times reduce race times without improving
physical fitness at all. Many athletes may actually
continue to make large improvements in economy for several years if this aspect
of training has been ignored in the past.
Another limiter for endurance athletes is the ability to use fat as an energy
source. Improved fatty acid oxidation takes years of
consistent endurance training to develop. This is a very desirable adaptation
because when fat is used as a fuel, lactate is not a
by-product and therefore pushes the lactate threshold up to higher intensity
levels. Increased fat oxidation is equivalent to
improved endurance and can be maintained for quite a long time. This is one of
the fundamental reasons behind following a periodized
annual training plan. Once sufficient endurance is built it can be put on the
secondary list of objectives whereby training can then
shift toward higher race pace intensity. To read more on the concepts of peaking
refer to July and August e-Tips articles by Andy
Applegate and Joe Friel.
Specificity of activity is a primary concern when it comes to maximizing peak
performance. For example a world class cyclist who has
a high power output at lactate threshold might not have a world class pace in
running. Running uses many of the same muscles as
cycling, but they are used quite differently. The timing of muscle contractions
and the basic biomechanics of running are radically
different from cycling. So not only do we have "athlete years," as in dog years,
but we also have the specific time dedicated to
each one of our sports. A triathlete may be mature in running years, but
immature when it comes to cycling and swimming. If this is
you, step back and allow your body to play a bit of catch-up. A triathlete may
actually come into maturity several years down the
road after having maintained the strengths of their primary sport, and having
worked diligently to improve their weak sports. Oh,
and don't forget that in long-course triathlons the fourth discipline is race
day nutrition, which may take several years to figure
out as well.
Consistent, moderate training improvements should be your goal more than quick
gains. If you take this to heart you can feel and
perform like an individual half your age and enjoy your sport like you were a
kid again.
Dirk Friel has raced as a professional cyclist on the roads of Europe, Asia and
the Americas since 1992. He is also an Ultrafit
Associates coach specializing in road training with power. Dirk is also
co-founder of http://www.TrainingPeaks.com. He may be
reached by e-mail at mailto:dfriel@....


6. 3 Great Marathon Predictor Workouts:
By Greg McMillan, M.S.
As the race approaches, marathoners want to know which pace is the right pace -
the one that achieves the fastest time possible and
avoids the all too common fade in the final few miles. This article discusses
the three workouts that I use to gauge the best race
pace for the marathoners I coach. The predictions are not fool-proof, but I find
them to work for the vast majority of marathoners.
As you prepare for your next marathon, these workouts can be helpful in your
race planning.
The 3 Best Marathon Predictor Workouts
Fast Finish Long Runs
The Fast Finish Long Run has quickly become a mainstay for competitive
marathoners. I learned it from Gabriele Rosa - the coach of
world record holder Paul Tergat - but many other coaches and athletes have used
it successfully for years. On my website, a detailed
article on how to run a fast finish long run is presented. I recommend that you
read the article in addition to this section.
In the fast finish long run, you run the first eight to 12 miles of a 14- to
18-mile long run at your normal steady running pace
(usually 30 seconds to one and a half minutes slower than marathon pace).
However, over the last three to 10 miles of the run, you
run faster and faster. Once you've become accustomed to this workout, I've found
that the pace you can 'average' for the last six to
10 miles of a fast finish long run is the pace you can likely sustain for the
marathon.
Fast finish long runs are very tough workouts so you shouldn't do them very
often or run too many of them in any one marathon
training cycle. I suggest alternating a weekly fast finish long run with a more
typical weekly long, steady run. If you can run
three to five of these fast long runs in the eight to 12 weeks prior to your
marathon, they become a very accurate predictor of your
best marathon pace.
It's important to note that this workout is great for marathoners who can run
under four hours. For marathoners who run more than
four hours however the training pace and the marathon pace are often similar.
So, the focus of long runs shifts more to covering the
distance.
More...from McMillan Running at:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/marathonpredictors.htm


