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Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest - January 25, 2008   Message List  
Reply | Forward Message #639 of 734 |
A FREE WEEKLY E-ZINE OF MULTISPORT RELATED ARTICLES.
The Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest is a weekly e-zine dealing with the
sports of running and triathlon and general fitness and
health issues. The opinions expressed in the articles referenced by the Digest
are the opinions of the writers and not necessarily
those of the Runner's Web. Visit the Runner's Web at http://www.runnersweb.com
The site is updated multiple times daily. Check out
our daily news, features, polls, trivia, bulletin boards and more. General
questions should be posted to one of our forums available
from our FrontPage.

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS:
All of the revenue from our advertisers and affiliates goes to support clubs,
athletes and clinics related to multisport and
Canadian Olympians.

1. Emilie's Run - The Emilie Mondor Memorial 5K Race for Women - Canada's
Fastest Women's 5K
November 10, 2007: Prize Money Announced for Teams
RunnersWeb.com Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of $2,250 in prize money
for the top teams for the 2008 Emilie's Run. This
prize money is in addition to the previously announced $5,500 in individual
prize money for the top open and masters runners and the
primes for the leaders at 1 through 4K.
The team prize money will be allocated as follows:
1st (Open): $1,000,
2nd:$750,
3rd: $500
A maximum of 5 entrants per team, top 3 to score.
The 2008 edition of Emilie's Run will take place on Saturday, June 21st at the
Aviation Museum in Ottawa with $5,500 in cash prizes
for the top open and masters and merchandise prizes for the top teams and
age-groupers.
There will also be a 1K run for children.
For more on the race visit the website at:
http://www.emiliesrun.com.
Join Emilie's Run Community and contribute at:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/emiliesrun?hl=en
January 4, 2008: Goodlife Fitness has come on board as a sponsor of Emilie's Run
GoodLife Fitness - Coed or Women's Only
Visit www.GoodLifeFitness.com today to receive 3 FREE Visits!
Your 3 FREE visits include:
. A Visual Fitness Planner Consultation
. Fit Fix Orientation to learn how to exercise safely and effectively
. Access to all cardio and strength-training equipment
. Access to all of our world-class Group EXercise classes
. A copy of Living the Good Life audio CD
Get started today! Visit www.GoodLifeFitness.com Limited time offer.

3. Road Runner Sports, the world's largest running store at:
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000010069822.
New Arrivals from Nike With Web Exclusive Apparel and More!

4. Toronto Waterfront Marathon, 2008
http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/

5. 26.2 with Donna:
The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer
"The only U.S. marathon dedicated solely to raising funds to end breast cancer."
February 17, 2008 8 a.m.
Location: Near Mayo Clinic
Jacksonville, Florida
Beneficiaries: Donna Hicken Foundation and Mayo Clinic
Proceeds from the race will go directly to The Donna Hicken Foundation, a
charitable organization dedicated to helping women with
breast cancer. While a portion of the proceeds will be used by the Donna Hicken
Foundation for the critical care of breast cancer
survivors in need, the foundation has pledged to donate the majority of funds
raised to Mayo Clinic for research and its
Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic, which specializes in the detection and
treatment of breast cancer.
Visit the website at: http://www.breastcancermarathon.com

6. Training Peaks
Training Peaks, LLC is dedicated to the endurance athlete and coach. With our
industry leading software products, we're committed to
help you monitor, analyze and plan your training. We encourage you to draw on
our passion for excellence to help you reach your
athletic dreams. Trusted by thousands. Dedicated to you.
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/

7. Running Free
Running Free is a complete online running store with everything for the casual
to serious runner.
They also have retail stores in the GTA (Toronto) and Markham.
Check them out at:
http://www.runningfree.com

8. January 4, 2008: Goodlife Fitness has come on board as a sponsor of Emilie's
Run
GoodLife Fitness - Coed or Women's Only
Visit www.GoodLifeFitness.com today to receive 3 FREE Visits!
Your 3 FREE visits include:
. A Visual Fitness Planner Consultation
. Fit Fix Orientation to learn how to exercise safely and effectively
. Access to all cardio and strength-training equipment
. Access to all of our world-class Group EXercise classes
. A copy of Living the Good Life audio CD
Get started today! Visit www.GoodLifeFitness.com Limited time offer.

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

NEW SUBSCRIBERS:
Check the "New Subscribers' note at the bottom of the newsletter

Check out our RSS auto-feeds page for automated news updates:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_auto_feeds.html

Webmasters:
Get our Syndicated headlines for your site.
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_getRSS.html
Add the Runner's Web News feed to your site through a simple JavaScript.
Check out OnTri.com's implementation at:
http://www.ontri.com/runnersweb.html
The Runner's and Triathlete's Web Digest is now available through an RSS feed
for myYahoo at:
http://e.my.yahoo.com/config/cstore?.opt=content&.url=http%3a//rss.groups.yahoo.\
com/group/RunnersWeb/rss

[Long URL]
The Digest is also available through other RSS Readers on request.

Get the Runner's Web button for the Google Toolbar 4 for Internet Explorer from
the link on our FrontPage at:
http://www.runnersweb.com . We have added a button for Lauren Groves,
Triathlete.

If anyone is looking for a web mail provider, you might wish to consider
Google's GMail. You can now sign up for free Gmail at
Google WITHOUT AN INVITATION at:
www.gmail.com

Race Directors:
Advertise your event on the Runner's Web.
For more information:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_advertising.html
You can also list your events for free in our Interactive Calendars and on our
Marathons, Races and Triathlons pages.

NEW THIS WEEK:

I've created a Runner's Web Group on Facebook.
To join the Runner's Web Facebook group, if you are not a member of Facebook,
you must first create a free Facebook account at
www.facebook.com. Once you have your own space, search "Runner's Web" under
"Groups". At the Runner's Web site, click "Join this
group". Once I have approved your request to join, you'll be able to visit the
site, post race photos, discuss training tips, and
share information about running, racing and training.

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

We have 2,331 subscribers as of publication time. Forward the Runner's Web
Digest to a friend and suggest that they
subscribe
at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RunnersWeb/join .

