by Dr. George Sheehan
(reprinted with permission)
(Ed note: Dr. George Sheehan was running’s first and foremost philosopher. Until he started writing in the 1970’s, running’s writers focused on either elite runners or running as effective means to get in shape. Sheehan wrote about running as a way of life, the road to self-improvement. Reading Sheehan’s seminal book “Running & Being” cemented Bennett’s lifelong commitment to running.
Although Dr. Sheehan was a traditional and religious man (he had 12 children, all with the same wife), his views on women runners were extremely progressive. His 1976 essay “You Let a Girl Beat You?” contains many nuggets of wisdom, most of which are still applicable today).
As soon as the race results appear in the paper, I hear the same old comments in the hospital where I work: “I see you let a girl beat you.” The statement is wrong on all counts; wrong in what it says; wrong in what it implies.
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The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD March 2013
Despite their apparent leanness, too many runners are discontent with their body fat. All too often, I hear seemingly lean marathoners express extreme frustration with their inability to lose undesired bumps and bulges:
Am I the only runner who has ever gained weight when training for a marathon???
Why does my husband lose weight when he starts running and I don’t?
For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil-thin. Why can’t I simply lose a few pounds?
Clearly, weight loss is not simple and often includes debunking a few myths. Perhaps this article will offer some insights that will lead to success with your weight loss efforts.
Myth: You must exercise in order to lose body fat.
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The preparation period for an event or performance several months in duration (e.g. a race or theatrical show) can be divided into three segments: Honeymoon, Serious Business and Light at the End of the Tunnel.
Runners training now for a late spring race are into the Serious Business. The initial excitement has long worn off. You’re into some tough physical and mental slogging. It is at this point where motivation frequently wanes.
Here are seven tips to rally the mental troops, kick your drive up a notch and stay on track:
- Make it sociable. If you tend to run alone, find a running buddy or group to run with. It’s much easier to stick with your plan if you know someone is counting on you to show up. In addition, you’ll find that group camaraderie is contagious and can help renew your enthusiasm for training.
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As I stand at the first corral for this Women’s Half Marathon, I look around. I notice no one my age. I am over the age of 60 now and I idly wonder how much younger they are. I mean, I know for sure that statistically that they have to be of another age. Even so, I stand waiting for the anthem and then the start gun and do the usual wonderings if I am well enough trained, should I have done faster and longer runs, etc.
I have participated running in races for many years. Each time it brings on nerves and challenges and a certain level of excitement. In addition to running, I am a Jungian psychoanalyst and I know how the spirit has to be there and what it takes to get in the zone and to stay there.
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Injury-Free Running For Women Over 40 was named Book of the Month by the running megasite www.runnersweb.com (the announcement is halfway down the right-hand column).
At the introductory price of $19.97, it makes a great last minute gift for the runner on your list. You’ll receive the ebook and bonus reports just minutes after ordering. Click on Stay Free of Injury for details.
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year.
Another gift idea:
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Your Own Personal Podium:
How to Get Back Up When You’ve Slipped Off
by Sandie Orlando
Running is a sport that allows us to define our own “personal podium” for success. It doesn’t matter if we’re looking to complete a mile without stopping, take 10 minutes off our half marathon time or re-qualify for Boston at Boston. The potential to reach goals that result in us proudly ascending our own personal podium is an important part of what gets us out the door most days. Some days, just getting out the door is enough in itself to qualify!
So what happens when we slip – or crash – off?
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Sprained ankles differ markedly from practically every other injury sustained while running. Most running injuries are often classified as overuse injuries. They result from your body not being strong enough to withstand a certain repetitive stress or action which often occurs thousands of times during a run. In contrast, sprained ankles result from a single trauma. Often, a runner who sprains their ankle has suffered a previous non-running ankle sprain.
Why does spraining an ankle once increase the likelihood of a future sprain? 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 rolling over. 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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Next Monday, Injury-Free Running For Women Over 40 will go on sale at a one-time low introductory price. However …..
Here’s your chance to win one of FIVE copies of Injury-Free Running For Women Over 40.
It only takes a couple of minutes to enter.
All you need to do is reply to this blog post telling us “why Injury-Free Running for Women Over 40 would be perfect for you“. Please feel free to share about your past and current struggles with injuries and how this ebook will help you get better results.
We’ll read every one of your responses this weekend and choose the FIVE winners. We’ll notify the winners by email. The winners will be able to download the book and special bonus reports too.
Thank you for participating. Good luck!
P.S. Don’t miss the introductory offer that starts on Monday.
We regularly point out how women runners differ from their male counterparts. We’ve seen that due to lower body weight, women runners usually have lower caloric requirements and carbohydrate needs than male runners. Due to having lower testosterone levels, women frequently require greater recovery periods from hard training than men (testosterone promotes protein synthesis, which is critical in repairing the micro-tears that occur in your leg muscles during training).
In a New York Times article What Exercise Science Does Not Know about Women, author Gretchen Reynolds writes how exercise physiology research conducted using male subjects sometimes yields different results when repeated on female subjects. Therefore,
Conclusions drawn from studies conducted exclusively on male athletes
often do not apply to women
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Meeting runners at race expos provides an opportunity to chat and discuss race preparedness. Many have a specific time goal for their race. We are sometimes asked our opinion if a runner’s race day objective is achievable. All too often, the goal time is based upon a wish. It’s not based upon a measurable indication of any sort. These runners usually fall short of achieving their time objective in their race.
Sometimes, the opposite scenario occurs. A runner underestimates what she is capable of accomplishing on race day.
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"The Seven Deadly Sins In Preparing for Your Race" Report - Download Your FREE Copy Here!
