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McCarthy Half Marathon - Feb 2010




Chamberlain 10km - 2009

Do runners really need rest days?

Question: Do Runners Need Rest Days?

I've heard that runners should take at least one day off a week. Is that true?

Answer: One of the biggest misconceptions among runners who want to get faster is that they should run every day. In reality, the body actually needs rest days to recover and repair muscles to get stronger. So, if you run every day without taking days off, you won't see much improvement.

Running puts a lot of stress on your joints, and taking rest days will give your joints a chance to recover from all that pounding. It's also good to take a mental break from running, so you don't lose motivation by running every day.

Most runners need at least one, even two, days off from running and other exercise. Research has shown that taking at least one day off a week reduces the frequency of overuse injuries, such as shin splints and stress fractures. Even the most elite runners take rest days, although rest days for them usually involve a low-impact cross-training activity, such as swimming. Those types of cross-training days are considered to be rest days because they give the joints and muscles you use in running a break.

"All you need to run is a pair of shoes." - or maybe not!

ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2010) - New research is casting doubt on the old

adage, "All you need to run is a pair of shoes."

Scientists have found that those who run barefoot, or in minimal footwear,

tend to avoid "heel-striking," and instead land on the ball of the foot or

the middle of the foot. In so doing, these runners use the architecture of

the foot and leg and some clever Newtonian physics to avoid hurtful and

potentially damaging impacts, equivalent to two to three times body weight,

that shod heel-strikers repeatedly experience.

"People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different

strike," says Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology

at Harvard University and co-author of a paper appearing this week in the

journal Nature. "By landing on the middle or front of the foot, barefoot

runners have almost no impact collision, much less than most shod runners

generate when they heel-strike. Most people today think barefoot running is

dangerous and hurts, but actually you can run barefoot on the world's

hardest surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain. All you need is

a few calluses to avoid roughing up the skin of the foot. Further, it might

be less injurious than the way some people run in shoes."

Working with populations of runners in the United States and Kenya,

Lieberman and his colleagues at Harvard, the University of Glasgow, and Moi

University looked at the running gaits of three groups: those who had always

run barefoot, those who had always worn shoes, and those who had converted

to barefoot running from shod running. The researchers found a striking

pattern.

Most shod runners -- more than 75 percent of Americans -- heel-strike,

experiencing a very large and sudden collision force about 1,000 times per

mile run. People who run barefoot, however, tend to land with a springy step

towards the middle or front of the foot.

"Heel-striking is painful when barefoot or in minimal shoes because it

causes a large collisional force each time a foot lands on the ground," says

co-author Madhusudhan Venkadesan, a postdoctoral researcher in applied

mathematics and human evolutionary biology at Harvard. "Barefoot runners

point their toes more at landing, avoiding this collision by decreasing the

effective mass of the foot that comes to a sudden stop when you land, and by

having a more compliant, or springy, leg."

The differences between shod and unshod running have evolutionary

underpinnings. For example, says Lieberman, our early Australopith ancestors

had less developed arches in their feet. Homo sapiens, by contrast, has

evolved a strong, large arch that we use as a spring when running.

"Our feet were made in part for running," Lieberman says. But as he and his

co-authors write in Nature: "Humans have engaged in endurance running for

millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the

1970s. For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot

or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and

little cushioning."

For modern humans who have grown up wearing shoes, barefoot or minimal shoe

running is something to be eased into, warns Lieberman. Modern running shoes

are designed to make heel-striking easy and comfortable. The padded heel

cushions the force of the impact, making heel-striking less punishing.

"Running barefoot or in minimal shoes is fun but uses different muscles,"

says Lieberman. "If you've been a heel-striker all your life you have to

transition slowly to build strength in your calf and foot muscles."

In the future, he hopes, the kind of work done in this paper can not only

investigate barefoot running, but can provide insight into how to better

prevent the repetitive stress injuries that afflict a high percentage of

runners today.

"Our hope is that an evolutionary medicine approach to running and sports

injury can help people run better for longer and feel better while they do

it," says Lieberman, who has created a web site,

www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu, to educate runners about the respective

merits of shod and barefoot running.

The Nature paper arose out of the senior honors theses of two Harvard

undergraduates, William A. Werbel '08 and Adam E. Daoud '09, both of whom

went to Africa with Lieberman to help collect data for this study.

Lieberman's co-authors on the Nature paper are Venkadesan and Daoud at

Harvard; Werbel, now at the University of Michigan; Susan D'Andrea of the

Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Providence, R.I.; Irene S.

Davis of the University of Delaware; and Robert Ojiambo Mang'Eni and Yannis

Pitsiladis of Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in

Scotland.

The research was funded by the American School of Prehistoric Research, the

Goelet Fund, Harvard University, and Vibram USA.

Struggling with Heel pain?

New Stretch Relieves Pain From Plantar Fasciitis

ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2006) - A new stretch is proving quite effective to

help treat and potentially cure plantar fasciitis, a condition that affects

nearly 2.5 million Americans each year. In a study recently published in

Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, researchers found that patients suffering

from the painful heel spur syndrome had a 75 percent chance of having no

pain and returning to full activity within three to six months of performing

the stretch. In addition, patients have about a 75 percent chance of needing

no further treatment.