7. Class Is In Session - How They Shape Up:
GROUP fitness classes can be a wasteland of gimmicks, but there's no denying
that they remain popular at health clubs and studios
nationwide. Low-impact aerobics classes attracted 2.5 million people in 2005;
yoga classes, 1.4 million; and Spinning classes, 1.8
million, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub
Association and American Sports Data.
For a sense of which workouts are worth their time, and which fall short,
Thursday Styles will periodically examine noteworthy
offerings. We plan to include both innovations and revamped versions of old
standbys. Reporters will visit the classes as well as
interview instructors, participants and fitness experts unconnected with the
clubs.
Today's report includes three classes in Manhattan: an indoor ride that bills
itself as yoga on a bike; a class focusing on the core
of the body that promises a sculptured behind; and a workout that involves
obstacle courses and playing games in the name of fun
(and muscle tone).
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/fashion/05FitnessIntro.html?_r=1&ref=fitnessan\
dnutrition&oref=login


8. All you need to know about running:
By Sam Murphy
London (Guardian News Service): Running reduces that tummy, gets the heart
beating, strengthens thigh bones, improves hearing and
makes you brainy.
1. Benefits- Reduces that tummy: Regular running can increase your body's
capacity to use fat as a fuel by as much as 30%.
- Gets the heart beating: The heart of a runner working at around 70% of their
maximum aerobic capacity will beat around 9,000 times
in an hour, pumping 25-30 litres of blood around the body each minute. A resting
heart averages 5 litres per minute.
- Strengthens thigh bones: One study found bone density in the thighbone (femur)
was 5% higher in runners than in non-runners, and
8% higher than in completely sedentary people.
- Improves hearing: Research from Miami University shows that aerobic fitness is
associated with better hearing, probably due to
enhanced blood flow to the middle ear.
- Makes you brainy: A study from Nihon Fukushi University in Japan revealed that
young people scored consistently better on mental
tests after taking up running.
More... From the Hindu at:
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200610091142.htm


9. Friends for Life: An Emerging Biology of Emotional Healing:
A dear friend has been battling cancer for a decade or more. Through a grinding
mix of chemotherapy, radiation and all the other
necessary indignities of oncology, he has lived on, despite dire prognoses to
the contrary.
My friend was the sort of college professor students remember fondly: not just
inspiring in class but taking a genuine interest in
them - in their studies, their progress through life, their fears and hopes. A
wide circle of former students count themselves among
his lifelong friends; he and his wife have always welcomed a steady stream of
visitors to their home.
Though no one could ever prove it, I suspect that one of many ingredients in his
longevity has been this flow of people who love
him.
Research on the link between relationships and physical health has established
that people with rich personal networks - who are
married, have close family and friends, are active in social and religious
groups - recover more quickly from disease and live
longer. But now the emerging field of social neuroscience, the study of how
people's brains entrain as they interact, adds a missing
piece to that data.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/health/psychology/10essa.html?_r=1&ref=health&\
oref=slogin


10. Garmin's Foremost Forerunner:
This combined GPS device and heart-rate monitor tracks a trove of data on your
running history.
It's good to be the runner. That's true any time, but especially lately-assuming
you're even a little geeky and gadget inclined.
These days runners are getting treated to a wide array of sexy, useful new toys.
Take the Garmin (GRMN ) Forerunner 305. Garmin, a
giant in global positioning system-related devices, has long offered all manner
of satellite-assisted mapping and tracking gear,
including wrist-mounted receivers. But the high-end Forerunner, introduced for
$349 earlier this year, is by far the most innovative
and usable of the bunch. Like earlier Forerunner iterations, the 305 is
essentially a high-precision GPS receiver, capable of
measuring speed, distance traveled, pace, and calories burned. On top of those
basics, the 305 features a host of other features,
including triathlon training and a wireless heart-rate monitor. The most notable
improvement is the size. At 2.72 oz., the
Forerunner 305 won't make you feel like you've got an electronic brick attached
to your arm. Make no mistake-it will seem large
compared with a run-of-the-mill heart-rate monitor or sport watch. I kept
expecting a call from Dick Tracy. Still, this device earns
its squatter's rights.
More...from Business Week at:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2006/tc20061009_002599.htm


