From: serrano@osage.csc.ti.com (Yonson Serrano)
Subject: Re: FAQ rec.running part 2/3
Organization: Texas Instruments
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 13:54:46 GMT


Archive-name: running-faq
Revision: 0.3 07/25/92 12:52:50

Part 2 of 3

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Legs

Sore knees (Elizabeth Doucette ead@tmsoft.uucp)

When running (also walking, and cycling), the inner most quad. muscle
(inner part of thigh) does not get exercised as much as the other
three quad. muscles of the thigh.  If this inner muscle isn't
strengthened by specific exercises, an imbalance of the muscles may
occur.  This can cause irritation of the underside of the kneecap
(chondromalacia patellae) because the imbalance of the muscles can
pull the kneecap towards the outside of the leg.

I believe there is a groove in the underside of the kneecap that rides
on a ridge of bone in the knee.  If the kneecap is pulled to the
outside of the leg, the groove will want to move in a slightly
different direction than the ridge of bone.  This can cause the groove
to become irritated.

I had chondromalacia patellae for a long time (and many of my running
friends did too) but I haven't had problems since I've been doing
specific exercises for my inner quad. muscle.  It is tedious and
boring but it works.  I haven't had knee problems for about 3 years
now :-).  I should do this every day, whether I work out or not, but I
don't always.  If I feel any discomfort at all in my knees, I make
sure I'm more diligent with this exercise and the discomfort always
disappears.  I'm always able to prevent a problem now.

The exercise is just a leg raise with the foot flexed and pointing
away from the body.  With this exercise make sure that your back is
supported.  As your quad. muscles fatigue, there is a tendency to help
out with your back muscles.  You may not realize that you're doing
this until you notice later that your back is a little sore.

Sitting on the floor, bend one leg (like you're going to do a sit-up),
bringing the knee towards the chest.  The other leg is straight. Place
your hands behind you on the floor to support your back.  You can vary
this by leaning against a wall and hugging your knee to your chest
with both arms.  YOUR CANNOT BE TOO CAREFUL WITH YOUR BACK.

For ease of explanation, start with your right leg being straight and
flex your foot (bring your toes towards your head, as opposed to
pointing them away from you).  Turn your leg to the right, so that
your toes and knee are pointing to the right as far as possible.  The
position of the foot is important because it helps to isolate the
inner quad. muscle.  Now, do leg raises.  When I started I could only
do 10 or 20 before I needed to rest.  Don't do the leg raises too
quickly because technique is more important than speed.  I now do
three sets, each leg of 60 repetitions (alternating legs after each
set) for a total of 180 per leg.  It takes me about 10 minutes.

You can tell if your muscle is getting fatigued because it will start
to quiver.  Don't push it, change legs.  Keep note of how many
repetitions you do before you get fatigued and try to increase the
repetitions next time.  Compare you to you, not to others.

Leg presses used to bother my knees.  Now that I'm doing leg raises,
the leg press doesn't bother me any more.  Technique is important when
doing leg presses.  (Technique is probably more important than the
fact that I'm doing leg raises).  Make sure that the seat is forward
far enough, so that when you press you cannot lock your knee.  This
makes the initial position feel too cramped.  My knees feel too close
to my chest.  But it works for me and for others (both men and women)
that I work out with.  Nautilus equipment uses a cam system, such that
there is less resistance on your knees in the initial, starting
position, so there is less chance of injury.

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Leg Massage (John Boone boone@IDA.ORG)

(From Bicycling magazine, pp.76-77, July 1992, Reproduced without
permission)

MASSAGE TECHNIQUES

1. Full Muscle Flush

This surface stroke prepares the muscles for deeper work.  It loosens
the fibers and increases the blood flow to wash out lactic acid and
other toxins.  Begin with the calves.  Place the palms flat against
the bottom of the muscle and stroke toward the heart in a continuous
movement.  Always stroke toward the heart so the blood containing the
toxins isn't traveling back into the muscles.  After a few of these,
knead the muscle during the stroke by working the bottom of the palms
in and out.  End with the original flat stroke.

