Job Stress and Women's Heart Health

It has been long acknowledged that a stressful job, or the fear of losing a job, increased the risk of heart attacks in men. A recent study by the American Heart Association reports that the same effect is felt in women, who now comprise half of the workforce.

Entitled the "Women's Health Study," he research involved over 17,000 participants over a 10 year period. Women with demanding jobs and with little control of them were nearly twice as likely to have suffered a heart attack as those with less demanding jobs, and more control. The high-stress group had a 40 percent higher risk of overall heart problems, including heart attacks, strokes, or clogged arteries requiring surgery.

Women who were were worried about losing their job had higher blood pressure, cholesterol, and body weight. Stress contributes to heart issues by releasing "fight or flight" hormones, that brings about inflammation and raises blood pressure.

No surprsie, exercise was one of the remedies prescribed to lower risk factors, both for its physiological effects and its ability to clear the mind and improve one's mood.

The report also suggested limiting work you need to bring home, spending time with friends and family, and making sure there is some "me time" incorporated into every day.

There is still some inequity in the workplace, with women less likely to have positions of authority. Generally, the less authority and control of your situation, the more stress you have. The more stress you have, the more likely health problems will follow.

Turkey Trot 2010

Due to a busy Fall work schedule, and a hamstring injury suffered doing 400-meter repeats
at the track in August, I have not run a race since the Avalon "Run From The Sun" 5-K in mid-July.

I finally had a Saturday morning free, and competed in the 20th annual Somerset County
Park System's Turkey Trot 5-K at Colonial Park in Somerset November 13th.
It's rare when I pre-register for a 5-K, but I did this time when I heard the weather would be
unseasonably warm for late fall, which is the way I like it.

Sure enough, the day before the race, I could barely make it down the stairs due to a tight achilles on my right leg, the same one that suffered the hamstring pull in the summer (all probably related, I know!).

As is tradition, I didn't run the day preceeding the 5-k, but lifted weights and stretched the achilles between each set. Magically, it did start to loosen up!

The morning of the race, it still felt good, and my warm-up was fluid and easy. As I ran the Avalon race in 20:12, anything under 20 minutes would be considered a good race for me, right now.

This is a low-key gathering, and there are no splits given. I glanced at my watch at the mile point, and thought it read 6:27, slower than I would have liked. I felt strong, though, and started picking off runners, one-by-one.

I missed the two-mile marking, but felt mentally focused and was still passing people at a steady rate. My strategy was to stay fairly strong until the last turnaround on this figure-eight course, which was about a half-mile to the finish.

Picking it up more, and breathing heavily, I passed a middle-aged runner and felt I probably was in good position to win my 50-59 year age-group. There was a high-school runner just ahead of the middle-aged guy, and I picked it up to pass him as well, about 400 meters from the finish line.

About 100 yards from the finish, you turn left, and sprint up a small hill in the parking area. With way more spring in his legs, the high school runner did catch me, but I crossed the line in 19:53, good for first place in the 50-59 division, and 17th in an overall field of about 400. I won a 15-lb (frozen) turkey!

I felt encouraged with my effort, and it was a good way to come back from my minor injury, and finish the racing season for 2010. Now, I'll be mostly hitting the treadmill for speed work,
and preparing for the Rutgers Unity Half-Marathon in April. At least, my head is in the right place!

Benefits of tea

Tea - so soothing and indespensible when we have a cold. Energizing and calming, at the same time. Tea has certainly grown in popularity, with numerous flavors, decaffeinated varieties, and indisputrable health benefits. I still enjoy my two cups of coffee in the morning, and then switch to tea for my hot drink fix after that. After a meal, I always feel tea helps with my digestion.

You will often here discussion on the benefits of green tea versus black tea. Acutually, all tea comes from the same plant, with the different varieties dependent on the processing of it.

All varieties of teas have antioxidants in them. Catechin is the ingredient that studies show reduce the risk of diabetes and some forms of cancer.

Green tea contains the most Catechin, and is the best variety to lower LDL, or bad, cholesterol, and for preventing colon cancer. Most dietary experts feel that black tea is just as beneficial for you, overall.

Green tea is more popular in Asia, so studies there report good health benefits from green tea. Black tea is more prevelant in the United States and England, so medical reports from there tend to favor black tea.

Whatever your preference, keep tea as a key part of your diet and you won't go wrong.

New York City Marathon

My brother-in-law, Andy, will be making his initial marathon effort at the November 7th ING New York City Marathon. Andy is in his early 40's, ani is a former college swimmer and rower. He's been putting in his obligatory 20-mile runs on the weekends, has set a very realistic goal, and I think he's going to do fine.

I've run New York twice in 1979 and 1991. I alawys tell people, if you run one marathon in your life, make it New York. The sights and sounds are awe-inspiring: the massive start on the Verrazanno, the "rush" you feel off the bridge; various ethnic neightborhoods of Brooklyn; the massive crowds along First Ave. in Manhattan; and the rolling, long-awaited finish in Central park. There are thousands of Europeans and people from all over the U.S. in the race, and there's a great sense of comraderie at the pre-race expo, and the entire weekend.

