Can Running Kill You? (part 2)

Triathletes, marathon runners' extreme slog could wear out hearts, research suggests

The long bouts of hard exercise done by triathletes and marathon runners may be trimming years off their lives by causing tiny tears within their hearts, emerging research suggests.

Runners have occasionally dropped dead during a marathon, but now US heart specialists have assembled evidence indicating long-term problems may be building up for many more endurance athletes.

Can Running Kill You? (part 1)

In a five-kilometer race Thanksgiving morning, Ralph Foiles finished first in his age group, earning the 56-year-old Kansan a winner's medal.

Or was it a booby prize?

Bono Busking in Dublin

Running with God

 

When Christian Blanchard crossed the finish line at the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville last weekend, he pointed upward and, neither elated nor disappointed, thought, "Oh, I just finished a marathon. Thanks, God."

He crossed the finish line after 26.2 miles in 3:28:21 -- placing first in his age group of 19 and under.

Blanchard is 17.

Barefoot Running Will Strengthen Your Feet

Every Friday morning for the past six months, Shelly Kannel and Jon Braunersreuther have stopped after running five of their six one-mile speed intervals on a high school track, removed their running shoes and dashed the last mile barefoot. But only one mile.

The idea, they say, is to strengthen their feet and lower legs. And it's worked.

The Anthropology of Long-Distance Running

The marathon likely began not in Greece, but on the vast savannahs of Africa some two million years ago. Under a beating equatorial sun, the runners would have plunged through the grass, aiming toward a column of circling buzzards many miles in the distance. Beneath the buzzards lay a fresh kill. And the runners -- our distant ancestors -- would have been racing the clock for survival: If they were fast, they would find food for their families; but if they were slow, they would find only bones, picked clean by other scavengers.

Running is My ... Life

The long winter months take a heavy toll on the recreational athlete. Many let their running shoes gather dust in closets or allow their bicycles to lean dejectedly against cellar walls. They resign themselves to watching their sleek lines grow softer, and some may even be grateful for the rest.

Getting a Date at the Gym

What's the single largest grumble from gym-going males? It has nothing to do with feeling the burn, the lack of cardio machines, or the questionable stains on those complimentary shower towels. Surprise! It's how to talk to women who work out.

85 year old passes 50,000 mile marker

Paul Merriman's seven grown children have arrived from as far away as Vermont to celebrate their 85-year-old father's having run 50,000 miles.

They've set up a portable canopy in Memorial Park and lined a section of the new Outer Loop Trail with Burma Shave-style signs - "See Paul run! 50,000." A whimsical cake decorated with a runner in a red shirt, sweat band and socks sits on a table, surrounded by individual Rice Krispies treats shaped to spell out "Paul's 50,000." There's a banner, too, and everyone is taking photos of each other in their red "Paul Merriman's 50,000th Mile" T-shirts.

Running is Such a Great Sport

Tucsonans getting ready for Sunday's marathon

Marathons are not just for the young and agile.

Athletes of all ages will hit the pavement Sunday during the 26.2- mile Jim Click Tucson Marathon, the Gadabout Marathon Relay and the 13.1-mile Lute and Bobbi Olson Half-Marathon.

Started at age 50

Beverly Schulz estimates that she has run 20 marathons - in addition to two 50-milers and a half-dozen triathlons - all in the last nine years.

If My Wings Should Fail Me, Lord

How Old are Your Telomeres?

Recently, scientists in Germany gathered several groups of men and women to look at their cells’ life spans. Some of them were young and sedentary, others middle-aged and sedentary. Two other groups were, to put it mildly, active. The first of these consisted of professional runners in their 20s, most of them on the national track-and-field team, training about 45 miles per week. The last were serious, middle-aged longtime runners, with an average age of 51 and a typical training regimen of 50 miles per week, putting those young 45-mile-per-week sluggards to shame.

Infinity's a Great Place to Start

Does Mozart Save Lives?

It has been said that listening to classical music can make babies smarter, but now scientists are suggesting that Mozart's symphonies could actually save lives. Japanese researchers claim that listening to performances of Mozart's works and Verdi's La Traviata opera improved the outlook for mice undergoing heart transplants. Compared with monotone sounds, Verdi and Mozart significantly prolonged transplant organ survival, in some cases more than doubling it. However, new age music by Enya had no effect. Whether music could influence organ rejection in humans is unknown.

Running at 3 a.m. -- The Few, The Proud, The Crazy?

When Adam Reitz doesn't feel like waking up at 3:30 a.m. for his daily run, he reaches out for his phone and looks at the picture that changed his life.

Most days he doesn't need to reach for the phone. The image of himself 100 pounds heavier is engraved in his mind, as are the feelings associated with that picture.

Cross-Training -- Is it Blasphemy for Runners?

A wise runner once said, "The hardest thing for a runner to do is not run."

For me, truer words were never spoken. For more than two months, I continued to run despite suffering from a torn meniscus in my right knee. Sure, there was a little pain and discomfort in the knee when I ran, but isn't a little pain what running is all about? So, like most hard-headed, addicted-to-endorphins runners, I continued running - as much as 10 miles some days.

A Little Music to Run By

Chrissie Wellington's Rapid Rise

THIS time last year Chrissie Wellington was an adviser to David Miliband at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She did triathlons in the time she had free from writing briefs on international development.

Miliband has climbed the political pole since to become Foreign Secretary but his rise to Gordon Brown's right-hand man is nothing to the stratospheric leap his former adviser has made in the world of triathlon.

Western States 100 -- This Ain't Jogging

Somewhere out near the limit to human endurance you will find the Western States 100. It is billed as an endurance "race" of 100 miles, but clearly race is not the right term. The annual June run, from Squaw Valley over the rugged crests and valleys of the Sierra, is more like a carefully organized ordeal, a deliberate decision to push one's body and mind to (and in some cases beyond) the breaking point.

Hallucinations are not uncommon. Most participants lose many, if not all, of their toenails. Falls are common. Blood flows. Participants give in to despair and anguish over their ability to go on. And when they finish, often looking like near death, they sometimes collapse in an emotional heap and may need days, or weeks, to get back to normal.

Get the picture? This ain't jogging.

Running Just Kind of Snuck Up on Me

MAYBE IT'S MY farmer blood, but athletics was not a word I grew up with. We swam in the ocean, but that was really just jumping around in the waves. Hiking was acceptable, because that was Nature, which involved admiring the view and recognizing birds and plants and mountain ranges.

But athletics - the idea of spending an afternoon playing tennis or soccer, and even worse, in uniform (Raver 16) - well, the unspoken feeling in our family was that this was frivolous. If you were going to go out and sweat and build muscles, why not bring the hay in at the same time? Or build a new pighouse?

So when a friend talked me into running the "Dreaded Winter Series," six short races that weave about Middle Island in January and February, my parents were rather nonplussed.

"Aren't you a little old for that?" asked Dad, who's 81. Running, in his view, is something children do, and refrigerators, if they're GE.

Quieting the Inner Critic

Many of us have a critical inner voice. It may not be unforgiving, but it's enough to make us unhappy, sometimes profoundly so, even when we know we've got everything going for us – an interesting job, a loving family, good health. And we try to talk our way out of the doldrums, often with a voice as harsh as Jeremy's.

"We ask ourselves, 'What have I got to be depressed about?'" says Williams. "'What's wrong with me? Snap out of it.' It's a brooding loop. Mindfulness gives us the resources to step outside that loop. It teaches us to objectify our thoughts for what they are: just thoughts. You don't have to argue with them, just notice them." The same applies to memories.

"If you think of the mind as the sky, then negative thoughts are dark clouds. It's about learning to be with that weather, and not blaming yourself for it. It's about seeing the mind's patterns more clearly – and not taking them personally – and finding a place of stillness within yourself where the storm is not raging."

Warren Kay and the Sacred Art of Running

It's not that Warren A. Kay sees God lurking among the bushes during his morning jogs.