11. The Sport Factory - Mental Peaking:
Peaking for a goal race is not just a physical process; it is a mental process
as well. As you approach your peak race your
training becomes more physically intense and specific. Mental focus must rise
as well, before the physical can occur. The
culmination of this takes place on race day when your mental skills must be as
honed as your physical. What are the characteristics
of a mentally "peaked" athlete, and how do you obtain them?
. Confident. A mentally peaked athlete is confident in their abilities
and performance no matter what it may be. In order
for to achieve this confidence they must know what their performance
capabilities are, and this comes from; you guessed it--
training. The athlete knows what pace they will run off the bike because they
have already ran it. They know how they will swim in
the open water because they have done it, and they know how they will ride the
hills because they rode them last week. This is not
overconfidence or bravado; this is knowing exactly what you are capable of and
simply following through.
. Collected. Every athlete is excited at the starting line. The
mentally peaked athlete can control and channel this
excitement, and any over stimulation will go away with the starting gun. One
thing you never want to do is show up for a goal race
having not raced. Secondary events get the kinks worked out and get you used to
the racing process. These races lower anxiety
levels and set reasonable performance expectations.
. Process Driven. Have you ever had a fellow athlete remark on a race
course or land mark, yet you have no recollection of
it? This is likely due to the fact that you were in "the zone," and more
focused on monitoring yourself internally than observing
the irrelevant landscape. You may have been carefully watching your heart rate,
pace, power, cadence, perceived exertion, and the
course immediately in front of you. A process driven athlete races as if it is
just another work out. They know exactly what to do
and when. They drink and eat on a strict schedule. They pace themselves
precisely.
. "Intrepid: characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and
endurance." An intrepid athlete is adaptable,
resourceful, and will not be denied their race. They would never DNF unless
they were forced to; even if they were having a bad
race. They consider only what is within their control and let everyone else
worry about the weather, other competitors, and how
prepared they are on race day. They can make tactical decisions without getting
emotional and can absorb more pain.
. Focused. Everyone knows you must be focused on race day, and it is
somewhat easy due to the stimulation level. But being
focused does not just mean racing hard, it means racing right. Sticking to a
pacing strategy, fueling and hydration strategy, and
not getting pulled off your game is the key to a successful race. If you chase
down every athlete that passes you on the bike you
will soon find you have nothing left in your legs. The focused athlete races
his or her own race, and knows exactly what to do
when.
By working on these skills you will not only perform better, you will enjoy
racing more. Racing is an emotional experience and the
goal is not to take the emotion out of the race; it is to channel it then savor
it at the finish line.
Matt Russ has coached and trained elite athletes around the country and
internationally for over ten years. He currently holds
expert licenses from USA Triathlon, USA Cycling, and is a licensed USA Track and
Field Coach. Matt is head coach and owner of The
Sport Factory, and works with athletes of all levels full time. He is a free
lance author and his articles are regularly featured
in a variety of magazines such as Inside Triathlon, and Triathlete. Visit
www.thesportfactory.com for more information or email him
at mailto:coachmatt@...


12. Walnuts May Beat Olive Oil for Heart Health:
Spanish study suggests they leave arteries more elastic.
A high-fat dinner followed by an unusual dessert suggests that walnuts might be
even better for the arteries than olive oil, Spanish
researchers report.
The dinner consisted of a salami and cheese sandwich on white bread, plus
high-fat yogurt. The "dessert" consisted of five teaspoons
of olive oil for half the diners and 40 grams of walnuts (about eight shelled
nuts) for the other half.
Ultrasound examinations showed that the arteries of those eating the walnuts
stayed more flexible and elastic after the fatty meal
those of the folks who ate olive oil. The study's 24 adult participants had
varying levels of blood cholesterol, ranging from
healthy to moderately high.
"This study shows the mechanism for the beneficial effects of walnuts,"
contended study lead researcher Dr. Emilio Ros, director of
the Lipid Clinic at Hospital Clinico in Barcelona.
Both olive oil and walnuts decrease the onset of inflammation and oxidation in
the arteries after a high-fat meal, but walnuts
preserve the blood vessels' flexibility while olive oil does not, according to
Ros. He attributed much of the beneficial effect to
the alpha-linolenic acid found in walnuts. This nutrient is similar to the
omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.
More...from Health Scout at:
http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/535338/main.html