RUNNER'S AND TRIATHLETE'S WEB CONTENT PARTNERS

* ACTIVE.COM
RunnersWeb.com has teamed up with Active Trainer coaches to offer training
programs that are a balance of aerobic, anaerobic and
cross-training workouts. These training programs are built to get people of all
levels across the finish line. From the first timer
to the seasoned veteran you will find the right training plan for you. Good luck
with your training and we will see you at the
finish line.
Training Log and Analysis:
Log your daily workouts and monitor your progress along the way.
Getting Started:
Set a realistic goal for training. Review the list of training programs
developed by Active Trainer Coaches. Select the program that
best matches your current training schedule. If you have been inactive, select a
conservative schedule to assure success and
decrease the risk of injury. Plug in the start date or the date of your target
race and go! The schedule will automatically be
entered into your log. It is as simple as that...
Training:
Select the daily email to receive your training by the day or log on to your
account and review the entire schedule. Use the
interactive log to enter in valuable training information. The more information
you enter in your personal log, the better. You will
be able to use this information in the future to evaluate performance, keep
track of what works and what doesn't and stay motivated
to see just how far you've come.
Sign up at: www.RunnersWebCoach.com OR
http://training.active.com/ActiveTrainer/listing.do?listing=51

* 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
Visit the PPO site at:
Peak Performance Online:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/cmd.php?af=517509

* 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 .

* 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 will only post notes here regarding running and triathlon topics of interest
to the community.
We have NO personal postings this week.

THIS WEEK'S DIGEST ARTICLE INDEX:

1. Fitness Level, Not Body Fat, May Be Stronger Predictor Of Longevity For Older
Adults
2. Vitamin E Linked To Physical Activity
3. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine
4. All eyes fixed on antioxidants
Two new studies show a diet-eye health relationship.
5. Healing Heel Pain
6. Get Speedy
Clock your fastest 5-K or 10-K ever with key workouts from elite athletes.
7. Recovery and Regeneration
"Recovery is what you do between training sessions and races so that you can
train hard and perform well at the next session."
8. The Performance Benefits of Lactate Threshold Testing and Training
9. Your muscles deserve a little warmth
10. Gene therapy's 'side-effect free pain relief'
11. Sports drinks - can you have too much of a good thing?
12. Jack Daniels Interview
13. Mile Repeats
14. This Week In Running
15. Built-in Exercise Monitor Predicts Fitness
16. Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline in elderly
17. Triathletes warned about early season heat
18. "SIMPLY" Training Zones for the Beginner Triathlete
19. Outrun The Common Cold
20. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"How would you label yourself as an athlete?
Runner
Duathlete
Triathlete
Multi-sport athlete
Cyclist
Other"

You can access the poll from our FrontPage ( http://www.runnersweb.com) as well
as checking the results of previous polls.

LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULTS:
"What will your first competition of 2008 be?
Answers Percent
1. Marathon 7%
2. 5/10K road race 41%
3. Half-Marathon 17%
4. Track race 8%
5. Triathlon 10%
6. Half-Ironman 3%
7. Ironman 1%
8. Other 13%


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE MONTH: Down the Backstretch
Down the Backstretch strives to be your first stop for information, results, and
comments about track and field and running in and
from Minnesota. Write us with suggestions, news tips, photos, and ideas ... and
feel free to comment on our posts for others to
read.
Visit the site at:
http://downthebackstretch.blogspot.com/

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

BOOK/VIDEO OF THE MONTH: Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook-4th Edition
About the Product
Boost your energy, manage stress, build muscle, lose fat, and improve your
performance with the all-time best-selling sports
nutrition guide!
Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook will help you make the right food
choices in health clubs, convenience stores,
drive-throughs, and your own kitchen.
Whether you're preparing for competition or simply eating on the go, let this
leading sports nutritionist show you how to get
maximum benefit from the foods you choose and the meals you make. You'll learn
how to eat before exercise and events as well as how
to refuel afterward for optimal recovery.
Updated and on the cutting edge, the fourth edition includes the latest sports
nutrition research on hydration and fluid intake,
vitamins, supplements, energy drinks, organic foods, and the role of
carbohydrate and protein during exercise. You'll also learn
about the new food pyramid and the American Heart Association's latest dietary
guidelines.
If you're seeking advice on losing weight, getting energized to exercise, or
improving your health and performance, Nancy Clark's
Sports Nutrition Guidebook has the answers you can trust.
About the Author
Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD, renowned author and board-certified specialist in
sports dietetics, is known for her ability to translate
the science of nutrition for exercise and health into practical tips to enhance
performance, manage weight, and resolve eating
disorders. She has a private practice at Healthworks Fitness Center in Chestnut
Hill, Massachusetts, where she offers nutrition
consultations to both casual exercisers and competitive athletes. Her more
renowned clients have included members of the Boston Red
Sox, the Boston Celtics, and many collegiate, elite, and Olympic athletes from a
variety of sports. She is also an advisory board
member of Mizuno, Medical Wellness Association, and the Aerobics and Fitness
Association of America.
An internationally known lecturer, Clark has given presentations to professional
groups such as the American Dietetic Association
(ADA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), as well as team talks
to athletes at Boston College and coaches with the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. She offers workshops
nationally to health professionals with her sports
nutrition workshop series. As a result of her renowned work, her photo and
nutrition advice appeared on the back of the Wheaties box
after the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Clark received her bachelor's degree in nutrition from Simmons College in Boston
and her master's degree in nutrition from Boston
University. She completed her internship in dietetics at Massachusetts General
Hospital. She is a fellow of the American Dietetic
Association, recipient of its Media Excellence Award, an active member of ADA's
practice group of sports nutritionists (SCAN), and a
recipient of that group's Honor Award. In addition, Clark is a fellow of the
ACSM and a recipient of the Honor Award from ACSM's New
England chapter. She is also the recipient of the 2007 Simmons College
Distinguished Alumna Award.
Clark is the nutrition columnist for New England Runner, Adventure Cycling, and
Rugby and is a frequent contributor to sports and
fitness publications such as Shape and Runner's World. Clark also writes a
monthly nutrition column called "The Athlete's Kitchen,"
which appears regularly in over 100 sports publications and Web sites. She has
authored Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners:
Tips for Everyday Champions and The Cyclist's Food Guide: Fueling for the
Distance.
Clark has competed at the 10K, half-marathon, and marathon distances. She has
led many extended bike tours, including a Transamerica
Trip and other tours through the Canadian and Colorado Rockies. She has trekked
into the Himalayas and planned the high-altitude
menu for a successful expedition. Her newest sport is rowing. She and her
husband, son, and daughter live in the Boston area.
Table of Contents
PART I The Athlete's Training Table
1. Building Your Balanced Diet
2. Eating to Stay Healthy in the Long Run
3. Breakfast: The Key to a Successful Sports Diet
4. Meals Planning at Home, On the Road, and On the Run
5. Snacking Smarts
6. Simplifying Carbohydrate
7. Protein for Muscles and Performance
8. Replacing Fluids