I was in college and ran a 2:52.11 in my first effort, a time I was somewhat disappointed with at the time, but increasingly proud of as the years past. The qualifying for Boston was a stringent

2:50 at that time, and it was agonizing to run that hard, for that long, and just miss. Thankfully, I attined my goal of qualifying the next year at Jersey Shore with my personal-best of 2:43.06.

During this era, I was running anywhere between 70-100 miles a week, of mostly distance.

Twelve years later, I was running much faster at every distance leading up to the marathon,

with a bersonal-best 1:18 half-marathon at Jersey Shore in October. However, i wasn't runnning nearly the mileage, with just one long run of 15 miles preceding the marathon.

My first-half was great that day, clocking a 1:22 as I approached the Queensborough Bridge.

On the incline up the bridge, my quads tightened up as never before, or since. Simply, it felt like I had a knife sticking out of each thigh. I jogged, walked, and shuffled through the final 13, with a finishing time of 3:06.

For a variety of reasons (kids and family, mostly), I haven't run one since. The 15-20 mile weekends runs don't take that long, in and of themselves. But I found myself not wanting to do anything else afterward, which interferes with training clients, kid's soccer games, family visits, and the other things that encompass my weekends at this stage in my life.

One half-marathon a year is is good for me right now, and I'll be happy rooting for Andy in his journey!

Concussions and Sports

A few years back, the New York Mets found themselves in some controversy. Ryan Church, an outfielder, had suffered a concussion during a game in San Francisco. They had Church fly back with the team (a dehydrating six-hour cross-country flight) and were generally thought to have rushed, and ultimately impeded, his recovery. Learning from their mistakes, they were much more careful when high-priced outfielder Jason Bay suffered a similar injury this year, shutting him down in July for the rest of the season.

Concussions (an injury to the brain that leads to headaches, dizziness, nausea, loss of memory and balance, and hearing impairments) are the most common head injury in sports. Obviously, contact sports like football, hockey, soccer, and wrestling are the most likely playing fields where concussions occur, but they can be from a bike or skiing accident just as easily.

Recovery from concussions is tricky. The symptoms can last for days or weeks, and can go away and come back. While recovery times greatly vary, the majority of people have no permanent damage from a single concussion.

Besides physical rest, it is important not engage in too many brain-taxing activities while recovering from a concussion. I have a relative who (with the cooperation of school officials) had to limit his high school workload and postpone his SAT's due to a concussion suffered in a basketball game.

A blow to the head during recovery from a concussion can cause "second impact syndrome"

with more serious consequences than the original injury. Professional athletes (hockey player Eric Lindros comes to mind) who have suffered multiple concussions often have to cut their careers short.

In conclusion, don't rush back into activities until cleared by your Physician!

"Hands-On"CPR

Most Americans have learned CPR at some point in thier life: high school health class, lifeguard or counselor training, etc. For many people, it was many years ago. They remember a confusing process of head tilts, nose squeezes, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and chest compressions. I take it every two years now, and despite doing the class at least 20 times in my life, still need the refresher every time I take it.

Good news - The Arizona Dept. of Health Services just published a new, large study that more adults survived cardiac arrest when a bystander gave them continuous chest presses to simulate heartbeat, compared with traditional CPR with mouth-to-mouth breathing.

Lead author Ben Bobrow said "Anyone who can put one hand on top of the other, lock their elbows and push hard and fast can do this. No risk, no fear of causing harm. We want to take away all the reasons bystanders do nothing when they witness another person collapse."

Experts feel tat many people shied away from doing CPR because of the risk of germs with mouth-to-mouth, as well as the general "yuck factor."

Of course, having an AED on premesis is even more effective, but short of that, compressions are simple and more effective than the old method. With all that being said, the more training you have, the more confident you will feel, and you are likely to be more competent when an emergency arrives. It's worth the three hours and $40 or $50 to get certified in CPR/AED rescue. Call your local American Red Cross or American Heart Association for more information.

Running Tips from Erin Donohue

The June issue of Runner's World's "Follow The Leader" column featured former New Jersey high school standout Erin Donohue of Haddonfield.
Erin dominated the girl's track scene in New Jersey in the late 1990's, and is now one of the top runners on the national road-racing circuit. One of the interesting things I remember about her in high school is, that besides dominating the middle and long-distance events on the track, she was one of the best in the state in the javelin, as well as a standout basketball player!
Her training tips were all things I subscribe to as well. The first was to prepare for hard workouts the same way you do for a race. "Getting comfortable with the routine reduces the nervousness you feel on race day," she observed.
I tell beginning runners this all the time. Experiment with what you eat before a hard workout, so you won't haave any stomach issues in a race. Also, try to make your warm-ups the same, so you can judge how loose, tight, fresh or fatigued you are at the start of a hard effort.
Regarding core work, Erin often times her sets of pushups and crunches and does multiple sets, rather than going one set to total failure. This adds an aerobic element to her strength work, and, I mght add, insures better form.
Finally, she often over-dresses for her workouts (as do I), explaining that "warm muscles perform better than cold muscles do." People at my club often laugh at how much clothing I wear when I go for a run, but I've found that my times are faster when I'm sweating more, and my body is looser.
Everyone has to experiment to find out what works best for them as far as race prep, and
body temperature when training. Some like it hot, and some do not. I found myself in agreement with Erin Donohue's tips, and that's why I pass them along!