But for this longtime distance runner, running and spirituality are inseparable. So connected are the two, says the Merrimack College theology professor, that one can actually "experience the divine in the physicality of running" and have a conversation with God while on the track.

Allow him to explain.

Incline Training

Benefits of Incline Training

1. Greater heart rates: Research shows that  walking only two mph at a 24% incline yields greater heart rates than running six mph at zero incline. Meaning that incline training is a highly effective way to get in shape and train your heart, without painful joint impact and jarring.

Three Minute Mile?

ONE thing is certain about an athletics world record... it will always be broken.

As athletes become ever fitter and as coaches discover new tweaks to techniques, even feats once deemed insurmountable are surpassed.

'Close to its perfection point'

The Hardrock 100 -- A Taste

The instructions for the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run are easy to sum up but hard to pull off.

"If you see a mountain in front of you, climb it," race director Dale Garland told 140 runners gathered at the starting line earlier this month. "If you see a snowfield, go down it. If you see a creek, cross it ... And remember the No. 1 rule, no whining."

Raw Honey is Another Elixir

Raw honey is more than just a natural sweetener. Honey has a variety of uses in your beauty regimen and for medicinal purposes.Raw honey, which is not pasteurized or refined, can be especially useful because of its nutritional properties.Although you may have heard about the benefits of raw honey, you might be surprised at some of the creative ways it can be used:

Eight new ways to use raw honey

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

A new study has proved an old saying 'healthy mind lives in a healthy body'.

Researchers from University of Gothenburg in Sweden have revealed that regular exercise boosts brain power of young adults.

It improves blood flow to the brain that could help build new brain cells.

Do Running Shoes Hurt Our Feet?

The world's runners spend $25 billion a year on shoes with ever more hi-tech gizmos designed to help them go faster and further ... but they could be hurting more than their wallet

AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY, California, two sales representatives from Nike were watching the athletics team practise. Part of their job was to gather feedback from the company's sponsored runners about which shoes they preferred. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult that day as the runners all seemed to prefer... nothing. "Didn't we send you enough shoes?" they asked head coach Vin Lananna

They had, he was just refusing to use them. "I can't prove this," the respected coach told them. "But I believe that when my runners train barefoot they run faster and suffer fewer injuries." Nike sponsored the Stanford team as they were the best of the very best

Train Like Jane

When it's workout time at Core Fitness Chicago, out comes the sledgehammer. And the 80-pound bag of mulch. And the 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee for pushing across a rooftop parking lot while someone steps lightly on the brake.

Don't even bother looking for a treadmill.

If such exercise sounds ambitiously modern, it's not; those tools are meant to imitate the way humans stayed healthy 10,000 years ago.

Men's Muscles and Sexual Selection

Sexual selection and men’s muscles

The price and privilege of beefcake

WHY are men’s muscles so much bigger than women’s?

Partly, of course, because men do the fighting and hunting. But also, perhaps, because women like men who can do these things well, and are thus attracted to muscular men. Both phenomena--competing with members of the same sex and showing off to members of the opposite--are subject to a form of evolution known as sexual selection. It is sexual selection that created the deer’s antlers and the peacock’s tail, and William Lassek of the University of Pittsburgh and Steven Gaulin of the University of California, Santa Barbara, think it explains men’s muscles as well.

Marathons: Recovery is Variable

Recovery Is Littered With Variables

I ran my first marathon this month. It went well, and despite my fears, I had fun. I met my goals - qualified for the Boston Marathon with nearly half an hour to spare and came in second in my age group. But the big surprise was my coach's advice the next day.

It will take four weeks to fully recover, he told me. That seemed like an awfully long time.

Pat Farmer and the 21,000-kilometre Pole-to-Pole Run

PAT FARMER has dodged polar bears, evaded rogue militias and braved snow blizzards during a 21,000-kilometre run from the North Pole to the South Pole to raise funds for the Red Cross.

The former federal Liberal MP and intrepid athlete has returned to Sydney after running through 14 countries and raising almost $100,000.

Icing: Good or Bad?

Several years ago a team of Japanese researchers put a dozen college-aged men on exercise bicycles for four to six weeks of training. Following each workout, the research subjects stuck one limb in an ice bath at temperatures ranging from 5 degrees C to 10 degrees C (41 degrees F to 50 degrees F). The other limb stayed at room temperature, allowing everyone to serve as his or her own control.

The goal was to find out how much ice baths contributed to building fitness. The results were eye-opening.

For decades, post-workout ice baths have been a rite of passage for high school and college athletes. The theory was that if ice works for sprained ankles, it should also speed recovery from hard workouts, since these too involve tissue damage.

64-Year-Old Hitting His Stride

He looks like he has discovered a cure for aging. His body is taut. His smile is bright and wide. And at 64, Tom Pontac shows no outward signs of slowing down. Literally.

For Pontac became a newlywed last year, graduated from college in the spring and now plans to train as many of his new neighbors as he can to do what he loves most: run marathons.

Heel Strike: More Efficient for Walking?

Humans, other great apes and bears are among the few animals that step first on the heel when walking, and then roll onto the ball of the foot and toes. Now, a University of Utah study shows the advantage: Compared with heel-first walking, it takes 53 percent more energy to walk on the balls of your feet, and 83 percent more energy to walk on your toes.

Megan Stewart Focusing on the Next Rock

Losing toenails, hallucinating from exhaustion and blistered feet raw to the bone may sound like a form of torture, but it's just a small part of running 250km through one of the driest places in the world. Sam Scannell reports.

Exercise: Are You Longing for the Next Hit?

EXPERTS agree exercise is good for us. It can even be addictive, with those hooked constantly looking for the next hit.

Most of us have a healthy approach to exercise and a good balance of mind, body and spirit, but there are those for whom exercise becomes a deadly addiction.

16-Year-Old to Run Marathon with 80-Year-Old Grandpa

It's special for a 16-year-old boy to run his first full marathon.

But what makes it even more special for Victorville's Joseph Flores is that he's running with his 80-year-old grandfather.

Flores will participate in today's Los Angeles Marathon with 20 other or so Academy of Academic Excellence students as part of Students Run L.A., an organization that sponsors teenagers to run the marathon and provides guidance.

How to pump up your willpower

Don't do this: Worry yourself into a frenzy. Self-control is fundamentally incompatible with stress

Whether your aim is to lose five pounds, stop buying shoes or choose books over the boob tube, there is one thing essential for the winner's circle. Willpower. The bad news: This is never going to change. The good news: It is possible to strengthen your stick-to-it-iveness, so there's no reason why we all shouldn't be healthier, happier, brainier people by this time next month. Here, some tips to build up your iron will.

Running the Sahara

Among the accomplishments one might hope to amass over a lifetime, running the entire length of the Sahara may not come up on many personal to-do lists.

Yet that was the grueling goal for ultra-distance runners Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin. Their exhaustive exploits are explored in the documentary Running the Sahara, airing on Showtime (premiering Sunday, 9 ET/PT).

The three completed what's believed to be the first run across the world's largest desert.

Want to Gain Weight?

Want to gain weight?

Yes, you read it right. In a world obsessed with losing weight and staying skinny, there are also people who want to pile on a couple of pounds. Here's the healthy way to put on weight, says Zeenia F Baria.

Trying your best to put on weight but finding it tough? You aren't alone. Nutritionist Pooja Makhija says, "All foods consumed for weight gain must be calorie or nutrient dense. Most people who are trying to gain weight have small appetites, thus all the food they ingest must be calorie dense such that the total calorific value of the day increases, leading to weight gain. What they should avoid is piling on too many calories through foods that are high in saturated fats, as these are the bad fats that plague the arteries and lead to coronary heart disease. The most recommended way to gain weight would be through muscle gain. This requires a diet high in proteins with an exercise regime conditioned towards weight and functional training."