PART II The Science of Eating for Sports' Success
9. Fueling for Exercise
10. Refueling During and After Exercise
11. Supplements, Performance Enhancers, and Sports Foods
12. Age-Specific Nutrition Needs

PART III Balancing Weight and Activity
13. Your Body: Fat, Fit, or Fine?
14. Adding Bulk, Not Fat
15. Losing Weight Without Starvation
16. Eating Disorders and Food Obsessions

PART IV Winning Recipes for Peak Performance
17. Breads and Breakfasts
18. Pasta, Rice, and Potatoes
19. Vegetables and Salads
20. Chicken and Turkey
21. Fish and Seafood
22. Beef and Pork
23. Beans and Tofu
24. Beverages and Smoothies
25. Snacks and Desserts

Words of Praise
"Nancy showed me how eating the right foods, at the right time, would both
enhance performance and create a leaner physique. Those
lessons, and many more, are included in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition
Guidebook. It's a must-read for anyone involved in sport and
fitness."
Jennifer Shultis
US Adventure Racing National Champion
Captain of Team Eastern Mountain Sports
"Nancy Clark understands what it takes to be properly fueled for peak
performance in any activity. Her experience as both athlete
and nutritionist helped in creating a book that will benefit any
athlete-serious, recreational, or weekend warrior.
Tommy L. Owens
National Training Coordinator for Team in Training
"The nutritional information in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook helped
me accomplish a lifelong goal of not only skating at
the Olympics, but receiving the honor of becoming a silver medalist as well. I
highly recommend her book."
Kitty Carruthers Conrad
Olympic Silver Medalist
United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame Member
Buy the book from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=9780736\
074155


For more publications on running and triathlon visit:
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/human_kinetics.html and
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/amazon.html

THIS WEEK'S FEATURES:


1. Fitness Level, Not Body Fat, May Be Stronger Predictor Of Longevity For Older
Adults:
Adults over age 60 who had higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness lived
longer than unfit adults, independent of their levels of
body fat, according to a new study.
Previous studies have provided evidence that obesity and physical inactivity
each can produce a higher risk of death in middle-aged
adults. Whether this is also true for older adults is uncertain, according to
background information in the article.
Xuemei Sui, M.D., of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and colleagues
examined the associations between cardiorespiratory
fitness, various clinical measures of adiposity (body fat) and death in older
women and men. The study included 2,603 adults age 60
years or older (average age, 64.4 years; 19.8 percent women) enrolled in the
Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study who completed a
baseline health examination during 1979-2001. Fitness was assessed by a
treadmill exercise test and adiposity was assessed by body
mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and percent body fat. Low fitness was
defined as the lowest fifth of the sex-specific
distribution of treadmill exercise test duration. There were 450 deaths during
an average follow-up of 12 years.
More...from Science Daily at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071204163249.htm


2. Vitamin E Linked To Physical Activity:
Only one person in the study took vitamin E supplements
Vitamin E "helps older people move" is the headline in The Daily Telegraph. The
newspaper report underneath says that "a diet rich
in olive oil, nuts and green leafy vegetables could help slow physical decline
in the elderly".
The story is based on a study carried out in Italy, which looked at whether
levels of micronutrients - particular vitamins and
minerals - in the diet have a direct effect on the physical capabilities of
older people. The results of the study show that low
levels of vitamin E in the diet are linked to a decline in physical activity.
The study has provided further evidence of the
association between a healthy diet and fitness in older age; however, these
results apply to people who have lower-than-normal
vitamin E levels and therefore may not apply to healthy people who take extra
vitamin E as a supplement.
Where did the story come from? Dr Benedetta Bartali conducted the research along
with colleagues from the Division of Nutritional
Sciences, Cornell University, in New York, and other research institutions in
the US and Italy. The study was supported by the
Italian Ministry of Health and by multiple grants and contracts from US and
Italian sources, including the US National Institute of
Health. It was published in the medical journal: The Journal of the American
Medical Association.
More...from Medical News Today at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/95146.php


3. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine:
* Fewer Intense Workouts for Maximum Performance
How much time should you spend working at your maximum level in your sport,
compared to miles or days spent going at a relaxed pace?
Researchers at the University of Madrid in Spain divided competitive distance
runners into two groups. One group did frequent
intense workouts and fewer slow recovery miles, while the second group did fewer
intense workouts and more slow miles (Journal of
Strength and Conditioning Research, August 2007). At the end of five months,
the runners who did fewer intense workouts and more
recovery miles improved far more than those who ran fewer miles and spent a lot
of their time trying to run very fast.
All competitive athletes from marathon runners to weight lifters know that they
must exercise intensely to compete successfully in
sports. However, every time you exercise intensely, your muscles are damaged
and you feel sore on the next day. If you try to
exercise intensely when your muscles are sore, you are liable to injure
yourself, break down, or become chronically fatigued with
muscles hurting all the time. So athletes train by taking a hard workout that
makes their muscles sore, and going easy for as many
days as it takes for the soreness to go away. This study shows the importance
of allowing adequate recovery time between intense
workouts. Recovery workouts make your muscles more fibrous so they can take
more abuse when you exercise on your hard days.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does it matter what I drink during heavy exercise?
For many years exercisers have been told to drink whatever tastes best to them
so they will drink more and reduce their chances of
suffering early fatigue caused by dehydration. Researcher at Griffith University
in Queensland, Australia did an experiment that
showed this recommendation is irrelevant for competitive athletes (International
Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism,
Volume 17, 200). The subjects were given drinks every 20 minutes. After 80
minutes of steady cycling, they either continued drinking
the same-flavor drink or switched to an alternate flavor of sports drink or soft
drink. All of the beverages were carbohydrate and
volume- matched. Changing drink flavor caused no significant change in the
amount they consumed. It also did not affect performance
on time trials, heart rate, blood sugar, or rating of perceived exertion. When
athletes compete, they drink when they feel the need,
and the flavor of the fluid does not influence how much they drink.
In endurance sports, the first cause of fatigue is loss of muscle sugar, not
dehydration. Recent research shows that athletes also
benefit from protein taken during exercise (Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research, August 2007). Muscle damage can be
measured with a blood test called CPK. In this study, CPK levels were lower in
the subjects who took gels containing both sugar and
protein, compared with those who took only sugar. If you plan to do any exercise
for more than a couple of hours, you need a source
of sugar and protein starting after you have been exercising for 30 minutes. You
can use a sports beverage or gel that contains both
sugar and protein, or any combination of food and drink that gives you these
nutrients.
* Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Heart Attacks
More than 75 years ago, we learned that lack of vitamin D causes rickets, bone
deformities and failure to grow in children. Twenty
years ago, reports started to appear showing that lack of vitamin D also impairs
your immunity to limit your ability to kill germs.
This was followed by studies showing that it also increase risk for certain
cancers. Now the Framingham Offspring Study from
Harvard tells us that low blood levels of vitamin D increase risk for heart
attacks (Circulation, January 2008).
The authors followed 1700 participants (mean age 59) without prior
cardiovascular disease for five years. Those with low blood
levels of active vitamin D at the onset had one and a half times the chances of
suffering a heart attack. Those with low vitamin D
and high blood pressure had twice the risk. At this time, nobody knows why lack
of vitamin D increases heart attack risk.
Dietary sources of vitamin D include deep-water fish and fortified cereals, but
most North Americans meet their needs for vitamin D
from sunlight and not from their diets. If you do not get out in the sun at
least a few times a week, ask your doctor to check your
blood levels of vitamin D. People with dark skin and those who are overweight
are most likely to be deficient.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does caffeine really improve athletic performance, or do you
just feel more alert?
In endurance events, the first cause of fatigue is loss of muscle sugar, so
athletes do whatever they can to preserve sugar levels.
Caffeine causes the body to produce large amounts of adrenalin, which causes fat
to be released from fat cells and float in the
bloodstream. This extra fat is taken up by the muscles and used for energy,
thus preserving the body's limited stored supply of
muscle sugar. When muscles run our of sugar, the athlete requires more oxygen
to do the same job, slows down, fatigues earlier, and
has difficulty maintaining his performance.
A questionnaire from competitors at the 2005 Ironman Triathlon World
Championships showed that seventy-three percent of the athletes
believe that caffeine improves performance
and 84 percent believe it improves concentration (International Journal of Sport
Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, August 2007).
During competition, 65 percent used cola drinks and 24 percent used caffeinated
gels. Although caffeine can increase risk for heat
stroke and theoretically can cause irregular heartbeats, almost none of the
athletes reported suffering any side effects from taking
caffeine.
From Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine at: http://www.drmirkin.com


4. All eyes fixed on antioxidants:
Two new studies show a diet-eye health relationship.
Dismiss it as boring if you'd like, but "rabbit food" could be just what the
doctor orders at your next ophthalmologist's visit.
Eating the right vegetables, it now appears, may help to ward off some
life-changing diseases such as cataracts and age-related
macular degeneration, conditions you might otherwise come eye to eye with as you
get older.
Surprisingly, despite their reputation, carrots are probably not near the top of
the list. Certainly, the vitamin A they're full of
is necessary for eye health, says Dr. Michael Marmor, an ophthalmology professor
at Stanford University School of Medicine. "But
people are generally not vitamin A deficient in our society, and a high dose
doesn't do any more good."
The most useful vegetables, according to new research, seem to be the leafy
green ones -- such as spinach, kale and collard greens
-- which are rich in the antioxidant carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin.
These are also the only carotenoids found in measurable amounts in the eye, says
Bill Christen, a professor of medicine at Brigham
and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. "That adds credence
to the idea that they could be of benefit," he says.
More...from the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-eye21jan21,1,3303301.story?coll=la-\
headlines-health



5. Healing Heel Pain:
It's not unusual for your feet to feel a little run down at the end of a long
day, but when feet become persistently painful,
there's something wrong. Heel pain is one of the most common complaints when it
comes to sore feet and it can be debilitating.
Debbie Warner spends a lot of time on her feet. When she's not on a walk, she's
training for her next triathlon.
"I love it. I would do it for a living if I could, but I'm not that good!"
Warner says.
Last year, intense heel pain stopped her in her tracks.
"At times, I didn't even want to go from my desk to the bathroom," Warner says.
Some experts say up to 40 million Americans have heel pain.
"The band of tissue at the bottom of the foot gets inflamed and it pulls and it
gets tight and that causes pain," says Marlene Reid,
D.P.M. a podiatric surgeon at the Family Podiatry Center in Westmont, Ill.
More...from Ivanhoe at:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=17854


6. Get Speedy:
Clock your fastest 5-K or 10-K ever with key workouts from elite athletes.
You hear about top runners clocking sub-14-minute 5-ks or 31-minute 10-Ks and
think, Man, how do they run so fast? You mean the
question rhetorically (as in "Wow"), but it's valid: How do elite athletes--not
to mention the age-groupers passing you at the end
of a race--do it? The answer, of course, is natural talent and a lot of hard
work. But what's that mean, exactly? "Intervals on the
track, tempo runs, hills, and drills are a runner's bread-and-butter workouts,"
says Matt Centrowitz, the head track and
cross-country coach at American University in Washington, D.C.
Indeed, both decades-old and recent studies show that high-intensity training
(workouts that get your heart rate to 90 percent of
your maximum) builds speed, improves running economy (how efficiently your body
uses oxygen), and boosts overall endurance.
Centrowitz credits such quality sessions for helping him set an American record
of 13:12:91 in the 5000 meters in 1982 (now held by
Bob Kennedy). Today, elite runners like Katie McGregor, Ryan Hall, and Samia
Akbar rely on them to stay in top racing condition. And
while you can't tap into these runners' gene pools, you can use their workouts
to lead you to a faster race time, or simply to make
you a stronger, fitter runner.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-259-11562-0,00.html?cm_mmc\
=training-_-2007_01_22-_-training-_-SPEED%3a%20Bread

