The International Association of Women Runners provides women runners the opportunity to participate in a unique worldwide organization linking women runners to an international women’s running community.
The International Association of Women Runners provides a valuable resource of information on training, nutrition, injury prevention and issues particular to women runners. Our articles and practical tips will help you achieve your objectives for running, racing and a healthy lifestyle – regardless of your age, experience and ability.
Did you know that in 2011, the majority of runners are women? There are women’s running magazines, women’s races and women’s running groups. Don’t you think that an International Association of Woman Runners is long overdue?
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Conventional wisdom among runners is that dehydration is to be avoided at all costs. After all, doesn’t dehydration cause overheating? Doesn’t dehydration often result in heat distress? Doesn’t dehydration severely impair performance? Aren’t runners who collapse near or at the end of a race severely dehydrated and should be treated with rapid hydration?
Most of the running community will answer these questions with a resounding “yes”. This all seems very logical and commonsense……….but it is not true!
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by Dr. Cathy Fieseler
As the temperature rises, the risk of heat illness increases. During exercise, a significant amount of heat is generated. In cool weather, this generated heat is transferred to the air. In hot weather, this transfer of heat is inhibited, causing a greater increase in the body temperature. Sweating occurs to help regulate body temperature; the evaporation of sweat from the skin results in dissipation of heat. As the humidity rises, there is a decreased rate of evaporation of sweat, diminishing the cooling effect.
Exercising in the heat places a great stress on the body. Performance is decreased; heart rate is increased compared to the same level of activity at a cooler temperature. The risks of dehydration and heat illness increase as the temperature and humidity increase.
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The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD, May 2012
More than 450 members of SCAN, the nation’s largest professional group of Sports & Cardiovascular Nutritionists (SCANdpg.org), convened in Baltimore (April 2012) to celebrate SCAN’s 30th birthday and learn the latest sports nutrition news. Here are a few highlights to help you eat to win!
• Beets, as well as rhubarb and arugula, are rich sources of dietary nitrates, a compound that gets converted into nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide dilates blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, and allows a person to exercise using less oxygen. In a study, cyclists consumed pre-ride beets and then three hours later (when NO peaks), they rode in a time trial. Every cyclist improved (on average, 2.8%) as compared to the time trial with no beets. Impressive! The amount of nitrates in 7 ounces (200 grams) beets is an effective dose. How about enjoying beets—or a bowl of borscht—before your next hard training session? (Experiment during training, not an event!)
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Why does running a half or full marathon increase susceptibility to colds?
There is a large body of research that shows that moderate exercise reduces the incidence and severity of a cold or flu but intense or prolonged exercise increases the risk and severity of infection.
The research we found most relevant to runners and endurance athletes was conducted by noted exercise immunologist, Dr. David Nieman, Director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University. (Lance Armstrong has worked with Dr. Neiman and has been tested in his lab. If he’s good enough for Lance, he’s good enough for us). Dr. Neiman found that running or cross-training 30 to 90 minutes a day several times a week strengthened the immune system. However, exercise longer than 90 minutes increased risk of infection.
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by Sandie Orlando
Usually my perspective of runners is from in the midst of them – either in a run or watching a race. Recently I spent a day working in the IAWR booth at the Yonge Street 10K Race Expo – an interesting opportunity to watch runners – when they’re not running.
Some observations:
- Running people find it strangely surprising and exhilarating to see each other in real clothes with their hair down and make up on. Even after years of knowing each other, they will comment on how different they look with ‘clothes on’.
- New runners (racers) are usually giddy – either from excitement or fear. It comes across the same way, and can end up with the same results on race day.
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Few injuries have as much negative impact on a runner’s training program than a stress fracture. The treatment involves the cessation of running for six to eight weeks (12 – 15 weeks in severe cases) to allow the bone to heal. Stress fractures affect elite and recreational runners alike. Women’s marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe has suffered several stress fractures throughout her career. We know runners whose marathon times range from 3:20 to 4:40 who have all suffered stress fractures.
Research studies shed light on the biomechanical factors that increase your predisposition to stress fractures, the differences between female and male runners that suffer stress fractures and a simple exercise or change to your training that you can implement to reduce your stress fracture risk.
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The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD April 2012
Chocolate—Is it a bad food for runners, an addictive drug, and the instigator of dietary disasters? Or is it a health food, dieter’s weight loss aid, and effective recovery food for tired, hungry athletes?
I vote for the latter! Personally and professionally, I like to think of chocolate (in moderation, of course) as one of life’s pleasures. Here is some research that might be of interest to active people who love chocolate.
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by Kimberly Kane
I ran to work today.
And so I started my day on the right foot.
I ran to work today.
I began my journey in the dark, cloaked in fog that settled on my clothes and eyelashes and ran through a beautiful sunrise.
I ran to work today.
The stop lights were kind to me and my legs were light allowing me to set a new PB for the “commute race”.
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“To stretch or not to stretch, that is the question”. Sounds like something Hamlet would have stated if he had been a runner. Seriously, “what do you think of stretching?” is one of the most common questions asked during my coaching consultations.
Many runners consider stretching as an integral part of their pre-run warmup. However, research does not support this practice. As early as 1999, research reported in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that “stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of local muscle injury”. This article was written thirteen years ago! News sure travels slowly!
Why? Holding a stretch in an elongated position bears no resemblance to what happens to a muscle during running. In running, muscles undergo rapid shortening and elongation, where the elongation is rarely (if ever) to the same extent during a stretch. If your childhood dream of becoming a ballerina or a figure skater had been realized, then static stretching would be fine, as it would mimic the activity in question.
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Running and racing long distances can be as much a mental challenge as a physical one. At critical junctures of a tough workout or race, many runners experience negative self-defeating thoughts. They begin to doubt themselves, telling themselves that the endeavour is too difficult. They compare themselves to other runners who look fitter or are running faster. They begin to question if they will achieve their goal. Their self-confidence becomes eroded. Effectively managing these counterproductive thoughts is as critical to your success in running as is proper physical preparation.
In our coaching experience, we’ve witnessed runners that consistently race well are those whose mental game is in order. Conversely, runners that continually fall short of reaching their racing goals usually haven’t yet developed an effective strategy to defeat negative self-talk.
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