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
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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. Mississauga Marathon
The 5th anniversary edition of the Mississauga Marathon will be run on May 11,
2008 with the 10K the evening before on May 10th.
Register before February 6th to beat the price increase.
For more visit the race site at:
http://www.mississaugamarathon.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.

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0028567

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RUNNER'S AND TRIATHLETE'S WEB CONTENT PARTNERS

* ACTIVE.COM
RunnersWeb.com has teamed up with Active Trainer coaches to offer training
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Sign up at: www.RunnersWebCoach.com OR
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* 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
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* 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
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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. VO2max Newsletter
2. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine
3. Reactive Hypoglycemia - is it a real phenomena among endurance athletes?
4. Fueling the Runner: Is There a Magic Number?
Finding Your Ideal Racing Weight.
5. VIDEO: Beyond Core - the Pedestal
6. Speeding Recovery Through Sports Massage
7. Why do I lose my period when I train hard?
8. Some Features of Women's Training
9. Build Power, Save Time with this Double-Header Workout
10 Ultrafit e-Tips
11. Find Your Perfect Heart Rate Training Zone
Measuring your intensity will make every run count--and it isn't just for
elites.
12. Why Do Humans Slow Down When Running Round A Bend More Than Dogs Do?
13. Irregular Exercise Pattern May Add Pounds
14. Run Anytime With A Home Treadmill
Cold weather, darkness, allergies...rain and snow. Owning a home treadmill can
have its distinct advantages.
15. Dr. Trent Stellingwerf Interview: Part II
16. This Week in Running
17. Resistance training may reduce fat, improve metabolism
18. Attack of the Clones
19. Measure and measure
While neither body mass index nor waist circumference are infallible measures of
health, together they provide an effective personal
snapshot.
20. Digest Briefs


RUNNER'S WEB WEEKLY POLL:
"Does the fact that an event supports a charity have any impact on your decision
to enter the event?"

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:
"Should the Boston Marathon have qualifying times at distances other than the
marathon, for example, 30K?"
Answers Percent
1. Yes 39%
2. No 52%
3. No opinion, don't care 9%


FIVE STAR SITE OF THE MONTH: Runnerville.com.
"Runnerville.com is a collection of voices and pens (err, keyboards) brought
together to discuss the sport of running. It's a
conversation intended to engage, inspire, and prod the running community. It's a
dialog intended to encourage change. Running has
reached the proverbial fork in the road. One path leads us into deeper
obscurity, the other into the collective conscious of sports
fans. We're pushing for the latter."
The site was founded by a group including Matt Taylor, Tony Reavis, Mary
Wittenberg, Amby Burfoot, Chris Lear, and Lauren Fleshman.
Check it out at: http://runnerville.com

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

BOOK/VIDEO OF THE MONTH: Championship Triathlon Training
About the Product
Dedication, passion, obsession-for serious endurance athletes, coaches,
duathletes, and triathletes, the quest for improvement never
ends. Knowing they can shave time from the previous performance, they seek out
the latest in research and training techniques.
In Championship Triathlon Training, renowned experts George Dallam and Steven
Jonas provide you with the same advanced conditioning
concepts and programming used by today's elite triathletes.
By understanding the science behind the principles, you will incorporate
physiology, biomechanics, nutrition, and injury prevention
into your regimen to address your specific needs and the demands of competition.
Specifically, you'll learn these techniques:
~ Use weight training, plyometrics, and core development to accelerate skill
development in all phases of swimming, running, and
cycling.
~ Apply metabolic training to improve endurance and race speed.
~ Combine sport-specific skills, such as mounting and dismounting, with
metabolic training to improve transition times between
phases.
~ Develop more efficient movement patterns for increased performance potential
and reduced injury.
~ Assess health and physical status to avoid overtraining.
Complete with sample programs for each triathlon distance, technique analysis,
training- and race-specific fueling strategies, and
tips for motivation, focus, and goal setting, Championship Triathlon Training
will optimize your training and maximize your results.

About the Authors
George Dallam, PhD, is the longtime coach of Hunter Kemper, the No. 1-ranked
triathlete in the ITU World Cup during 2005 and most of
2006. He is the founding member of the National Coaching Commission of USA
Triathlon, the sport's national governing body, and was
USA Triathlon's first national team coach. In 2004 he was a finalist for the Doc
Counsilman Award for Science in Coaching category
of the United States Olympic Committee's Coach of the Year Award. In 2005 he was
USA Triathlon's Elite Coach of the Year.
Dallam is an associate professor of exercise science and health promotion at
Colorado State University at Pueblo. As a sport
scientist he has authored and coauthored numerous scientific papers relating to
triathlon. During his career at CSU-Pueblo, he has
received each of the university-wide awards for teaching, scholarship, and
service, becoming the only faculty member in the history
of the institution to receive all three awards.
During his 16-year triathlon coaching career, Dallam has served as a personal
coach to several elite triathletes, including Amanda
Stevens, Marcel Vifian, Callahan Hatfield, Michael Smedley, and Ryan
Bickerstaff. As the USA Triathlon national team coach, he also
served as the Olympic Training Center resident and collegiate programs coach for
Olympians Nick Radkewich and Susan Williams as well
as perennial international stars Laura Reback, Becky Lavelle, and Doug Friman.
Before focusing on triathlon, he coached at various
levels in swimming, water polo, and cross country. He resides in Colorado
Springs.
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS, FNYAS, has been a regular columnist and contributor
to The East Coast Triathlete, Triathlon Today,
Triathlon Times, and American TRI. Since 2006, he has written a column titled
"Ordinary Mortals: Talking Triathlon with Steve Jonas"
for USA Triathlon Life. He is the author of Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals
and The Essential Triathlete. He also currently serves
as editor in chief for American Medical Athletic Association Journal and has
been a member of the editorial board of ACSM's Health &
Fitness Journal since 1999.
Jonas is a professor of preventive medicine in the School of Medicine at Stony
Brook University in New York. As author, coauthor,
editor, and coeditor, he has published more than 25 books and 135 academic
papers on health policy, health promotion, disease
prevention, and fitness and exercise.
The year 2007 marked Jonas' 25th season as a recreational triathlete. He has
competed in over 185 multisport races, including 115
triathlons, at distances up to the Ironman. He is also a certified professional
ski instructor. Jonas resides in Port Jefferson, New
York.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Essential Training Elements and Guidelines
Chapter 2. Training the Mind
Chapter 3. Assessing and Improving Technique
Chapter 4. Advanced Training for Strength and Muscle Balance
Chapter 5. Complex Speed and Endurance Training
Chapter 6. Race-Specific Training and Strategy
Chapter 7. Creating a Long-Term Training Plan
Chapter 8. Training Programs
Chapter 9. Health and Fueling Strategies for Maximum
Words of Praise
"In Championship Triathlon Training, George Dallam and Steven Jonas combine the
latest research and cutting-edge programming to
create the definitive training resource for serious triathletes."
Siri Lindley
Two-Time Triathlon World Champion
Winner of 13 World Cup Races
Coach of Olympic Medalists
Buy the book from Human Kinetics at:
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?associate=880&isbn=0736069\
194