The Fine Line with Exercise

Too much exercise can be bad for your health. There is a fine line between being committed to exercise and being dangerously obsessed: some people literally become addicted to exercise. Those annoyed the gym is closed on New Year's Day, or that they'll miss their 10km run because the relatives are coming over should read on. Over-exercising is hardly a nationwide epidemic. For many, just doing any is a major hurdle. But many amateur aerobic athletes - especially joggers, weekend triathletes and gym junkies actually overtrain, which can lead to burnout, injuries, chronic fatigue and a weakened immune system.

Also, the lifestyle that puts exercise first and family and friends near the back of the pack can become a major source of regret in years to come. Serious exercisers don't like being told they train too much, especially by those who don't train at all. Exercisers and non-exercisers are from different planets. So unless people keep tabs on their own (over)training, they might end up sore, sorry and sedentary. Dr David Pyne, a sports physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, says there are four key symptoms of overtraining to monitor:

Hips Don't Lie

When it comes to running, the hips don't lie

Is running turning into a pain in the knees? It might actually be the hips that need your attention, according to a sports medicine expert at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu).

"The knees are usually the victims of the biomechanics that people run with," said Dr. Joseph Chorley (www.bcm.edu/pediatrics/sportsmedicine/index. cfm?pmid=17579), associate professor of pediatrics-adolescent and sports medicine at BCM and Texas Children's Hospital (www.texaschildrens.com).

A Few Thoughts about Bone Density

Young men may feel invulnerable, but as men get older, they grow wise to the ways of the body. As the years pile on, men begin to worry about heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, cognitive decline, and prostate disease - all with good reason. Faced with so many concerns, most gents are only too happy to cross "women's diseases" off their worry lists. It's understandable, but in the case of osteoporosis, it's a big mistake.

Hard facts

The Hammy has Healed

Long-awaited news. After somewhere around three months, 15 days, 21 hours and 17 minutes, I hereby proclaim my torn hamstring has healed.

It's not that I expect readers to give two figs about my health and fitness, but there's wisdom here for anyone who has ever soldiered through an extended recovery or might one day stumble onto this road.

TRAILS: The Runners and Injury Longitudinal Study

People who run strike the ground with a force of as much as 15 times their body weight.

So it's no surprise that the body, particularly joints, don't always react kindly.

Knees wear down, shin splints develop, tissues in the heel inflame.

Stephen Messier, a professor in the health and exercise science department at Wake Forest University, said that up to 65 percent of runners will develop an overuse injury.

Coach Jenny Talks about Nerves

As for those nerves? They're great for running, says Jenny Hadfield, a Chicago-based marathoner and coach who will be speaking in Calgary to talk about her own struggles with running and offer a few tips to get marathoners through their race.

"I'm always concerned when I talk to a first-timer who isn't nervous because that means they don't understand the magnitude of what they are about to do. Nerves are good. You can harness that nervous energy to help get you to the end."

Training for Badwater

Braised to perfection at 180 degrees, marinated in his own juices on a bed of wooden planks for 56 minutes, Greg Bomhoff emerged from the sauna piping hot and thoroughly cooked.

He glanced down at his body, seared pink with some darker shadings along his flanks. He smiled, nodded.

"I'd say I'm about medium-rare."

Gotta Run

It seems Megan Andrews has hardly stopped to take a breath during her entire athletic life. Just hearing about her daily routine is exhausting. But that's why she's a perfect fitness role model.

Her love affair with sports started in childhood. Andrews grew up running track, doing gymnastics, cheerleading, and playing basketball and softball. In college, she played soccer and danced with the Dixie Darlings of University of Southern Mississippi. Even after she earned two degrees and had a full-time job as BREC's marketing manager and director of special events, she couldn't sit still.

"I realized that I LOVE to eat, and the only way I could continue to enjoy that … was to remain active," she said.

The Lost Art of Sleep

Bed is the best place to read Michael McGirr's new book. Also, the worst.

Bed is the best place to read Michael McGirr's new book. Also, the worst. The Lost Art of Sleep is a light-hearted exploration of that third of our lives spent semi-conscious, if we're lucky, that also charts McGirr's experience with three children under two years old. One baby is disruptive enough to sleeping patterns; having twins soon after would seem to be disastrous.The book is more than a five-year journey of interrupted sleep, it is a way for McGirr to lovingly capture the memory of his children at a special time in their lives. The Lost Art of Sleep is also peppered with stories of the sleeping habits, patterns and rituals of some of history's most influential figures, from the God creating rest on the seventh day on. And, while far from a self-help book, there is an examination of sleep disorders, insomnia, sleep apnoea, and the health effects of sleep deprivation.

The Mother of All Running Streaks -- 47 Years and Counting

Ronald "Ron" Hill, MBE, BSc, PhD (born 25 September 1938), is a noted runner and founder of Ron Hill and Hilly Clothing Company. Hill was born in Accrington, Lancashire, England. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, but never laid claim to the marathon world record.[nb 1] He has run two Olympic Marathons (Tokyo 1964 and Munich 1972), and has a personal marathon record of 2:09:28. In 1970, Hill won the 74th Boston Marathon in a course record 2:10:30. He also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in 1969 and the Commonwealth Games in 1970.

The Anti-Gravity Treadmill

The anti-gravity developed by NASA to help astronauts stay in shape, an anti-gravity treadmill sounds like something from the pages of a science-fiction novel.

But the technology is now being used to improve the fitness of everyone from the world's top sportsmen and women to ordinary people overcoming injury.

And it's now come to a gym in Scotland, which is pioneering its use to improve people's fitness.

5,000 km Race Around a 1 km Track?

Auckland 'adrenalin junkie' pushed through pain and injury to run a torturous race, from morning to midnight for seven weeks

The following comes with a health warning.

Simply reading about this running event could induce severe pain.

Internal Dialogue is Rarely Helpful

We all have an internal dialogue that can drive us to greater heights or all-time lows. It's called "the little voice in our heads."

All of us engage in self talk. It's what drives us through a tough run such as the Boiler-maker Road Race. Unfortunately, it also can be the reason we rationalize eating that extra treat sitting on the counter.

Not All Addictions are Bad

One of the things I've been learning is that once you make exercise a habit, it's hard on you when you can't exercise for some reason. I think I've become a training addict!

In the beginning of creating any new habit, including the habit of training, it can be difficult. Once you commit to a new program, you have a certain amount of enthusiasm, but that only lasts so long. The hard part is to sustain your motivation beyond that initial period of enthusiasm.

Marathons: Do Slow Runners Disrespect the Event?

The universal symbol of running has always been the winged foot, an embodiment of the pursuit of speed.

But that emblem has begun to give way to a new symbol -- the penguin -- that reflects a growing movement of extremely slow runners who are changing the character of American road racing.

Embracing a kind of slow chic, this new breed of runners emphasizes fun over achievement, rejecting the traditional asceticism of road racing for a more relaxed, noncompetitive ethos. They have cheerfully adopted the penguin for its girth and its waddling gait, and they amble their way through marathons, stopping not only for a drink but to dance or cheer or simply take in the flowers. Many members of this new wave in running will be on display Sunday during the 30th New York City Marathon.

Kelly McGonigal: The Willpower Instinct

This is powerful stuff. Applies to work, family, spousal relations, parenting. Athletics.

Interestingly, regular cardiovascular increases your willpower not just to continue exercising, but also to eat better, worker harder, etc.

Dean Karnazes, Lisa Tamati, and Badwater: What Else Do We Need?

Are fish-oil pills really as good as advertised?

A flurry of new research on fish-oil supplements is raising eyebrows as well as questions about just how "miraculous" those omega-3 fatty acids really are. "Live long, stay strong," say the ads for fish-oil pills, touting not only omega-3s' familiar heart-health benefits but also mental and cellular protection. But recent clinical trials have reminded nutrition scientists that, after all, the strongest data linking omega-3s and reduced cardiovascular risk come from observational studies:

All whole grains are not alike

Women younger than 50 need about 25 grams of fiber per day, and men younger than 50 need 38 grams (the daily values are a few grams lower for adults older than 50). But on average, American women get about 13 grams and men 17 grams, according to a 2005 report by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine.