13. Complete Rest: Benefits of Couch Time:
Since most of you have been or will soon be taking some time away from the bike
after a long, grueling season of racing or club
riding, the first thing to do is to figure out just what taking time away means,
and then to make plans for your best off-season
yet. We start by advocating experiencing life as a couch potato.
Serious Couch-Time
The Giro di Lombardia will be upon us this weekend, and with it the end of the
long European campaign that began for many at the
Tour of Qatar back in January. Faster than the leaves falling and the sunlight
fading, the Euro scene will soon be hibernating and
we'll be looking to the Southern Hemisphere for our racing fix.
Thus begins my favorite time of the year - the "Complete Rest" phase. This phase
is required to reset your body and your mind so
that, by the time you do start training again, you've regained all your passion
and energy that might have dissipated over the
course of the season. It is also designed to allow you to lose a little bit of
fitness (this is not a typo!). It's impossible for
the body to maintain a high level of conditioning 12 months a year. Remember the
old adage: "The bigger the valley the higher the
peak."
The first question you may have is just how long do I spend on the couch? This
phase can last anywhere from 2 weeks to a month or
even more, depending on how long and intense your season has been. It is
typically an inverse relationship - if you've been training
hard and blowing the peloton apart since February like Boom Boom Boonen, you
need to recover from that level of intensity and peak
fitness by really letting yourself go for a good long while to completely
recharge physically and mentally.
The only exception seems to be the recently retired Viacheslav "Eki" Ekimov,
whose fanatical devotion to the bike and training is
legendary. Wonder if this retirement will be more successful than his first
abortive attempt in 2002, when he un-retired halfway
through the season and raced the Tour right afterwards. On the other hand, if
you've just been riding mostly at a moderate or
recreational level, taking two months completely off isn't necessary or helpful,
and a shorter rest phase will be sufficient.
More...from Pez Cycling at:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4422


14. Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You:
PEOPLE almost always think they are too smart for Prof. Brian Wansink's quirky
experiments in the psychology of overindulgence.
When it comes to the slippery issues of snacking and portion control, no one
thinks he or she is the schmo who digs deep into the
snack bowl without thinking, or orders dessert just because a restaurant plays a
certain kind of music.
"To a person, people will swear they aren't influenced by the size of a package
or how much variety there is on a buffet or the
fancy name on a can of beans, but they are," Dr. Wansink said. "Every time."
He has the data to prove it. Dr. Wansink, who holds a doctorate in marketing
from Stanford University and directs the Cornell
University Food and Brand Lab, probably knows more about why we put things in
our mouths than anybody else. His experiments examine
the cues that make us eat the way we do. The size of an ice cream scoop, the way
something is packaged and whom we sit next to all
influence how much we eat. His research doesn't pave a clear path out of the
obesity epidemic, but it does show the significant
effect one's eating environment has on slow and steady weight gain.
More...from the NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/dining/11snac.html?adxnnl=1&ref=health&adxnnlx\
=1160564997-j3edXEAwBIG0Wc33wU3uLA
[Long URL]


15. This Week in Running:
10 Years Ago- Joel Onwon'ga (KEN) won the Twin Cities (MN/USA) Marathon in
2:13:13 to
collect $20,000. Daniel Kihara (KEN) was next in 2:15:55
($12,000) and
Sergio Jimenez (MEX) took home $7000 in 3rd with a 2:16:01. Olga
Appell,
recently USA, won by more than a mile with a 2:27:59 and also
collected
$20,000. Sissel Grottenberg (NOR) followed in 2:35:45 with Mary
Alico
(USA) in 3rd with 2:36:07. Tatyana Pozdniakova (UKR) was 4th in
2:36:37
in her 7th marathon (she now has 28 marathons).
20 Years Ago- Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN) smoked the Asian Games (KOR) Marathon
course,
winning by more than a minute in 2:08:21. Countryman Hiromi
Taniguchi
was next in 2:10:08 while Jae-Song Yoo (KOR) was well back in 3rd
at
2:16:55.
30 Years Ago- Bob Hensley (USA) won the Oregon Track Club (OR/USA) Marathon in
2:21:56
while 15 year old Diane Barrett (USA) won the women's race in
2:51:05.
40 Years Ago- Gordon Noble (AUS) won a marathon in Melbourne AUS with a time of
2:24:59.

