X-mas greetings

Stretching: lower calf muscle

Many of the less experienced runnners do just one sort of stretching for the calf muscle. The regular stretch. They tend to forget the lower calf muscle which is connected to the achillesheel and not paying the proper attention can cause injuries to the heel. Stretching the lower calf muscle is quite simple
1) place your feet alngo side eachother and make one step with your hips (your centre of gravity) between your feet as with the regular calf muscle stretch.
2) Keep your upper body vertical but lower your centre of gravity (i.e. your hips) by bending both kness. You feel the strain building in the lower extremities of your calf of your 'hind'leg.

Pay attention to:
- Keeping your heel on the ground
- DOn't bring your knees in front of the toe of your foot. If you do before you feel the straing increase your step a little at 1.)

Stretching: The Quadriceps

A few times before I have written about stretching.

Recently I read an article in 'Gym Kaderinfo' a magazine about gymnastics (which used to do for some 15 years when I was a bit younger). In the article, the doctor John Mens discusses the use of stretching and basically he states that it is useless. However with the article is a picture of this good man stretching his Quadriceps. I have no scanner at hand so you´ll have to do with my figures. It looked a bit like this:

Added 2/1/08 scanned image from article:

I could be wrong but to me this is not the right way to stretch your quadriceps. Body to the front, the leg he is standing on overstretched. With this kind of examples I can understand that to him stretching is nog usefoull;-)
This is how I learned your quadriceps should be stretched:

1. raise your heel to your buttocks
   
2. genlty bend the leg your standing on


3. tilt your pelvis a bit (in the direction of the arrow, belly in)


4. bring the knee of your raise leg slowly to the back building the tention in the muscle

Your pose will look like this figure:

Or use the clip from the asics site as inspiration.

A simple and good idea: The SOS Coin. A round plastic disc that you can attach to your laces (like a ChampionChip). On this disc you can have you personal data printed!
Of course every runner thinks he will return savely home when he goes out for a run but you'll never know. Maybe a cardriver is not paying to much attention of you get disorientated by becoming too cold or tget overheated in summer and you will not be able to express yourself properly. Than this little disc with your address or the phonenumber from your homefront can help! You yourself can decide which information it should contain. Do you have key medical information? Add it to the coin.

Of course you could carry an ID card, actually in the Netherlands everybody above 14 is obliged to ID himself when requested by the police but be frank:"Do you carry an ID card when you go running?" I don't!
An alterantive I came across a few years ago was the following: Take an old plastic membership card which contains you address. Cut out the address, punch a hole and attach this to your laces. Of course this is just your address and not the contact details form your homefront! Therefore: A simple and good idea this SOS Coin.

Fundraising event with a twist

My attention was drawn to a very special run organized by ZOA-Vluchtelingenzorg (ZOA-refrugycare)(with CBF a kind of warranty for charity organisations). They organise a walk aand run (15k) on Saturday the 29th of March 2008 called Walk4Water. Please promote!

The walkers and runners should get themselve sponsored to raise money for a drinkingwater proejct in Uganda. The walkers and runners carry a jerrycan with them to experience what it is like to have to wlka for water. Imagine running 15k with a jerrycan filled with water! But then again, this makes it more interesting to sponsor the runners for this good cause. More information (in Dutch) onhttp://www.walk4water.nl/.

The scenery for this event is the dike between Lelystad and Enkhuizen.

Zoladztest

On my Dutch site I have shown my test results on the Zoladz tests before and discribed how it should be performed (for those who want to give it a try check it out here).
What is the test? Like a coopertest it give you an indication of your level of fitness. However where the coopertest only gives you one figure: The distance run in 12 minutes. The Zoladztest gives you your fitness level in relation to your heartrate. Let me explain how.
Before you start you have to do a bit of homework > you have to figure out your Maximum Heart Rate (HRmax). If you have not measured it you can calculate as follows: HRmax = 220 - (80% of your age). So lets say you are 35 like me, your calculated HRmax will be 220-28=192. This is just an indication as I know for sure that my HRmax is higher. Besides this figure you need a track of other means to measure your distance.
Do a moderate warming up with a few accelerations and some stretching just as you do your usual warming up. Than start your test.
Run 6 minutes at a average heartrate interval of HRmax - 50 (in this example = 142) than rest for 2 minutes and write down the distance you have run.
Run 6 minutes at HRmax-40
Rest 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes at HRmax-30
Rest 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes at HRmax-20
Rest 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes at HRmax-10

