## A Grimm Day![](media/image1.wmf){width="6.833333333333333in" height="2.035416666666667in"}

Recently I had the honor, if that's the word I want, to be Karl Grimm
for a day or, at least, for as long as it took to run the Trail
Challenge. This is a cross-country race held at Lakewood Forest
Preserve, near Wauconda..

It was advertised as "a hilly demanding course, run on narrow trails,
through woods and marsh which can be very wet, muddy and slippery". Well
in fact it wasn't so bad, but more about that later. Karl and I had both
intended to sign up for this race. Karl sent in his application and
money and was all set for another romp in the mud, similar to the winter
Cross-Country Challenge. However, it so happened that race day was the
very day that Karl's daughter was graduating from college, and when his
wife discovered Karl's plans she made it very clear that if he, Karl,
knew what was good for him he would be at the celebrations, not running
around in the dirt. Karl capitulated with ill grace ("I paid her
tuition, now I've got to drive to Wisconsin as well?", I think I heard
him mutter). This meant there was an all-expenses-paid entry to the
trail challenge that I could take advantage of, since I had
procrastinated on sending my money in.

There were only about 150 runners entered for this 8K race. I arrived in
good time and picked up my number (Man at the check-in: \"Name?\"; Self:
\"Grimm!\"; Man: \"Ha, ha, how grim is it, ha, ha.\"; Self: \"Not as
grim as that joke\". Karl must be used to it.). The T-shirt and other
goodies weren\'t handed out until after the race, which made a lot of
sense. Not only did one have to actually run the race to get the
T-shirt, but there was no problem about toting the stuff back to the
car, or otherwise storing it, beforehand. We started off on a gravel
road, turned through some long grass, and into a ploughed field. At this
stage I was glad that the rain had held off, so that at least we didn't
have to run through a quagmire at the beginning of the race. This point
of view was not universal, however. A voice from behind me complained
"Five minutes into the race and no mud yet. Bummer!" From here, the
course was mostly on trails, but not your wimpy crushed limestone,
Prairie Path, drive-a- limo- down- the- middle- of- it type of trail.
These were dirt trails, complete with rocks, roots and tree stumps, and
some mud to keep things interesting and the guy behind me happy. In
addition, there didn't seem to be any level stretches. If we weren't
going uphill, we were going down hill. There was even a tree that had to
be scrambled over. The final quarter mile was across a meadow, complete
with long grass and gopher holes, just what we needed for the final
sprint. As a twenty-something runner (who I beat across the finish line,
heh-heh) said, "What ticks me off is that I had to pay for this
torture". Well, actually, he didn't say "ticks", but you know what I
mean. All in all, it was a fun but tough race, and I upheld the honor of
the Grimms by taking second in his (and my) age group. How many were
there in your age group, did I hear you ask? No, I'm sure I didn't since
that would be a very impolite question. Just assume that it was thirty
or so. And come and join us next year. It makes a nice change from the
usual road race.

Dick Page

Back Care Basics

In the past few years I have had back problems that have resulted in
real disability. Some authorities do not recognize back problems as
disability, probably out of fear more people will take advantage of the
system. As for me, I would rather be moving around normally and active
than be unable to do much of anything. We don\'t always have a choice.

Your employee handbook describes a brief section on disability and says
the Medical Department determines whether an individual is considered
disabled or not. The legal difficulty is when you are not always
disabled (healthy). A discussion with the medical department should be
able to place limits on your activities based upon doctor\'s
recommendations or past absences.

There are three things I have found worthwhile to remember in preventing
future back injuries and some exercises to maintain strength and
flexibility. The exercises are shown in the attached pages and should be
done every day for maximum effect. It\'s too late to do them when
you\'re injured.

First is movement. When you do your exercises or pick up something, do
it slowly. Moving slowly gives your muscles time to adjust and bear the
load, assuming they are strong enough. Doing sit-ups should be done with
knees bent and slowly- in repetitions of 5 and holding the last one for
10-15 seconds. Fast sit-ups can actually do more damage than good and
anything over a foot or so is excessive vertical movement. Golf can be
bad because of the rapid twisting and swinging, so it is one of my
forbidden sports.

Second is what I call microtrauma, which is the accumulation of small
injuries. You may not notice any effects of bending a few times a day or
a few shovels of snow. But, the first time you are out picking weeds or
shoveling out the driveway, will probably result in stiffness or pain.
Picking up a small child once or twice is not too bad, if done right,
but repeated lifting is asking for trouble. If I see a penny or nickel
on the ground, I don\'t pick it up because it\'s not worth it.