-and-Butter%20Workouts%20
[Multi-line URL]


7. Recovery and Regeneration:
"Recovery is what you do between training sessions and races so that you can
train hard and perform well at the next session."
Challenges for Coaches and Athletes
Starting a training session in a fresh state becomes increasingly difficult when
athletes are required to train more than once a
day, often over several days, and at the same time juggle their education or
career and their personal lives. If all these factors
are not balanced then athletes are more at risk of problems associated with
overtraining, overuse and
burnout. One of the ancillary benefits from the use of recovery strategies is to
reduce the risk and incidence of these non-adaptive
responses to fatigue and stress. To perform well and to perform consistently
over the long haul without these problems occurring is
a measure of a well-developed training programme.
Recognising Fatigue
Prescribing training loads is a complex matter and coaches and athletes spend
considerable time developing appropriate programmes to
suit both the developmental stage and performance level of an athlete. However,
identifying the ensuing fatigue from different types
of training and stress tends to get much less attention and may even be
overlooked by either or both the coach and athlete. A good
coach understands not only what is being stimulated but also what is being
fatigued. There are several categories of training and
competition fatigue for coaches and athletes to consider (Table 1 overleaf). If
the coach can recognise the main causes of fatigue
and the corresponding expressions of these in the athlete, then very specific
recovery and regeneration strategies can be selected
to deal with this fatigue.
More...from the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre at:
http://www.athleticscoaching.ca/UserFiles/File/Sport%20Science/Therapy,%20Recove\
ry,%20&%20Restoration/Calder%20Faster%20Higher%20Str

onger.pdf
[Long URL]


8. The Performance Benefits of Lactate Threshold Testing and Training:
By Lindsay Hyman, CTS Pro Coach
Whether you are a runner, skier, cyclist, triathlete, or rower, as an endurance
athlete you need accurate physiological data to
guide and monitor your training by. Lactate threshold is one of the most
commonly, and effectively, used performance markers used by
many athletes and coaches. The point is to learn the highest intensity at which
you race and train before hitting the wall from high
levels of lactate and metabolic waste in your bloodstream. Elite athletes and
coaches know the key to success is to increase
sustainable power on the bike and speed while running at lactate threshold. You
may be asking what is lactate threshold? How do you
test one's lactate threshold? And most importantly, how does one train to
increase their lactate threshold?
What is Lactate Threshold?
The energy required to move is supplied from the breakdown of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). The body can store about 85 grams of ATP
and would use it up very quickly if our bodies did not have a few ways of
resynthesizing it. There are three energy systems that
produce energy: ATP-PC (short, explosive movements), glycolytic (intermittent
hard intervals) and aerobic (endurance exercise).
Athletes most commonly attribute the intense burning and pain felt during
exhaustive bouts of exercise to lactate, which is produced
by all energy systems, but becomes an issue when it accumulates and can't be
processed fast enough.
More...from CTS at:
http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=3230


9. Your muscles deserve a little warmth:
You want to get ripped, not torn. Muscles forced to work without a warm-up can
shred faster than a CEO facing charges of insider
trading: Not just little mini-tears that make you sore, but major rents that can
put you out of action for weeks.
What's so special about a warm-up? Imagine the many tiny fibres that make up
your muscle tissue. Not all the fibres in a given
muscle contract simultaneously. Some flex while others relax. When you start
"cold," the contracting fibres pull violently away from
their stable counterparts. You don't usually hear a loud "r-i-i-ip," but you may
as well. A warm-up gets all your muscle fibres on
the same page before you begin your activity in earnest.
Surface warming is no substitute. A "heat rub" barely penetrates the skin. Good
alternatives include deep massage and ultrasound
therapy. A nice soak in a hot tub can also warm you up. But since nobody is
likely to jump from the hot tub to the hockey rink, you
need to cultivate a warm-up technique you can take anywhere.
More...from the National Post at:
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/health/story.html?id=253863


10. Gene therapy's 'side-effect free pain relief':
Millions could benefit from the discovery of a gene therapy that can deliver the
pain relief benefits of morphine-like drugs without
the side effects of abuse and addiction.
Vast numbers of people world-wide suffer with chronic pain, as a result of
injury or arthritis, which affects every aspect of their
lives, and often results in depression.
Now a method to use gene therapy - a gene transplant - to simulate the pain
relief effects of morphine and other opiate drugs has
been developed by a team in the Department of Medicine and Department of
Neurosciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.
Today, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers
suggest that gene therapy for pain might in the
future become a treatment alternative for patients with severe chronic pain.
"Chronic pain patients often do not experience satisfactory pain relief from
available treatments due to poor efficacy or
intolerable side effects like extreme sleepiness, mental clouding, and
hallucinations," says Prof Andreas Beutler, principal
scientist.
More...from the Telegraph at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/0\
1/21/scipain121.xml