Relax and do your cooling down!
For every interval you write down the distance run. Take care, te last interval can be to strenuos for some runners and with my last test I did not manage to run this highest interval. If you are not sure about your own level of fitness than do this test under supervision of an expert.

Know you have gathers 5 distances (or 4). Plot them in a graph as shown below where you see the results of a couple of test I have done.
What can you learn from this test? Like with the cooper test: The more you can run in the intervals the more fit you are. But there is more. Ideally al the measured distances should be on a straight line. If there are measurements below this line you know that you have put more effort in training in the heartrate zone and the best thing is...this will help to lift the whole line higher, thus increasing your level of fitness overall. So in the last measurement from oktober 2007 you can see that I have to work on my lower heartrate (around 150bmp) where on some of the older measurements I had to work on the higher heartrates around 170 bmp (temporuns and interval).
So compared to the cooper test it is not only a measurement of fitness but it also gives you insight where you should put your training effort!

Egmond

Every year in the beginning of january there is the 'Halve van Egmond'. A half marathon which takes the runners along the flood line over the beach for some 10k and then back thourgh the dunes. Heavy, often cold, but o so nice to see. This year I had planned to take part but I first wanted to see the outcome of the 15k in Nijmegen (de Zevenheuvelenloop). As this was succesfull, with a new pb, it was time to register...only to find out it is no longer possible to enter the half marathon. Now I have to see if I particpate in the quarter marathon instead.

An Elliptical Trainer: what to keep in mind?

On about running a nice article on elliptical trainer. For me the most relevant information in in the tail of the article: An elliptical trainer can offer the same intensity of training as a treadmill but the impact is far lower, closer to that of walking. This is interesting for those runners that look for an alternative to keep in shape while suffering from (small) injuries that will heal if you can avoid the impact that running has on your legs, knees etc... A treadmill has the same impact as running on the road so this will not help.

As for buying a ellipitcal trainer? The article offers a checklist wat to keep in mind while deciding which trainer to buy:

• Check out the space the trainers requires and you have available


• If the trainer has constraints considering length or weigth of user: make sure you (and the other users you have in mind) can use the trainer given these constraints


• Ask you self if you want to move it around or not and if so to what extend (havier frame is sturdier but..)


• Do you want to control the resistance of your trainer to do your workout at different levels?


• Do you want adjustable pedals for the different users?


• The length of the stride (which is more important than the up and down movement).


• Do you want displays and programmable workouts?


• Do you want to adjust rampsettings/incline?

It is possible to order trainers online.

Videotips on running techniques

Yesterday I was browsing YouTube for clips on running. I liked this one as it gives you as a runner a scan that you can perform during your training. You can scan your posture form head to toe and adjust if you lie trying to achieve a more efficient running technique. When I went running yesterday I paid atention to my arms and found that indeed I move them a little bith sideways. I was able to reduce this and it did not feel uncomfortable. It helped me also keep my shoulders a bit more to the back and lower and therefore more relaxed. See for yourself if it contains usefull tips for you.

Reducing risk of breast cancer

On a Dutch blog I found a referal to research done by professor Tony Howell. Googling a bit gives your various articles on this topic which al state the healthy effect of exercise. For example this one also stating the healthy effect of going outdoors. Hmmm, this is something runners combine (if your not runnig on a belt in a sportscentre).

Why is running (and other ecercises) healthy? Of course it helps you to keep you weight in control. And reducing weight is top of the list. Furthermore it has a lowering effect on both the levels of estrogen and insuline which reduces the risks on breast cancer.