2. Broad Cross-Fiber Stroke

After each muscle group has been flushed, use the same palm position
at the center of the muscles, but work sideways.  Press harder than
the flush.  The hands are moving acros the muscle fibers, separating
them and making them pliable so the massage can go deeper with the
next type of stroke.  This is a great supplement to stretching.  It
makes muscle fibers less likely to tear.  End with more flushing.

3. Deep Muscle Spress

"Spress" is a Swedish term.  This technique is also known as muscle
stripping.  Use fingers, knuckles, or even elbows to penetrate the
muscle.  [Press deep into the leg where previously rubbing the
surface.]  Apply pressure until the comfort limit is passed.  If
there's pain, work slower, or do a few palm strokes before spressing
again.  Knuckles and thumbs work best.  Concentrate on specific areas,
instead of stroking the whole muscle.  But remember to work toward the
heart.

SELF-MASSAGE

Initial Strokes

Self-massage uses the same sequence of strokes as assisted massage,
and the same order of muscles -- calf, quads, hamstrings, glutes.  But
it's usually less effective because self-massagers get tired or bored
quicker.  The most common mistake is skipping the full-muscle flush or
cross-fiber stroke to concentrate on the spress in the sorest areas.
If you don't prepare the muscles, you won't be able to penetrate deep
enough.  [...] Be sure you're applying pressure with both hands.
Sometimes one side of the leg gets shortchanged.

Going Deeper

The advantage of self-massage is that you know exactly where it hurts
and can key on these areas.  You also know when your muscles are loose
enough for deeper penetration. [...] Amateurs usually don't go [deep
enough] in assisted massage, or do so too quickly and it hurts.  You
can find that perfect balance. [...] It's best to use both [hands],
but fatigue is a problem in self-massage.

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Mail Order Addresses

Here's the addresses/phone numbers of some popular running mail order
outfits (you can get directory assistance for 800 numbers at
1-800-555-1212 if you don't see the mail order outfit you're looking
for here):

Road Runner Sports
1-800-841-0697

California Best
970 Broadway Dept. 2033
Chula Vista, CA 91911
1-800-225-2378

In-Stride
13220 Evening Creek Dr. Suite 116
San Diego, CA 92128
1-800-521-0274
1-619-679-6697 International Orders
1-619-679-6675 FAX

Tel-a-Runner
1248 Sussex Turnpike C-5
Randolph, NJ 07869
1-800-835-2786

Hoy's Sports
1-800-873-4329
Track & Field event shoes from adidas, Converse, Brooks, Diadora,
Mizuno, Nike, and Reebok. Also racing flats and race walkers..,

Sports Style International
1605 Fannin Blvd.
Houston, TX 77002
1-800-580-SMTC  Fax: 1-713-659-1243
Biggest (only?) source for Santa Monica Track Club paraphenalia and
Carl Lewis-inspired designs. Caps, t-shirts, stickers, unishorts, and
more. Shoes not advertised, though...

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Marathon

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Facts

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Training for one

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Major Marathons (e.g. Boston, LA, New York)

New York Marathon
=================
The New York Marathon is scheduled for November 1. For information and
registration forms, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope with $4
to:
        NYRC
        Marathon Entries
        P.O. Box 1388 GPO
        New York, NY   10116
        or call (212) 860-4455

Boston Marathon
===============
The Boston Marathon is held on Patriots day. Starting time: Noon
Boston Marathon qualifying times. 
(John Berkery berkery@crdgw2.crd.ge.com)

 Age   Men   Women
18-34  3:10  3:40
35-39  3:15  3:45
40-44  3:20  3:50
45-49  3:25  3:55
50-54  3:30  4:00
55-59  3:35  4:05
60-64  3:40  4:10
65-69  3:45  4:15
70+    3:50  4:20

Chicago Marathon
================
This year the race is October 25th.  For entry forms:

        Chicago Marathon
        214 W. Erie
        Chicago, IL  60610
        (312) 951-0660 [VOICE]
        (312) 943-0881 [FAX]


Twin Cities Marathon
====================

Los Angeles Marathon
====================

San Francisco Marathon
======================
This year the race is August 29. For entry forms or more information:

        City of San Francisco Marathon
        P.O. Box 77148
        San Francisco, CA 94107
        (415) 871-2123

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Miscellaneous 

I pulled this chart out of _Marathoning_ by Manfred Steffny. It's an
old book (originally published 1977).  (Robert Davidson
DAVIDSON%MARICOPA.EDU)


        Max. possible   Realistic
10Km    marathon time   marathon time
------  -------------   -------------
27:00   2:05:00         2:08:30
28:00   2:10:00         2:14:00
29:00   2:15:00         2:19:30
30:00   2:20:00         2:25:00
31:00   2:25:00         2:30:30
32:00   2:30:00         2:36:00
33:00   2:35:00         2:43:00
34:00   2:40:00         2:49:00
35:00   2:45:00         2:55:00
36:00   2:50:00         3:00:00
37:00   2:55:00         3:07:00
38:00   3:00:00         3:15:00
39:00   3:05:00         3:20:00
40:00   3:10:00         3:25:00
42:30   3:22:00         3:42:30
45:00   3:35:00         4:00:00
47:30   3:47:30         4:20:00
50:00   4:00:00         4:40:00


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Medical / Injuries

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Achilles tendinitis (sorry, forgot the author)

General advice:

1.  Warm up before you stretch.  This could be in the form of a slow
jog as you start your run.  When I feel it necessary, I stop for a few
minutes and stretch during the early stages of a run.

2.  Stretch after your run.  This has proven the best solution for me.
Whenever I skip this part, I end up stiff the next day.  The muscles
are nice and warm after a run and respond well to stretching.  My
flexibility has improved as a result of this practice, too.

3.  With regards to an injury, you've got to be tough and rest it in
order for it to heal.  This might be a good time to concentrate on
strength training with weights.

--------------

The good news: since this seems to be your first injury, and your
training load is light, your tendinitis is probably due to the most
simple cause - leg length imbalance.  Get someone to mark how far you
can bend to each side, if these are different heights then you might
find a heel raiser under the bad leg will both even out the side-bend
_and_ speed up the recovery.

The bad news: achilles is notoriously slow to heal even with the
correct treatment.  And the chances of recurrence are quite high.
However the condition you describe shouldn't prevent your training, as
long as you promote healing with stretching, massage (calf/inner
thigh/groin), ice, etc...

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Shin splints (Rodney Sanders rdsand@ccmail.monsanto.com)

In my experience, I have found that stretching is the real key to
avoiding shin-splints.  I believe there's a book with stretches by Bob
Anderson that you may want to check.  Also, back issues of running
magazines sometimes have helpful information.  Basically, I do the
standard "lean on the wall stretch" and a stretch by standing
flat-footed on one leg and bending at the knee to stretch the
achilles.  I then top these off with a few toe raises (no weights!)
before I head out to run...  If you're having trouble, I'd recommend
stretching 2-3 times a day until you get over the problem.  Start
slowly!

Also, you probably should avoid hills and extremely hard surfaces
until the situation improves. I've known several people who've had
shin splints and gotten over them by stretching.  (Of course, you
should be careful in case the shin splints are the result of a more
severe problem...)

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Side stitches (Jack Berkery berkery@emmax5crd.ge.com)

The Latest Word on Stitches

In the May-June 1992 issue of Running Research News there is an
article by Dr. Gordon Quick about the causes of and cures for
stitches. To summarize:

1) Stitches are a muscle spasm of the diaphragm. The cause of the
spasm is that the organs below it are jouncing up and down and pulling
down as it wants to pull up. The liver being the largest organ is the
biggest culprit which is why most stitches are on the right side. A
stomach full of food may also contribute to the problem for the same
reason. Stitches also occur more often when running downhill or in
cold weather.