11. Sports drinks - can you have too much of a good thing?
There's no doubt that ensuring optimum fluid and carbohydrate replenishment is
vital as a sports supplement for maximising sport
performance. But, as Richard Godfrey explains, while this strategy is fine for
competition, some scientists are wondering whether
the routine use of carbohydrate/fluid replacement drink during training could
actually hinder the process of training adaptation
rather than enhance it .
During the last 20 years an increasing body of research literature has suggested
that appropriate fluid intake is imperative to
ensure good performance (1,2). Research has also demonstrated that a 2% weight
loss attributable to dehydration is the first time an
individual will feel thirsty, but that this level of dehydration can be
associated with a 20-30% drop in performance (2).
Given this evidence, the practice of using carbohydrate-electrolyte (sports)
drinks to enhance the rate of fluid uptake by the
tissues has become widely accepted - a practice for which there's also good
evidence (3). Indeed, current guidelines suggest that
fluid composition should be around 2-8% carbohydrate and 10-60mM (0.58-3.48g per
litre) of salt (3).
Recently however, Tim Noakes has questioned the extent to which such guidelines
for fluid intake are efficacious or even necessary
(4). He disputes, for example, the 'fact' that high levels of fluid intake are
necessary to prevent heat stroke in athletes,
describing this as a 'foundational myth' (see this issue's What The Papers Say).
That is, it has been stated as so by well-known,
well-respected scientists and so has been automatically accepted without
challenge and without good evidence to support it. Noakes
further suggests that research findings which contradict the accepted wisdom do
not receive as much exposure by the devotees of the
'foundational myth' so further adding to the perpetuation of the 'myth'.
More...from Peak Performance Online at:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/sports-nutrition-information-about-energy-drinks\
-35888



12. Jack Daniels Interview:
Jack Daniels has been coaching distance runners for nearly half-a-century.
Unique for a coach, Daniels has a PhD in exercise
physiology, and it is this combination of research-informed training plans that
have seen elite distance runners around the world
flock to him for advice. Daniels has held coaching positions at Oklahoma City
University, the University of Texas and the State
University of New York at Cortland. He has also worked for Nike, testing and
advising dozens of Olympians and US national champions
going as far back as the 1960's. Most recently, Daniels is the head distance
running coach at the Centre for High Altitude Training
at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. He is also the author of
the highly-regarded Daniels' Running Formula, a book
that prompted Runner's World magazine to name Daniels "The world's greatest
coach."
In this interview Daniels shares his decades of experience coaching, testing and
studying elite distance runners. He reflects on
what we know and do not know about such pressing concerns for endurance coaches
as altitude training, tapering and periodization. He
also speculates on the future of distance running and suggests what coaches
should consider foremost when they design young
athletes' training plans. Daniels's perspectives are both fresh and timeless. He
is without question a voice of reason, passion and
wisdom with something important to offer every coach out there, even if it is
just a call to think carefully about how you presently
coach your athletes.
Listen to the interview from the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre at:
http://www.athleticscoaching.ca/?pid=1&spid=81


13. Mile Repeats:
On the Track . . . with Alisa Harvey
By Alisa Harvey
With the arrival of fall it is time to say goodbye to outdoor track & field.
Those avid track fans need not to worry; in just a
couple of months indoor track will begin. For the runners who had the misfortune
of suffering through injuries during the track
season, now is the time to heal and rebuild. Although track racing will be put
on hold until December, track training can continue
uninterrupted throughout the fall. The mile-repeat workout is a classic on the
track-training regimen that sets the foundation for
successful running for seasons to come.
During my elite days of competitive running I managed to dodge the dreaded mile
repeats. For years I had heard runners talk about
various mile repeat workouts they either witnessed or participated in. In 1993,
when I attended a three month training camp in
Boulder, Colorado, I recall watching two female world-class marathoners doing
multiple mile-repeats around the university track; I
was amazed by their pace (5:30 - 5:40) and how little recovery they had between
the miles (one minute). I occasionally joined
workouts on U.C.'s track with national-class distance runners, but never mile
repeats. I stuck firm to the misconception that a
middle distance runner could not benefit from running repeat miles.
More...from Washington Runner at:
http://www.runwashington.com/features/trainmilerpt07.html


14. This Week in Running:
10 Years Ago- Paul Tergat (KEN) won a two-man battle to win by one second over
Bernard Barmasai at the
Cross Italica (ESP). Paul Kosgei (KEN) was 3rd, 22 seconds back
and Hendrick Ramaala
(RSA) was 4th, another 5 seconds back. Jackline Maranga (KEN)
won a very narrow victory
over Merima Denboba (ETH), both given the same time. Elena Feda
tov (ROM) was a close
3rd, one second back.
20 Years Ago- Thomas Hughes (NIR) won the Marrakech (MAR) Marathon in 2:15:48,
well ahead of El Mostafa
Nechchadi (MAR) in 2:16:37 and Eberhardt Weyel (GER) in 2:17:06.
Carolyn Naisby (ENG)
won the women's race in 2:41:35. Claudine Golfieri (FRA) was 2nd
in 2:44:31 while Leslie
Watson (SCO) was 3rd in 2:55:27.
30 Years Ago- Rod Dixon (NZL) won a 5000m in Christchurch NZL in 13:25.2 with
Dick Quax (NZL) and Jos
Hermens (NED) following in 13:26.0 and 13:26.3 respectively.
Jerzy Kowol (POL) was 4th
in 13:26.9, Venanzio Ortis (ITA) 5th in 13:27.1, Detlef Uhlemann
(GER) 6th in 13:27.5 and
Erwin Wagger (AUT) 7th in 13:31.2.
40 Years Ago- Mamo Wolde (ETH) defeated Lachlan Stewart (SCO) to win the Juan
Muguerza Memorial Cross
(ESP) with Mariano Haro (ESP) 3rd (times not known).
50 Years Ago- nothing of note in the ARRS database
From The Analytical Distance Runner, the newsletter for the Association of Road
Racing Statisticians with a
focus on races, 3000m and longer, including road, track, and cross-country
events.
The ARRS has a website at http://www.arrs.net.