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. VO2max Newsletter
* Middle Distance Fatigue
(excerpted from Karp, J.R. A Matter of Survival: Training to Combat Fatigue.
Running Times, 352, Dec. 2007.)
Fatigue in the middle distances (800 meters/1,500 meters/mile) is primarily
caused by a high rate of oxygen-independent (anaerobic)
metabolism, which occurs when running faster than your heart can provide oxygen
to your muscles.
When you exceed your aerobic metabolic capacity to resynthesize ATP, a number of
problems begin to arise inside your muscles. Your
muscles lose their ability to contract effectively because of an increase in
hydrogen ions, which causes the muscle pH to decrease,
a condition called acidosis. Acidosis has a number of nasty side effects: 1) it
inhibits the enzyme that breaks down ATP inside
muscles, which decreases muscle contractile force, 2) it inhibits the release of
calcium (the trigger for muscle contraction) from
its storage site in muscles, and 3) it inhibits the production of ATP from the
metabolic pathway glycolysis by inhibiting
glycolysis' most important enzyme.
In addition to hydrogen ion accumulation, other metabolites accumulate when
running fast, including inorganic phosphate, ADP, and
potassium, each of which causes a specific problem inside muscles, from
inhibition of specific enzymes involved in muscle
contraction to interference with muscles' electrical charges, ultimately leading
to a decrease in muscle force production and your
running speed.
While the effects of anaerobic metabolism cause that heavy, dead-legged feeling
when racing the mile or running 400-meter repeats at
mile race pace, limitations in aerobic metabolism also cause fatigue in the
middle distances by limiting the pace that you can
maintain aerobically. Your legs feel like lead during these short races because
you?re not getting enough oxygen to them. That's
why it?s so important to run lots of miles even if you're a middle-distance
runner--you have to develop yourself aerobically to
delay the acidosis and the accumulation of metabolites.
In addition to the aerobic work of mileage and long intervals to improve VO2max,
you can combat fatigue in the middle distances by
running short intervals (45 seconds to about 2 minutes) at 800-meter to mile
race pace. A couple of examples are: 1) 6 to 8 x 400
meters at mile race pace with a 1-to-1 work-to-rest ratio and 2) 2 sets of 4 x
300 meters at 800-meter race pace with a 1-to-2
work-to-rest ratio and 5 minutes recovery between sets. These workouts improve
your ability to buffer acidosis and increase
anaerobic capacity by increasing the number of enzymes involved in anaerobic
metabolism.
* Don't Stretch for Strength
If you currently stretch before you lift weights, you may want to stop.
Research has found that muscle strength performance
decreases from 4.5 to 28 percent when preceded by stretching exercises.
Possible reasons may be a delayed neuromotor response that
occurs immediately after stretching and an increase in muscle compliance, which
may limit the capacity of muscles to produce force.
Research also suggests that stretching doesn't protect against injury, nor does
it diminish muscle soreness following a workout. It
seems as if the only, albeit important, benefit of stretching is increased
flexibility, with the greatest benefit occurring when
stretching is done apart from your cardio or strength *
* Talent vs. Training
Many elite runners, a la Steve Prefontaine, like to think that their ability to
run fast is due to their hard work and their
toughness rather than any genetic ability that they were born with.
One of my friends and former athletes, who is an elite runner, is one of those
people who likes to think such things. Of course,
thinking that running fast all comes down to hard work renders one's performance
unlimited. If you think it's all about talent,
that places a limitation on what you can achieve.
Of the many things I have learned from physiology, one of them is that humans,
like all other animals, do have limits. For example,
while it is well known that mitochondrial density is highly modifiable and that
the number of mitochondria in skeletal muscle
increases in response to endurance training, there is a threshold above which
further increases in training volume do not result in
further increases in mitochondrial density. Research has also shown that your
muscles' maximum ability to consume oxygen (VO2max)
has a strong genetic link. For example, there is a strong correlation between
the presence of two specific DNA codings of human
leukocyte antigen (a group of genes on human chromosome 6) and VO2max. There is
also a strong relationship between the genetic
occurrence of a specific variant of the angiotensin converting enzyme (which
plays an important role in blood pressure regulation
and electrolyte balance) and endurance performance. The fact is that you don't
keep making mitochondria indefinitely, you don't
keep growing a larger capillary network indefinitely, you don't keep making more
aerobic enzymes indefinitely, and your heart does
not keep increasing its size indefinitely.
While hard work is undoubtedly important, it simply reveals the talent that is
already present. And it reveals the genetic ability
to adapt to the work. Since the ability to improve performance with training is
limited, human variation (i.e., genetics) outweighs
human adaptation (i.e., training). As many runners already know, a person with
a lot of talent will almost always outperform a
person with little talent and a lot of training. As a coach, I see this all the
time. What is so great about the sport of distance
running is that each of us can find out what our limits are by training as much
and as smart as we can.
To view past newsletters go to: http://www.runcoachjason.com/newsletter
Copyright Jason Karp All Rights Reserved - http://www.runcoachjason.com



2. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine:
* Runner's Knee
Runners are far more likely to suffer knee pain than cyclists. The most common
long term injury in runners is a condition called
runner's knee in which the back of the knee cap rubs against the front bottom of
the femur, the long bone of the upper leg. If it
hurts to push the kneecap against the bone behind it, you have runner's knee.
The back of the kneecap is shaped like a triangle with the point fitting in a
groove in the lower part of the bone behind it. During
running, the knee cap is supposed to move up and down and not from side to side.
When you run, you land on the outside bottom of
your foot and roll inward toward the big toe side of your foot. This is called
pronation. It forces your lower leg to twist inward
while at the same time, three of the four quad muscles attached to the kneecap
pull the kneecap outward, causing it to rub against
the bone behind it.
The amount of inner twisting of the lower leg during running is related to how
straight your knee is. Bending your knee decreases
inner twisting and rubbing of the knee cap against the bone behind it. People
with runner's knee usually can pedal a bicycle with
their seats set lower than normal to prevent their knees from straightening
completely. Orthotics, custom- fitted inserts in the
shoes that restrict pronation, may help. They can also use special exercises
that strengthen the vastus medialis muscle above the
kneecap that pulls the knee cap inward when they run or pedal
* Longer Telomeres Mean Longer Life
If you need proof that exercise helps to keep you young, look at the exciting
study from King's College in London, England reported
in the Archives of Internal Medicine (January 28, 2008). The researchers showed
that people who exercise regularly have telomeres
in the DNA of their white blood cells that are longer than those of couch
potatoes. White blood cell telomeres shorten over time and
serve as a marker of a person's biological age.
The active ends of genetic material in cells are covered with a layer of
proteins called telomeres. If they weren't, the exposed
ends of the genetic material would stick to anything
nearby and the cells would die. However, each time a cell divides to make two
cells, a little bit of the telomere is removed.
Eventually the telomere is gone, the ends of genetic material stick together and
the cell can no longer divide so it dies without
replacing itself. Obviously, the longer the telomeres, the longer it will take
for the telomeres to be used up so the cells are
viable longer.
The study compared physical activity, smoking and socioeconomic status in 2,401
sets of twins. Those who were more active had
longer leukocyte telomeres than those who were
less active. The researchers concluded that "The mean difference in leukocyte
telomere length between the most active (who
performed an average of 199 minutes of physical activity per week) and the least
active (16 minutes of physical activity per week)
subjects was 200 nucleotides, which means that the most active subjects had
telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals 10
years younger, on average."
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Can cold air freeze your lungs?
It's almost impossible to damage your lungs by breathing cold air when you
exercise. More than 70 percent of the energy produced by
your muscles during exercise is lost as heat. This extra heat can be used in
your nose and bronchial tubes to warm the air as it
travels to your lungs. Air inhaled at 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit will be
warmed to more than 100 degrees by the time it
reaches your lungs, so your lungs will not suffer fromfrostbite. However, air
that cold will burn your nasal membranes and cause
pain in your nose that is so severe that you will lose interest in exercising
very quickly and look for shelter. To protect your
nose in very cold weather, you can cover it with a scarf, balaclava or face mask
placed over your nose and mouth.
* Dear Dr. Mirkin: Is it better to rest completely or exercise gently while
recovering from an injury?
According to a study from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, it is better
to exercise at low intensity while recovering from an
injury or surgery (The American Journal of Sports
Medicine, February 2008). The researchers found that motion during recovery
limits muscle atrophy, accelerates tendon healing, and
prevents joint stiffness. This explains why most doctors refer their injured or
post-surgical patients for physical therapy and
rehabilitation exercises.
If you are in reasonable shape and stop exercising for any reason, your muscles
become smaller and weaker and are at increased risk
for injury when you return to exercising. Gentle stress on a muscle or tendon
can help to prevent this loss of strength. Mild
exercise is a stimulus for cell growth. However, if you pull too hard on a
weakened muscle or tendon, you can tear it and delay
recovery.
From Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine at: http://www.drmirkin.com