2) The cure seems almost too simple. Breathe out when your left foot
strikes the ground instead of when the right foot strikes so that the
organs on the right side of the abdomen are jouncing up when the
diaphragm is going up. The organs attached to the bottom of the
diaphragm on the left aren't as big, so exert less downward pulling
strain. If this is not enough to get rid of it, stop and raise you
arms above your head until the pain goes away and when you resume, be
a left foot breather. (Conversely, if your stitch occurs on the left
side, switch your breathing to exhale on the right foot.)

3) Do not eat anything for an hour before running if you are prone to
stitches, BUT PLEASE DO DRINK WATER. Water empties from the stomach
faster than solids and the risk of complications from dehydration far
exceed the problems one may have with a stitch.

4) In the long term, exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles
will help prevent stitches because tighter abs will allow less
movement of those internal organs. Practice belly breathing instead of
chest breathing as recommended by Noakes. For the most part, stitches
diminish over time.  While they are not strictly a novice runner's
problem (about 1/3 of all runners get them from time to time) they
usually will go away after a few weeks of conditioning.

--------------

By Dr. Tim Noakes Oxford University Press, 1985. This is quoted
verbatim from "Lore of Running"

        Proper breathing prevents the development of the `stitch'.
        The stitch is a condition that occurs only during exercise
        and which causes severe pain usually on the right side of
        the abdomen, immediately below the rib margin.  Frequently
        the pain is also perceived in the right shoulder joint,
        where it feels as if an ice-pick were being driven into
        the joint.  The pain is exacerbated by down-hill running
        and by fast, sustained running as in a short road race or
        time trial.  For various complex anatomical reasons, the
        fact that the stitch causes pain to be felt in the shoulder
        joint suggests that the diaphragm is the source of the pain.

        It has been suggested that when breathing with the chest too
        much air is drawn into the lungs, and not all is exhaled.  This
        causes a gradual and progressive accumulation of air in the lungs,
        causing them to expand which in turn causes the diaphragm to be
        stretched and to encroach on the abdominal contents below it.
        During running, the over-stretched diaphragm becomes sandwiched
        between an over-expanded chest above, and a jolting intestine pounding
        it from below.  It revolts by going into spasm, and the pain of
        this spasm is recognized as the stitch.

        Although there is really not a shred of scientific evidence for
        this belief, I have found that diaphragm spasm is almost certainly
        involved in the stitch and that belly-breathing can frequently
        relieve the pain.

        The runner who wishes to learn how to belly-breath should lie on the
        floor and place one or more large books on his stomach.  He should
        concentrate on making the books rise when he breathes in and fall
        when he exhales.  As it takes about two months to learn to do the
        movement whilst running fast, it is important to start practicing
        well before an important race.

        A change in breathing pattern may help relieve the stitch.  Within
        a short period of starting running, breathing becomes synchronized
        with footfall.  Thus one automatically breaths in on one leg and
        out when landing either on the same leg - that is 2, 3 or 4 full
        strides later - or on the opposite leg - that is 1 1/2, 2 1/2, or
        3 1/2 strides later.  Thus the ratio of stride to breathing may be
        2:1, 3:1, 4:1; or 1.5:1, 2.5:1, 3.5:1.

        This phenomenon was first reported by Bramble and Carrier (1983).
        Of particular interest was their finding that most runners are
        `footed', that is the beginning and end of a respiratory cycle
        occurs on the same foot, usually in a stride to breathing ratio
        of either 4:1 whilst jogging or 2:1 whilst running faster.  Runners
        then become habituated to breathing out on the same let, day after
        day.  This produces asymmetrical stresses on the body and could be
        a factor in both the stitch and in certain running injuries.  I am
        `left-footed' and have also suffered my major running injuries only
        on my left side.  If changes in breathing patterns do not prevent the
        stitch then the last step is to increase abdominal muscle strength.
        The correct way to strengthen the abdominal muscles is to do bent-knee
        sit ups with the feet unsupported.

