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Newsletter Archives: December 1999
When you make running mistakes, write them down and make changes in your running which will keep them from occurring again. The most important part of the speed development process (ed: or any other area in your running program) is the very first step: picking a goal which is realistic for you. It's okay if your goal is slower thadn you are capable of currently running. This is a strategy which has led to many personal records. By setting yourself up for a performance that has some challenge but is realistic, you will take pressure off, stay in your right brain longer, and often achieve at a much higher level. If your goal is too far ahead of your ability level, then you set yourself up for disappointment and fatigue. By overestimating your capacity, you'll force yourself to run the speed sessions too fast. You just won't recover between speed days and long runs. You'll be fine-tuning your racing form and technique after you've run two or three 5K events. If the courses were hilly or the weather conditions were adverse, you may conservatively estimate the time you honestly believe you could run under better conditions. The prediction table in (pp.122-123, Jeff Galloway's Training Journal) gives equivalent performances for race distances, including the marathon, which have been very accurate. What a great reality check! If your 5K performances don't predict the time you'd like, swallow your pride and select a less ambitious time goal. This means that you'll be slowing down the pace of the mile repeats and the early pace in the marathon. Always be conservative in choosing your goal. If the 5K performances predict a 4:30 marathon, shoot for 4:40 or 4:45. It's always better to finish the marathon knowing that you could have run faster: you've already started the momentum and motivation to do it. Printed from Marathon! by Jeff Galloway with permission from Phidippides Publication, 1996, pp. 70-71.  (from the American Running Association's Running & FitNews, November 1999, p. 3, www.americanrunning.org) If you want to cool down an injury in a hurry, use ice to massage the area as opposed to simply placing the ice at the site of the injury. At least that's the conclusion reached by researchers reporting in the Journal of Orthopedics, Sports, and Physical Therapy. Fourteen male and female subjects were randomly assigned to either ice massage or traditional ice bag placement. A temperature probe was inserted into the gastrocnemius (the big calf muscle) and temperatures were observed. The muscles of both groups got just as cold and stayed cold afterwards for about the same length of time. However, the massage group achieved the low temperature a lot faster - 17.9 minutes on average versus 28.2 minutes. If you suffer an acute injury and want to cool things down in a hurry, massage with your ice - it's more efficient than just holding it on the injury. Freeze water in a paper cup. When it's ready, simply tear off half of the cup and use the remaining part to hold. The length of time you need to massage depends on how much fat tissue covers the area. Ice a toe, for example, only a few minutes as compared to your calf muscle, which would need more time. Ice should be kept in motion and you can expect to feel - CBAN - Cold, Burning, Aching, and then Numbness. Take care not to overcool the skin since you can damage skin with frostbite. Ice massage should be repeated three to four times a day for the first 24 to 48 hours following the injury. (Journal of Orthopedics, Sports, and Physical Therapy, 1998, Vol. 27. No. 4, pp. 301-307) Note: Please remember that this is not meant to be medical advice but rather just information from one runner to another. The Athlete's Kitchen With more than 70,000 members, the American Dietietic Association is the nation's largest group of nutrition professionals. Some of the research completed by these members was presented at ADA's annual convention (10/99). Here are some highlights that might be of interest to you. SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS: Creatine, a supplement reported to enhance recovery during repeated bouts of intense exercise and help build muscle, is particularly popular among sprint-type sports such as rowing. Yet, not everyone responds to creatine. A West Point study with 18 members of the crew team suggests that consumption of 0, 5 or 10 grams of creatine per day resulted in no significant differences among the three groups. Everyone improved similarly with faster rowing times, reduced body fat, and increasd body mass. This study reminds us that hard work and good nutrition "works" and that athletes can excel without ergogenic aids.
WEIGHT: Weight and body image are big issues among most people who exercise. These issues can start at an early age. For example, even fourth grade students have a preferred body type. A study of 166 African American and 55 white students from eight urban public schools in the Baltimore, MD area suggests cultural preferences exist. That is, black students preferred a larger (yet healthy) figure as "ideal" as compared to the white students who selected a smaller figure. The study points out the need to 1) learn more about the factors that influence a young child's body size preference, and 2) evaluate how these preferences can potentially influence the epidemic of obesity (and eating disorders) that is plauging ourselves and our children.
BODY FAT: If you are very thin and have had your body fat measured using bioelectrical impedence (BIA), you may have been given wrong information. BIA has low accuracy compared to a highly accurate research method (whole body potassium counting). Yet, because BIA is inexpensive and easy to perform, it is very popular.