3. Reactive Hypoglycemia - is it a real phenomena among endurance athletes?
by Dr. Trent Stellingwerff, PhD in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, University
of Guelph Sr. Scientist,
Nestle Research Center, Lausanne Switzerland
Are you an athlete that periodically experiences episodes of extreme
hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or
dropping blood pressure, which leads to light-headedness or even experiences of
passing-out? Sometimes this
might happen during an easy morning run, or even during an extreme race
situation. Furthermore, do you
experience these conditions at what seem totally random times, and under, what
you perceive normal dietary
conditions? If so, you might by among about 30% of athletes that appear to be
incredibly sensitive to having
reactive hypoglycemia (Kuipers et al., 1999). But, there are certainly some
recommendations, in terms of
phasing your diet and exercise, which will assist in alleviating these symptoms
and episodes.
Reactive hypoglycemia is a condition in which low blood sugar (below blood
glucose levels of ~3 mmol/L,
with some individuals being symptomatic already at blood sugar values of ~4
mmol/L) is induced by a
combination of the timing of an athletes dietary intakes and the types of
dietary intake, in conjunction with the
timing of subsequent exercise. Increased sensitivity to episodes of reactive
hypoglycemia also appears to be
related to a complex interaction of training status, timing and type of pervious
nutritional intake, time of the
day, previous hypoglycaemic events, hydration status, anxiety/stress, gender, a
lowered sympathetic nervous
system activity, blood pressure and the athletes individual sensitivity to low
glucose and counter-regulatory
hormones of insulin and glucagon.
Physiological mechanisms explaining reactive hypoglycemia in endurance athletes
To understand why well-trained endurance athletes might experience hypoglycaemic
episodes, an
understanding of some basic blood glucose handling is necessary. Hypoglycemia
will occur when there is a
greater blood glucose uptake than compared to glucose supply, via either the
diet sources or liver
gluconeogenesis (making of glucose). First, skeletal muscle is responsible for
nearly 90% of the entire body's
glucose uptake and disposal and athletes have a greater ratio of lean skeletal
muscle to total body weight than
most non-athletes. Furthermore, athletes also have a much more enhanced and
sensitive glucose handling and
uptake than non-athletes. Thus, it is not surprising to observe periodic cases
of exaggerated decreases in blood
glucose in athletes in conjunction with exercising muscles.
Recommendations to prevent reactive hypoglycemia
Again, it should be made clear that most endurance athletes do not have a
problem with reactive hypoglycemia.
Further as further described below, athletes that have experienced periodic
episodes may only have acute
situations which might increase the likelihood of an episode. So, for the
majority of athletes, reactive
hypoglycemia is not a problem. But, for those of you that do have experience
this periodically, then the
following recommendations should help alleviate the likelihood of this
occurring. However, if you consistently
experience hypoglycaemic situations, despite following these recommendations,
than you should consult both a
medical and nutritional specialist. It is very difficult to pinpoint the exact
mechanisms in each individual
responsible for situations of hypoglycemia and/or low blood pressure, leading to
light-headedness or fainting.
Episodes of reactive hypoglycemia appear to be related to a complex interaction
of training status, timing and
type of pervious nutritional intake, time of the day, previous hypoglycemic
events, hydration status,
anxiety/stress, gender, a lowered sympathetic nervous system activity, blood
pressure and the athlete's
individual sensitivity to low glucose and counter-regulatory hormones of insulin
and glucagon. However,
scientific studies and anecdotal evidence suggest the following recommendations
will assist in keeping blood
sugar levels more constant throughout the day, and during exercise.
. Avoid initiating exercise when having not eaten in the previous 4hrs (ie.
overnight or racing in the
late afternoon after only eating in the morning). This might dictate that an
athlete needs to get up
earlier for a morning run and eating a small amount of complex carbohydrates to
help stabilize
blood sugar and liver glycogen levels prior to exercise.
. The consumption of just simple pure sugars in the 1-2 hrs prior to exercise
(high glycemic index,
resulting in high insulin levels) are more likely to induce hypoglycemia during
exercise, than the
consumption of more complex carbohydrates or carbohydrates with other foods (ie.
having a
whole-grain bagel with some peanut-butter is much better than drinking a cola
prior to a run).
. Once exercise has been initiated for at least 20min, and during prolonged
training and racing
situations (1hr+), the consumption of sports-drinks will drastically reduce the
likelihood of
hypoglycemia by maintaining blood glucose concentrations.
. Anecdotal reports suggest that more females than compared to males suffer from
reactive
hypoglycemia. However, it remains to be resolved as to whether this is really a
gender difference,
or the fact that more females may enter an exercise/race situation with less
than optimal
carbohydrate stores (liver and muscle glycogen) and already low blood glucose
levels.
. Training status also may play a role in hypoglycemia, as an overtrained
athlete often mentions
bouts of hypoglycemia as one of the symptoms of overtraining. In fact, bouts of
hypoglycemia
may be one of the first physiological symptoms and signs of overtraining.
. It appears that the hour in which exercise is undertaken can markedly
influence the risk for
hypoglycemia. One study showed that the exercise induced drop in blood glucose
was 50% greater
when exercise was performed at midnight, than compared to the morning or
afternoon. This
correlates to when the circadian hormone coritsol was the lowest and was not
stimulated by
exercise. Obviously, with a mutli-time zone flight, an athlete might undertake
exercise when their
body is chronobiologically still set at midnight from the previous time zone,
and cause an
increased risk for hypoglycemia.
. Also performing exercise within close proximity of a previous hypoglycemic
event puts the athlete
at risk for another bout of hypoglycemia. Prior hypoglycemia can blunt the
normal hormonal
(glucagon, insulin, adrenaline) and metabolic responses to exercise. However,
for how long a
previous hypoglycemic episode compromises these normal counter-regulatory
mechanisms
remains to be examined. But, certainly the athlete will be at risk for at least
24 to 48 hrs after a
serious hypoglycemic event.
. Finally, antecedent reports indicate that there appears to be a complex
interactionbetween
dehydration, low blood-pressure, and anxiety/stress in inducing hypoglycemic
events that remains
to be fully elucidated.
References
Brun JF, Dumortier M, Fedou C & Mercier J. (2001). Exercise hypoglycemia in
nondiabetic subjects. Diabetes
Metab 27, 92-106.
Kuipers H, Fransen EJ & Keizer HA. (1999). Pre-exercise ingestion of
carbohydrate and transient
hypoglycemia during exercise. Int J Sports Med 20, 227-231.
From the Athletic's Canada Gold Standard February 2008


4. Fueling the Runner: Is There a Magic Number?
Finding Your Ideal Racing Weight.
Wow, just imagine if there was a magical number. A number that would take you
across the finish line with a glorious fist held high
in triumph. A number you could achieve or maintain to make your highest
aspirations come true. I love think there is a magic weight
that would take me across a marathon finish line in 2:35. At this weight I would
be quite strong and maintain a low health risk, but
hell on wheels. Unfortunately, no such number exists.
Determining the best weight for optimal racing is not as cut and dry and one
would hope. There are indicators you can use when
running to help guide you in weight management. You may log a run as "feeling
heavy" or "running on empty." If the scale seems to
consistently reflect those assessments it may be an indicator of where your
weight should fall.
Sure, there are several established tools to use as guides in determining that
"magical number" such as Ideal Body Weight (IBW) and
Body Mass Index (BMI). These are, in fact, excellent tools to help you narrow
down your ideal weight. They are helpful, but still,
we are all very individual. Just because a 100 pound runner crossed the finish
line before me does not mean I should weigh 100
pounds. She may be 5 or more inches shorter.
So why is that runners seem to seek out a magical number? Why is it so darn easy
to focus so much attention on weight? Maybe
obsessing over it is something help to kill time during a long run. Or, maybe it
is an escape for mediocrity - an excuse for when we
don't perform up to our expectations
More...from Running Times at:
http://www.runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=12593