--------------

EDITORS NOTE: Readers response to "Belly Breathing" definition above.
"Belly Breathing" (Lamont Granquist  lamontg@u.washington.edu)

While I wasn't breathing with my chest, I wasn't really "Belly
Breathing". When I exhaled, what I was doing was pulling my stomach
muscles in. I found out that this is *not* the way to "Belly Breathe".
The idea is to throw your gut out as much as possible -- try and look
as fat & ugly as you can when you run. For the suggestion in the FAQ
of lying on your back and lifting a book, it should probably be noted
that when exhaling you want to try to keep the book lifted up (of
course naturally, you don't want to try to do this all so hard that it
becomes difficult to exhale -- the idea is that breathing this way
should be comfortable).

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Lactic Acid (Rob Loszewski loszewski_im@sage.hnrc.tufts.edu)

"Lactic acid buildup (technically called acidosis) can cause burning
pain, especially in untrained muscles. Lactic acid accumulation can
lead to muscle exhaustion withing seconds if the blood cannot clear it
away. A strategy for dealing with lactic acid buildup is to relax the
muscles at every opportunity, so that the circulating blood can carry
the lactic acid away and bring oxygen to support aerobic metabolism.
...much of the lactic acid is routed to the liver, where it is
converted to glucose.  A little lactic acid remains in muscle tissue,
where it is completely oxidized when the oxygen supply is once again
sufficient."  Understanding Nutrition, 5th ed., Whitney, Hamilton,
Rolfes., West Pub. Comp.  1990, pg402- 403.

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Loose Bowels   (Rodney Sanders rdsand@ccmail.monsanto.com)

Some general advice to take care of loose bowels.

(1) Look for offending foods in your diet.  For example, many people
have a lactose intolerance which can cause all sorts of fun if you had
a triple cheese pizza the night before the run...

(2) If you run in the morning, eat lightly and early the night
before...  I try to make sure I eat the least problematic foods close
to my workouts...  I've personally found baked chicken/fish, baked
potatoes, and pasta with light sauces (no alfredo!), to be pretty
good...

(3) I read that Bill Rodgers drinks a cup of coffee in the morning
before heading out...The caffeine stimulates one to take care of
things completely before getting out...This has helped me when I run
in the morning....

(4) Carry a wad of toilet paper with you!

I suspect that if you monitor your diet closely, you'll probably find
something that makes the problem worse than at other times and you can
avoid that food...

Some other advice: (Sanjay Manandhar sanjay@media-lab.media.mit.edu)
1. Less fiber in the diet
2. Run repeats on small loops.
3. Note all the washrooms along the route.
4. Time of day.  For me, mornings are bad. In the evening runs the
problem is infrequent.
5. A primer run. If I have to run in the mornings, I run 1 mile of
primer run so that the bowels can be taken care of. Then I start my
real run.

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===========================================================================

Nutrition and Food  (Bruce Hildenbrand  bhilden@unix386.Convergent.COM)
[Ed. note: Originally appeared in rec.bicycles]

Oh well, I have been promising to do this for a while and given the
present discussions on nutrition, it is about the right time.  This
article was written in 1980 for Bicycling Magazine.  It has been
reprinted in over 30 publications, been the basis for a chapter in a
book and cited numerous other times.  I guess somebody besides me
thinks its OK.  If you disagree with any points, that's fine, I just
don't want to see people take exception based on their own personal
experiences because everyone is different and psychological factors
play a big role(much bigger than you would think) on how one perceives
his/her own nutritional requirements.  Remember that good nutrition is
a LONG TERM process that is not really affected by short term
events(drinking poison would be an exception).  If it works for you
then do it!!!  Don't preach!!!!

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BASIC NUTRITION PRIMER

Nutrition in athletics is a very controversial topic.  However, for an
athlete to have confidence that his/her diet is beneficial he/she must
understand the role each food component plays in the body's overall
makeup.  Conversely, it is important to identify and understand the
nutritional demands on the physiological processes of the body that
occur as a result of racing and training so that these needs can be
satisfied in the athlete's diet.