50 Years Ago- Thomas Hilt Nilsson (SWE) won the Kosice (SVK) Marathon in
2:22:05.4, followed
closely by Olavi Manninen (FIN) in 2:22:09. Third was Kurt
Hartung (GER) in
2:23:06.0.
From the Analytical Distance Runner at:
http://www.arrs.net



16. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine:
* Pedal Faster to Ride Better
All cyclists should learn to pedal at a fast cadence, whether you are an
experienced racer or a novice recreational rider. Muscle
fatigue and damage are caused by excess
pressure on the pedals, not by how fast you pedal. Pedaling at a faster cadence
with less pressure allows you to pedal longer and
harder. However, several researchers have expressed concern that pedaling very
fast could decrease blood flow to muscles and thus
decrease athletic performance. A study from Kansas State University shows that
pedaling fast does not decrease a muscle's flow of
blood or ability to extract oxygen from the blood (European Journal of Applied
Physiology, March 2006). Once again athletes and
coaches find new training and competing methods and years later, scientists tell
them that they are correct.
After you have been riding regularly for a time, try to spin your pedals 80
times a minute. In the beginning, you will put so
little pressure on your pedals that you will ride very slowly.
However, after several weeks of pedaling at a cadence of 80, you will become
more comfortable and be able to move fairly well at
this pace. As you become stronger, you can maintain this high cadence while
using higher gears and pressing on the pedals with more
force, so you will be able to ride faster and longer.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Will cross-training make me more fit?
Every time you exercise vigorously your muscles are injured, and the harder you
exercise, the longer it takes for your muscles to
heal. You are not supposed to exercise vigorously
again until your muscles stop hurting. You can exercise hard on one day and
easy on the next few days, or you can train in two
sports. This is called cross-training, and it can make you very fit and help to
prevent injuries.
Each sport stresses specific muscle groups. Cycling stresses the upper legs,
while rowing stresses your back and upper body. If you
cycle and row on the same day, you stress
your upper legs and upper body on the same day. To reduce your chances of
injuring yourself, you should take the next day off, or at
least exercise at a very low intensity. If you cycle on Monday and row on
Tuesday, you allow your muscles 48 hours to recover from
each sport. Pick two sports that use different muscle groups and do them on
alternate days. You can then exercise more intensely in
each sport and achieve a higher level of fitness.


17. Heed the Signs of Over- and Under-Training:
By the Coaches at CTS
Welcome to that odd time of the year when you're not really sure if you should
keep pushing hard (you feel great, after all), should
dial down the work load (fall's first chill sidelined you with a cold), or start
jacking up your intensity (you haven't done much
since Labor Day). To help you determine where you are in your fitness you need
to watch for the following signs:
Signs of Over-Training
You train everyday, year round. We once knew a woman who had exercised everyday
of her life for five years. She became obsessed with
her streak - to the point of craziness. She pushed through small colds that
lasted for the entire winter and injuries that became
full-blown emergencies. Eventually her streak ended after her body gave out.
During the streak, she never got any faster, never
became stronger, and never "felt" better, but she didn't care. Sure, she was
working out everyday, but she was a pretty miserable
person, really.
The fact is that the body actually gets stronger through rest and recovery. Rest
is when your body turns its energy to building
muscle instead of powering through a workout. Rest enables you to bounce back
refreshed, and once you get back up to speed, you will
be noticeably faster.
You'd rather watch golf than break a good, healthy sweat. Old-school training
has a simple premise: train as hard as you can until
you puke. Repeat the next day, and so forth. But pushing yourself like this all
time will punch your ticket to a trip into physical
and mental anguish. After a few days your body will become exhausted and you'll
move slower on a run, bike, or swim - even though it
feels like you're working harder. You'll feel like crud, even though you're
relatively fit. Then frustration sets in as you grow
weaker. You'll consciously dream up reasons not to exercise, like watching the
Golf Channel. Instead, vary up your training to
include long, slow endurance days and short, fast tempo days to keep your body
and mind engaged.
More...from Carmichael Training Systems at:
http://www.trainright.com/info.asp?action=display&uid=4003


18. Aerobic gains: Sprint vs endurance training:
By Dr. Stephen Cheung, Ph.D. - PezCycling News
Whether it's tapering and peaking for a key event, a busy schedule or the
approaching winter, we often need to ramp down the volume
of training but worry about the loss of endurance capacity. Can short bursts of
high intensity training help to maintain our
endurance?
Mixing intensity
It has been a long-standing argument in both laboratory exercise research and
coaching circles: How much cross-transfer is there
between high-intensity training and endurance performance? And how does this
happen? For a long time, the two extremes have been
thought of as being mutually exclusive. Like the wings of an aircraft, if one
goes up, the other must go down.
However, we find that adding high-intensity training during the off-season
appeared to improve endurance performance even in elite
athletes. Specifically, the survey suggested that efforts near or beyond power
output at VO2max were most beneficial overall,
possibly because they stimulated all the major metabolic pathways (alactic,
anaerobic and aerobic.)
More...from Active.com at:
http://active.com/story.cfm?story_id=13584