The lower energy intakes were associated with lower intake of several nutrients, including iron and calcium. What this means is, if you are eating very little and maintaining your weight, you might want to consider eating more--if not to better nourish your body, then to boost your metabolic rate. AMENORRHEA: Female runners who have irregular or no menstrual periods often believe that running keeps their bones strong. Wrong! The bone mineral density of runners with irregular menstrual cycles is lower than that of runners who have regular menstrual cycles. Hence, they are at higher risk for stress fractures. If you are a woman who is amenorrheic (that is, lacks regular monthly menstrual periods), you need to get good medical follow-up. Otherwise, you may soon end up with stress fractures, to say nothing of depression because of the psychological toll associated with injury. Plus, you shouldn't ignore the long-term consequences of early osteoporosis. MORE EDUCATION NEEDED: Nutrition education for athletes is important both to enhance performance and to invest in future health and well-being. A survey of college football players indicates 80% of 21 college football linemen believed that vitamins were good sources of energy. (Wrong! Vitamins function like "spark plugs"; they are not a source of energy.) More than 70% believed that bread and potatoes are fattening and should be avoided when trying to lose weight (Wrong! These carbs supply the energy needed to fuel muscles. They become "fattening" only when eaten in excess with too much butter.)
Nancy Clark, MS, RD is nutrition counselor at Boston-area's SportsMedicine Brookline and author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 2nd Edition. To order this best-selling book, send $20 to Sports Nutrition Materials, 830 Boylston, St #205, Brookline MA 02467 or visit http://www.nancyclarkrd.com. Walk-Running is what we were designed to do Our ancient ancestors had to walk and run thousands of miles every year to survive. Because they moved on to greener pastures and away from predators, we're here to philosophize about walk breaks. So it's a fact that each of us inherited an organism that was designed to move forward for long distances. As often happens with behaviors which enhance survival, a series of very complex and internally satisfying rewards have developed, which relax the muscles, stimulate the creative and intuitive side of our brain, and energize our spirit. By getting out the door and moving forward three or more times a week, even the most out-of-shape couch potato will discover this enhanced sense of self worth and improved attitude. While walking is our most efficient exercise pattern, we can adapt to running and do well. Indeed, most walkers who add running to their exercise say they get a better boost in their after-exercise attitude. But running continuously can quickly push anyone beyond the capacity of leg muscles. When we alternate between walking and running, early and often, we are going back to the type of exertion that brought our forebears across continents, over deserts and mountain ranges. Is Soy a Smart Bet? Sales of soy-based foods have tripled in the last five years as research reports that soy might help protect against cancer, heart disease and other health problems. Research actually offers more support, however, for the benefits of an overall plant-based diet than for those of any individual food. A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol dropped six to ten percent when soy was added to people's diets. This confirmed the results of many other studies. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing a claim on food labels which says that soy protein as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol helps reduce the risk of heart disease. Soy foods differ, however, in their content of isoflavones, natural phytochemicals that seem to be vital for soy protein's cholesterol-lowering effects. Some soy drinks and meat replacements are made from soy protein concentrate that has been washed with alcohol, removing most of the isoflavones. Also, studies in which soy lowered blood cholesterol included 25 grams of soy protein daily. Since foods can meet the FDA's approved claim if they contain only 6.25 grams, you might need to eat anywhere from one to four servings a day of these foods to achieve similar results. Soy may help lower cancer risk as well. Some studies show that when people consume soy daily, their colon cells divide and reproduce in a manner much less likely to lead to cancer. One study found that women who ate soy at least twice a week had more than 40 percent lower risk of breast cancer than women who ate soy less than once a month. Results vary considerably between studies, however. These disparities in results possibly reflect the different effects soy many have on cancer that occurs before or after menopause, effects of how early in life one starts eating soy, or the effectiveness of different types of soy foods. Scientists believe that soy's protection against breast cancer involves substances within soy called "phytoestrogens." These substances have a chemical structure similar to our body estrogen. Because of this similarity, they may be able to block estrogen's cancer-promoting effects on breast cells. Scientists are concerned, however, that these plant estrogens could also promote breast cancer growth in those who have or have had breast cancer. Research is in progress to solve this dilemma. For now, it is certainly reasonable for most of us to include soy foods as part of a healthy diet. People in Asia, who routinely eat one or two servings of soy foods daily, suffer far less from heart disease and many cancers than do Americans. If nothing else, soy foods provide an alternative protein source as we decrease meat consumption and increase our use of plant foods. Since we know very little about the effects of very high levels of soy or isoflavones, most health experts discourage people from assuming more is better and jumping prematurely to supplements. Instead, they say it is wiser for people to learn how to include soy foods in their diets. This warning applies particularly to people with a current or past breast cancer diagnosis. Some