For the above reasons, a basic nutrition primer should help the
athlete determine the right ingredients of his/her diet which fit
training and racing schedules and existing eating habits.  The body
requires three basic components from foods: 1) water; 2) energy; and
3)nutrients.

WATER

Water is essential for life and without a doubt the most important
component in our diet.  Proper hydrations not only allows the body to
maintain structural and biochemical integrity, but it also prevents
overheating, through sensible heat loss(perspiration).  Many *runners*
have experienced the affects of acute fluid deficiency on a hot day,
better known as heat exhaustion.  Dehydration can be a long term
problem, especially at altitude, but this does not seem to be a
widespread problem among *runners* and is only mentioned here as a
reminder (but an important one).

ENERGY

Energy is required for metabolic processes, growth and to support
physical activity.  The Food and Nutrition Board of the National
Academy of Sciences has procrastinated in establishing a Recommended
Daily Allowance(RDA) for energy the reasoning being that such a daily
requirement could lead to overeating.  A moderately active 70kg(155lb)
man burns about 2700 kcal/day and a moderately active 58kg(128lb)
woman burns about 2500 kcal/day.

It is estimated that runners burn XXXX kcal/min or about XXX-XXX
kcal/hr while *running* (this is obviously dependent on the level of
exertion).  Thus a three hour training *run* can add up to XXXX
kcals(the public knows these as calories) to the daily energy demand
of the *runner*.  Nutritional studies indicate that there is no
significant increase in the vitamin requirement of the athlete as a
result of this energy expenditure.

In order to meet this extra demand, the *runner* must increase his/her
intake of food.  This may come before, during or after a *run* but
most likely it will be a combination of all of the above.  If for some
reason extra nutrients are required because of this extra energy
demand, they will most likely be replenished through the increased
food intake.  Carbohydrates and fats are the body's energy sources and
will be discussed shortly.

NUTRIENTS

This is a broad term and refers to vitamins, minerals, proteins,
carbohydrates, fats, fiber and a host of other substances.  The body
is a very complex product of evolution.  It can manufacture many of
the resources it needs to survive.  However, vitamins, minerals and
essential amino acids(the building blocks of proteins) and fatty acids
cannot be manufactured, hence they must be supplied in our food to
support proper health.

Vitamins and Minerals

No explanation needed here except that there are established RDA's for
most vitamins and minerals and that a well balanced diet, especially
when supplemented by a daily multivitamin and mineral tablet should
meet all the requirements of the cyclist.

Proper electrolyte replacement(sodium and potassium salts) should be
emphasized, especially during and after long, hot rides.  Commercially
available preparations such as Exceed, Body Fuel and Isostar help
replenish electrolytes lost while *running*.

Proteins

Food proteins are necessary for the synthesis of the body's
skeletal(muscle, skin, etc.) and biochemical(enzymes, hormones,
etc.)proteins.  Contrary to popular belief, proteins are not a good
source of energy in fact they produce many toxic substances when they
are converted to the simple sugars needed for the body's energy
demand.

Americans traditionally eat enough proteins to satisfy their body's
requirement.  All indications are that increased levels of exercise do
not cause a significant increase in the body's daily protein
requirement which has been estimated to be 0.8gm protein/kg body
weight.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are divided into two groups, simple and complex, and
serve as one of the body's two main sources of energy.

Simple carbohydrates are better known as sugars, examples being
fructose, glucose(also called dextrose), sucrose(table sugar) and
lactose(milk sugar).

The complex carbohydrates include starches and pectins which are
multi-linked chains of glucose.  Breads and pastas are rich sources of
complex carbohydrates.

The brain requires glucose for proper functioning which necessitates a
carbohydrate source.  The simple sugars are quite easily broken down
to help satisfy energy and brain demands and for this reason they are
an ideal food during racing and training.  The complex sugars require
a substantially longer time for breakdown into their glucose sub units
and are more suited before and after riding to help meet the body's
energy requirements.