19. From Running Times:
* Training Tip of the Month - Your Last Long Run
While marathon training is a foundation made of many bricks, the keystone
workout, physically and mentally, is your last long run.
Most coaches agree that ideally it should be three weeks out from the race, or,
at the closest, two weeks out. Depending on your
training plan, it ranges in length from 18 to 26 miles, although the vast
majority of coaches cap the long runs at 22 miles. As for
speed, you'll also find numerous opinions, ranging from an easy, conversational
pace to the full distance at race pace. Among top
coaches I've interviewed or read, a progression run strategy seems to be the
most widely held, and the most reasonable method of
accomplishing the goals of both getting in the distance without undue stress and
simulating race pace when fatigued. This method
begins at a comfortable pace, approximately 20% slower than race pace, and
gradually increases during the second half to either race
pace or just under (approximately 10% slower than race pace) during the last
five miles. The last long run should leave you
confident that you can accomplish your goal. Now comes the hardest part of
training mentally: the taper, as you cut back to let your
body build for the big day.
--Jonathan Beverly, Editor
* Medical Corner - - Running After a Ruptured Disc
Q: Four weeks ago I was diagnosed with a ruptured disc (L4/L5) in my back.
Before I was injured, I was running 35-40 miles/week and
swimming 2,500 meters/week. At the end of the third post-injury week, I started
walking on the treadmill. I have since walked 3 - 4
times/week and have worked up to 2 miles. I would like to know what is the usual
recovery time for this type of injury and how
aggressive should I be in my training during my recovery. Also, what types of
training should I be doing?
A: Discs in the spine act as cushions and shock absorbers. When one ruptures,
the gel in the center is squeezed out, often
irritating the nerves exiting the spinal cord. In most cases, no surgery is
necessary. The body resorps the ruptured material and
pain resolves. The disc never returns to normal though and this places greater
stress on the other discs and the support muscles of
the back.
Improving body mechanics and posture is important. Maximizing core strength is
critical. A physical therapist can help you with
this.
The speed of recovery is extremely variable. It sounds like you are on the fast
track! Gradually build up your endurance. Do not use
the incline on the treadmill - leaning into the hill could really aggravate your
back. Cross train in the pool for additional
aerobic fitness. When you are comfortably walking a couple of miles for a week
or so, begin alternating 2 minutes of running with 2
minutes of walking for 2 miles. Gradually increase the period of running and
eventually eliminate the walking, as long as you do not
experience back or leg pain. Make sure that you warm up prior to and cool down
after exercising. It will take time, but you should
be able to re-establish your training program. Make sure that your bike is
appropriately fitted, as this can contribute to back
problems.
--Dr. Cathy Fieseler


20. Morning Hydration:
By Matt Russ
I enjoy training with one of my athletes in particular, since we are closely
paced. This allows us to both stay in our heart rate
zones without having to modify our work outs or wait on each other. We recently
met on a warm and humid morning and began a tough
brick work out. Right off the bat her heart rate was significantly higher than
our normal discrepancy which is about 10 beats, and
her pace was slower. Our disparity only increased as we continued our work out
and her performance continued to decline.
After about a half hour I began to question her regarding recovery, sleep,
soreness, stress, antihistamines, etc. - anything
criteria would affect heart rate. When I got to the hydration question; bingo,
it turns out she had not had any fluids to speak of
that morning.
The longest period we go without hydration is when we sleep. It is not unusual
for the average individual to go 10 hours or more to
the next fluid intake; which may be a cup of coffee. We may wake up in a
dehydrated state and begin our work outs with a strike
against us. Dehydration means low blood volume. Your heart has less fluid to
work with and it has to pump faster to supply working
muscles. A higher heart rate with lower muscular output (speed or power), is not
something an athlete desires from their work out.
The good news is this can easily be prevented. On a hot and humid day start your
hydration as soon as you wake up with 16-20 ounces
of fluids. Fruit juices and other fluids can count towards this. If you work out
is not for several hours consume another 16-20
ounces pre work out. Clear urine output is a good sign, but vitamins, especially
B vitamins can affect this. One of the easiest
strategies to ensure hydration habits is to keep a case of water in your
vehicle.
More...from TriFuel at:
http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/nutrition/morning-hydration-001650.php