researchers suggest that for them, eating a moderate portion of a soy food once or twice a week would probably be safe, but that daily use (and certainly soy supplements) should be avoided until research on this question is concluded. Meanwhile, the American Institute for Cancer Research says that research is quite clear on the benefits of eating a mostly plant-based diet centering our eating around vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans of all kinds. So if you're looking for a good bet, it is to use soy as just one part of a balanced, plant-based diet. The American Institute for Cancer Research is the only major cancer charity focusing exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition and cancer. The Institute provides a wide range of consumer education programs that have helped millions of Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S. The Institute has provided nearly $50 million in funding for research in diet, nutrition and cancer. Editor's Tip: I've found that since tofu doesn't really taste like anything, I can cut it up into small pieces and put it into soups or anything else and never know the difference! Injury of the Month: Black Toenails Over my 40 years of running, I've had hundreds of black toenails. The following is my advice in avoiding and treating this problem. This is offered as experience passed from one runner to another. You should always confer with a doctor who knows about running injuries when you have a medical problem. Almost everyone who runs gets a black toenail. Getting your first one is a sign that you've moved your training into a higher level. While most runners blame a shoe that is too small, this is often not the primary cause. Certainly toe pressure from the shoe can make the toe hurt even more, but pressure from underneath seems to produce more black nails. If a toe is under pressure from the shoe or a sock that is too tight or too thick, the sustained pressure, step after step, produces an impact or a friction problem between the toenail and the tissue surrounding it. When the tissue gets damaged, fluid accumulates. The red or black color is the result of a few blood capillaries that become broken in the process. The more fluid that accumulates, the more pain. The extra fluid, colored by some blood, accumulates below the toenail. When the pressure gets too great, the existing toenail will be separated from the "toenail in training," which is located below the current nail. Even if it takes several months, the blackened outer nail will drop off, leaving the new nail below. Sometimes the pressure of the fluid, will warp the new nail, but it will get smoother as it grows out. But most of the pressure that results in this "toenail injury" is produced by the regular action of the foot coming forward, thousands of times every 5K. Each time your foot swings forward, a little extra blood is pushed into the toe region due to the force of the foot coming forward. If you increase your distance regularly and very gradually, your toes will adjust to each new maximum distance and only complain when you extend farther. In a marathon training program, almost everyone gets at least one black toenail. Running faster than you should be running, at any time during a long run, will increase the chance of this injury. Hot weather also improves your odds of getting one. When it's warm, your feet swell more than they would on cold days. Because there is more pressure, and more fluid, there are more black nails generated during the summer months. You'll reduce the chance of a black nail if you ensure that you have enough room in your toe area when you fit your shoes. At least half an inch is needed, when you're standing in the prospective shoes (in the sitting position, the toes aren't all the way forward). If you've had a history of black toenails and summer is approaching (or here), you may want more toe room. When you add more room at the end, ensure that the arch of the shoe matches up with your arch. Also, run in the shoe before you buy it to make sure that your foot doesn't slide forward as you're running, which can aggravate the toe more than a tight toe box. It's best to take no action on black toenails, if the pain is manageable. About 24 hours after the long or fast run which produced the problem toe, you can decide whether the pain is tolerable. It usually lessens each day thereafter. About 80 percent of the black toe problems are best treated by ignoring them. The damaged part of the nail is gradually pushed out, and the foot slowly returns to normal. If at any point you see the redness associated with infection, see a doctor. If the toe hurts too much, especially 24 hours later, you should release the pressure underneath by one of two methods. It's always better to have this done by a doctor, but I've heard from hundreds of runners who've done this by themselves without any significant problems. It's up to you. 1. If the edge of the fluid is near the tip of the toenail, a sharp sewing needle can do the job. Sterilize it by putting it in the flame of a match or lighter until the tip becomes red hot. Be sure to insulate the end of the needle so that you aren't holding it directly with your fingers. After a couple of minutes, when the needle is cool, send it into the thin layer of skin, at the edge of the toenail, where you see water underneath. Let the water come out. Enlarge the hole slightly and insert some triple antibiotic cream up underneath, squeezing it around to speed up the healing time. 2. If the fluid is in the center of the nail, sterilize a paper clip by putting it in the flame of a match or lighter until the tip becomes red hot. As in # 1 above, make sure that your fingers are insulated from directly touching the paperclip. While it is red, place the clip into the center of the fluid area. It will quickly melt the nail, producing a nice round hole by which the fluid can escape. As in # 1 above, squirt some triple antibiotic cream underneath, squeezing it around to speed up the healing time. These methods may seem like something out of a torture textbook, but they don't have to hurt. Again, if you have any doubts, see a doctor.
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