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RUNNER'S NICHE
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Vol. 6 No.1 January / February 2000 (Better Late than Never.)
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NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
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Fort Vancouver Park in Vancouver, Washington was the site of the
USATF Winter Cross Country Championships on February 17. Along
with my wife and several members of my running club, the Boulder
Road Runners, I was fortunate enough to attend and compete in
the masters division. Despite running well I got my butt kicked.
It didn't matter. I finally got to participate in a race I have
dreamed of being in ever since I started running 31 years ago.
Cross Country is not a glamour sport. Even at these national
championships the elite runners would be competing for less
money than most any major road race. Fans are few compared to
track and field or a big city marathon. The weather is typically
cold and courses are often muddy and difficult. Times will be
slow because of the difficulty of the course. Only a very few of
the elite runners have their way paid to the national meet, and
runners in the masters division can win no more than a half
dollar sized medal.
So why do it? Because it is a pure form of running, almost
primal in nature. Everyone who has ever competed in a cross
country race knows that it takes a special personality and a
special approach to running to do well. The terrain each step is
different than the one before, and getting into any kind of
rhythm as in a road race just isn't possible. Running cross
country well requires both speed and strength, and an even
stronger will. To compete in cross country is an attempt to
become the complete runner. It is an addictive challenge.
The start of a cross country race with the many different
colored uniforms all funneling into a line is one of the most
exciting sights in any sport, and is even more exciting when you
are in the middle of it, literally feeling the ground shake
beneath you.
Don't forget that in cross country you have the unique
opportunity to compete with teammates, the guys that you train
with on weekends. The competitive juices certainly flow when you
know there is a team supporting you and depending on your
efforts.
Why do the national meet instead of a local race in which your
chances of placing higher might be better? Because you get to
see the best the sport has to offer. This year you could have
seen Deena Drossin win the womens 8 K and witness the emotion
she showed not just because of winning the race but because she
was thinking of her mother who is fighting breast cancer. You
could have seen an epic battle with Meb Keflezighi holding off
Alan Culpepper with repeated, brutal surges in the mens 12 K.
Then there was the courage of Elva Driver in the womens 4 K when
she pushed the pace from the start and gave it everything she
had to try to take the kick away from Regina Jacobs, only to be
passed in the final kilometer. And the fans on the course loved
her for it, and appreciated her effort only as another runner
can. And remember, you can run the very same course that the
elite runners do.
Where else would you want to be?
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MARATHON & BEYOND MAGAZINE - Marathon & Beyond, the only magazine
that focuses on the specific needs of marathoners and
ultrarunners. M&B offers in-depth articles on training, race
strategies, injuries, nutrition, race profiles, running history,
and more. Visit their web site at:
http://www.marathonandbeyond.com
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RUNNER'S NICHE / MARATHON & BEYOND TRIVIA CONTEST
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Michael J. Roth of St. James, New Jersey was our winner last
month. He will get a free issue of Marathon & Beyond and fame!
Trivia contest entrants are limited to one prize per calendar
year.
When answering, email your answers with the subject "trivia
contest" and answer the questions in the order they appear below.
Mail to: woodyg3@netone.com. The FIRST person to answer all ten
questions correctly wins. If nobody answers all ten correctly, we
will award the prize to the person who answers the most questions
correctly. Good Luck!
This month's questions:
1. American Mark Coogan won a silver medal in a major
international marathon. At what event did he win his silver
medal?
2. How many world records did Czech superstar Emil Zatopek set in
his running career?
3. Who holds the women's American record for 5 K on the roads?
4. Who holds the women's world record for 10 miles on the roads?
5. For what nation did former world marathon record holder Steve
Jones compete?
6. At what distance did Kiwi Dick Quax hold a track world record?
7. How many times did Frank Shorter win the prestigious Fukuoka
Marathon?
8. What nation do marathon stars Martha Tenorio, Rolando Vera and
Silvio Guerra come from?
9. Who was the bronze medalist in the 1992 womens Olympic
Marathon?
10. A female athlete won both the Boston and New York Marathon in
1981. Who was she?
Last month's answers:
Running Anatomy 101
1. What is the common name for the group of muscles on the back
of the thigh? - Hamstrings
2. What tendon attaches the calf to the heel bone? - Achilles
3. In what part of the body would you find the plantar fascia? -
Bottom of the foot
4. What part of the muscle cell produces energy for contraction
to occur? - Mitochondria
5. What muscle fiber type is most prevalent in a sprinter's leg
muscles? - Fast twitch
6. What common runner's ailment, sometimes called "runner's knee"
and often caused by over pronation, is characterized by swelling
and irritation directly under the kneecap? - Chondromalacia
7. What is a more common name for the gastrocnemius muscle? -
Calf
8. What muscle group is especially important to strengthen in
order to provide support and protection for the knee joint? -
Quadriceps
9. Where are the metatarsal bones located? - The foot
10. Where is the medial meniscus located in the human body? - The
medial or inside part of the knee.