15. Built-in Exercise Monitor Predicts Fitness:
We all hold the secret to getting fit, according to researchers from the
University of Exeter. The research team has shown that we
each have a built-in ability to judge how hard our bodies are working, often
with remarkable precision.
series of studies over the last two years, culminating in three academic papers
in the past two months, has shown a consistently
close correlation between actual and perceived exertion in people of all levels
of fitness. The team has found that an individual's
own sense of how hard he or she is working corresponds exactly with actual level
of exertion, measured by heart-rate and oxygen
uptake.
The experiments involved people being asked to exercise at various levels of
intensity on a scale of six to 20, with six being
completely inactive and 20 being on the verge of exhaustion. The amount of
exertion was determined purely by the individual, who
made a judgement on how hard to work based on his or her interpretation of the
scale. The researchers simultaneously monitored the
person's heart-rate and oxygen uptake, which are the most widely-used measures
of physical exertion. In almost all cases the results
matched exactly the levels that would be predicted for each specific number on
the six to 20 scale. This demonstrates our ability to
judge precisely how hard our bodies are working.
More...from Science Daily at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071218101138.htm


16. Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline in elderly:
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that a low concentration of
vitamin E in the blood is linked with physical decline
in older persons.
Published in the January 23 issue of Journal of the American Medical
Association, the study included 698 people age 65 or older who
were randomly selected from the population registry in two municipalities close
to Florence, Italy. The researchers, led by first
author Benedetta Bartali of Yale, collected blood samples to measure the levels
of micronutrients including folate, iron and
vitamins B6, B12, D and E. They assessed physical decline in the study
participants over a three-year period using an objective test
of three tasks: walking speed, rising repeatedly from a chair, and standing
balance.
"We evaluated the effects of several micronutrients and only vitamin E was
significantly associated with decline in physical
function," said Bartali, a nutritionist and a Brown-Coxe Postdoctoral Fellow at
Yale School of Medicine. "The odds of declining in
physical function was 1.62 times greater in persons with low levels of vitamin E
compared with persons with higher levels."
More...from EurekAlert! at:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/yu-lve012208.php


17. Triathletes warned about early season heat:
A hot day early in the competitive season raises a triathlete's risk of collapse
from heat stress because they are not yet
acclimatised to the heat, new Australian research has found.
ameron Gosling of Monash University and colleagues report their findings in this
month's issue of the Journal of Science and
Medicine in Sport.
"Participants need to be aware of acclimatisation needs and if there are
extremes of temperature early in the season, be more
cautious," says Gosling, a PhD student with the university's department of
epidemiology and preventive medicine.
"They should exercise within their capacity, not over-extend themselves, keep
hydrated and not progress too fast."
More...from ABC at:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/22/2143794.htm?topic=latest


18. "SIMPLY" Training Zones for the Beginner Triathlete:
So, let's start with defining training zone. In this article it is a given level
of intensity that is measured by your heart rate
monitor. It is your ability for training on the run or on the bike. These
training zones are important to you for a multitude of
reasons as they help you keep easy days, easy, and hard days, hard. These zones
help you determine your effort during an anaerobic
workout which includes intervals and recovery between intervals.
One of the simplest ways we can learn to understand the different zones is by
defining them. These five zones are as follows:
~ Recovery/Zone 1: This zone is where we do our easiest workouts. This is
typically a workout that is used as a recovery and usually
follows a hard workout or training day. The overall intensity is low and is well
below our lactate threshold level. This zone is
most often used as the recovery portion of an interval workout.
~Extensive Endurance/Zone 2: Often referred to as the "conversational pace"
zone, we want to use this to build our aerobic
endurance. Lactate build is low so we can train for longer periods of time or
extensively to build our aerobic endurance. This zone
is the most used zone by multisport athletes.
~ Intensive Endurance/Zone 3: This zone is used in the base phase. It is a
slightly higher level than zone 2 as is lactate
production. As we move out of the base phase and into the build phase we tend to
train in the zone above or below this zone.
~ Threshold/Zone 4: This zone, along with zone 2 is the most important zone for
us to train in. In this zone we work just above or
below lactate threshold. Here we look at intervals in terms of minutes vs. hours
of training. Training in this zone helps us to
increase our lactate tolerance and removal of lactate from the muscles.
~ Anaerobic/Zone 5: This zone sees us training beyond lactate threshold and the
intervals are short. This zone needs to be used
with caution as it is the zone that most often causes injuries when overused.
More...from TriFuel at:
http://www.trifuel.com/training/beginner/simply-training-zones-for-the-beginner-\
triathlete



19. Outrun The Common Cold:
Running boosts immunity--to a point. When going long, shore up your defenses
It's the time of year when runners tolerate more than just cold temperatures,
biting winds, and slick roads. When we venture out for
our daily ritual, we face the tsk-tsking of nonrunning spouses, coworkers, and
snowplow drivers who think we're nutcases just asking
for bronchitis or the flu.
Little do they know that running--even in frosty conditions--strengthens not
just our hearts and quadriceps but also our lymphocytes
and neutrophils. These immune cells protect us against attack from bacteria and
viruses that cause illness and infection. Indeed, a
study from the University of South Carolina reported that people who exercise
have 20 percent fewer colds than their sedentary
counterparts.
There's a catch, however. Most data cite immune boosts after 30 to 75 minutes of
moderate activity. Runners doing longer or more
intense workouts (listen up, Boston qualifiers) don't usually see this benefit.
In fact, a large body of research, mostly from
Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, indicates that a
strenuous workout or prolonged periods of heavy training can
have the opposite effect. "When you're running for 90 minutes or longer, there's
a temporary downturn in immunity," says David
Nieman, Dr.P.H., director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian
State. The lead author of the majority of the research,
Nieman is a veteran of 58 marathons. Around the 90-minute mark, he says,
carbohydrate stores drop, causing a spike in two key
hormones, cortisol and epinephrine. This, in turn, inhibits those neutrophils
and lymphocytes, leaving you vulnerable to nasty bugs.

