75 and Still Running

Friends Helly Visser and Roger Davis lift weights together three times a week, cycle once a week and do yoga every morning. But it is the runs they go on almost every other day that keeps them a young 75 and 74 years old. "Taking up running has changed my life," says Visser, a competitive endurance runner. 'I just kept going at it and it's become a part of me.'

Stretching the Truth?

LIMBERING up does not prevent muscle soreness or reduce the risk of injury, according to scientists. Studies have shown that stretching before and after exercise will prevent only one injury every 23 years. Stretching may only reduce muscle soreness by 2 per cent. The review of five studies, involving 77 subjects, was published this week in the British Medical Journal.

52 Day, 3,100 Mile Foot Race

Think 100 miles is long way to run? The Self-Transcendence race in Queens, New York, is a whopping 3,100 miles. Participants have 52 days to complete the distance. This year, the race ends at noon on August 3.

Two long dark braids sprout from the base of her skull, which is covered by a mesh cap and a head-lamp. With her rugged-looking Montrails laced tight and triple-knotted for good luck, she flicks on her light. She looks like she's prepared to go spelunking in a cave but instead sets out at a brisk trot, sticking to a trail that traces the south face of the Boise Foothills. It's 5 a.m. and darker than the inside of a cow, but Joëlle Vaught's eyes glisten with an alert focus that keeps her on her feet.

A Sub-2 Hour Marathon?

 

Geoffrey Mutai, the winner of the 2011 Boston Marathon, came very close to two hours in his finish time last year. He set a course-record, world-best time of 2:03:02.

Yet when asked about the possibility of an under-two-hour marathon, he sounded doubtful.

What is orthorexia?

No fat, no carbs, no wheat — and hours of punishing exercise every day. How a dangerously obsessive quest for the perfect body has become the new middle-class eating disorder I've been told I'm risking arthritis and brittle bones and I'm often tired out. But I just can't stop...

WE ALL know the type. They never let wheat, yeast or dairy pass their lips. They've cut out alcohol and caffeine. They're obsessed with healthy eating — yet every day, they look more unwell and unhappier.

These are the symptoms of a condition called 'orthorexia' by dieticians. It is, apparently, on the increase — particularly in professional women in their 30s.

Trail Running: It 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.

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.

Food and Mood

Can you change your mood with food?

Perhaps, but it could be all in your mind.

Running and Eating

Every January, many people start working out, hoping to lose weight. But as studies attest, exercise often produces little or no weight loss — and even weight gain — and resolutions are soon abandoned. But new science suggests that if you stick with the right kind of exercise, you may change how your body interacts with food. It’s more than a matter of burning calories; exercise also affects hormones.

Should You Ease Off Your Workout?

It was strange. I had just been hired as an editor for Triathlete magazine in the spring of 1994, and as I leafed through a decade of back issues I noticed that triathlon superstar Mark Allen seemed to begrowing more muscular as he aged. What was happening?

Is Aspirin a Wonder Drug?

Aspirin Might Be Soon Used As an Alternative to Many Treatments for Cancer

A new research has proposed that the patients suffering from bowel cancer, if consume aspirin every day, then their chances of dying from the disease declines by one-third.

$10,000 a Year for "Metabolism Modulation"

NEARLY EVERY SUNDAY morning -- Easter and Mother's Day included -- John Bellizzi says goodbye to his wife, Francesca, grabs an equipment bag and slides into the front seat of his black BMW. He drives to a high-school soccer field about 10 miles from his home in the New York City suburb of Rye.

Bellizzi, who is 51, is a member of the Old Timers Soccer Club, a band of stubborn, aging athletes who refuse to fall under the spell of golf. Technically, these are just pickup games, but they have been happening weekly since the early 1980s. The players go to the trouble of hiring a referee and battle full tilt (think slide tackles and heels-over-head bicycle kicks) for an hour and a half. Many of them were high-school and collegiate stars, decades ago. ''One guy had a hip replacement,'' Bellizzi, a former soccer captain at Queens College, says. ''He was out for a year, then he came back.''

Resting Heart Beat: What's Normal?

Resting heart rate above 80 beats per minute, despite being considered within the normal range of 60-100 beats, may signal a higher risk of stroke or heart disease (S)


THE FACTS

The normal resting heart rate for an adult ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. But some researchers believe it may be time to re-examine what's considered normal.

Researchers have found that a resting pulse at the upper end of ''normal'' may indicate a higher risk of stroke and heart disease. Some have linked it to a greater risk of diabetes and obesity. Instead of drawing the line at 100 beats per minute, some say, anything above 90 - and perhaps even 80 - may be considered cause for concern.

In one study published in The Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, scientists followed 50,000 healthy men and women over two decades, looking at whether a resting heart rate at the upper end of normal increased the risk of dying of a heart attack. Just more than 4,000 of the subjects died of heart disease, and the authors found that resting heart rate was a good predictor: For each rising increment of 10 heart beats per minute, the risk of dying of a heart attack increased 18 percent among women and about 10 percent in men.

Another study, published in The American Journal of Hypertension, found that a large group of adults who started out with resting heart rates above 80 beats a minute were more likely to become obese and develop diabetes after two decades.

To lower the heart rate, try stepping up your cardio exercise, particularly with interval training, which is known to increase the amount of blood the heart pumps with each beat.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A resting heart rate above 80 beats a minute may be a red flag.

Bill Rodgers

When Bill Rodgers ran his first marathon in a decade, it was nothing like before. This time, in 2009, the four-time Boston Marathon and New York Marathon champion had fun with friends.

There is nothing like running with a friend, Rodgers said while taking a few minutes away from a hectic day of signing books, posters and shirts during the Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Marathon expo Saturday at the Shell Island Resort.

Exercise & Parkinson's

Exercise for Parkinson's prevention?

Parkinson's disease is a nenrodegenerative brain disorder that most often progresses slowly--patients with the disease will usually be living with it for twenty years or more from the time of diagnosis. While Parkinson's disease itself is not fatal, the Center for Disease Control rates Parkinson's-related complications as the 14th cause of death in the U.S. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's, but recent studies reveal that vigorous exercise may both prevent and help treat it.

Taping an Injury -- Does it Work?

Every year I run many different races in cities all over the world. Over the past few years, I've noticed a growing trend--runners covered with tape. I've seen tape in every color of the rainbow, taped in every direction possible, but no matter what the color or style, usually by the end of the race the tape is hanging off and the runner is limping across the finish line. That is, if he or she even made it there. Taping represents one of the biggest problems when it comes to the management of running injuries: the quick fix. People want a fast cure with little to no work; hence, magical tape!

On Solitude

In a period of only a few months, Kathy Airoldi of West Hartford, Conn., bought a house, got bumped out of her teaching job of 10 years (into a less-desirable job) and separated from her husband.

The 43-year-old teacher and track coach dealt with the stress by being alone.

Who is Bob Brown, and Why Did he Run Across Europe?

A long distance endurance runner from West Cornwall has set a new world record for running across the European Union.

The Work-Life Balance

Jason Karp is a successful hedge-fund manager and restaurateur with a close-knit family and a deep respect for work-life balance. Today, his world is cruising along quite nicely. More than a decade ago, though, he was in near-constant overdrive — and dangerously close to crashing.