Cerials versus sportdrink for recovery

On the Belgian site gezondheid.be you can find an article on the effect of cerails with milk on recovery after an excercise in cmoparison to the effect of sportdrinks. I don't know about you but in the Netherland we make jokes about the Belgian but as this article is on some amrican research...well judge for yourself.

In is some small scale research that has shown the following effects:

• The effect on the levels of glucose and insuline in the blood and on glycogen were simular
• The cerials resulted in a stronger dercrease in lactate, a better synthesis of proteins and a higher glycogen level in the muscles.

So you see that a simple bolw of cerials is better thant the chemical mixtures from a sportsdrink. I have to admit. this sportdrinks is easier to carry along in your sportsbag to use directly after you have done your excercises or your run.

Stretching: how to be done?

Last week during the marathon I looked in surprise at a man leaning into a lamp post almost horizontaly stretching his calfmuscle. Hand at about a meter height and heel from the ground. This urges me to write once more about stretching. This time stretching in general.
Is stretching usefull?
exploring the web you'll find that there is some debate on the usefulness of stretching. Almost every runners does it in the belief that it helps to lengthen the muscles en increases its resistance to injuries. It also decreases muscle pain after excersises when stretching is applied during the cooling down.
The purpose of stretching
By stretching the muscle you lengthen it and put tension on the fibers. After the stretching the muscle relaxes and is in a more relaxed mode than before.
During the cooling down stretching keeps the bloodflow going, helping to get rid off the waste products in the muscle (hence the reduction of musclepain afterwards). I also thinks that the relaxation of the muscle has a good healthy effect on the tendon reducing the risk of injuries but i could not find proof of tihs quickly.
Static versus dynamic
there are different ways of stretching:

• Static
• Dynamic
• Ballistic
• PNF

Best knwon are static and dynamic. The second was out of fashion after the appearance of the book 'The Stretching Methode' by Bob Anderson.

Sequence of stretching
I never gave much thought to the sequeance in which I did my stretching untill recently someone pointed out that stretching the muscles in the upper leg first stimulates the blood flow so that when stretching the muscles in the lower leg the waste products from these muscles are better transported. Makes sence, doesn´t it?

When to stretch?
Most runners do a warming up first and then stretch before starting with some serious excercises. Taking into account the point made above you realize you should not stretch to fanatical before starting you excersises otherwise your muscles will be completely relaxed.

Other good moments for stretching are, under the assumption that it is healthy, after your excercise, during your cooling down or when you have muscle cramps.

Now let us return to the runner and his lamppost. Taking everything into account you realize stretching has no use when you put strain/force on the muscle because it won't relaxe. I don't know about you but I cannot lean into a lamppost and lift my heal from the floor without straining my calf muscle. So his pose was not effective and he still had to do another 15k.

In spite of all the fact that the debate about the use of stretching has not settled I myself find it useful. I think that on 50% of the runs I do, I do stretch it after some warming up and on 90% of the runs I stretch afterwards. (I skip when I am in a hurry).
Before I was not albe to reach my toes as the lady does in the picture...now I can. So to me it helps. And in the book on running from Haile G. he spends a few pages on stretching and it helped him to run the worldrecord so who am I to argue with him.

The perfect marathon day

A perfect day for a marathon resulted in the second best marathon this season to be run in Amsterdam only behind the world record marathon of Berlin just a few weeks earlier. Winner was Mutai in a time of 2:06:29 and the Dutch runner Kamiel Maase finished ninth in a new national record.
Yours truly finished in 3:35:19. For me this was an improvement of over 2 minutes off my personal best so I am satisfied. I ran an nice flat race with just over 25 min for every 5k and some 27 minutes for the 5k between 35 and 40k. So there is still some rome for improvement either by speeding up a little bith to just under the 25k of by running also the final 5k in just over 25 minutes. However 3:35 something is a nice time compared to the rest of the field as the image shows my fnish time (the yellow figure) relative to the other runners:

New world best Half marathon women

During the world championchips on the road in Udine, Italy, Lorna Kiplagat sets a new world best. New record is 1:06:25, 19 seconds faster than the previous worldbest of South African Elana Meyer run eight years ago in Tokyo. "Everything just went perfect today" according to the Gaurdian.
When I started this blog I addressed the fact that Dutch in English can have a negative ring to it. However the Kenian born Kiplagat has the Dutch nationality as well so she gives a new meaning to Running Dutch.