Have you Tried a Foam Roller Yet?

The foam roller is a lightweight, cylindrical roller designed to help improve balance, flexibility, strength and muscle awareness. As simple as it looks, just one attempt at an abdominal exercise on the roller will convince you of its value.

365 Marathons in 365 Days?

Stefaan Engels (born 7 April 1961, Ghent, Belgium), also known as "marathon man", is a Belgian marathoner and triathlete, the first man who finished 365 consecutive marathons in a single year with 365 marathons completed in 2010.He also holds the record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year with 20 over 2007 and 2008.

Engels averaged around four hours to complete each marathon with a best time of 2 hours and 56 minutes. He ran 15,401 kilometres (9,570 mi) during his marathons over 2010. Engels said that a slow pace was the key. Before him, the record was held by Ricardo Abad Martínez of Spain with 150 marathons in a row in 2009. Abad is the current world record holder.

Is the Best Shoe No Shoe at All?

UNTIL he met a reclusive tribe of near-mythical athletes at the bottom of a Mexican canyon, the late Micah True, aka Caballo Blanco, could never figure out why his running injuries got worse as his running shoes got better. Then, the Tarahumara Indians taught him a lesson that even Nike is now starting to embrace: the best shoe may be no shoe at all.

True wasn't the only one baffled by the injury mystery. For years kinesiology professors, physical therapists and athletic-shoe designers have been puzzling over the same paradox: if running shoe protection and cushioning have improved, why haven't injuries among joggers decreased?

To crosstrain or not to crosstrain?

When it comes to crosstraining, keep in mind that the ACSM guidelines recommend it for overall health--not for sport-specific performance. This is crucial because it reconciles what sometimes seems like conflicting evidence.

After Losing a Leg, New Races to Be Won

Jarryd Wallace came home from church on a springtime Sunday in 2008 to an afternoon any runner would find inviting, especially a middle-distance high school state champion like him who was passionate about his sport.

Wallace laced up his shoes and took off into the sunlight, only to feel the pain that had long nestled in his right leg gripping tighter than ever, forcing him to stop.

It's Never too late to Start

Barb Wnek counts herself as an example of what older people can be if they keep in shape doing something they like. Soon to be 61, Wnek is on the front end of the generation often called "aging baby boomers."

Memory formation and sleep deprivation

There may be a link between the way memories are formed and the adverse effects of sleep deprivation

SLEEP deprivation is an uncomfortable experience. In drivers and workers it can lead to fatal accidents. In those under interrogation it can lead to confession. But why it does what it does is mysterious--as, indeed, is the purpose of sleep itself.

Dave Brewer: Addicted to Running?

Dave Brewer likes to run. He ran yesterday. If he’s alive and not in traction, he ran today. He ran every day last month, and every day last year, too, and on April 16, 2011, he will celebrate one quarter of a century without missing a single day of covering at least two miles. In the running world, people like him are called streakers, but Brewer, a 56-year-old financial manager from Herndon, Va., says “the technical term is ‘idiot.’ ” Brewer is also modest. I learned about the streak only because I was bragging to him—he’s an old friend—about jogging six days a week for a year, and he casually mentioned it.

Wonders of Walking

Walking may seem to be putting minimal demand on the body to qualify as an effective endurance exercise, but nothing could be further from the truth.As a matter of fact, walking ranks among the top five aerobics activities in the benefits it can produce in the body."It just takes longer to achieve the same level of fitness with walking than with running or some of the more strenuous activities, " said Kenneth Cooper in his best seller 'Running without fear'.

Midlife Crisis? Start Running!

Paul O’Grady, who recently turned 50, on running with ‘The Bucket Listers’

When did you start running and why?

59 and Still Loving Exercise

Jeanne Sutherland of Memphis was in her 20's and anxious to get in shape when the mother of a friend urged her to just do "something" for 30 minutes each day. "That was so do-able. I wanted to get healthy and shape up. That was a realistic way to begin." It was in early 1970s. Before too long Sutherland was hooked.

"Martha Pipkin was my first teacher. Back in those days (her class) was at Idlewild Presbyterian Church. We would do sit-ups to Martha singing the Lord's prayer."

930 Mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Diane Van Deren had never heard of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the 930-mile trail that stretches from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey's Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks.

She's more intimately familiar with it now.

Strength Training: A Few Thoughts

There are a few general rules when establishing a weight training routine. If you are just starting out or are relatively new to the exercise scene, you would most likely want to follow the guidelines for both strength and endurance, or a "combination program."

Don't let 'I want' defeat 'I will' and 'I won't

Time magazine runs the same kind of article at least once a year - a testament to Americans' endless battle with self-control. But I have seen these themes deftly treated in a very different format: in Dallas Willard's 2002 book, Renovation of the Heart.

Willard is not a brain scientist but a professor of philosophy at USC.

His insights, however, fit well with what current research is revealing.

Kluger quotes Kelly McGonigal of Stanford, author of The Willpower Instinct as saying, "Our brains operate at three levels: I will, I won't, I want. For many of us, the I-want part wins" - even when that means compromising our own well-being.

The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg
Random House, $28.00 
274 pages

The basal ganglia is a golf ball-sized lump of tissue in the brain, the importance of which was not well understood until the early 1990s. It was then that a team of scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology noticed that rats with impaired basal ganglia developed problems with tasks such as remembering how to open food containers.

By surgically implanting tiny sensors into the test animals' brains, the scientists were able to track the way the brain responded as rats hunted for chocolate in a labyrinth. There were no set patterns of behavior as the rats sniffed out the chocolate. To the casual observer, it appeared as if the animals were idly meandering about. The electronic sensors told a different story, however: the rodents' brains were working furiously as they navigated the maze.

199 Pounds in Less than a Year

It started out as one of those typical New Year's resolutions, a friendly -- but spirited -- bet between spouses that likely would be forgotten once the calendar turned to February or March.

This one, though, was far different.

Peanut Butter is a Quick, Healthy Choice

Here is my case for the perfect get-out of-the-house-quickly breakfast.

As children we knew it intuitively. The much-celebrated and loved peanut butter sandwich, with a few nutritional twists, can send us out into the world with energy and a smile on our faces. The Aztec native Americans first made peanut butter by mashing peanuts, and other nuts, into a gooey paste. George Washington Carver brought care.com. widespread planting and cultivation of the peanut to the South.

Ultras: If You Can't Go Faster, Go Further

THE SPORTING mind has always been seduced by athletic speed, racing, getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Human against human, human against the clock, we are a species of racing and records.

A few years ago, a New Zealand biophysicist plotted the progression of the men's mile record over a 70-year period. Extrapolation then led him to predict that on Aug. 1, 2528, the mile will be run in no time, "a feat," he remarked, "which would presumably ruin athletics as a spectator sport." Within the humor of that comment lies an implacable truth: All speed records are moving toward finite limits.

Five Good Fiber Habits

To have proper digestion and a fast metabolism, regular consumption of fibre and water is essential. They are necessary for your system to run efficiently and effectively. Poor food choices speed up the breakdown of body tissues, which leads to the existence of fat in your body. We are, definitely, what we eat.

Trail Running Takes a Different Mindset

HUDSON - Running is running, right? Well, trail running is a little different from road running, according to people who do both. Here's their advice to new trail runners:

Be committed

Trail running takes more motivation. "It's a lot easier to run out your front door," said Eddie Lloyd. A trail runner may drive 20 miles to get to his or her favorite trail.

Running with God

"Running that day became for me, as I'm sure it has for others, a mystical experience. A proof of the existence of God."

-- Dr. George Sheehan, "Running and Being"

As she approached the 2-mile marker along the wooded path, Elisa Torres imagined the perfect place to run.