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ANONYMOUS THOUGHTS ON THE RUN
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Editor's Note: The author of this piece wishes to remain
anonymous.
The collective wisdom found in ancient legs, cascaded across the
uneven grassy plain - ready to seek out yet another challenge,
unwilling to surrender their youthful souls. The spectacle of
sight and sound produced a fury matched only by their
perseverance - for we were ready to keep our honor bright. There
was brevity to our excited gallop, but the simplicity of the
moment was lost to none. The common arbitrator was this race
course over winter grass, whose colors flickered yellow and brown
and comprised our match this gray and cloudy afternoon. Our
hearts had found what we had sought...to measure ourselves, to
test our imperfect faculties against other men-children. We have
no false face to hide behind... no soliciting of favors, we must
summon our most earnest effort, and fail when we must, and
produce a precise rhythm that comes from deep within our
practiced remembrances. It was a feast of physical delight, and
the numbers ratified our athletic rhetoric. I did not dance this
day, but honesty of effort made the finish an elegant procession,
and yielded a feeling that life's wheel turned another notch.
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WHAT EXTRA MILEAGE WILL DO FOR YOUR RUNNING
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By Woody Green
From time to time every runner thinks about adding mileage to his
or her weekly or monthly total. The reasons that runners think of
this are varied. Some simply want to get in better shape, others
are preparing for a long race, still others simply want more
impressive totals in their running logs.
What is it that extra mileage actually does for your training?
First, it needs to be stressed that increasing mileage can be the
cause of injury, illness or burn out. It shouldn't be this way,
but if the mileage is increased too rapidly or high mileage is
extended too long without a break, tragedy can occur.
When increasing mileage the key is to increase slowly. Most
coaches indicate that an increase of no more than 5-10 percent a
week is advisable, and even then it is a good idea not to
continue increasing mileage each week without a break every three
or four weeks. The longest run of the week similarly should not
increase too rapidly. If you are planning on running a marathon,
for instance, it isn't usually a great idea to jump from a weekly
8 mile long run up to a 20 miler. You might get away with it for
a couple of weeks, but it will catch up to you eventually.
Assuming your build up in mileage is cautious and gradual, the
question is still what will higher mileage do for you?
Physiologically, longer runs will increase the number of tiny
capillaries in the leg muscles. This will provide more blood to
the working muscles, and thus deliver more oxygen. Increases in
the mitochondria, the "power centers" of the muscle cells, will
also occur. Additionally, your body will adapt to be better able
to use carbohydrate and fat efficiently. What does all this
physiological mumbo jumbo mean? Basically, you'll be able to run
faster over longer periods of time. Additionally, you will set a
solid base on which to add speed training in order to become
better able to race over short distances.
After a few weeks of increased mileage you should be better able
to recover after hard workouts, and better able to recover in the
middle of difficult interval sessions. The common term is that it
makes you a "stronger" runner, but a better term might be a more
"cardiovascularly efficient" runner. Also, a carefully planned
build up in miles can actually make a runner more injury
resistant.
Other things to keep in mind:
1. You will want to decrease mileage in the last 2-3 weeks before
your most important races.
2. Ease off on your training and decrease your weekly mileage
every few months to let your body recover and come back even
stronger.
3. Decrease the overall mileage when you are doing a good deal of
speed work. Your body needs recovery not only in relationship to
the volume of training, but also the intensity.
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WEB SITES OF INTEREST
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* LAKE TAHOE MARATHON SET FOR OCTOBER 14
http://www.laketahoemarathon.com
* Caps and Socks:
http://runningcaps.com
and
http://www.baysixusa.com
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LETTER FROM OUR READERS
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* December Reflections
Dear Runner's Niche,
Just wanted to drop you a line or two to say thanks for the time
and effort you put into the Runner's Niche.
I look forward to your December issues most of all, as it always
seems that I pull them up and read them late on a snowy evening
right around Christmas. They never fail to hit the mark.
They seem to always put me in a reflective frame of mind,
reviewing the yearly training journal and just taking stock of
that which I am grateful for and the past years accomplishments.
Thanks for your contribution to my/our well being.
Wishing you all the best for the holidays!
- Keith Kauffman
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