A blind man’s triathlon pursuit
By · CommentsWe tend to frame this country’s fitness and obesity problem almost entirely in terms of lifestyle and motivation. Even the most out-of-shape, time-pressed couch potato can find some way to start exercising, we say. You make it a priority, get up and do it. I’ve written words to that effect any number of times. It took Doug Powell to remind me, to my embarrassment, that it’s not always that simple. Powell, 60, of Falls Church, is working out twice a day as he prepares for a full Ironman triathlon in Wisconsin this September. Six days a week, he swims, runs or bikes for as much as an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. On weekends, he does long runs and even longer bike rides. No lack of motivation there.
Full Article – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031502735.html
Thursday, March 18, 2010
BUT SO WHAT???
By · CommentsThe Mission Moment from last Saturday is below. Be aware, if you’re standing next to me on Saturday mornings, you may end up reading the Mission Moment because I can’t make it through some of them without crying!
Kathy Quinn
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BUT SO WHAT???
Mike Fitzpatrick– Mentor Captain and Faithful TNT member
I did it. I completed a marathon. I could tell you how long I have trained or how early I had to get up on race day to be at the starting line. Or I could tell you about the cold rain that started around mile 10 and lasted until mile 13. Or how my legs felt like lead around mile 20. Or about rounding the corner and finally seeing the finish line after plodding along for 5 hours.
BUT SO WHAT?
If I told you about all of those things, I wouldn’t be telling you what the marathon meant to me. So instead, I’d like to tell you about standing in the starting corral before the sun came up and seeing the picture of a small happy child pinned to a woman’s back with the words “In Memory of Macennah – My Little Angel”. Or about the gentleman that I saw at mile 12 with cerebral palsy, putting one foot in front of the other the best way he could. Or the courage on a father’s face as he stood in front of a crowed room and read the “Ten Life Lessons” that his daughter, Kimberly Joy Costa (July 17, 1981 – July 24, 2000), had written for her high school graduation. Or the thank you note from Kimberly Holmes telling me about her recent blood work and how the doctor said it was great. I can type these words, or tell you about each instance, but I’ll never be able to describe to you the feelings associated with each one.
And you know what? I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing I can’t. I believe there are certain feelings no one should ever be able to capture in words. To do so would be an injustice. You need to stand there and feel the tears rolling down your cheeks for yourself. Then, you’ll understand.
Seabrook Island SC 4 mile course
By · Comments4 mile course – Seabrook Island SC Start from Atrium Villas leave the parking garage south entrance walk run bike north along the Atrium Villas complex on Seabrook Island Rd. to The Haulover make a left turn on to The Haulover follow The Haulover to Seabrook Island Rd. At Seabrook Island Rd make a left turn on Seabrook Island Rd follow back to the Atrium Villas complex walk run bike past the complex to the north garage entrance to end completing the 4 mile course.
Seabrook Island SC 3 mile course
By · Comments3 mile course – Seabrook Island SC Starts at the Atrium Villas leave the parking garage south entrance walk run bike north along the Atrium Villas complex on Seabrook Island Rd. to High Hammock Rd make a left turn on to High Hammock Rd follow High Hammock Rd to Seabrook Island Rd. At Seabrook Island Rd make a left turn on Seabrook Island Rd follow back to the Atrium Villas complex walk run bike past the complex to the north garage entrance to end completing the 3 mile course.
Exercise to Protect Aging Bodies — and Brains
By · CommentsWe all know that exercise is good for you. Staying physically active helps keep your heart healthy and your muscles strong, and in cancer patients it has even been shown to ward off relapse.
Now a series of independently conducted studies on the effects of exercise in healthy older adults, published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, confirms that logging time at the gym not only helps maintain good health but may even prevent the onset of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and dementia.
In one surprising trial, researchers led by Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose at the University of British Columbia randomly assigned 155 aging women to three separate groups and directly compared the cognitive effects of two types of exercise: resistance training, done once or twice weekly, in which participants worked out with free weights and weight machines and did squats and lunges, versus toning and balance exercises, which participants did twice a week.
Full Article>>http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1956619,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Exercise and Heart Health
By · CommentsWe all know that regular exercise is good for us, but sometimes we feel like we have to be marathon runners to benefit from it. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t in any shape for a marathon or triathlon, but here’s the good news: I heard a news story last week about how regular, moderate exercise really benefits the heart.
I have a healthy heart now, and after seeing my dad go through treatments for an aneurysm, heart bypass and a valve replacement, I would like to do what I can now to avoid having heart disease in the future. None of that was any fun at all.
Recently I’ve been improving my physical activity routine. Last fall I was spending too much time in my desk chair and not enough on my bicycle seat, you know what I mean? Just because you fall into some bad routines doesn’t mean you can’t try to do better. Now (just about) 5 days a week I have a good morning routine: walk the dog, 20 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes on the exercise bike. It certainly won’t get me in shape for the triathlon, but it makes me feel good. When I combine it with a heart healthy diet, it’ll help prevent me from becoming overweight, which carries its own risks, and will help me prevent heart disease.