"I'd love to run in Dublin," she said, puffing as she slowed her pace to a walk along the Kent Trails south of John Ball Park.

Want More Energy?

Question: I need your help. I have always been active but lately, I just don't have the energy to do anything. I'm tired all the time, am experiencing various health issues (high blood pressure and my weight has skyrocketed) and seem to have lost my motivation. What do you suggest?

Answer: Well, to put it bluntly, it's called exercise. Exercise lowers blood pressure, reduces body fat and raises "good" cholesterol, lowers "bad" cholesterol improves blood flow, keeps intestines and the colon healthy and regulates key hormones.

The Sheboygan Press

I would suggest that you take a moment to think about how you felt when you were active and ask yourself what it will take to get you fired up to begin exercising again. To help you out, I have included some helpful tips:

1. DO: consistent cardio

The verdict is in: People who exercise almost daily really do keep ticking longer. Aerobic exercise such as walking, biking, jogging, and swimming protects your heart by lowering blood pressure, reducing "bad" cholesterol, and keeping arteries flexible to improve blood flow.

Suggested workout: 30 minutes, five days a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Work at a pace that allows you to talk freely; if you can sing, you're not exercising hard enough. To get started, choose an activity you enjoy and do 10 minutes, five days a week. Then increase by five minutes each week until you're doing 30 minutes at a time. Dividing your exercise into three 10-minute bouts throughout the day works, too.

Weightlifting: Whys and Hows

Why am I lifting weights?

That is the biggest question that a lot of people that hit the gym can t answer honestly. And then, they wonder why they don t see a change in their body and lose interest just as fast as they gained it.

First of all, you must decide what your goals are for hitting the gym. What is it that you want to accomplish with your weight training and cardio regimen. Do you want to be more competitive in your sport of choice? Do you want to lose weight, or tone up, or get bigger or stronger? Once you answer that question, then and only then, can you devise a program that is right for what you are trying to do. And, then the fun part begins, and that is trying to tailor a workout designed to fit your needs.

7 Running Feats

Below are brief descriptions of some of the greatest accomplishments in endurance running. Even if you've never run a mile in your life you have to respect these athletes for their achievements.

    Three men running across Sahara desert Three men ran 4,000 miles across the Sahara desert in 111 days. Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin ran the equivalent of two marathons a day for 100 days to become the first modern runners to cross the Sahara Desert's grueling 4,000 miles. They were stricken with tendinitis, severe diarrhea, and knee injuries all while running through the intense heat and wind, often without a paved road in sight. Temperatures varied from over 100°F during the day to below freezing at night. Typical day: up at 4:00am, run until lunch, eat, run until 9:30pm. Then get up and do it again... for 111 days.

Are Low-Fat Diets Right for Runners?

If you're thinking about or already training to run or race-walk in the Bolder Boulder next month, or perhaps planning to do a longer race event this summer, don't forget diet as part of your pre-event preparations.

And don't be misled into thinking that going low fat is the nutritional pathway to the finish line.

Ultras: A Snapshot

The sun beats down on Mike Tselentis as he passes the aid station, grabs two small pieces of watermelon and heads back onto the course at Gibson Ranch.

He has been running for six hours, his 71 year old body showing few signs of strain as the temperature climbs above 90 degrees and the clock ticks past 1 p.m. at this 24-hour endurance run.

How does he feel?

"It's too early to tell," he says.

Nearly 18 hours later, it's too late to care.

Karnazes Kraziness

Forbes: Dean, what does a typical training week look like for you?

DK: I like to get up early around 4 or so and if possible run a marathon before breakfast. In the afternoon, I’ll do some shorter speed work–maybe some tempo work with an eight to ten mile run. The next day I have a favorite loop I do on the ElliptiGo that is two hours and it is pretty sustained. It is climbing and I spin out my legs. I rotate typically one day run, one day ElliptiGo. Sometimes I mix it up with morning run and afternoon ElliptiGo. I do a lot of cross training with resistance also.

I’m doing a 135 run across Death Valley in July. I have to do a couple of 75 or 100 mile training runs. It sounds absurd, but you have to do it to condition your body. I go through a lot of audio books.

The 30-minute fat blaster

Limited time for the gym?

Here's how to make the most of it.

FIND AN EMPTY MACHINE Don't worry if it's not your favorite type of cardio. You won't be there long, instead of slogging away on one machine for your entire workout your new goal is to rotate among three to four different options, hitting each as hard as possible and keeping your rest period between machines as short as possible.

Shhhh. Wanna Know the Kenyans' Secret?

'You want to know what the secret is? That there is no secret." Brother Colm O'Connell, a retired Irish priest and one of Kenya's top running coaches, is almost spitting with delight as he talks to me. We are standing in the grounds of St Patrick's school in Iten, Kenya. On the grass in front of us, his athletes are going through their warm-up drills. Among them is the tall figure of David Rudisha, world champion and world record holder for the 800m.

Walnuts Anyone?

Prostate cancer is a major health concern for men that strikes approximately one in six men and is a leading cause of male cancer deaths in the United States(1). New research offers hope in this fight - according to findings published in the British Journal of Nutrition, walnuts may help reduce prostate cancer risk. Researchers at the University of California - Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California found that prostate tumors in mice fed the human equivalent of three ounces per day of walnuts were approximately 50% smaller and grew 30% slower than prostate tumors in control mice. In addition to lower plasma Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a biomarker strongly associated with prostate cancer, walnut fed mice had lower LDL (bad) cholesterol as well as distinct differences in their liver metabolome, a chemical inventory of what the liver - a major source of both IGF-1 and cholesterol - is doing (see also California Walnut Commission).

Kirk Robertson Sheds 170 Pounds, Becomes Ultra Runner

Old friends no longer recognize him.

"I've been fat since I was five," said 33-year-old Kirk Robertson of Broken Arrow.

The man transformed himself from a 340-pound liver disease sufferer to a healthy 170-pound ultramarathon runner in less than two years.

Double-Amputee Finishes Badwater

A FORMER soldier who had an arm and leg blown off clearing landmines has completed one of the world's toughest ultra marathons.

What's the Go-To Group on Your iPod?

A right number can turn your otherwise dull workout into the most fun and anticipated time of the day. Whether it's cycling, intense cardio routines or heavy lifting, here's how you can make your exercise experience more pleasurable by just pressing 'play'.

Mike Le Roux Seeking to Complete the Grand Slam of Ultras

CAIRNS endurance athlete Mike Le Roux has turned his attention and voluminous lung capacity towards becoming the first Australian to complete the four most prestigious 160km races in the US in the one season

Badwater Badasses

The Badwater Ultramarathon is a terrifying race - 135 miles, on pavement, through Death Valley's 116-degree

average temperatures. The gun goes off July 16 near Badwater, Calif. (282 feet below sea level), and the race ends

48 hours later on Mount Whitney (8,360 feet above sea level), more than halfway up the highest peak in the continental U.S. Here's what this year's five military runners had to say about the long road to Death Valley:

Do You Stretch?

The pros do it. We should, too.

Stretching can keep us loose and limber, able to do more. It can relax us, which is a boon to sleep and stress reduction. And it can release muscle tension, easing headache or back pain. Although stretching is an easy way to exercise, exercise tapes often give it lip service or skip it entirely. So do many joggers and other weekend warriors - until muscle pulls send them to a doctor.

Why stretch?

Success is a Marathon

When you feel good, it shows. How adopting healthy habits can help you reach professional peaks:

• Vary that pace. Think it's most productive to go from task to task in a steady pace? "We call this being linear," Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, a fitness consultancy, told IBD.

The problem is people don't operate like monotonous robots. "The human brain will just check out," he said.

The Trail Beckons

Myra Rhodes catches flak from her tennis buddies for running ultramarathons. They figure she should stick to something less taxing at 70.

Diana Lundy hears a similar response if she mentions her sport at work. Running 31-, 50- and 100-mile races?

Why?

Biking Around the World

Walking Works

The next time someone tells you to "take a hike," do it.