Third is stress. From my experience, psychological and work-pressure
stress greatly predisposes one to back spasms. it is what is called a
\"trigger\". As an illustration, last July 3, as I was bending over to
tie up my running shoes for a training run, I had an intense back spasm,
which disabled me for over 4 weeks. Was it the bending? I think it was
the combined stress of two approaching conferences. So we need to
monitor our stress and get away when it is building up. The running club
had a speaker come in to talk on back problems from a local hospital
\"back school\". Out of 82 members, we had 19 people with back problems
and two were forced to quit running. That was in 1983 and we had 60
people in attendance. The meeting lasted 90 minutes and we had to stop
the questions to let the speaker go.

Rich Lee

Run the Mountain

The second annual IPNS Mountain Goat run was held on Wednesday, May
19^th^. Once again, special thanks goes to Don Bohringer for making this
a successful event. The weather was perfect for this year\'s mountain
run -- it didn\'t matter whether you chose to run the 5 K course or walk
the 2 mile route. This is one of the more challenging ARC fun runs
because it requires running up and down the ZGS \'hill\' twice.
Participants were rewarded with a great selection of refreshments at the
conclusion of the race. Two lucky ARC runners received IPNS shirts in
the post-race raffle.

Back By Popular Demand...

Many of us were surprised by the success of the first Red Dress Run last
June. The Running Club decided to try this unique run last year, and
although many were skeptical at first, it turned out to be one of our
most successful (and fun) runs of the year. Thus, The Red Dress Run --
Part II will be held again this year on Wednesday, June 16^th^ at noon.
The start and finish area will be the Argonne pool. As is typical for
ARC fun runs, there will be a three-mile course for runners and a two
mile course for walkers. There will also be plenty of refreshments for
participants.

One of the features of this event is that special prizes are raffled off
at the conclusion of the race -- but only to guys and gals who are
running in a red dress. These special prizes are above and beyond the
prizes that are typically awarded at our fun runs. Thus, if you want a
chance at one of these valuable prizes, and don\'t want to stand out as
a party pooper, be sure to bring your red-dress to work on June 16^th^!

For any of you who may still be a little unsure -- take a look at our
web-site for a photo from last-years run. I\'m sure it will be another
great time this year. For further information please contact either Karl
Grimm (2-6721) or Laurie Culbert (2-7658).

Early Bird Runs

This summer will be a busy time for ARC runners. In addition to the
monthly lunch-time fun runs, the Running Club will be sponsoring Summer
Morning Trail Runs. Once a month throughout the summer (June 9^th^, July
14^th^, and August 25^th^) Argonne runners will be meeting at the
Waterfall Glen trailhead parking lot (at Cass Ave. and Northgate Road)
for a pre-work run. These runs are on Wednesday mornings at 7:15 AM. For
walkers, there will also be a two mile route. At the conclusion of the
workout, bagels, muffins, and orange juice will be provided for
participants.

If you are a morning runner, this series of runs will provide a nice
addition to the traditional ARC Fun-Run noon starts. Even if you are not
usually a morning runner, I think this is a great way to beat the summer
heat and enjoy socialization and encouragement from fellow runners. The
7:15 start time should allow participants to get into work between 8 and
8:30 AM.

ARC Web-page

Don\'t forget to check out the ARC web-page at: chemistry.anl.gov/ARC/
This is the best place to get current information about our Running
club. Electronic versions of the monthly newsletters are posted at this
site before you will receive them in the mail. Chuck Jonah, our
web-master, does a great job at keeping this site current and filled
with photos and other tid-bits of interest to our runners. However, to
keep this site dynamic and up to date, he needs your help. Please send
to him any information you have about area races, photos that would be
of interest to ARC runners, etc. He is always looking for ways to
improve our web-site, making it more useful for our members.

In addition, please keep sending me any information you have about good
races coming up, or races you have done. The best part of this
newsletter is that it allows our runners to communicate with each other.
The more stories that are submitted by ARC runners, the better this
newsletter will be. Please don't think that no one cares about the 5 K
you ran last weekend -- we want to hear about it! Even if it is just a
short paragraph, we want to hear from you. And, don\'t be afraid about
your writing -- we are not Pulitzer Prize winners -- we are runners!

Quote

\"It\'s not gymnastics or ice skating, you know.\"

Emil Zatopek, when questioned about his agonized expression while
racing.

Cool Down

The Argonne Running Club Newsletter is edited by John Schlueter. Please
send your stories, photos, tips, race reports, race entry forms,
comments, etc. to me. Mail: Bldg. 200, Rm. A185; Internet:
schlueter@anchx4.chm.anl.gov; Phone: 2-3588. ARC president: Paul Eident,
Bldg. 200, Rm. L175, 2-3579, eident@anlchm.chm.anl.gov. ARC webpage:
chemistry.anl.gov/ARC/ webmaster: Chuck Jonah, Bldg. 200, Rm. B157,
2-3471, CDJonah@anl.gov. For membership information, contact Karl Grimm,
Bldg. 208 Rm. A205A, 2-6721, b23921@ra.anl.gov.