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Newsletter Archives: Volume16, April 2000
Why do I need to run a 26-mile training run before the marathon? I get a lot of feedback on this one. My name is used in vain, they tell me, during the 26-mile training run. But within 24 hours, the wonderful realization and confidence takes hold: "I'm a marathoner!" On each long run, including the 26-miler, most who are training for their first marathon are running farther than they have ever gone in their lives, by two to three miles. After running the 26-mile training run, the training is complete. You won't have to push your wall back during the marathon itself. You have arrived. The confidence bestowed by that 26-mile achievement will take away many of the nervous anxieties leading up to the marathon itself. You're going to have some negative messages from that left side of the brain anytime you attempt a challenge like this. You'll reduce them down to a manageable level after the completion of this, the ultimate long training run. reprinted from Jeff Galloway's new Marathon! (Phidippides Publication, 2000), p. 7 
By Using Muscles in Different Ways - From the Beginning - Your Legs Keep Their Bounce As They Conserve Resources Walk breaks keep you from using up your resources early. By alternating the exertion level and the way you're using your running muscles, these prime movers have a chance to recover before they accumulate fatigue. On each successive walk, most or all of the fatigue is erased, bestowing strength at the end. This reduces the damage to the muscle dramatically, allowing you to carry on your life activities even after a marathon. Walk breaks force you to slow down early in the run so that you don't start too fast. This reduction of the intensity of muscle use from the beginning conserves your energy, fluids and muscle capacity. On each walk break, the running muscles make internal adaptations, which give you the option to finish under control, increase the pace, or go even further. When a muscle group, such as your calf, is used continuously step by step, it fatigues relatively soon. The weak areas get overused and force you to slow down later or scream at you in pain afterward. By shifting back and forth between walking and running muscles, you distribute the workload among a variety of muscles, increasing your overall performance capacity. For veteran marathoners, this is often the difference between achieving a time goal . . .or not. Walk breaks will significantly speed up recovery because there is less damage to repair. The early walk breaks erase fatigue, and the later walk breaks will reduce or eliminate overuse muscle breakdown. reprinted from Jeff Galloway's new Marathon! (Phidippides Publication, 2000), p. 37
The Athlete's Kitchen "Which brand of protein shake is best to gain weight?" "How many protein shakes should I drink in a day?" "Is designer protein better than, let's say, chicken...???" Active people have lots of questions about protein, protein shakes, and their role in an exercise program. Do these engineered foods provide superior sports nutrition? By looking around the health food store, the abundance of protein shakes suggests they are a popular item. They are promoted as a simple way to eat well without cooking. Ads also suggest these "designer foods" are better than, let's say, chicken and tuna. If you are wondering about the role of protein shakes in your sports diet, keep reading. The following information can help you evaluate the best ways to optimize your protein intake--as well as spend your food budget wisely. Question: "I want to bulk up and gain weight. I've started drinking three protein shakes per day as between meal snacks. (This is what the manufacturer recommends.) Is this enough or too much? Answer: To determine how many protein shakes you need, you first should determine how much protein your body actually can use. While adequate protein is important to enhance muscle growth, more may not be better. Excess protein will not convert Joe Wimp into Mr. Muscle. To bulk up, you need extra calories, adequate protein, and hard training--plus good genetics. Most exercise scientists agree 1 gram of protein/pound of body weight is a very generous protein allowance for athletes building muscle mass. (More likely, 0.5 to 0.75 gms protein/ pound will do the job just fine, but let's be generous.) This means a novice 180 pound body builder gets more than enough protein with 180 grams of protein/day. He can easily consume that much in one quart of skim milk, two cans of tuna, and 8 ounces (two small breasts) of chicken. Because you can get more than enough protein from your diet, you have no need to consume shakes on top of this. You simply need more wholesome calories-easily consumed by drinking extra juice and lowfat milk. Question: Is the protein in designer shakes more effective than the egg whites, tuna, and chicken I eat with my meals?" Answer: With names like Lean Mass, N-large, Pure Protein, Lean Protein, and Protein Revolution, the scientifically engineered products can leave you wondering if mundane chicken, tuna, and eggs are an equal match. Plus, ads that rave "extremely bioavailable whey protein isolate", "no cheap protein blends" and "highest quality protein" also leave the impression that tuna doesn't quite make the grade. Doubtful. The protein from natural foods works perfectly fine, despite having no labels that claim "premium protein," "hydrolyzed protein," or "ion-exchanged whey." Any animal protein is "high quality" and contains all the essential amino acids you need to build muscles. Eating balanced meals and then drinking protein shakes for "high quality protein" is an outrageous concept--and expensive. Don't bother! For the $26 you spend on a box with 12 MetRx packets, you can buy lots of dried milk powder--the least expensive protein power around. And you'll get not only high quality protein, but also a whole package of balanced nutrition--perfectly designed by Nature. Question: I get confused when I read the ads in muscle magazines. They are filled with terms like "protein digestibility" and "bioavailability." Does this make them better? Answer: In an overall well balanced diet, engineered protein offers no advantages over standard protein-rich foods. As long as you are healthy and have a functioning digestive tract (as opposed to patients in the hospital with intestinal disease), you need not worry about your ability to digest or utilize protein. Digestibility and bioavailability are an issue in third-world countries where protein and calorie intakes