New world record on marathon

He did it! Gebrselassi did what he had said he would do by running a new world record in todays marathon in Berlin. With 2:04:26 he improved the world record with almost half a minute. Want to read more...?

Gebrselassie goes for world record?

While checking out the elite runners that I might see before the start of the Amsterdam Marathon I realized that tommorow Berlin is on the calendar. Having a fast track on might expect some of the worlds best runners to start in Berlin rather then Amsterdam. I found that Gebrselassie has the ambition to beat the current world record of 2:04:55 and bring it down to 2:03 something, according to The Canadian Press . On the other hand in another article he states: "The marathon is the only distance I can't talk about a world record." I wonder what will happen and will try to watch the race.

In Amsterdam the toprunners will be last years winner Bushendich and world champion Kibet. Other Kenians that might be found in front are Mbote and Kirui. As I will be some 2.ooo runners behind them I will have to settle for a short report on the TV in the evening. The guys will finisch around the time that I cross the 25k point. Maase and Krotwaar, the Dutch top marathon runners will also start in Amsterdam.

Rotterdam Marathon

It has been a bit quiet in this part of the blogsphere. Busy at work and all the spare time left is spend on running. The last training boost for this autumns marathon in Amsterdam. I just wanted to let you out there know that the preperation can start for next spring season. Rotterdam Marathon has opened his website for subscription for the 28th edition of on the worlds fastest marathons....

Running for your life

A while ago there was a nice item on CRN on close encounters from runners with animals, including a picture of a birdhit.

During my stay in Portugal I had a different experience where it were not the animals that created the danger but fellow humans. For your information: Hunting seasons is September to April and hunting is allowed on Sundays and Thursday. So guess what happened when I went running in the early morning of Sunday the 2nd of September. There was shooting all around as it was the first day for hunting that season! It made me feeling a bit uncomfortable. I decided tot stay on the normal road and not to use the dirt tracks through the field which was my original plan. My thoughts were that the hunters would take into account that there are other people on the road and people passing by in cars so the would not point their guns towards the road. I got home alive, unhit so it looked the my assumption was correct.....untill.....I was cleaning my shoes a day later and see what I found in the profile of my sole.....

on the top of my index finger is a lead pellet of buckshot which was on the road and got stuck under the sole of my shoe. Turns out: hunters also shoot in the direction of the road. I tell you, I never run again when hunting is going on! Maybe there is a hit in it for Paul Simon: "Buckshot on the sole of my shoes" with fado influences....

Weekend of extremes: from 100 meters worldrecord to a 100k ultra run

Last weekend was a weekend of extremes in running term. Asafa Powell improved his world record on the shortest outdoor distance, the 100 meter. He set the new time to beat on 9.74 seconds. A lead physiologist for the English Institute of Sport says "There is no sign that the 100m world record is slowing up" on BBC sport. He also expects that Powell will be able to lower the record to 9.7 in due time thanks to his explosive start.

On the other end of the scale was the 100k run in Winschoten with the Dutch Championchips, the European Championchips and the WMA Championchips. This was won by the Russian runner Oleg Kharitonov in a time of 6 hours, 30 minutes and 22 seconds. Check out the site for more results.


And on the scale from profesionalism to well....lets say enthousiasm...
I took part as a member of the relay team from my work on the 10 times 10km relay. We had two teams taking part. Before we tried to balance the teams so we could have a compitition between the to teams which worked out very well. In the end we finished just over two minutes apart. Picture shows me at the start of my 10k as last runner of one of the teams. Great thing of being the last runner of the team in a relay? Every other last runner you are overtaking (to be recognized by the 0 as the last digit of the number) means you are climbing one extra place in the final results. I am clad to say I overtook a a couple of runners without being overtaken myself!