5. VIDEO: Beyond Core - the Pedestal:
Coaches from Colorado and Kansas State universities show you the Pedestal, which
goes beyond traditional core exercises to build
better posture. (Warning: Not for beginners!)
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/video/index.html?bcpid=717784762&bclid=909837219/&bc\
tid=1373280780&cm_mmc=training-_-2008_01_29-_-traini
ng-_-VIDEO%3a%20Beyond%20Core%20-%20the%20Pedestal
[Multi-line URL]


6. Speeding Recovery Through Sports Massage:
By Michelle Shoup OTR/L,LMT,Advanced MFR Practicioner
Speeding the recovery process means that you are able to handle more training
volume in less time. Athletes look for any and all
ways to make this happen, and sports massage is a valuable addition to the
recovery tool box.
Muscle soreness, tightness and fatigue become all too familiar to athletes as
training volume increases. Each time we push the body
to new stress levels during a workout, minute tears occur in the muscle fibers.
There is also a depletion of nutrients and
restrictions in the muscle fascia. The result: we feel pain.
Post-workoutmuscle soreness is due to trauma to the membrane surrounding the
muscle cells and damage to the connective tissue
(fascia) supporting the muscles. During a workout, muscles perform continuous
forceful contraction of the muscle fibers. Movements
require eccentric contractions (lengthening) and concentric contractions
(shortening). For these to occur, the body must carry the
proper nutrients and enzymes in the bloodstream to the working muscles. These
are used to create the energy for these contractions
and for the removal of waste products.
More...from the Sport Factory at:
http://thesportfactory.com/site/trainingnews/Speeding_Recovery_Through_Sports_Ma\
ssage.shtml


7. Why do I lose my period when I train hard?
Hi Coach Jenny! I have been running since I was young and all through high
school and college. Currently I am training for Boston
and I have increased my mileage. Whenever I increase my mileage my period
disappears. I am 25, eating more calories and I am a
healthy weight. How can I restart my period while continuing to train hard?
Thanks so much!
Colleen
Hi Colleen. Thanks for writing. You ask a very important question for women.
The loss of your period is a signal from your body
that something is off balance and can put you at risk for developing
osteoporosis, increased risk of injury and reduced performance.
Your weight is relative. You can be at a perceived healthy weight, but still
lose your cycle due to low body-fat percentage, diet,
lack of enough calories or intense training. If your body-fat percentage drops
too low, your body will respond with the loss of
your cycle. If your iron levels are too low, you can lose your cycle. If your
calories in are drastically lower than calories
burned, you can lose your cycle.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://askcoachjenny.runnersworld.com/2008/01/happy-trails-co.html?cm_mmc=women-\
_-2007_01_23-_-women-_-'My%20Period%20Disappeared
[Long URL]


8. Some Features of Women's Training:
By Tiina Torop
The author discusses the anatomical and physiological differences of women that
influence training procedures, concentrating on
strength development as one of the most important factors to improve
performances. The article is a slightly condensed translation
from Kehakultuur, Vol. 47, No.19, 1987, published by Periodika, Tallinn,
Estonian SSR. Re-printed with permission from Modern
Athlete and Coach.
The comparison of men and women in sport leads frequently to emotional views
that women should copy everything that men are doing in
training to get as close as possible to the performance capacity of males. While
there are several common aspects that apply to both
sexes in sport, it should nevertheless be understood that a woman is not a
scaled down man. What follows in this text is therefore
an attempt to discuss some of the anatomical, physiological and psychological
differences of the females in sport.
MENSTRUATION
Neal of United States has correctly claimed that the understanding of women's
sport is badly influenced by traditionally biased
views. Among them was for a long time an understanding that training and
competing during menstruation is harmful for the organism.
Marker, for example, discovered in a study conducted in 1925 that only 6% of the
15,000 athletes surveyed trained during
menstruation. The situation today is reversed.
It is actually interesting to note the fact that women have been frequently
responsible for personal best performances during
menstruation. According to Tosetti, Fanny BIankers-Koen of Holland set seven out
of her nine world records in sprinting and hurdling
in the 1940's and 1950's during menstruation. Kindermann of the University of
Freiburg has stated that the work capacity of women
does frequently reach its maximal indicators duringmenstruation. Of course,
there can be individual problems as shown in a survey
conducted by
Jagunov and Stratseva. Their results indicated that 81.6% of women athletes
turned in normal or better performances during
menstruation, while 18.4%.were below their normal standard.
More...from The Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre at:
http://www.athleticscoaching.ca/UserFiles/File/Sport%20Science/Theory%20&%20Meth\
odology/General%20Concepts/Torop%20Some%20Features%2
0of%20Womens%20Training.pdf
[Multi-line URL]


9. Build Power, Save Time with this Double-Header Workout:
By Chris Carmichael
Everyone knows the wintertime training lays the foundation for a successful
summer season, but there's still plenty of debate about
the specifics - particularly when it comes to the idea of gaining power on the
bike by heading into the gym to lift weights. I first
heard the idea more than 30 years ago as a junior, and experts are still trying
to decide if resistance training in the winter
really improves cycling performance. You want to know the answer? For the vast
majority of cyclists, resistance training won't make
you faster.
To make significant gains in on-bike strength and power, you need to be in the
gym a minimum of three hours a week. That doesn't
sound so bad until you realize that, based on my observation of several thousand
CTS-coached athletes, the average cyclist with a
full-time job and a life can only squeeze out about 8-10 hours of total training
time each week, if they really work at it. So why
use 30 to 40 percent of that time doing something that may or may not make you
faster when you know that more time on the bike will
absolutely make you faster? Besides, there's a way cyclists can effectively
build explosive on-bike power without really cutting
into your riding time: plyometrics.
Plyometrics are exercises that use explosive movements to bridge the gap between
strength and power - and improve both. Most are
jumping exercises targeted at making your muscles exert maximum force faster.
Why is this more important for cyclists than pure
strength? With strength you can push a big gear; with power you can push the
same gear faster, which means you go faster. I also
like plyometrics for cyclists because the exercises target large muscle groups,
help them work together with greater synchronicity,
and enhance balance and coordination - things you don't get from traditional,
muscle-isolating weight lifting.
More...from CTS at:
http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=3247


