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Newsletter

Can You Ever Be Too Careful?

Recently an accomplished masters runner and member of the Atlanta Track Club Competitive Team, Patty Foell, was struck by a car and tragically killed. This occurred during the early morning hours in the dark. We will never know the exact circumstances for such a tragic event to happen to such an accomplished runner. This occurred within days of the 1 Year Anniversary of the death of Chattahoochee Road Runners member Carole Rivera from a cycling accident that happened during daylight hours.

We have all heard about the safeguards we need to take as runners and cyclists, but many times we think of it as just a bother to wear reflective gear or flashers. At this time of the year when many of us are running in the dark or riding in low light situations, it is imperative that you make yourself visible. In a low-light situation you are almost invisible to drivers unless you are wearing reflective gear or flashers. When you come to an intersection try to make eye contact with a driver, if you can’t don’t assume that you are seen, stop and be sure you are seen before you run or ride in front of a vehicle.

If a driver is approaching an intersection and intends to turn right they will be looking to the left and if are running against traffic and approaching from the right they may roll through the crosswalk and strike you before they even realize that you are there.

When Patty was tragically struck by the car and medical and police personnel arrived they had no idea who she was or how to contact family because she had no identification with her. Even if you are running with friends YOU SHOULD NEVER LEAVE FOR A RUN OR RIDE WITHOUT CARRYING IDENTIFICATION WITH MEDICAL INFORMATION!!!!!!

There is a link on my site to Road ID to custom engrave metal ID tags (dog tags or shoe tags) with the logo of your choice on one side and personal and medical info on the other side. PLEASE take advantage of this site or use some other form of ID, but don’t continue to go running or riding without identification. We care too much for you and don’t want to hear of anything bad happening to you.

Are You Spending Your Money and Time Wisely?

I have a question for you. Where do you think you would get the most benefit for your money, spending $30 - $40 for a carbon fiber bottle cage to reduce your bicycle weight by an ounce? Or spending the same amount to consult with a coach about your training? If you are capable of winning the race then you might opt for the bottle cage, but if you are of that caliber you are probably sponsored and already have a bike with all the latest gadgets and you probably also have a coach.

It seems funny to me that someone will go out and spend thousands of dollars on the latest bike before they have done everything they can to improve the "motor" that drives that bike. Don't misunderstand, you need a good bike, but unless you have become better than your equipment, your current bike is probably adequate and the additional dollars could be used to hire a coach to guide you.

Are you spending numerous hours each week training, but don't really know if you are using the proper mix for your current level of fitness? Do you condition your strengths and train your weaknesses or do you train your strengths and condition your weaknesses? A coach can help you with the proper type of training, the proper mix and the proper level of intensity.

Most athletes use the "Schedule of the Month" published in magazines or from books they have read. These are good starting points, but everyone is an experiment of one and responds differently to the same training. Although you might have friends who have trained themselves for years and have had a level of success, unless they "tweak" their advise for you as an individual, their advise is not any more relevant than the generic programs in books and magazines.

So before you go out and buy the latest "gadget", maybe you should consider how wisely you are spending your money.

It's Marathon Season!!!!

With Fall just around the corner and with the cooler temperatures we have had lately, many a runner begins to think about a fall or spring marathon. If you have been among the group that has tried to maintain your mileage during these “Dog Days of Summer”, then you are in a position to handle a fall marathon. If your mileage has slipped during the summer, then the cooler weather is perfect for building your base again and prepare for an early spring marathon.

Whatever your current level of fitness there are several “rules” that you must follow in beginning your training for a marathon.

1. Start slow. Even if you have been running during the summer when you begin the mileage build-up
    you need to allow your body enough time to adapt.
2. Stay hydrated. When the weather turns cooler you don’t realize how much you are sweating
    because it evaporates more quickly because of the lower humidity. Also when the temperature
    drops low enough for you to see your breath, that’s moisture you are losing with each breath.
3. Buy new shoes. By the time you are ready for your marathon you will have made several runs in
    in them and they should still be stable enough for the marathon.
4. Practice in your training with gels and electrolyte drinks that you will use in the marathon. Don’t
    use anything in the race that you haven’t tried in training.
5. Be patient. There will be good days and bad days and highs and lows, but if you stay consistent
    with your training your body WILL adapt to a higher level of fitness.
6. If you have established a specific time goal, either a PR or a Boston qualifying time you will need
    to do pace miles at marathon pace and you will need to do some speedwork.
7. Have fun!!!! If you don’t enjoy the effort of training for the goal you either won’t stick with it or
    you won’t meet your goal.

Enjoy your training and I hope you have a great race!!!!!

If you have any questions or problems or just need some advice send me an email coachwill@coachwillsrunners.com

The Jogger Controversy

In the May 1969 issue of Distance Running News an article by Jeff Johnson raised the question “Do Joggers Belong in the Boston Marathon”. There were 1152 starters that year and BAA official Jock Semple thought that most of them were, “joggers, idiots, and prank runners.” A number of the elite runners were asked their opinion and they varied from being supportive of all levels of running to almost hostile reactions to anyone who was not of the elite class. One runner in particular, Art Dudley, who finished 96th in a time of 2:51:14 had this to say; “Jogging itself is done for health reasons, as Bill Bowerman (co-author of Jogging) teaches it. Most joggers have only run 7 or 8 mile training runs, and by running a marathon they are a health hazard to themselves. Competition defeats the purpose of jogging. Moreover, joggers clutter up the field and make the race into a Halloween party, a farce. For the serious runner, the mass of joggers at the start is trouble. Along the route they are a hazard to themselves and to traffic which can’t be kept off the course all day. They are an unnecessary nuisance.”