Running in Portugal

During the previous two weeks I have spend my holidays in the Algarve in Portugal and of course....the running gear came along. Coming from Holland where our highest hill is just over 300mtrs (which we have to share with the Germans and the Belgians) and the biggest climb in my surroundings is in the dunes along the sea I can tell you the rolling countryside of the Algarve is a great training environment.
The location
We stayed in a very nice place away from the more crowded coastline called Monte da Bravura. Set on a hill top on a dead end road towards a barrage. 6k to Lagos, in the west Algarve. I don't have shares in the place but as it was a very nice stay, a very good guest house and the owners and staff are very nice people: I can realy recommend it.
Besides running the Algarve offers great opportunities for walking, has great beaches with waves suitable for surfing and a lot of restaurants (I can recommend to stay of the beaten track because the best dinners we had in smaller restaurants outside the crowded touristic towns and off the major roads...)
The runs
I did various runs however all of them were along two routes I entered on mapmyrun. One route is from the hotel to the barage (2k - one way) and the other route is from the hotel, directly downhill turning north on a rolling gradual climb with a steep climb (according to MMR ~70m climb in 800mtrs) in the end (7k one way). Specialy this second one is - for a someone with no hill experience - challenging on the return leg when you climb back to the hotel (again some 70 meters climb in app. 800-900 meters with a very steep bit in the middle). These two routes combined to a 10k training (cutting the long one short by turing around at the 5k point and saving my self one of the very steep climbs), two 14k routes (either the 7k back and forth or the 10k combined with hte 2k run back and forth) and a 18k training (both routes combined).
Below you find the routes on the map. For the elevation go to the MMR site itself and let is show the elevation panel. This is however and indications because if you would believe the panel the run woould have been like on a roller coaster but I can tell you the roads were very nice an smooth and nothing like the jitter that is shown on the panels.
To conclude
For someone with no hills around the Algarve offers very nice running, in perfect weather conditions (early morning starts recommended in warmer periods) on quite roads.



Two other routes in the area:

Luz and Lagos. If you want to find other routes in a wider area...zoom out on the map, click the find button on the map and select 'show public route on map'. Have some nice runs during your stay!

Headphones prohibited

On the site of Grandma's Marathon on of the first texts your read is this one:

Headphone Rule:

USATF rules (Click here and read rule #144.3b) prohibit the use of headphones and similar devices on the racecourse. This rule will be enforced during Grandma's Marathon,
the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, the William A. Irvin 5K, Fitger's 5K, the
Park Point 5-Miler and the Grandma's Minnesota Mile. Runners should not bring
these devices with them to the race. Those carrying/wearing these devices will
be given the option to surrender their music device to a designated race
official prior to entering the starting line gates. Surrendered devices will be
properly packaged and mailed back to their rightful owners within two weeks
after the race. Participants that choose not to surrender their device will be
disqualified from the race and their finishing time will not appear in the
official race results.

I don't think this is the best way to advertise your run! OK they start of with this line:

Grandma's Marathon is a point-to-point course run along the beautiful north
shore of Lake Superior. The 26.2-mile stretch begins on scenic Old Highway
61, just outside Two Harbors, Minnesota and finishes in Duluth's Canal Park.
Enthusiastic volunteers, spectators and live entertainers line the streets
to cheer runners on as they stride to the finish line.

That sounds more like it. If you make it a rule that headphones are
prohibited point it out in the regulations for the participants. Of course you can argue if it is necessary to prohibit use. Supposedly runners with headphones don't hear officials or other runners and the rule: "Keep your volume low so you can hear your surroundings" is hard to check. By the way: Be honest....would you still pay attention to some official shouting along the route after you hvae run 30k or more? They really have to be in my face to be noticed...

I myself seldom run with music, certainly not during a marathon where I want as little ballast as necessary. When running in nature I like to experience the sounds as well as for in the city...I need the sounds to make sure I am running save. For example a cyclist ready to overtake me cannot be heard while running with music. Even if the volume is turned very, very low. But that is a matter of taste and I can understand that people get a boost from running with music and that this might help them to finish a marathon so why prohibit the use of headphones?