are inadequate and every amino acid counts--but not in America where protein and calorie excesses are more common than deficiencies. (Adequate calories are needed to spare protein from being burned for fuel.) Question: I'm lazy and have started to drink a protein shake for breakfast instead of eat cereal. Is that OK? Answer: As an athlete, your body needs a foundation of carbohydrates at each meal to fuel your muscles. Some protein is important to build, protect, and maintain muscles, but too much protein displaces carbs. That is, by having a protein shake instead of cereal, you may consume only 20 to 30 grams of carbs as compared to 100+ grams with your cereal, milk and banana. Athletes should target 3 to 5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. That's at least 450 grams for the 150 pound athlete. Protein shakes fail to help you reach your carb quota--and can leave you feeling easily fatigued. Cereals also offer more fiber and other health-protective nutrients than do engineered foods. Hence, I recommend you be responsible instead of lazy. You have taken on the responsibility to train; you can also take on the responsibility to eat whole foods that fuel well. No engineered food can match the complex balance of nutrients designed by Nature. Sure you can save the protein shake for "emergency food" on hectic days, but keep the cereal as part of your standard daily diet. Question: I eat very little protein at the college dining hall. I think I should supplement my diet with protein powder, but I don't have much money to spend on protein shakes. How can I make my own? Answer: Packaged protein shakes are indeed expensive. You can either spend $2.30 for a packet of MetRx ($0.06/gram of protein) or you easily make your own version for less than $0.03/gm protein. Here's my favorite: In a blender, mix 1 cup milk, 1/3 cup milk powder, 2 tablespoons instant pudding mix (any flavor; this thickens the shake to a pleasant consistency) and 4 ice cubes. Blend for a minute ot two, until the ice is gone. Optional: add banana, berries, and/or sweetener as desired. This shake offers 16 grams of protein. Also eat some canned tuna and cottage cheese, and you've succeeded at boosting your protein easily--without cooking and within a reasonable budget. Nancy Clark, MS, RD is nutrition counselor at Boston-area's SportsMedicine Brookline. She is author of the best selling Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Second Edition. It is available by sending $20 to Sports Nutrition Services, 830 Boylston St., #205, Brookline MA 02467 or via www.nancyclarkrd.com
Help your heart can cap your cholesterol: Eat walnuts. According to a survey of more than 800 farmers in France, people who eat the most walnuts and walnut oil have the highest levels of heart-friendly HDL cholesterol, as well as another beneficial cholesterol subfraction called APO A1. Researchers speculate that walnuts' protective effect may come from its high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. from Rodale Report, March/April 2000, Vol.19 No.2, p. 2 quoting from Fitness Swimmer, January/February 2000
Too Much of a Good Thing As I've mentioned, running is an addictive activity. Once you've run long enough to experience the stimulating effects of endurance exercise, it's hard to turn back. You feel so good, you never want to let it slide. Your body is used to its daily fix of oxygen, increased circulation and calming endorphins. Yet running, like many other pursuits, can be carried too far - from habit to possession. A highly motivated, hard-driving person may ride the pendulum swing from an overweight, sedentary lifestyle to an almost constant preoccupation with running, racing and weight. The solution soon becomes the problem. Physical symptoms are obvious early warning signs of burnout. When activity is increased dramatically or too many races are run, injury is probably just down the road. There are also mental signs of going too far. You may not feel like running, you may be depressed, or you may experience radical behavior changes. Early Warning Signs: Your body has hormones that keep you going under periods of stress. Sometimes you may feel even better than normal when overstressed. Try to be aware of the early signs of stress so you can back off when they occur and avoid injury or breakdown. These early signs are:
I've seen many, many burnouts in my running career, with varying shades of disaster: divorce, separation, friendships ended, social contacts severed, careers interrupted, etc. The best advice I can give you to avoid this sad state of affairs is to first, be aware of the early warning signals - recurring injuries, depression, loss of motivation, irritability, fixation - and make necessary course corrections. Secondly, try to keep things balanced and in harmony, and let running enhance, not rule, your life. from Galloway's Book on Running, Shelter Publication, 1984, pp. 143-144.
Erase your inactive past: In the May 2000 Runner's World, "Health & Fitness Fast Facts," we're told that "The exercise you do later in life is much more important than the exercise you didn't do earlier in life, according to a recent study. So if you spent your early adulthood in a sedentary trance, don't worry. The running you're doing now matters most." (p. 28) (www.runnersworld.com) In "10 Tips for Putting Healthful Eating into Practice" (Special Report section of the April 2000 issue of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, pp. 4-5, www.healthletter.tufts.edu), there are several wonderful reminders on moving to a healthier eating plan, including getting into the habit of making regular trips to the grocery store and coming home with lots of fruits and vegetables, eating some sort of produce at every meal or snack, cooking more at home so you have more control over ingredients and portions, eating a healthy breakfast, and remembering to enjoy your eating. One of the article's great quotes is from Karen Miller Kovach, M.S., R.D. of Weight Watchers International in Woodbury, NY, who says "healthful eating is eating, not not eating." She continues to say that it's better to focus on what you need more of instead of what you shouldn't have. Still Wearing Cotton? The Runner's World staff did some testing on the new high-tech running shirts and reports the results in the May 2000 issues, pages 80-83. They give reviews of 10 different shirts. Basically, there are three good reasons to switch from those cotton Ts: better wicking, lighter weight and improved cooling.( www.runnersworld.com)
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