Doctors says the cardiovascular workout is great for the heart, fitness trainers say it's a good way to lose that paunch, physical therapists say it strengthens the back.

Worm Elixir for World Record Holder

On a trip to New York in January to receive a prestigious international sports award, Chinese running phenom Wang Junxia, 20, told reporters that her daily regimen consists of up to 22 miles of running and a diet that usually includes worms, extract of caterpillar fungus, and the blood of soft-shell turtles.

26 Years Between Marathons

The last time Shirley Douglas ran a marathon, she was 35 - young confident, and a little naive.

When she toes the start line of the Oakland Marathon on Sunday, Douglas will be 61. While she might be a little slower, she feels a lot better prepared, and she says there's a good chance she'll be healthier and happier when she finishes her 26.2 miles.

Tea is Good for You

The health effects of tea have been examined ever since the first infusion of Camellia sunensis about 4700 years ago in China .The legendary emperor Shennong claimed in The Divine Farmer,s Herb-Root Classic that Camellia sinensis infusions were useful for treating conditions including tumors ,abscesses, bladder ailments and lethargy.

Some studies have been made of the other types of tea derived from Camellia sinensis, such as white, oolong and black tea.Green tea has been claimed to be helpful for atherosclerosis, LDL cholesterol , cancer , inflammatory bowel disease , diabetes ,liver disease ,weight loss ,neurodegenerative diseases and even halitosis.

What makes green tea so special?

Former 3-Pack-a-Day Smoker Hits Running Milestone with Daughter

When Mary Signorelli ran her first marathon in Chicago in 1998, she remembers thinking, "I'd never do another one."

Boy, was she wrong.

Lisa Koll Uhl is Now a Famous Athlete

When a fifth-grade class was asked to write a report about a "famous athlete," Maggie Pollard didn't hesitate.

Her subject, of course, would be Lisa Koll.

Lisa Koll Uhl Ovecomes Shoe to Make Olympics

To make the U.S. Olympic team, former Iowa State star Lisa Uhl had to become her own NASCAR pit crew.

Uhl's shoe came untied a mile into the women's 10,000-meter run Friday at the Olympic Trials.

The Fort Dodge native was forced to stop at the side of the track to re-tie the shoe — losing 50 to 75 meters on the field — and fraying nerves at rain-soaked Hayward Field.

30 Years of Running without Missing a Day

Last month, Dr. Harvey B. Simon celebrated the 30th anniversary of his running streak.

In other words, he has run every day for 10,987 consecutive days. The last time he took a pass -- he was feeling a bit sore after a marathon -- was Oct. 30, 1978.

Are 5ks Enough?

Think a 5K isn't tough enough? Think again

Running a 5K seems simple enough. Lace up the shoes, hit the chronography button on your sports watch and vroom! You're off.

The Berry Boost

Scientists are identifying a growing range of benefits from eating berries, says WHETHER they are in or out of season, berries are in demand for more than simply tasting good and adding colour to mealtimes. More and more nutrition specialists say berries are a powerful boost for our bodies.

An increasing range of nutritional benefits is also being identified, says UK dietician Dr Catherine Collins.

Who is Tim Twietmeyer?

Tim Twietmeyer works hard to maintain and nurture his relationships - with his wife, his children, his colleagues and the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.

The four-time champion and 15-time participant of the 24-year-old race will defend his title Saturday, but unlike other runners of his caliber, he says his primary motivation is not to win.

Is 30 Miles a Week or More too Much?

For people who exercise but fret that they really should be working out more, new studies may be soothing. The amount of exercise needed to improve health and longevity, this new science shows, is modest, and more is not necessarily better.

That is the message of the newest and perhaps most compelling of the studies, which was presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in San Francisco. For it, researchers at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and other institutions combed through the health records of 52,656 American adults who'd undergone physicals between 1971 and 2002 as part of the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. Each participant completed physical testing and activity questionnaires and returned for at least one follow-up visit.

The researchers found that about 27 percent of the participants reported regularly running, although in wildly varying amounts and paces.

The scientists then checked death reports.

Running the Sierra in the Winter

Tim Twietmeyer craved pancakes, eggs and bacon, with a milkshake on the side. Bill Finkbeiner looked forward to anything but more Gu and Clif bars. And Dean Karnazes dreamed of a hot tub and a beer.

Considering what they had just accomplished, how could anyone say no?

Why We Run

IT’S SAID THAT writing about music is like dancing about architecture, and there’s a similar dilemma with running. It isn’t a process that readily transfers into words. Running, especially long distances, often becomes such a compelling or even spiritual experience that it seems beyond words, or at least those easily written.

Lisa Tamati Running the Globe

Ultra runner Lisa Tamati is gearing up to run in the historical footsteps of endurance legends for her upcoming television series Run the Planet.

Along with Australian Chris Ord, Tamati plans to travel the globe and experience some of the extreme endurance measures taken by different cultures over ancient and modern times.

Are Treadmills the Right Choice for You?

Running on a treadmill and running outside are both excellent forms of aerobic exercise, but they're not identical. There are subtle differences you need to consider when choosing one over the other. Here are the pros and cons of each.

Environment is the most obvious. When it's snowing, raining or extremely hot, running outside can be difficult or impossible.

Running is Good for You

A new study links cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood to increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement later in life. This comes from proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

Middle-aged professional athletes who ran about 50 miles a week and had done so for many years had cellular proteins more effective in preventing cell death than healthy, non-athletes of similar age who did not exercise regularly. Translation of this report in the journal, Circulation, is that exercise can keep the body young in middle age.

Moderate-to-high intensity exercise such as jogging, swimming or tennis may help reduce stroke risk in older men by as much as 60 percent, but a similar protective effect was not seen in women, as reported in the journal, Neurology.

Tips for Race Supporters

Sacrifice

Be prepared to wake up as early as 4am. Some races start before sunrise.

Observe and snap

I was the team photographer. While the runners were warming up, I got to soak in the atmosphere without thinking about the race or my rivals. It was interesting to observe the runners from the other side of the barrier. What a wonderful sight watching the runners from all over the world shaking hands and chatting at the start line. A good camera is helpful for this.

Triathlete, 56, follows strict regimen

Who: John Mozena, 56, Lake Oswego; 6 feet, 160 pounds.

Mozena is a podiatrist in private practice and a published writer. An Oregon native, he graduated from Central Catholic High School and the University of Oregon. He and his wife, Liz, have two daughters, ages 21 and 25. He coached his girls in every sport they played.

Workout: A triathlete, Mozena has six Ironman competitions under his belt as well as 13 half-Ironmans and more than 20 marathons. He competes all over the country and is trying to get to the world championships. His coach, Dave Caiverella, also is a doctor.

Mozena exercises at least 15 hours a week and at least 20 hours a week before a competition.

Western States 100: A Taste

Shortly before 5 o'clock Saturday morning, a few hundred of us will present ourselves to the starting line of the Western States Endurance Run.

A 10k Every Day

A FATHER-of-two is nearing the end of his 10k every day challenge in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Tim Bridle is due to finish his 365th 10,000 metre run on New Year's Eve after completing his first on New Year's Day.

60-Years-Old and 1,000 Miles Per Year

Erick Larson runs close to a thousand miles a year.

"I do four miles a day, four days a week," said the 60-year-old businessman.

It's something he's been doing since March 2000. He figures if he ran in one direction he'd be close to halfway around the world.

"At about 10,000 miles, I will be coming back home," he said.

A Three-Minute Mile?

ONE thing is certain about an athletics world record... it will always be broken.

As athletes become ever fitter and as coaches discover new tweaks to techniques, even feats once deemed insurmountable are surpassed.

'Close to its perfection point'

A Runner Who Smokes?

Roger Smith sets a digital scale on the floor of his Teaneck apartment. Then he takes two gentle steps on top of it.

