A Canadian Forces public affairs officer who is writing a book about the best Canadian races and running adventures is seeking input from BC runners. Captain Noel Paine is looking for nominations and suggestions on the oldest, the historic, the fastest, funnest and craziest races in the province.
To contact Captain Noel Paine you can send an email to legsnlungs@hotmail.com.

… only one catch, to enter you have to sign up for the Q!’s Victoria Track Series. Here are the details:

• Must register by January 31st
• 10 1-year subscriptions to Canadian Running Magazine available
• The more races you register for the better chance you’ll have at winning.

The Q!’s Victoria Track Series begins Saturday, May 1st., 6:30 PM and goes to Saturday, August 21st all at the Jack Wallace Memorial – Oak Bay High School Track.

Have you made any New Years Resolutions yet? Need some help keeping them?

Here’s the deal. Post your 2010, sport and health related goals in the comments section of this post. In one years time we will them re-post your resolutions along with an update on how successful or unsuccessful you were at achieving them.

Sound like fun? There might even be a chance to win some prizes…

Ean Jackson has just written a great piece on his blog on outdoor safety. The first part is included below. The full piece can be read here. 

===

Living in the shadow of the mountains, I try to take full advantage of the amazing opportunities the backcountry offers. Trail running is up there at the top of the list.  I also love alpine activities such as snowshoe running, snowboarding, backcountry and downhill skiing. 

It seems a lot more people like me have been getting in trouble in the backcountry over the past few years.  The media is reporting record deaths from avalanches.  Friends who volunteer for SAR (Search and Rescue) tell me they are being stretched to the limit rescuing an increasing number of lost hikers, snowboarders and skiers.  I’ve certainly been in some awkward spots.  Luckily, none too awkward that I needed to be rescued, but awkward enough that I can point to the scars. My experience has shown that winging it in the mountains is not a good idea.

Continue reading…

Did you know that body fat can kill you, keep you warm, or power your boat? Check out Discover Magazine’s “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Fat” feature.  Here are the first five in the list, for the rest visit Discover Magazine’s website. 

1. They’re doing something right out West. Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight or obese, with the national obesity rate doubling between 1976 and 1999. But as of 2007, California was the only state not getting any fatter.
2. The root of the problem? Depending on gender and how active they are, adults should eat 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. U.S. agriculture now produces 3,900 calories of food per inhabitant per day.
3. People who regularly eat dinner or breakfast in restaurants double their risk of becoming obese.
4. Being overweight reduces a woman’s chances of getting pregnant.
5. The National Institutes of Health believes obesity is one of the reasons why the fastest-growing group of women experiencing infertility are those under 25. 

Are you a book and adventure lover? NileGuidance , a popular travel blog, has just published its list of the top 50 adventure books of all time. The list is well-received and comprehensive, with the books covering subjects ranging from surviving mountaineering disasters to musings by the likes of Hemingway and Aldo Leopold. Following are the first 10 books, for the complete list head over to the NileGuidance Blog .

1. The Snow Leopard – Peter Mathiessen’s seminal work about a journey of (re)discovery to the remotest Himalayan region of Nepal
2. Wind, Sand and Stars – an ode to the golden years of flying and adventure by the author of The Little Prince
3. The Long Walk – an epic tale of escape from a Russian prison camp followed by a 2,000 mile walk to freedom (so unbelievable that some have questioned its authenticity)
4. Three Cups of Tea – everyone’s favorite book about a climber discovering his true calling by building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan
5. No Picnic on Mount Kenya – Italian POW’s reinvigorate their own humanity through adventure
6. A Soldier of the Great War – sure it’s fiction, but this story set in the Italian Alps of World War I can’t help but ignite the adventurous spirit within all of us
7. Seven Years in Tibet – the book is better than the movie (duh)
8. The Climb – get the perspective of one of the real heroes of the 1996 Everest disaster, the late Anatoli Bourkreev
9. Into the Wild – while the movie was good, the book was better still. Krakauer weaves in his own personal dramas to add perspective
10. The Worst Journey in the World – this polar adventure fulfills the definition of “epic” in every sense of the word

Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

(more…)

Outside magazine has recently published a new running-related blog titled “The Running Man“. Although finding the blog on the site can be a little tricky, the content is informative. Here’s a preview of a recent posting…

==========

Winter is the season of excuses. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have one at this time of the year, especially as relates to running. And when the sidewalks are covered in that week old, packed down snow that’s more like ice, it’s incredibly easy to rationalize watching the rest of the episodes on your 30 Rock DVD instead of hitting the road for a run.

That’s why I like La Sportiva’s new Hobnail kit. After about 10 minutes, I turned these ASICS Trabucos into a pair of no-slip ice cleats that are actually still enjoyable to run on. Yes, you feel a little like a duffer running along in golf cleats, especially on roads. But the grip is fantastic. You could run across an ice rink and stop on a dime. And they feel natural underfoot.

Continue reading…

The TR crew would like to wish you all the happiest of holidays and a very Merry Christmas…

Have a runner on your gift list? Check out this new book, "100 Miles to Destiny" by Willis McCarthy. Set during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the story follows a group of men who persevere to complete the Western States Trail. Despite being a work of fiction, the novel reads much like historical fiction. Much of the testimony is based on experiences the author had during his five years of working and living overseas. The book is available through the author’s website , Amazon or ZombieRunner .

If you have an ear for sport documentary’s be sure to give the following two podcasts from CBC a try. The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport, Part 1 & 2 has been voted a top podcast by listeners. Following are summaries of each and links for download.

The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport, Part One

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt took the world by storm at the Beijing Games. He won three Olympic gold medals. And in preparation for every race, Usain Bolt kissed the crucifix around his neck and made the sign of the cross. This week on And the Winner Is…, with new host Marcia Williams, Part One of the Bronze medal-winning special, "The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sports." Some of our most transcendent experiences have to do with sports.

Right click to Download  – The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport, Part One
[mp3 file: runs 49:10]

The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport, Part Two

Today on the program, we present Part Two of "The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport." Athletes often look to the sky before a big game, or kiss the cross around their neck. And then there’s the guy with the "John 3:16" sign in the stands. There’s a clear relationship between sport and religion, but is it a fair relationship? The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport is the winner of a Bronze Medal at the 2008 New York Festivals.

Right click to Download  – The Power and the Glory: The Spirituality of Sport, Part Two
[mp3 file: runs 50:26]

Just over one year ago we posted an article on the ROM machine . In case you don’t know what the ROM machine is its an exercise machine which it’s creators claim will make you fit through  using it only 4 minutes a day. It claims to burn more calories in four minutes than from an hour on a treadmill. Oh yeah, and it costs $15,000 to buy. It sounds crazy but ads for the ROM machine are seen on a consistent basic in many credible magazines including Discover. Most athletes consider these claims crazy but a vocal minority staunchly stand up for the ROM including one who wrote in to Trainharder. Here are his comments below. Feel free to comment!

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

About a month ago I saw ignorant comments about the Rom-machine. This was my reply:

I am a healthclubowner and a groupexercise instructor and I studied medicine psychology and have done acsm ace and afaa certifications. With all this important knowledge and more then 10 years of teaching experience you can imagine I concidered myself quite an expert on exercise and related subjects ten years ago when I saw this adverticement telling me about this ‘perfect’ exercisemachine and also telling me that I was a stubborn expert blinded by professional tunnelvision for not seeing the truth in the Rom-theory.

I am glad I wasn’t too much of an expert not to be triggered by the add and I ordered documentation. Imagine ten years ago telling that a HIT training could offer the same cardiovascular results as 30 minutes jogging.