The study is a two-year follow-up on 82 patients with plantar fasciitis, all

of whom were part of an original clinical trial of 101 patients in 2003. The

patients were taught a new stretch, specifically targeting the plantar

fascia, that was developed by Benedict DiGiovanni, M.D., associate professor

of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Rochester and author of the

study, and Deborah Nawoczenski, P.T., Ph.D., professor of physical therapy

at Ithaca College.

The stretch requires patients to sit with one leg crossed over the other,

and stretch the arch of the foot by taking one hand and pulling the toes

back toward the shin for a count of 10. The exercise must be repeated 10

times, and performed at least three times a day, including before taking the

first step in the morning and before standing after a prolonged period of

sitting. More than 90 percent of the patients were totally satisfied or

satisfied with minor reservations, and noted distinct decrease in pain and

activity limitations. The most common cause of heel pain, plantar fasciitis

occurs when the plantar fascia, the flat band of tissue that connects your

heel bone to your toes, is strained, causing weakness, inflammation and

irritation. Common in middle-aged people as well as younger people who are

on their feet a lot, like athletes or soldiers, people with plantar

fasciitis experience extreme pain when they stand or walk. Plantar fasciitis

can be a frustrating experience, as the chronic cycle of reinjury and pain

can last for up to one year. DiGiovanni likens it to pulling a hamstring,

and continuing to run without proper stretching. "Walking without stretching

those foot tissues is just re-injuring yourself," he said.

Most physicians will recommend a non-surgical approach to treating plantar

fasciitis, advising a regimen of anti-inflammatory medications, foot

inserts, and stretches. Surgery occurs in about 5 percent of all cases, and

has a 50 percent success rate of eliminating pain and allowing for full

activity.

"Plantar fasciitis is everywhere, but we really haven't had a good handle on

it," said DiGiovanni. "The condition often causes chronic symptoms and

typically takes about nine to 10 months to burn itself out, and for people

experiencing this pain, that's way too long to suffer through it."

DiGiovanni should know. He's experienced plantar fasciitis first-hand.

Deciding to get some extra exercise on a golf outing one recent afternoon,

he carried his clubs around all 18 holes instead of taking an easy-going

ride in a golf cart. The next morning, he woke up with severe heel pain,

which brought the topic of his study close to home.

"We need to further optimize non-operative treatments prior to considering

surgical options," DiGiovanni said. "If you look at the results of the

study, I think we've succeeded

Team Hoyt

In the spring of 1977, Rick Hoyt told his father Dick that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who had been paralysed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance runner, Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, "Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped." This realization was just the beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons, including six Ironman events. Team Hoyt has become a worldwide inspiration, a true story of dedication, perseverance and love.

Time Trial Champion: January

Last week, we ran an 'unofficial' time trial championship, as we're testing a new handicap system for our Annual Time Trial Championships.

Congratulations to Eddie Smit who is January's Time Trial Champion. Here are the results, according to finish times on 2 February's Time Trial:

1. Eddie Smit
2. Leon Spamers
3. Johan Erwee
4. Simon Segwapa
5. Irene Goncalves
6. Canie Cullen
7. Eric Economon
8. Ruben Setumu
9. Nico Botha
10. Errol Meyer
11. Gareth Ramsden
12. Trudie von Stade
13. Chris Kaempffer
14. Shane van Schalkwyk
15. Ursula Reyneke
16. Michiel Scharrighuisen
17. Vernon Hohls
18. Hein du Toit
19. Magdaleen van Zyl
20. George Makhonjwa
21. Sammy Ngoepe
22. Max Visagie
23. Pannie Marais
24. Ria Barnard
25. Peter Sebola
26. Gert Swart
27. Johnny da Camara

Two Oceans Marathon Tour

The World's Most Beautiful Marathon:

PRICE: R1'750 transport in luxury bus with air-con including 3 nights accommodation

DEPARTURE: 31 MARCH 2010 @ 19HOO from Pilditch Stadium

RETURN: 04 APRIL 2010 @ 14H00


BANK DEPOSIT - F.POOE - FNB BANK – Centurion branch code – 261550
ACCOUNT NO: 62219878800
REFERENCE : your name & contact no

FAX PROOF OF PAYMENT TO (012) 327 4933

Enquiries : Walter 072 1967 821 or 083 952 1423

e.mail : gm@agn.co.za

Quote of the Day

Perseverance is like wrestling a gorilla, you don't quit when you're tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired -- Robert Strauss

Quite appropriate for long distance runners!

Family Lunch: 7 February

Wingate Park Country Club invites all members and their families to a Lamb on the Spit this Sunday, 7 February.

Details as follows:

Where: Wingate Park Country Club
Time: 12:00
Cost: R80.00 pp (Children under 12: R40.00)

RSVP: Vernon 082 955 4523