10. Ultrafit e-Tips:
* Triathletes: Fast Transitions Start Now
The transition between seasons is the time for assessment. While analyzing your
race performance from last season, do you look
specifically at your performance in T1 and T2? You know that fast transitions
translate to faster overall times, but are you
performing optimally from swim to bike and bike to run? One quick way to check
is to look at your transition times compared to
others in your race category. Are they competitive or are you losing time?
With the exception of the off-season, transition training needs to be addressed
in all phases of training. Intensity mirrors the
training phase. This time of year, most athletes are working in base phase,
training aerobic base and speed skills to properly
prepare for longer, higher intensity workouts that come at the end of the base
and in the build phase.
This time of year, a one time per week bike/run brick at endurance pace keeps
your legs used to the feeling of running off the bike.
Practicing transition skills can be as simple as having your running shoes set
up so when you get off your bike, you can practice T2
skills. This can easily be done indoors: after a spin class at your gym, jump
into your running shoes and hit the treadmill, or on
your home trainer, jump into your shoes and run out the door.
Now is a great time of year to practice or master new skills. Put the bike on
the trainer to practice getting into and out of bike
shoes while mounted on the pedals. Learn flying mounts and dismounts. The
benefits of training and racing are cumulative and
compound over time. Letting go of transition skills during the off-season often
means starting over or repeating past mistakes when
race season begins.
Melissa Mantak is a new Ultrafit Associate, but not new to coaching. Melissa
brings 30 years of combined experience racing at the
elite level (former World Cup champion), coaching (USAT Elite Level 3 Coach) and
education (masters degree in Sport Sciences).
Melissa works as Head Coach to the U.S. National Team at select World Cup
triathlons making her eligible for selection to coach at
the Olympics and Pan Am Games.
* All Athletes: Base Training Basics
The idea of training slow now, in the winter months, to boost performance later
in the season is often a difficult concept for
endurance athletes to grasp. This "slow" aerobic training should be the backbone
of laying down a solid base this winter-yes, there
is still time! Athletes who have the discipline to train aerobically during the
base period, while others are hammering away, will
make huge gains during their racing season.
Proper base training will:
~ improve oxygen transport to the muscles
~ reduce the rate of lactate formation
~ improve the rate of lactate removal
~ increase energy production and utilization
~ improve the use of fat as an energy source
~ increase the stroke volume of the heart (pump more blood with each beat)
~ increase the capillary and mitochondrial density (mitochondria produce energy
from fat and carbohydrate oxidation and capillaries
transport blood to working muscles)
In a nutshell, proper base training will improve the efficiency of your aerobic
system. So get out there and "go slow" and you will
be taking the first step to laying down a solid foundation for a successful
season.
Karen Buxton is a USAT Level III coach who works with multisport athletes from
her office in Greensboro, N.C. She is the author of
Off-Season Training for Triathletes, which can be found at www.velogear.com. To
learn more about Karen and the coaching programs she
offers, go to www.coachbuxton.com or contact her at
mailto:Karen@....


11. Find Your Perfect Heart Rate Training Zone;
Measuring your intensity will make every run count--and it isn't just for
elites.
When Joe Driscoll toed the line at the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in
November, he knew that maintaining an even pace would
be trickier than usual on the rolling hills of New York City's Central Park. So
instead of checking his splits every mile, as he
normally would, he paid attention to how he felt, only looking at his watch
every 5-K. "Instead of surging the hills to keep pace, I
kept the same effort and let any time lost on the uphills come back on the
downside," says Driscoll, 28, of Blowing Rock, North
Carolina. The result was a personal record of 2:18:22.
Driscoll knew that in order to race well, he needed to run at the right
intensity. If he had insisted on sticking to a 5:20-per-mile
pace, he might have missed coming in under 2:19. The same principle applies
during training. "Every workout has a goal," says Dennis
Barker, coach of the elite running group Team USA Minnesota. "That goal might be
recovery or to improve your lactate threshold, but
if you don't run at the heart-rate zone that corresponds with those goals, you
won't achieve the training effect."
So how exactly do you determine the right effort for every workout? Barker's
athletes primarily use heart rate. Driscoll and his
fellow runners at Zap Fitness in North Carolina favor perceived effort. Both
methods are effective; choose one or the other, or a
mix of both, and you'll soon learn how to hit your target every time.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244--12398-0,00.html?cm_mmc=tr\
aining-_-2008_02_05-_-training-_-HEART%20RATE%3a%20F
ind%20Your%20Perfect%20Zone
[Multi-line URL]


12. Why Do Humans Slow Down When Running Round A Bend More Than Dogs Do?
New research published this week (8 December) has identified the fundamental
differences between two and four legged animals that
explain what limits their top speeds.
The research, published in the journals Nature and Biology Letters and funded by
the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council (BBSRC), shows how a human running into a high-speed corner is forced to
slow down and increase the amount of time their
foot is in contact with the ground in order to withstand increased centripetal
forces. Four legged animals do not appear to have
this limitation.
The scientists at The Royal Veterinary College studied the results of 200m races
at the 2004 Olympics and World Indoor Championships
to demonstrate that the tighter bends used for the indoor event slow the runners
down. To examine if this affects other animals they
used high-speed video recording of greyhounds running time trials in an arena.
Greyhounds barely change their stride when they
sprint around and successfully withstand the increased forces. This is because
they appear to power their running in a completely
different way to humans.
Dr Jim Usherwood, the project leader, said, "Human sprinters use muscles to run
that also have to deal with weight from the
combination of centripetal and gravitational forces. Greyhounds get their motive
power by torque around their hips and by extending
their backs. This means that like a human on a bicycle there is a separation of
the body structures providing power and the body
structures supporting weight. A greyhound's top speed is not constrained by
cornering forces in the same way a human sprinter's is."