In the spring of 1999 the Washington Post featured a story that quoted runners who couldn’t get into the Marine Corp Marathon. They complained that 25 % of the spots were reserved for charities, which in turn kept many “real runners” from entering. People who apply too late for the popular marathons are complaining about this situation. Many of these proclaimed “serious runners” blame less serious participants for shutting them out. The purists claim that marathons are races, not a walk when you need to event. Their wrath is being primarily directed at the charity runners, with Team in Training of the Leukemia Society being the largest.

So if these are “serious runners” why are they trying to enter events with huge fields? There are over 300 marathons in the U. S. each year, many with fast courses and small fields. Speaking as a former race director, I’m sure the directors of these smaller events would love to have the fast runners.

I was a mentor and an assistant coach for several years with Team in Training and most recently with Gayle Barron’s Team Spirit. In 1996 I sent 45 runners to the Chicago Marathon, 18 qualified for Boston and 85% set PRs with the slowest time being just over 4 hours.

What is a “serious runner”? I believe a serious runner is anyone who spends months training at distances up to and over 20 miles (not 7 or 8 as was suggested in the 1969 article). I believe a serious runner is anyone who enters the marathon with the idea that they are going to do the best that they can do on that day, given the circumstances they must face. I wonder if these other “serious runners” have stopped to think what kind of event they would have if their money was all that was going into the pot? Sponsors put up money for exposure of their product or service, they look for “the most bang for their buck”. Which marathon do you think they would support, one with a field of a few hundred elite runners, or one with 30,000 participants.

Everyone was not born with the same talent (or ego) of these elite runners, but there is room for both in the marathon field. Most events make an attempt to give the faster runners a placement at the start line that will minimize interference from slower runners.

Runners come to the sport for different reasons, but we all have one thing in common, whether we finish first or last we are all WINNERS!!!

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!!!
Now that the weather has gotten warmer, it is even more critical than ever to monitor your fluid intake and loss. Dehydration of 2% of body weight leads to 6%-8% reduction in performance. Ex: 140# x 2% = 2.8#. Water = 1#/16 oz. 8#/gallon. Try to weigh yourself before and after your run and replace 110% of the weight loss. You need to replace 110% of the fluid loss because your body does not absorb all that you drink. Ex: 2.8#x110%=3.08# = 49.28oz.of fluid needed to be replaced.

Live high, Train low
For years athletes have been told the benefits of living and training at a higher elevation in the increased production of more oxygen carrying red blood cells, but recently researchers have begun to document that the training at higher elevation usually results in a decreased effort level so that the workouts are actually done at an intensity level below what the athlete could do at sea level.

The new research shows that if you live high and train low you will receive a double benefit. Living at a higher elevation does produce more oxygen carrying red blood cells, and training at a lower elevation allows the athlete to train at a higher effort level because of the increased blood cells and the higher concentration of oxygen at the lower elevation.

For those athletes who don't have the benefit of living at elevation the development of altitude tents allows the athlete to sleep in a reduced oxygen atmosphere, the theory being that this will increase the development of more red blood cells.

The two schools of thought about racing at elevation are to arrive the night before the race and trick your body into thinking you are still at a lower elevation and the other is to arrive 5 to 7 days before the race to allow your body to make the adaptation to the higher elevation.

Living and training at the higher elevation will eventually find a balance of effort versus benefit, but it is certain that if you live and train at a higher elevation and come down to a lower elevation to race you have a window of opportunity of about 1 to 2 weeks before your body starts to reverse the procedure and begins adapting to the lower elevation.

Exercise, Intensity And Heart Health
When it comes to exercise and heart health, the more intense the activity the better. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that high-intensity exercise may be better at preventing heart disease than moderate activity, and that adding weight training to high-intensity activity could be especially beneficial. In the study, researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health looked at the medical records of 44,452 male health professionals aged 40 to 75. Between 1986 and 1998, 1,700 of the men were diagnosed with heart disease. The researchers found that men who did high-intensity exercise, such as running or jogging, had a 42 percent lower risk of heart disease than non-runners. Men who did low-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, had an 18 percent lower risk for heart disease compared to non-walkers, The Associated Press reports. The researchers also found that men who pumped iron for 30 minutes or more per week lowered their risk of heart disease by 23 percent. They theorize that adding weight training to running or jogging could mean even more heart-healthy benefits. The researchers add that moderate exercise, while it may not give the maximum protection against heart disease, is still much better than being sedentary.

A Drink A Day
Just a little bit of alcohol every day may keep heart attacks away. Earlier studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption can lower a person's risk of heart disease, The Associated Press reports. But a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the heart-healthy benefits of alcohol may depend on how often you drink it. Researchers from Harvard Medical School analyzed data on 38,077 male health professionals participating in a long-term health study. The researchers found that men who consumed as little as half a drink every day had a lower risk of heart attacks than men who did not drink at all or men who drank less often. It didn't matter whether the men had beer, red wine, white wine or liquor. The men who regularly had a drink cut their heart attack risk by one-third, while men who drank alcohol once or twice per week had a 16 percent reduction in their heart attack risk. The researchers hypothesize that regular moderate drinking helps the heart by thinning the blood, the same reason that aspirin does, the AP says. However, the researchers say that their findings apply only to moderate drinking; heavy drinking is associated with a number of other serious health problems.

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