Nice quotes

For those who like to read quotes on running or more general quotes on life that can also be applied to running look at the collection on complete running.

Sleep as part of your training

Rightly so about running asks the question if runners look at their sleeping habits.A good nights rest is as important for your fitness as is a training. That is why they refer to this site with 10 tips for a good sleep. The ten tips are:

1. Light exersises: yoga or walking helps to lower stress levels. With me runnig works as well even relatively short before going to sleep I can run but I nkow this will not be the case for everyone For some sport in the evening can be killing to get to sleep (see point 10)


2. Listening to music: Of course this should be the relaxing kind


3. Cleaning up: It might sound crazy but this appears to be working but I think I skip this one


4. Games instead of TV: Think of stress relieving memory games. Train your brain in the same time


5. A bubble bath


6. A massage: Lets hope your partner has the skills and can pay some extra attention to the muscles important to a runner


7. Write in your journal: Empty your head by writing down thought or experiences. The blog is of course the modern journal


8. Meditation: It relaxes, lower stress levels. I have it sometimes during running that it works like meditation. Repeating thoughts like a mantra or having a completely empty mind. Running is meditation to me.


9. Sex: I the order of the tips is saying something about the effectiveness I think this one should be on number one. Everyone knows it helps against stress. You relax while doing your exercises from tip 1. Your body releases soothing hormones and it is healthy for your relationship as well...realy shouldn't it be on 1?


10. Avoid arguments or stressful situations or stimulating activities. This can also be a TV show or film. Sport can also be stimulating (see also my remark about running at 1.) For me it was the case with volleybal.

I hope these tips might help to sleep better and improve your performance as a runner. Beauty of itis: some of the tips are useful for runners in the same time.

Review: Trailshoes

On the blog Run to Dream (in Dutch so for help with translating see my blog in Dutch) a short review on three trailschoes. Special schoes fit for the more rough off the road work (so less suitabel for the use on the road). The lady in question is will take part in the Trans Alpine Run. A run of 8 days and 240km across four of the Alpine countries.
Now about the shoes, the: Inov8 Flyroc 310, the Inov8 Terroc 330 and the Adidas Supernova Trail. The writer used all three (not on the same time;-p) and an opinion on the demping they provide which makes them suitabel for various terrain conditions. The Terroc is hard and there for very stable but is not comfortabel if you have to run on asphalt where the supernova has some demping causing no problems on asphalt. The flyroc is somewhere in between and suitable for soft off road terrain

To me this all sounds like very specialist stuff that is less usefull for the everyday recreational runner.

Review: Running skirt

On Complete Running Network I came acrossthis articlewhich has no meaning to myself but still are referr to it. It is about runningskirts! I don't need them myself but out of sheer amazement (I have never seen one) and with the female runner reader of this blog in mind here is my post on this topic. Besides previously on my Dutch blogI have written beforeon the way the sports fashion brands target the large and attractive group of recreational runners who like to spend money to look good while running. I blogged on thespecial site for women from Asics.
The article on CRN contains a review of the various skirts available. So for the ladies that like to know what other women think on these skirts I can recommend this blog. This review deals with skirts from Nike, Sugoi, Zoot, Moving Comfort and Hind. A second part will follow because the writer has also tested Skirt Sports, Running Skirts & Atalanta. For the curious ladies (and gents), who like me never have seen a skirt running, on the site of Runningskirt you can find images of ladies with a running skirt in action