More...from Medical News Today at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/34696.php


13. Irregular Exercise Pattern May Add Pounds:
The consequences of quitting exercise may be greater than previously thought,
according to a new study from the U.S. Department of
Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that determined that the weight
gained during an exercise hiatus can be tough to shed
when exercise is resumed at a later date.
The study, conducted by Paul Williams of Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division,
found that the key to staying trim is to remain
active year-round, year-after-year, and to avoid seasonal and irregular exercise
patterns. Most of all, don't quit. Failure to do so
may be a contributing factor in the nation's obesity epidemic.
"The price to pay for quitting exercise is higher than expected, and this price
may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic
affecting Americans," says Williams, whose study is published in the journal
Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise.
The study should prompt people to think twice before taking a break from their
exercise regimens, despite the pressures of family
and work obligations, or waning motivation.
More...from Science Daily at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204094505.htm


14. Run Anytime With A Home Treadmill
Cold weather, darkness, allergies...rain and snow. Owning a home treadmill can
have its distinct advantages.
For many years, most treadmills were ugly, clunky, mechanical devices that
tempted few runners. By the early 1990s, however,
manufacturers had awakened to the huge potential market and began making
sleeker, smoother machines that suddenly made the
treadmill's many advantages clear to everyone. The treadmill boom was on, and it
has continued to build momentum through the years.
Many runners now consider the treadmill one of the best lifetime fitness
purchases they can make. While a few purists still hold
treadmills in contempt, insisting that running outdoors is the only true path,
most runners can see that a home treadmill offers a
wonderful advantage. And when you have a treadmill, it's amazing how those
occasions can add up. Cold weather. Hot weather. Rain and
snow. Allergies. Darkness.
Once you start compiling the list, it grows longer and longer. Parents with
young children have found that a treadmill allows them
to watch their kids and get in a workout at the same time. When doing a long
run, you have a ready supply of sports drinks and
energy bars. Or, you can watch an instructional video or listen to language
tapes while running safely on a treadmill. Some
cognitive psychologists have even suggested that the mind is particularly
receptive to new materials while you're running.
More...from Runner's World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-322--1053-0,00.html?cm_mmc=wom\
en-_-2008_02_06-_-women-_-A%20Treadmill%20of%20One's
%20Own
[Long URL]


15. Dr. Trent Stellingwerf Interview: Part II
Dr. Trent Stellingwerf is a Senior Research Scientist in Performance Nutrition
at the Nestle Research Centre in Lausanne,
Switzerland. He holds a PhD in human biology and nutritional sciences from the
University of Guelph and a post-doctorate fellowship
from Maastricht University in Maastricht, The Netherlands. He currently has 15
research papers published in the area of high
performance nutrition and has written numerous articles for various running
magazines. As well he acts as a consultant for numerous
high performance athletes globally, including his wife, Hilary Stellingwerf, a
Canadian national team endurance athlete.
In this comprehensive two-part interview Dr. Stellingwerf discusses basic
nutritional strategies for athletes at all levels as well
as supplementation, ergogenic aids and recovery issues relating to sports
performance. Part 1 focuses primarily on basic nutritional
concepts for all athletes and part 2 on nutrition for the high performance
athlete. For athletes and coaches with nutritional
concerns or those simply looking for basic nutritional information, this
interview is a must.
More...from the Canadian Athletics Coaching Center at:
http://www.athleticscoaching.ca/Default.aspx?pid=2&nid=115


16. This Week in Running:
10 Years Ago- Daniel Komen (KEN) made a good run at the world indoor 3000m
record of 7:26:14 set the
previous weekend by Haile Gebreselasie (ETH) at the Sparkassen
Meeting (Stuttgart GER).
Komen would lower the world record to 7:24.90 the following
weekend in Budapest HUN,
a mark that still stands. Moses Kiptanui (KEN) was well back in
2nd with a 7:35.66
and Dieter Baumann (GER) was 3rd in 7:40.64.
20 Years Ago- Paul Davies-Hale (ENG) won the Red Lobster Classic (FL/USA) 10K
in 28:18 to defeat an
international field. Marcos Luis Barreto (MEX) was 2nd in 28:24,
Ashley Johnson (RSA)
was 3rd in 28:27 and Peter Koech (KEN) was 4th in 28:29. Liz
McColgan (SCO) lowered
her own world record set here the previous year with a 30:59.
She would lower the WR
again the following year, to 30:38.4. She finished more than 400
meters ahead of
Judi St Hilaire (USA) who clocked a 32:27. Brenda Webb (USA) and
Margaret Groos (USA)
rounded out the top four with times of 32:40 and 32:48
respectively.
30 Years Ago- The twin So brothers went 1-2 at the Beppu-Oita (JPN) Marathon
with Shigeru taking the
measure of Takeshi, 2:09:05.6 to 2:12:48.6. Kunimitsu Ito (JPN)
and Toshiaki Kamata
(JPN) followed with 2:13:24.8 and 2:14:24.4 respectively.
40 Years Ago- Seiichiro Sasaki (JPN) won the Beppu Mainichi (JPN) Marathon with
a time of 2:13:23.8.
Yoshiaki Unetani (JPN) was 2nd in 2:15:22.0 and Kenji Kimihara
(JPN) was 3rd in 2:16:32.2.
This race is now known as the Beppu-Oita Marathon.
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.