22. Eyes on the Prize :
How to Mentally Prepare for Your Next Race.
Kate Fonshell stood at the start of the most important race of her life and felt
a sense of doom. As she looked down the line of the
other elite women toeing the start, Fonshell allowed negative thoughts to creep
in and distort her focus. "I felt like I didn't
belong there. Everyone else was so much better, faster, more deserving than me,"
recalls Fonshell. "I wanted to quit and go home."
Right before the gun sounded, Fonshell snapped back to thinking like a winner
and ran to first place to win the 1996 Olympic Trials
10,000m in 32:37, earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team.
That moment was an epiphany for Fonshell, and she has turned that experience
into a career as a sports psychology consultant,
lecturing athletes on the importance, and power, of positive thinking. "We're
all human, and these negative thoughts happen to
everyone. But they can be reversed," says Fonshell. Sports psychology has been
around since the 1950s but is just beginning to come
into its own after being considered too touchy-feely and abstract to have any
measured results. Nowadays, even the Olympic teams
travel with their own sports psychologist to help the athletes deal with nervous
energy, negative thoughts, self-doubt, and pre-race
jitters.
Fonshell is quick to point out that sports psychology is not just for Olympians
or elites. "It doesn't matter what your level of
competition is. Everyone feels the same at the start of a race." Another reason
to get hip to sports psychology is that results can
be seen in a short period of time, and you'll enjoy running even more with a
positive outlook rather than the old bugaboos we carry
around with us.
Whether you are training for the Olympics or a local race, getting ready for
competition includes physical conditioning, strategy
analysis, and mental preparation. This is where sports psychology fits into the
mix. Fonshell admits that the premise behind sports
psychology is no big mystery. We all have the skills, but it is recognizing how
to use those skills and actually putting them into
practice where most athletes fall short. Fonshell refers to her work as
refresher courses in what we all know but don't do.
A major focus of sports psychology is psychological skills training, which
includes motivation and goal setting, stress management,
imagery, and self-talk. Fonshell believes these are the key tools to use when
mentally preparing for competition, insuring that you
will come to the start of the race with a fresh outlook and positive thoughts.
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=4946&c=97


23. Compression shorts linked to infertility:
Harvard researchers have recently released data that has caught the eye of tens
of thousands of male runners. The increasingly
popular use of "compression shorts" underneath more standard athletic attire was
studied in a year long retrospective study
completed by Harvard trained scientists, Edward Shields and his cohort Elijah
Yarnell. Shields and Yarnell studied the sperm count
of runners of varying abilities and found one hard fact that served notice: 62%
reduction in viable sperm count in those runners
wearing compression shorts.
"It was indisputable", said Shields. "To a man, the gonadal production was
substantially reduced if they wore compression shorts.
The range was typically a 40% to 85% loss of spermatoid function. And even worse
than that I believe that the pressure on the little
swimmers fragile heads produced an alteration of their DNA. I believe the
resulting misshapen sperm-heads might be a harbinger of
future problems for mankind. This is only a theory, mind you", Shields warned in
a firm voice. "But I think those runners' that
choose to wear those tight shorts are applying more pressure on their 'privates'
than they realize. If they then engage in sexual
activities they run the risk of creating what I will call 'jughead babies'. I
fear a whole new race of miscreants will be formed
that in the past could have only been envisioned by science fiction writers".
More...from Run the Planet at:
http://www.runtheplanet.com/pages/refer/articles/compression.php