(more…)

… after running for 14 hours (photo courtesy of Donald Peterson ). Yikes!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Another great Flotrack article written by Christopher Kelsall

Zach Whitmarsh toils on the Jack Wallace Memorial, Oak Bay High School track. Marley, his dog canters back and forth from the infield to the start area and back, taking splits.

“What breed mix is Marley?”

Zach writes: ”Marley is a pound dog. As far as we can tell he is a Shepherd-Collie cross. There may also be a bit of Burmese in him, he’s a big-pawed dawg and he’d probably weigh another 20 pounds if he didn’t get in the 50 miles per-week he’s gotten used to.”

Meanwhile some local, longer distance ectomorphs gut out a low-key invitational race, looking smooth in their attempt at sub 30 for 10, 000m (others drop at halfway or at 3,000 – they are here just to check fitness), they appear fluent, until Zach starts his sprint workout.

Whitmarsh re-defines the everyday runner’s paradigm of what is fluid motion.

(more…)

Written by Michael D. Reid for the Times Colonist and published Friday, March 28, 2008.

If you were thinking of doing the Times Colonist 10K, don’t worry if you’ve missed those running clinics. Trust me: You’ll find all the motivation you need at the multiplex without having to break a sweat. And why wouldn’t you want to take advice from a lazy-ass lapsed runner who would never be mistaken for Simon Whitfield?

 Maybe that’s why I was so inspired by Run, Fat Boy, Run. With a pudgy Everyman as its marathon-running hero — a hapless dude who insists “I’m not fat, I’m unfit” — it’s a goofy comedy that speaks to me and surely many others. It’s one of two running movies — the other is Spirit of the Marathon — that are inspirational in very different ways.

(more…)

Written by Gina Kolata of the New York Times, published January 3rd, 2008

YOU are an athlete, or, at least, very active. Should you seek doctors who are athletes, too? After all, some obese people pass around lists of “fat friendly” doctors who treat them with respect. Women often want female doctors.

Are athletes also a special group? And, if so, do they fare any differently if they see doctors who are athletes?

“Nobody knows,” said Dr. James Fries, a 20-mile-a-week runner and a professor of medicine at Stanford. “There’s no data.”

There are some hints, though, said Dr. Ronald Davis, who is the president of the American Medical Association and a specialist in preventive medicine at the Henry Ford Health System, which includes hospitals, clinics, a managed-care plan and a large physician group practice.

(more…)

and may you trainharder in 2008!

Digital Tourism has created and published three Google Maps showing hiking trails within a day’s drive of Vancouver (not including Vancouver Island). The maps include over 300 hikes and are divided into three categories: easy, moderate and challenging. To view the maps click on this link: http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=110369344982764886613&hl=en&ptab=2.

Want to see eight years of some guy’s life flash by in one minute and forty three seconds?

http://www.vimeo.com/106228/ 

If there is one thing every runner dreads for its devastating potential to reduces winners to also rans and silver medals to bronze, it’s cramp. So everybody has their favourite cramp theory and their favoured remedy but lets consider some facts first.

• Cramp is more common in males than in females.
• Cramp is associated both with the duration and intensity of exercise – the further and the faster the more likely cramp is to occur.
• Onset of cramp is usually after 30km in a distance race, regardless of running speed.
• Cramp during exercise is almost always in the large muscles that span two joints – the hamstrings, quadriceps and calf (gastrocnemius) muscles.
• Cramps are often initiated by a change in speed, gradient or running surface. A classic example is cresting a hill and then accelerating downhill or running on to grass after hours on the tar.
• Some people are simply more cramp-prone than others.

The most widely held belief is that cramp is due to dehydration and the loss of minerals such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. These minerals play a critical role in muscle contraction, so any imbalance would affect muscle function. However, if a runner were to become sufficiently electrolyte depleted while running, it is unlikely that only one or two muscles would cramp – surely the electrolyte loss would affect all muscles equally ? As it is, the muscles most likely to cramp are the comparatively large calf, hamstring and thigh muscles.

(more…)