17. Resistance training may reduce fat, improve metabolism:
Strength training, in addition to the endurance training, may benefit overweight
individuals, suggests a new study conducted on
mice.
In the mice-based study, the researchers from Boston University School of
Medicine (BUSM) found that the use of barbells might be as
important to losing weight and improving health as the use of running shoes.
The discovery builds upon the fact that skeletal muscle consists of two types of
fibres. Endurance training such as running
increases the amount of type I muscle fibres, while resistance training such as
weightlifting increases type II muscle fibres.
Using a mouse genetic model, the researchers demonstrated that an increase in
type II muscle mass could reduce body fat which in
turn reduces overall body mass and improves metabolic parameters such as insulin
resistance.
The research team genetically engineered a mouse, called the MyoMouse, to grow
type II fibres by activating a muscle
growth-regulating gene. The gene, called Akt1, was engineered in such a way that
it could be turned on and off at will by
researchers. Even without exercise, activating the gene made the MyoMouse
physically stronger.
When the gene was de-activated, the mouse returned to its original strength.
While stronger and faster than a regular mouse, the
MyoMouse did not run with as much endurance on a treadmill, a finding that is
consistent with the growth of type II rather than type
I muscle.
More...from the New India Press at:
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE320080207061126&Page=3&Title=Featu\
res+-+Health+%26+Science&Topic=-162



18. Attack of the Clones:
By Lucas Chandler, CTS Nutrition Assistant
On January 15, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of dairy
and meat products made from cloned animals. This
decision came after years of debate, and a recent study, in which the agency
found that products made from cloned animals were no
different than those from the original animals. Therefore, they concluded that
consuming meat from cloned animals seems to have no
adverse health effects to humans. As expected, the decision is already drawing
criticism from some consumer groups and scientists,
who feel that more research needs to be done. In other words, the situation is
just as confusing as ever. Here's what I can tell
you.
Even though cloned meat and dairy products are approved, this doesn't mean that
we're going to start eating these products anytime
soon. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, and it will likely be
a long time before the agriculture industry sees
cloned meat as a viable product. There are now close to 600 cloned animals in
the US (most of them cows), but one of the biggest
hindrances to producing cloned meat is the huge financial cost. Currently it
costs approximately $17,000 to clone a cow, compared to
the $1,000 dollars a conventional cow fetches in the market. Because of the
major cost difference, most of the cloned cows will
probably only be used for breeding purposes.
If cloned beef becomes widely available for sale in the United States, according
to the FDA, it will not be marked or labeled any
differently. This decision is not the first time the FDA has decided not to
label controversial foods; such was the case originally
with trans-fats, and currently with genetically modified foods. Most industry
experts seem to believe though, that if marked,
consumers would be less likely to choose the cloned product on the shelves.
Regardless, consumers are likely going to be very slow to embrace cloning, which
will probably further slow any changes in the dairy
and meat industry in the US. So, right now, don't worry about whether the
hamburger you're buying is from a cloned steer, because
it's not. The FDA has said it's OK if it is cloned, but the meatpacking industry
is far from delivering cloned meat to supermarkets.
So would I eat cloned food? Would you? Right now it looks like cloned food is
not going to be any different, in terms of nutrition,
and as long as it tastes the same, why not? The trouble is, this is brand new
technology and studies on potential side effects of
the cloning process, if any, have not yet out there.
Stay tuned in the coming years. It's going to be a while before it all gets
sorted out.
From CTS at:
http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=3257


19. Measure and measure:
While neither body mass index nor waist circumference are infallible measures of
health, together they provide an effective personal
snapshot.
Anthony Layton sucked in some air and grunted as he bench-pressed more than 61
kilograms above his chest.
At 56 years old, the investment advisor would appear to be the picture of
health: He works out three times a week. In the summer he
plays tennis, and in the winter he cross-country skis.
Yet Layton, the father of three girls, is considered overweight -- at least
according to Health Canada's body mass index
classification system.
"Big bones, big muscles," he says with a Cheshire grin.
To the casual observer, however, Layton's physique looks more fit-and-trim than
fat-and-flab. He stands 5-foot-11 and weighs about
190 pounds, and has stayed at that weight for the last two decades. He enjoys
quaffing a beer and tucking into a steak, but his
waistline has never expanded beyond 91 centimetres (36 inches).
Yet Layton's BMI is 26.5, which puts him squarely in the overweight range -- 25
to 29.9. Or as the World Health Organization would
describe someone with his BMI, "pre-obese."
So, too, is Layton's personal trainer, Faisal Naqvi, whose BMI is 27.4. And
Naqvi works out four times a week.
More...from the National Post at:
http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=212c176f-c38d-4479-91d2\
-00fedf416c5d


20. Digest Briefs:
* Research Says...
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2001, volume 204, pages 3225-3234
Title: Evidence that a central governor regulates exercise performance during
acute hypoxia and hyperoxia
Authors: Timothy D. Noakes, Juha E. Peltonen and Heikki K. Rusko
Summary:
The classical theory of maximal exercise performance proposes that exercise is
limited only after oxygen delivery to the exercising
skeletal muscles becomes inadequate. Accordingly, the link between oxygen
delivery and utilization to the muscles has had a strong
influence on the training of distance runners.
Noakes and his colleagues, however, have proposed an alternative theory that a
"central governor", which regulates the mass of
skeletal muscle that is recruited during exercise, acts via the nervous system
to protect the heart from developing myocardial
ischaemia during maximal exercise.
Based on this theory, the heart should no longer be seen as the slave to the
exercising muscles, nor should VO2 Max be considered
the determining factor of maximal workload, but the effect of the central
governor regulating exercise performance. This suggests
that a search for the possible factors limiting maximal exercise performance
needs to include studies of the central nervous system.
Such findings could impact coaches' approaches to training distance runners and
the adaptations they attempt to induce, as well
beginning to assess fatigue via the central nervous system instead of the
skeletal muscles.
From The Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre at:
http://www.athleticscoaching.ca


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

February 9, 2008:
Buffalo Run Half Marathon, Catalina Island, CA

Radio - Team 1200 Noon - 1:00 PM
The Running Show
Team1200.com

February 10, 2008:
Florida Hospital Lady Track Shack 5K - Winter Park, FL

Inaugural Inland Empire Half Marathon - Ontario, CA

NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix - Bronx, New York, NY

Road Runner Sports Valentine's Day 5K Dash - Seattle, WA

February 10-12, 2008:
Running USA 2008 Conference, La Jolla, CA
"20 in 10" Theme - 20 million event participants in 10 years


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:
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Have a good week of training and/or racing.

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SportsShoes in the UK
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The Stretching Video in a DVD version. With the DVD version you're able to use
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