It’s basic physiology — when you feel sluggish, unmotivated and fatigued, getting up and doing some exercise causes changes in your body that boost your energy. Exercise also releases endorphins in the brain, and endorphins are great pain killers. So when people say those of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome would feel better if we got “more exercise,” there’s something to it, right?
Actually, no. In normal, healthy people, yes — exercise creates energy. Problem is, we’re not normal and healthy.
Exercise is a tough subject, whether you have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. However, it’s not the same for both groups, so let’s look at them separately.
Full Article>>http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2010/02/09/debunking-myths-more-exercise-for-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.htm
ITHACA, NY — Don’t let the temperature temper your exercise resolution. Even when the temperature drops you can still keep that New Year’s exercise resolution, and you can still do it safely outdoors. Your body can adapt to the falling temperatures, according to Gary Sforzo, an expert on the physiology of exercise.
“If you are concerned about hypothermia, you don’t need to be unless the temperatures are extreme,” says Sforzo, a professor of exercise and sport sciences at Ithaca College. “The body produces a lot of heat during exercise and when it produces heat, it pretty much diminishes any chance of hypothermia. The key is continuous exercise. If you go outdoors for a walk or a run, just move continuously. Don’t stop for five or ten minutes to talk to your neighbor. Hikers sometimes get into trouble if they stop for lunch. As long as you are moving, the muscles produce metabolic heat and that metabolic heat will keep you pretty warm, sometimes to the point where you need to remove clothing.”
What you wear in the cold plays an important role also. Sforzo suggests a synthetic fiber next to your skin that wicks away perspiration — cotton is not a good choice for that. Also be sure to have a windproof jacket.
“The danger zone is typically in the -20 to -30 windchill zone. When the ambient temperature is in the single digits or below and you have wind, you can have some problems. When the ambient temperature gets to 20 below with even the slightest wind, then obviously hypothermia is a problem if you stand around. But in those conditions you are also looking at the potential of frostbite.”
Frostbite is mainly a problem with the extremities. Vasoconstriction can decrease the amount of blood flowing to them so you have to keep those extremities covered with a hat, gloves and good footwear. The nose is a tough one and Sforzo recommends wearing a scarf as high as you can get it on your face.
If you are in doubt about the outdoor conditions, Sforzo suggests checking out a table that shows the danger zone on a wind chill chart before heading out to exercise (http://bit.ly/XtWhn). And he reminds us the chart is for exposed flesh while standing still. “We fare better when covering skin and exercising.”
Also keep in mind that your performance may go down in cold weather.” Cold is not conducive to your personal best performance. Muscles perform better when they are warm. Even Olympians will not get their best performance on the coldest day.”
The body adapts to the cold temperature so, “don’t wait until it is 5 degrees outside to have your first session. When the body adapts it will have a couple of different changes. It will shiver differently and it will more readily release hormones like epinephrine and thyroxine, which allow the body to produce heat more effectively in cold weather. Get used to the cold weather and it will be more comfortable,” said Sforzo.
So excuses begone. Avoid cabin fever, dress right, get out and stick to your resolutions. As a last bit of advice, Sforzo cautions “watch out for the ice!”
Contact: Anne Macdonald
Office: 607-274-1945
amacdonald@ithaca.edu
Reference: 2-9-10-20
Zumba ‘exercise in disguise’
By · CommentsDurango instructors offer new classes in fast, furious and sweaty ‘Latin aerobics’
The snow is still piled high, and the ice is thick, but inside Durango studios, the mood is muy caliente.
I’m 100 percent present. That’s a powerful thing people can give themselves. You can’t think about your bills or your problems while you’re dancing.
- Sara Illsley, Zumba instructor
The reason is Zumba (zoom-ba), a hot ‘n’ spicy flavor of dance fitness. Students shimmy, shake and sweat. When the energy reaches a fevered pitch, they may even yell “Ay, ay, ay!”
This is not your grandma’s aerobics class. (Or maybe it is. Does she like to dance?) Zumba is Colombian slang for “buzzing like a bee,” or going fast. The buzz is certainly spreading quickly in Durango, where four instructors – three of them newly certified – are teaching 13 classes in five different locations. Many of the classes began in January, and a new one began last Thursday
Full Article>>http://durangoherald.com/sections/Features/Health/2010/02/08/Zumba_exercise_in_disguise/
So how much good will it do if you get more exercise, consume less salt, ramp up on potassium, eat the DASH way, give up smoking, take up meditation? Does it all add up to some impressive total that will knock your doctor’s socks off the next check-up time?
It depends a lot on where you start out. If you’re a confirmed couch potato, exercising even a little might help to bring your blood pressure down. But if you’re already a marathon runner, you’ve probably maxed out on the good that exercise can do you.
If you smoke two packs a day, quitting could make a big difference. If you’re already a nonsmoker, that option doesn’t even exist.
But it’s also really tricky to add up the effect of all these individual actions because so many of them are interconnected.
Full Article>>http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-hew-blood-pressure-interactions8-2010feb08,0,2036341.story