The 5-foot-10 Smith weighs a feathery 143.4 pounds this morning. If he goes running later, that number may drip down closer to 140.

Train Less, Run Faster?

Train less and run faster? As the London Marathon looms, runners of all abilities are racking up the miles across Britain, but many could be working too hard, according to trainer George Anderson.

Mo Farah & Alberto Salazar

Barring some unforeseen misfortune, such as injury, we are going to read and hear a lot about Mo Farah in the run-up to the London Olympics, in which case we should also expect to read and hear a lot of about Alberto Salazar.

Walnuts: Another Wonder Food?

WALNUTS are the healthiest nuts to eat, according to scientists

They are loaded with antioxidants and snacking on just seven a day could help ward off disease and lower cholesterol.  Walnuts contain very high levels of polyphenol, an anti-oxidant which can protect the body from molecules which damage tissue.

Synching our Brains to our Muscles

IN OUR series of articles, we have covered several key training workouts that you must incorporate into your training programme. These are the easy runs, long runs, time trials and progressive runs.

As you have noticed, all of these runs are at a relatively slower pace, which will help you meet the training objectives of cardiovascular development. If you run these runs too fast, you will not be able to run as long as you would like to, and thus limit the desired long-term benefits.

Running 80 Miles a Week Despite being a Mom with a Full-Time Job

Jackie Pirtle-Hall has been running between 70 and 85 miles a week for about a year now. That's an impressive feat for anyone, but Pirtle-Hall, 29, of St. Charles, is also a mother and full-time teacher at McCluer North High School.

Marathon runner juggles training, family, teaching: HOW I DID IT - Jackie Pirtle-Hall qualified for the Olympic trials with support from parents, husband.

Mom Runs 1,000 Miles for Charity

A year after seven San Clemente moms set out on Mother's Day 2011 to run 1,000 miles in 365 days, the group is doing more than that.

The moms, all of whom live in the Talega community, raised more than $15,000 for Acres of Love, a charity that rescues children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic in South Africa.

National Runner's Health Study: Part X

The Life Maximizer Workout

As you read earlier, Williams and Moussa determined that the health benefits of running increase as mileage increases up to 40 miles per week. Here is a routine that that you can do to safely and comfortably run 40 miles per week. This schedule uses workouts that range from 4 miles to a long run of 10 miles that is done one time per week. If you are currently unable to run the suggested distances, begin with your existing long run distance and build up by adding one mile each week until you reach the suggested workout mileage. Do most of these runs at an easy pace. To increase your level of fitness even more, do a couple of these weekly runs at a slightly harder pace. Do not do two harder runs on consecutive days. You will need an easy run between each hard effort for muscle recovery.

You do not have to limit yourself to 40 miles. You will continue to accrue fitness and race performance benefits up to about 75 or more miles per week. But, research has shown that health and life extension benefits begin to drop off sharply after about 40 miles per week.

Monday – 5 miles
Tuesday – 5 miles
Wednesday – 6 miles
Thursday – 4 miles
Friday – 5 miles
Saturday – 5 miles
Sunday – 10 miles

National Runner's Health Study: Part IX

The Life Saver Workout

Most fitness professionals recommend a minimum training volume that burns at least 1000 calories per week. Studies have shown that this amount of training will result in a 20% to 50% reduction of premature death. Use this simple training schedule to burn the minimum suggested 1000 weekly calories. Perform each workout at an easy to moderate pace. In order to obtain the desired result you must burn at least 1000 calories per week on a consistent basis for the rest of your life.

Monday – 1 mile
Tuesday – 2 miles
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – 2 miles
Friday – Off
Saturday – 2 miles
Sunday – 3 miles

National Runner's Health Study: Part VIII

Run On

There is not a doubt in the world that habitual, consistent runners live longer, healthier and happier lives. Running helps prevent, manage and reduce cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer and other diseases. It keeps your weight at a healthy level, lowers your blood pressure, reduces bad cholesterol, increases good cholesterol, builds your strength and improves your cardiac function. Running also reduces your stress level, anxiety and depression.

Runners that already have heart disease are slightly more at risk of sudden death during exercise than when they are at rest, but without exercise their risk of sudden death is greater at all times. If you currently have, or have a family history of, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, if you are a smoker or if you are over 50 you should be screened by your doctor before you begin or continue running.

Running is good for you and data shows that it will add years to your life. So run on. Runners do live longer.

National Runner's Health Study: Part VII

Is There a Dark Side?

One of my favorite movies when I was young was the original Star Wars. A part of that movie that has stayed with me over the years is the eerie scene involving the heavy and raspy breathing of Darth Vader, who represented the dark side.

Running provides many physical and mental health benefits, but is there a dark side to running? Some believe that there is. Occasionally a tragedy occurs in the sport of running. Runners that appear to be fit and healthy collapse and die during their race or training run. During the 2006 Los Angeles Marathon two men died after suffering a heart attack.  One runner suffered a heart attack 3 miles into the race while the other collapsed at mile 21. A third runner had a heart attack at the start of the race but survived.

Sudden death is not a common occurrence in running, even during a race as grueling and strenuous as the marathon. It is even rarer to see multiple deaths, such as the unfortunate events during the 2006 Los Angeles Marathon, but sudden deaths do occur. Studies vary in data concerning the number of sudden deaths among runners. One report said that about 7 of every 100,000 runners will die suddenly. Another recent study determined that sudden death associated with moderate to vigorous exercise was very low at 1 per 36.5 million hours of exercise.   In 2005, researchers conducted a study of 215,413 runners that competed in the Marine Corps and Twin Cities Marathons over a 30 year period .  The researchers found that only 4 sudden deaths occurred due to unsuspected heart disease. That is a very low .002% which is much lower than risks of sudden death among non-runners. Regardless of which numbers you choose to believe, the incidence of sudden death among runners is rare.

Sudden death during exercise is a relatively rare occurrence, but unfortunately it does happen. If running and exercise improves your health and extends your life, why do these tragedies happen? Does running increase the chances of sudden death? As with most complex questions, the answer is partly yes and partly no.

National Runner's Health Study: Part VI

How Far Should You Go?

As you can see there is no doubt that running will improve your health, increase your level of fitness and probably extend your life, but how far should you run? The answer to that question depends upon your current situation. Any amount of exercise will help. While most fitness professionals recommend a minimum weekly energy expenditure of 1000 calories (10 miles of running), burning as little as 500 calories (5 miles of running or walking) per week has been shown to be beneficial to your health. This is especially true for individuals who have been sedentary, have very low fitness levels, the frail or elderly. But there is also evidence that a much higher volume and intensity of exercise is more beneficial.

Berkeley researcher Paul Williams and assistant Davina Moussa conducted a study of 1,833 women as part of the National Runners Health Study. The study investigated the benefits of prolonged running. Williams and Moussa determined that running more miles resulted in greater health benefits, up to 40 miles per week. Running over 40 miles per week will continue to improve your level of fitness, but the researchers found that there were few health or life extension benefits obtained from running more than 40 miles per week.

National Runner's Health Study: Part V

Running Is a Bone Builder

Many critics of running will tell you that you should avoid it because it is a high impact activity. They will suggest that you should perform low-impact activities such as stationary bicycling or elliptical machines to minimize stress on your bones and joints. They are partly right but mostly wrong. They are correct that running is a high-impact activity. You are placing stress on your bones with each stride you take. They are wrong in suggesting that you should avoid all high impact exercise. Impact exercise is necessary in order to reduce the occurrence of osteoporosis.  This was proven by a recent investigation that showed athletes who participate in high impact sports have higher bone density when compared to athletes who engage in low impact sports.

Your bones are similar to your muscles in the fact that a lack of stress will result in weakness. If you do not exercise your muscles they will atrophy or get smaller and weaker. The same principle applies to your bones. If your bones are not consistently stressed, they will become weak and brittle. If you consistently stress them through high impact activities such as running or strength training, they will respond by growing stronger. Warburton and associates found that running 15 to 20 miles per week is associated with maintaining or building bone density.  Another study conducted in the year 2000 showed that intense physical activity led to a reduced incidence of hip fractures in the men studied.