The good news is that sneezing and fevers aren't inevitable, and you don't have
to give up your training to stay healthy.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--12386-0,00.html?cm_mmc=wo\
men-_-2007_01_23-_-women-_-Outrun%20the%20Common%20C

old
[Long URL]


20. Digest Briefs:
* More Vitamin C Means Fewer Strokes
Robert W. Griffith, MD
British researchers writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have
explored the relationship between blood vitamin C
levels and the risk of stroke. So far, clinical trials of vitamin C
supplementation haven't shown any benefit in reducing the risk
of stroke. But this new study examines the plasma vitamin C levels and the risk
of stroke in the British population.
Over 20,000 men and women aged 40 to 79 took part in the European Prospective
Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study. After a
follow-up period of nearly 10 years, the 450-odd strokes were set in relation to
the plasma vitamin C levels at baseline. Those in
the top quarter of the participants based on vitamin C levels had a 42% lower
risk than did those in the bottom quarter. This was
independent of age, sex, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol,
physical activity, diabetes, existing heart attack,
social class, alcohol use, and supplements consumption - including vitamin C
supplements.
We mustn't jump to conclusions. One can't conclude that vitamin C directly
lowers stroke risk. It may merely show that vitamin C is
a marker for a general healthier lifestyle. Or it may be that there could be
other things, independent of vitamin C but consumed
alongside the vitamin (e.g. lots of fruit and veggies), that's responsible.
Nevertheless, it shows that whatever gets you to take or
do something that raises your vitamin C level is a Good Thing!
Source
HealthandAge Blog
* Myofascial Release For Athletes
By Michelle Shoup OTR/L,LMT,Advanced MFR Practicioner
The intense physical demands athletes place on their bodies may lead to
shortening of muscle fibers and fascia over time. The result
of this shortening is increased fatigue, and loss of power and speed. Over time
you develop a constant tightness in certain areas
and have difficulty maintaining good posture. You are probably familiar with the
"knots" forming in certain areas of your body, and
at times it may feel like you are walking around in a straight jacket!
Myofascial Release (MFR) is a therapeutic technique designed
to release these constricted tissue. By opening restrictions in the fascia, or
web that holds the body together, muscles can relax
and lengthen, circulation and nerve conduction are revitalized, and inflammation
is reduced. Myofascial Release also restores body
balance by taking unnecessary pressures off of vital organs and vessels. As the
muscle tissue regains it's fluidity, range of motion
increases and performance is enhanced. Myofascial release helps prevent muscle
imbalances from overuse and repetitive motions.
Posture and full ROM are regained. MFR is great for injury prevention and also
for recovery as it and brings oxygen and nutrients to
the damaged muscles
What is muscle fascia? Fascia is the connective tissue that runs through and
between every muscle, vessel, nerve, and organs of the
body, including the brain and spinal cord. It is the continuous sheath or web
running from head to toe without interruption, similar
to the yarn of a sweater. Fascia in a normal state is fluid and pliable.
However, over time; the life experiences of physical
trauma, stress, injury, scarring, and inflammation cause the fascia to harden
into restrictions (knots) affecting the functioning
and comfort of the body. These restrictions and the resulting pressures (which
can have a force of up to 2,000 pounds per square
inch) cause muscle spasms, pain, tightness, discomfort, fatigue, loss of
movement , and many other symptoms. Myofascial release aids
the innate wisdom of the client's body to release these restrictions and
redevelop their "tissue memory" so that a state of well
being is restored. The hands of the therapist tap into the adhesions in the
fascia and muscles and a sustained pressure is held in
this area for a minimum of 90 seconds facilitating unwinding and release of the
restriction; the longer the hold on the tissue, the
deeper the release can be.
Myofascial release is a dynamic therapy modality in which patient and therapist
work together to create health and harmony in the
body. A treatment session typically begins with visual and hands on evaluation
of the posture of the patient and tightness of the
tissue. The therapist keeps in mind the symptoms or complaints stated by the
client, but trusts that the cause of the problem may
not be in the same place as the symptom. MFR is a mindful massage technique that
is a whole body, hands on approach to restoring
balance and range of motion to the body.
Source: The Sport Factory


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

January 26, 2008:
Boston Indoor Games - Boston, MA

Seasons 52 Park Avenue 5K - Winter Park, FL

January 27, 2008:
ING Miami Marathon - Miami, FL

NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix - Manhattan, NY, NY

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Emilie's Run - The Emilie Mondor Memorial 5K race for Women
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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Runner's Web
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http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tplclick?lid=41000000012303508&pubid=2100000000\
0028567


Peak Performance Online:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/cmd.php?af=517509

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

Reebok
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=h1QosBYBFXw&offerid=117802&type=3&su\
bid=0


Your very own personal trainer at a fraction of the cost
http://www.cartville.com/app/?af=473063

Check out TotalWellness's mp3 Personal Training Program - only 5% the Cost of
Regular Personal Training!
http://www.totalwellnessconsulting.ca/fitter_u_totalwellness.htm

Geezer Jock Magazine, The Masters Sports & Fitness Magazine
http://www.geezerjock.com/index.cfm?affID=runnersweb

Athletes, Coaches, Trainers and Physio's
..new software designs unlimited stretching routines with ease!
Design unlimited stretching routines today, starting from scratch, in under 60
seconds!
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cmd.php?af=245575&u=http://www.thestretchin\
ghandbook.com/products/instantstretch.htm


Mental Strength Training Center:
http://www.memberstar.com/redir_a.php?LFAId=1027

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


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

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


Instant Stretching Routines
Design unlimited stretching routines today, starting from scratch, in under 60
seconds!
http://www.instantstretchingroutines.com/cgi-bin/a.cgi?a=runnersweb

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

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

Visit on AssociatesShop.com Online Bookstore for running and triathlon books:
http://associatesshop.filzhut.de/shop/index.php?ID=90c9f271c1a519abc4a69299be707\
5a9


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

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

If you have an accident while running or cycling, do you want your family to be
contacted? Do you want to receive immediate and
proper medical treatment?
If so, make this cool item part of your gear -- for safety and peace of mind.
Road ID has created 4 awesome ways for athletes to
wear ID: the SHOE, the WRIST, the ANKLE, and the NECK. Get your RoadID at:
http://www.roadid.com/?referrer=50

The Stretching Handbook:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cmd.php?af=245575&u=http://www.thestretchin\
ghandbook.com/specials.php#stretch_book

The Stretching Video in a DVD version. With the DVD version you're able to use
the convenient menu facility to:
* Go directly to a specific stretch;
* View only stretches for a specific muscle group;
* Pause each stretch to get a good look at how it is performed;
* View only the introduction and rules for safe stretching; or
* Play the entire video from start to finish.
Buy the DVD at:
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/cgi-bin/at.pl?a=286905&e=products/video-dvd\
.htm


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is sent via an email list at
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*** END OF RUNNER'S AND TRIATHLETE'S WEB DIGEST...***




Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:51 pm

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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...
Ken Parker
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Jan 25, 2008
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