24. Nordic Skiing Marathon Race Nutrition Tips:
by Neal Henderson MS, CSCS
Training and racing a cross country ski marathon well is quite a challenging
task. In addition to the rigors of actually training
for the event, preparing your skis with the right wax, and knowing how to pace
yourself appropriately, comes the daunting task of
staying fueled and hydrated in one of the world's most energetically demanding
sports. Energy expenditure (in terms of Calories per
minute) for trained cross country skiers has been shown to be among of highest
of any athletes in any sport. This is due to the fact
that both the upper and lower body musculature are highly involved in Nordic
skiing. Both classical (AKA diagonal stride) and
freestyle (AKA skating or skate skiing) styles are contested in cross country
ski races, and there is very little difference in the
energy demand in both techniques. One of the main differences between the two
techniques is that freestyle skiing tends to be a
little faster than classical skiing in most situations. A typical cross country
ski marathon will be between 40 and 50 kilometers
(24.8 and 31 miles) long, and while the top athletes may finish the event in
just under 2 hours, most athletes take at least 2-3
hours or more to complete the race.
In racing marathon distance events, the concept of pacing is crucial to your
overall performance. When you ski at a moderate pace
you might expend between 600 and 800 calories per hour for averaged size men, or
400-600 calories per hour for an averaged size
woman, and that energy will come from burning a mix of carbohydrate and fats. As
you work harder, energy expenditure will increase
to 900-1200 calories per hour for men, and 650-900 calories for women, with the
overwhelming majority of it (75-95%) coming from
carbohydrate metabolism. This can cause a problem in sustained skiing, as men
typically have about 350 to 450 grams of carbohydrate
(or 1400-1800 calories) and women typically have 250-350 grams of carbohydrate
(or 1000 to 1400 calories) stored and available for
use by the muscles IF they have topped off muscle glycogen stores. If you do the
math, an athlete might only have about 1.5 hours of
stored carbohydrate energy available at the start of a marathon event. This
means that taking in fuel during the race is absolutely
necessary to maintain race effort for the duration of the event. Also, this
brings to light the importance of improving your ability
to burn fats as a fuel.
More...from First Endurance at:
http://www.firstendurance.com/coaches_nordic_skiing_nutrition.html


25. Digest Briefs:
* Do I need to drink less if its cold outside?
It is true that your fluid losses from perspiration will likely be much lower in
the cold, but it will not be eliminated. Remember,
the body is only 20-30% efficient at converting the work of the muscles into
motion...and most of the loss of energy is heat
production. Using technical fabrics to wick away moisture from the skin will
help you stay dry and warm. As the weather turns, you
should re-establish your personal fluid needs by performing pre/post weight
checks to measure how much fluid you are actually
losing. (See Electrolyte Newsletter for more info on establishing fluid intake
goals).
By Neal Henderson MS, CSCS. Boulder Center for Sports Medicine
* Endurance Lab Newsletter:
Training Tip #1 - Single sport focus to end your season
As the multi-sport season comes to an end, it just doesn't feel right to take
time off and roll into one's off season. The weather
is still conducive to occasional riding, and more importantly to fantastic
running. It's too early to hang up the sneakers and pack
away the bike!
Several endurance athletes extend their competitive season by focusing on a
single sport through September, October, and into
November. For most, that means finishing their season off with a running race,
or series of races. Ending the season with a half
marathon, a few 10k's, a full marathon, cross country running, or off road/cross
cycling is a common choice of endurance athletes.
Consider what training for a single sport event through fall does for an
athlete:
-extends the competitive season. Thus making the coming winter season that much
shorter!
-maintains the high level of fitness the athlete worked so hard to build during
the previous four...six...ten months of training.
-provides variety. Rather than focusing on another big triathlon or duathlon,
the athlete can likely reduce their training frequency
and volume, thus lightening their schedule.
-allows a natural unwinding into the off season. By focusing on fewer workouts,
and a smaller single-sport event, the athlete gets
to 'drop down' his/her mental level of focus, making for a nice segue into the
off season.
Consider staying active for one more final event to the 2006 season.



THIS WEEK'S FEATURED EVENTS:
*Please verify event dates with the event websites*
Check the Runner's Web FrontPage for links to the race sites.

October 14, 2006:
Hartford Marathon - Hartford, CT

Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival, MD

October 15, 2006:
Columbus Marathon - Columbus, OH

Denver Marathon - Denver, CO

IMT Des Moines Marathon - Des Moines, IA

Long Beach Marathon - Long Beach, CA

Mount Desert Island Marathon - Bar Harbor, ME

The Toronto Marathon - Toronto, ON

RACE PREVIEW:
2007:

June 23, 2007:
Emilie's Run - The Emilie Mondor Memorial 5K Race for Women - Ottawa, ON
http://www.emiliesrun.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

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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

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