Exercise also helps decrease the severity of existing osteoporosis. In a 6 month study, 98 older women with osteoporosis participated in high impact exercise training. The exercise improved their bone densities by .5% to 1.4%.

National Runner's Health Study: Part IV

Running – The Cancer Killer

There have been several studies that show that physical activity can help prevent many types of cancers, particularly colon and breast cancer. Walburton and fellow researchers reviewed over 100 studies and found that higher, more intense levels of physical activity such as running were more effective in protecting against cancer than lower level activities. They revealed that physically active men and women were 30% to 40% less likely to develop colon cancer and physically active women were at 20% to 30% less risk of developing breast cancer than their less active counterparts.

Current cancer patients can also benefit from running. One study investigated by Walburton and associates indicated that the most physically active breast cancer patients reduced their risk of cancer related death and recurrence of breast cancer by 26% to 40%.

National Runner's Health Study: Part III

Running is a Diabetes Buster

Insulin is a hormone that your body uses to covert sugar and other foods into energy.  Diabetes is a disease in which your body does not properly produce or use insulin, which can result in a dangerously high level of glucose in your blood.  The most common types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which your body fails to produce insulin. Without insulin, glucose cannot enter your cells to provide energy.  Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which your body produces insulin, but you develop an insulin resistance. Your body does not properly use the insulin that is available. Most individuals diagnosed with diabetes today have type 2.

Running will help prevent the development of diabetes and also help manage existing cases. Warburton and associates found that an increase in exercise of just 500 calories per week (about 5 miles of running) will decrease the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. The study also determined physically inactive men with type 2 diabetes were 1.7 times more likely to die prematurely than physically active men with type 2 diabetes.

National Runner's Health Study: Part II

Two Miles a Day Keeps the Grim Reaper Away

There is no question that running and other forms of physical exercise improve your health. What are the health benefits of running and how does it extend your life?  Funny you should ask! Researchers at the University of British Columbia investigated that very topic in March of this year.  In that study Warburton and associates found that recent research shows that sedentary individuals can reduce their risk of premature death between 20% and 50% by simply becoming more active. Even moderate amounts of running will decrease your levels of LDL (bad cholesterol), increase your HDL (good cholesterol), lower your blood pressure and improve your cardiac function. The researchers also found that if you increase the amount of calories you burn through physical exercise by 1000 calories or about 10 miles of running per week, you can reduce your risk of premature death by another 20%.

 
That’s great news for people who are healthy and do not currently have cardiovascular disease. What about those whom are already at risk?  Good news! The benefits of running also apply to individuals that already have cardiovascular disease. The researchers determined that burning around 1600 calories or 16 miles of running per week may stop the advancement of cardiovascular disease and 2200 calories or 22 miles of running per week could actually reverse the disease.

National Runner's Health Study: Part I

Imagine pulling up to the drive up window of your local drug store. You hand the pharmacist your prescription. In just a few minutes a fork lift shows up and plops a treadmill on top of your car! That’s right – your doctor prescribed a treadmill to improve your health and cure your illness!

OK – Maybe I am exaggerating just a bit. You probably won’t be picking up a treadmill at your neighborhood pharmacy, but more and more doctors are prescribing running and other forms of exercise to their patients. These doctors are learning what coaches, personal trainers and runners have known for years. Running is good for your physical and mental health.
If you are currently a runner you probably already knew that. One of the reasons you run is for the health benefits. If you are a new runner or are thinking about starting, you assume that running will improve your health and extend your life. Your assumption is correct. If you run consistently over your lifetime, a longer lifespan is the very probable outcome. A study completed last year in Rotterdam confirmed that. The researchers in Rotterdam concluded that people who run about 30 minutes per day - five days per week extended their lives by 3.5 to 3.7 years.

5 Marathons in 24 Hours . . . on a Treadmill

Octogenarian Runner will Carry Olympic Torch

A LIFETIME of running and coaching earned Leigh Harriers President Derek Howarth the honour of carrying the Olympic torch.

At 81 Mr Howarth, of Stone Cross Lane, Lowton, is the oldest runner at the famous athletics club and is delighted to have been chosen to take his place on the Olympic trail next month when he carries the torch along a stretch of the at Stockpot.

Robin Harvie: Why We Run

"ALL WHO have put on a pair of trainers will know the sense of freedom that comes with fresh air on the face miles from home," writes Robin Harvie in the prologue to his excellent book, Why We Run.

Running the Sahara with Charlie Engle: Part II

Charlie to be Released to Halfway House

Joe Nocera

I got an e-mail the other day from Richard Engle telling me that his son Charlie would be getting out of prison this month. I was happy to hear it.

Charlie’s ordeal isn’t over yet, of course. When he leaves prison on June 20, Charlie, 49, will move temporarily to a halfway house, after which he will be on probation for another five years. And unless he can get the verdict overturned, he will have to spend the rest of his life with a felony on his record.

Running the Sahara with Charlie Engle: Part 1

How Charlie Landed in Prison

by Joe Nocera

A few weeks ago, when the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, I wrote a column lamenting the fact that none of the big fish were likely to go to prison for their roles in the financial crisis.

Prescription: Running and No Refined Carbs

Chris Uszynski, 38, of Amherstburg surmounted a serious sports-related injury by becoming a running fool.

A terrible hockey hit dislocated my hips and landed me in hospital with four hip operations between the ages of 11 and 13. The rest of my adolescence was spent being very cautious about physical activity.

Update: 365 Marathons in 365 Days

Belgian runner Stefaan Engels set a Guinness World Record after crossing the finish line of his 365th consecutive marathon on Saturday.

Engels, dubbed the "Marathon Man," began the extreme physical challenge a year ago in Barcelona. He competed a race a day in seven countries: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S.

206 Marathons in 206 Days

Stefaan Engels wasn't sure his quest to run a full, 42-kilometre marathon every day for 365 days in a row was humanly possible when he started on Jan. 1. His friends were even less optimistic.

"They called it suicidal," the well-tanned and obviously fit 49-year-old from Belgium said yesterday in Montreal, his first stop in North America, a few hours before his weekly massage and daily jaunt.

Is Your Spouse Addicted to Exercise?

Dear Abbey:

What can I do to slow down my husband's compulsive exercising? He runs every morning at 5:30, even in the rain, even when we're traveling somewhere on vacation. In the afternoon he rides his bike and lifts weights. Sure, his body is lean and mean, but his working out gets in the way of activities with me and our children. He says he's just trying to be healthy.

Trail Running Can be Fun

Dan Quihuiz said his wife can run for miles on the paved portion St. Johns River Trail without a problem.

It's when she begins to reach Cutler Park that it's time to turn around to avoid running on the unpaved portion of the trail.

Running with God (Part 1)

Running has been a huge part of Andy Ploenzke's life since high school. Running has been a huge part of his son's life for as long as he can remember.

For Andy, running has become a spiritual endeavor, a way for the pastor of Prophetstown's First Congregational Church to communicate with God.

Until recently, running had been the opposite for his son, David.

I Got Your "Junk" Miles

If you are a recreational runner, there is a decent chance you've never even heard the phrase "junk miles." Despite clocking 30 miles per week, I certainly qualify as a "recreational runner," never having run long-distance in competition. However, I do read a lot of books and magazine articles about running, and it is here we find references to the junk-mile concept in abundance, usually by highly competitive types. 

Don't get me wrong, I respect the highly competitive types who find ways to motivate themselves by finding new training challenges for most of their runs (let's say 80%), with the balance of their miles (20% or less) constituting "junk," which might be defined as running for no other reason than to log the miles, and often in a slow and unpurposed fashion.

Well, since I don't compete, I suppose that makes most of my miles something close to "pure" junk.

Or does it?

Let me beg to differ.

Best Running Pic Ever?