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!

Preventing Diabetes

I've read more than once that genetics will pre-determine 50% of future problems. In other words, let's say you do everything right: diet, exercise, don't smoke, moderate or no drinking, etc. That total up to 50% protection against major illnesses like Diabetes, Multple Sclerosis, Cancer, or Heart Conditions. Genetics, like it or not, is the other 50%.

Diabetes is one of the things that runs in my family. Diabetes is a condition in which the body is unable to regulate the level of sugar/glucose in the blood. As this relates to fitness; the higher percentage of body fat, it takes a larger amount of insulin (which is released by the pancreas to control sugar levels in the blood) to keep glucose level within a normal range. The kidney works to filter the blood sugar as well, but when the blood sugar reaches too high a level, the kidney cannot reabsorb all of it.

This is a pre-diabetic state. At this point, diet and exercise and weight loss can help regulate the blood sugar levels. If a diabetic state is reached, medication must be taken to increase insulin

production, or additional insulin must be administered to the body. Obviously, you want to do everything to avoid this.

Diabetes causes damage of small blood vessels, which can lead to blindness, kidney failure,

strokes, or heart attack. The best way to prevent is through diet and exercise. If you are pre-diabetic, a consultation with a nutritionist is a good idea to get a detailed "do's and don'ts" concerning your diet.

Krav Maga

One of the things I always preach about fitness is variety. Anything you do too long, at the same intensity and duration, will get stale. With that precept in mind, I have been taking classes in self-defense this summer that I found very interesting.
I consider it no-frills self-defense: a variety of punches, some kicks, blocks, and a bunch of body weight exercises mixed in for "fun." It's actually basic Krav Maga, the martial art system invented by the Israeli Defense Forces in the late 1940's, that blends styles from many other martial-arts disciplines. At its essense, it's about responding quickly to an attack, using whatever method creates the best opportunity for you to repel it.
Drills we do include lying on the floor, holding off some one, getting up and attacking; Fighting off two attackers at once; evading someone rushing at you; etc. You can practice with a friend with just a pad and a pair of boxing gloves. Think of any attack scenario and ways to thwart it:
fingers to the throat, fingers to the eye, kick to the knee, anything! Practice the moves you feel most comfortable with, and hopefully, if you ever need it, you would have the confidence to
defend yourself.
One thing they say in class: fight as if a family member, not you, was being attacked. Think about it: you'd protect a family member with anything and everything you have: that's the essence of Krav Maga!

Like Wine, Life Improves with Age

I ran across an interesting article this week about a very important aspect of fitness: mental fitness.
Despite widespread belief about mid-life crises and old-age depression, life does seem to get better with age. Good news for someone approaching his 52nd birthday in September!
A Gallup poll of 340,000 adults from 18-85 came up with these results: feelings of well-being were fairly high in college-age respondents; fell sharply at 25 and stayed around that level to 35; dropped even lower from 35-50; and then kept improving right up until 85.
Interestingly, the pattern of responses weren't affected much by factors like unemployment, marital status, children living at home, or gender, although men scored a bit higher than women throughout the lifespan.
Breaking it down further, "stress and anger" were highest in the younger age groups, "worry" increased steadily until middle age and then dropped, and "sadness" (a component of those clinically or chronically depressed) was fairly steady through adulthood.
On the other side of life's seesaw, "enjoyment" and "happiness" dropped slightly from the youngest respondents to the mid 50's, then rose to previous highs around 70 before staying steady.
The study was conducted by Stony Brook University in New York and published originally by the National Academy of Sciences.
The conclusions drawn were that older people gain "increased wisdom and emotional intelligence, and are more effective at regulating their emotions than younger people."
I find as I age, I am increasingly reflective, and probably a bit more philosophical about the natural ups and downs of life. Put another way, when you're young, your driving in the fast lane:
which is more exhilerating, but also involves increased braking and the occasional full-scale wreck. I'm riding in the middle lane now, silently cursing out those speeding by me, but content not to race them - lengthening the life of my brake pads as they become more worn down!