Good news for older runners who aim to improve their running and racing! It was commonly believed that running economy (one’s ability to utilize oxygen at a given pace) decreases with age. The higher your running economy, the less oxygen you require to run at a given pace. Therefore, an “economical” runner can continue running at a given speed for a longer period of time than her less economical counterpart. Running economy is reliable indicator of distance race performance.
An article written by Gretchen Reynolds (that appeared in Tara Parker Pope’s December 21st New York Times Well Blog) reported on recent research conducted at the University of New Hampshire (published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research) that lays this myth to rest. Dr. Timothy Quinn, the study’s lead author: “Contrary to our beliefs, economy did not decline with age”. Being able to utilize oxygen efficiently, middle aged and older runners are capable of fast running and race times.
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Any active adult over the age of 40 can attest to requiring more recovery time from training and injury.
Progressive training causes muscles to break down (on a microscopic level), repair and grow stronger. As we age, muscle fibres decrease in number and shrink in size. New muscle fibres are generated at a slower rate than in a younger person, resulting in a slower buildup and strengthening of muscle in response to the demands of training or the incidence of an injury.
I know this fact of life from personal experience. When I was 44 years old and my daughter was 12, we both suffered mild ankle sprains…………on the very same day. As our sprains were of similar severity, we both underwent identical treatment programs, consisting of physiotherapy and strengthening and balance exercises. Ten days after spraining our ankles, she was hopping and I was hobbling! Nothing beats experiential learning for driving home a fact of life.
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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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Hip pain is a very common problem for runners. Occasionally, there is a specific injury that causes the pain. Slipping on a slick surface or stepping in a hole may traumatize the hip. Overuse injuries are a much more frequent source of hip pain in runners. In order to understand hip pain, a brief anatomy lesson is in order.
The hip moves in 3-paired directions – forward (flexion) and backward (extension), inward (adduction) and outward (abduction), and internal and external rotation (rolling the leg in and out). Specific muscles are responsible for each of these movements. Certain muscles, such as the hamstrings and rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps) originate above the hip and attach below the knee. Because these muscles cross two joints, they are more susceptible to injury.
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Many runners have experienced a beautiful run that was brought to a sudden painful end by a side stitch. This sharp stabbing pain in the upper belly just underneath the rib cage, usually on the right side, begins without warning. With each step, the pain worsens, subsiding only when you stop running.
Until recently, the cause of what the scientific community call Exercise-Related Transient Abdominal Pain (i.e. the side stitch) was not clearly understood. Some of the hypotheses to explain this annoying run-killer included not waiting long enough after food or liquid intake before running, lack of oxygen to the diaphragm, spasms or cramps in abdominal muscles and the build up of abdominal gas.
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My recently sprained ankle served as a nasty reminder of the importance of improving both strength and balance to avoid repeated ankle sprains. In addition to being very painful, chronic ankle sprains repeatedly hinder a runner’s training plans.
Why does spraining an ankle once increase your susceptibility to future sprains? Depending upon the severity, an ankle sprain can damage muscles, ligaments and proprioceptors (PRO-pri-o-CEP-tors) – specialized nerves that control your balance and sense of position. Proprioceptors are present in muscles and tendons. Proprioceptors in a properly functioning ankle sense when your ankle is about to roll and instruct your tendons and muscles to fire and take corrective action, i.e. prevent the sprain. When these nerves are damaged during the initial sprain, they often do not regain their full functionality. Their ability to control the necessary firing of muscles and tendons is compromised. It is this phenomenon that is the major contributor to chronic ankle sprains.
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by Dr. Cathy Fieseler
(First in a series)
Knee pain is one of the most common complaints for which runners seek medical evaluation. Running is blamed for many maladies; usually there is an underlying reason for the injury, whether intrinsic (anatomy) or extrinsic (factors outside the body, such as overtraining). Running has been blamed for the development of knee arthritis, though a 20 year study performed by researchers at Stanford University found a lower incident of knee arthritis in runners than non-runners.
Why do runners develop knee pain? A basic understanding of the anatomy is a necessary component in any discussion of knee injuries.
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Barefoot running/minimalist shoe is not a new phenomenon. Olympian, author, running guru and IAWR Faculty Member Jeff Galloway writes: “I’ve seen this fad come and go 5 times during my 52 years of running”.
The current craze results from the simultaneous popularity of two publications: 1) Bestselling book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall and 2) Research paper “Foot Strike Patterns and Collision Forces in Habitually Barefoot versus Shod Runners” by a team headed by Dr. Daniel Lieberman of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
The mainstream media started publicizing claims that barefoot running reduces the risk of running injuries. Running shoe manufacturers were quick to jump on the bandwagon and bring out their own minimalist models, citing the Harvard study that purportedly concluded that these shoes would both overcome current injuries and reduce the risk of future ones.
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The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD June 2011
Nutrition for Injury Recovery: Update from ACSM
Each year, more than 5,000 health professionals gather at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM; www.acsm.org). At this year’s meeting (Denver, June 1-4, 2011), exercise physiologists, sports medicine doctors, and sports nutritionists shared their research and offered updates. One of the updates will be of utmost interest to women runners.
Nutrition for Injuries
Unfortunately, part of being a runner seems to entail being injured; no fun. Runners with injuries should pay attention to their diet. If they are petrified of gaining weight (yes, petrified is a strong word, but it seems fitting to many injured athletes who seek my counsel), they may severely restrict their food intake. One marathoner hobbled into my office saying, “I haven’t eaten in two days because I can’t run…”
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by Dr. Cathy Fieseler
I’m a 25 year old female, and have been an athlete all of my life. I have been running regularly for 10 years and have experienced recurrent episodes of pelvic pain while running. This does not occur every time that I run and does not seem to be related to my menstrual cycle. I have altered my diet and the pain does not seem to be related to this. What is causing this problem and what can I do?
There are a numerous possible causes of pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis is an inflammation of the symphysis pubis (where the pubic bones meet in the front of the body). This area will be extremely tender to palpation. Most women who have had vaginal deliveries will have some changes on x-ray without any symptoms, so clinical exam is important. Osteitis pubis can cause pain radiating into the thighs and lower abdomen; it is aggravated by running.
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