Drug use in running

Even people who are not interested in the Tour de France will not have missed the commotion the last few days. All this commotion centred around drug use or suspected misconduct from the leader wearing the yellow jersey. Lying about your whereabouts before the tour can get you fired as shown by the decision from the Rabobank crew firing Rasmussen who otherwise would have finished as the winner of the tour in Paris next Sunday.
This made me think: is there any drug use in long distance running? Of course drug use in athletics is a well known phenomena with one of the most well known cases that of Ben Johnson or the suspected use of Flo Jo although with her no proof was ever found.
I never heard of marathon runners that were caught using drugs. It might be the case that drug use is often used for either gaining strength or a fast recovery. The strength necessary for running a marathon can easily be gained by normal training and a fast recovery is not as crucial as with cycling were they have to be on the bike day after day for a few weeks in a row as in the Tour.
Another aspect might be the financial part: Of course the world class runner earn nice money but the figures have less digits than in Cycling or for example soccer. Think of the death of Miklos Feher (check out YouTube for the impressive images of his death) were there is some suspicion on the use of profen like drugs for fast recovery to enable player to cope with the full schedule with the large number of matches.
Maybe when less money is involved and it is more about the honour athletes tend to be more careful for their health.

Follow training online

On this blog I have written on a concept used during the marathon of Leiden which enabled spectators or people at home to follow runners on the web. SportsDo is a simular concept which is already fully operational where Leiden used a kind of Proof of Concept developped by TNO from the Netherlands.

SportDo is not just for runners but also voor cycling, skiing, etc.
SportDo uses GPS and the mobile phone to register the route followed. This is plotted on a map and of course this enables you to register distance, speed and elevation. As the information is uploaded using the mobile phone this can be done realtime enabling friends to follow the runner online. This is more than uploading your route from your Garmin or entering the route yourself using mapmyrun (see post on my Dutch blog). SportsDo also support community like features. Comparing it to the TNO concept it lacks the registration of the heart rates which many runners use for training purposes.
SportsDO is however a very nice concept. I am curious if other concept will pop up and which will surfive and end up to be the default portal for sporters.

Dutch TV: "Why runs half of the Dutch population?"

On one of the public networks the program 'Grim' tried to answer the question "Why is the half of the Dutch population running?". The presenter takes part in a halfmarathon in Leiden after only 5 weeks of training. During the program he talks to the Dutch writer Dirk van Weelden who also writes about running, a 63 year old lady that has run well over 100 marathons and various other runners.
For those who like to see the program: it is also avialable on the internet (of course only in Dutch and no subtitles :-(

Sevenhills running event: over 11.000 entries already!

This weekend I will determine how this autumn will look like in terms of running events. My autumn season always ends with the Zevenheuvelenloop (or Sevenhillsrun) in November. A feew weeks ago I received an e-mail and flyer from the organisation and yesterday I regsitered myself on the website!
Lets do some marketing: I am very enthousiastic about this event! Very well organized, traintickets for a reduced price, good facillities, a very well controlled start reducing the numbers of runners on the track, good atmosphere and although often a bit cold, usually the weather is OK. The large number of participants might be an illustration of the quality of this event: Over 20.000 and according to my starting number they are alreadyo ver 11.000 entrants for this years event. Way to go! Click here for the route on mapmyrun

In order to testify that I am not paid to write such a positive review some observations on the usability of the website because it is not designed with usability in mind. The clikcing starts after entering the url in yourbrowser:

1. a well designed landingpage welcome you where you have to choose between the run and the walking event (see image below),
2. you enter a indexpage where againa you have to choose between running and walking and hidden in the text the link to the entryform,
3. however you do not come to the entry form, you end up on a page with a lot of information and al the way to the bottom you find a button to enter 'klik hier als je wilt inschrijven',
4. a pop-up screen opens which is to small because the real relevant button to start the registraiotn porcess is hidden below so you have to scroll to find it. Besides it look completely different form the previous buttons. You have just entered step 1 of 11 to register,
5. in step 2 of 11 again you have to choose betweend the run and the walkingevent. So I had to choose three times that i wantend to register myself and two times I had to choose between running and walking. From my proffesional point of view wheer I advise on usability and customer experience a place some question marks at this approach. So here they are: ??????

images related to point 1, 2 and 5:

Are you a runner? Part II

A while ago I posted a list of criteria helping you to determine if you are a runner or not. Here a couple more, also from about.com:

when your spouse/coworkers/children/neighbors complain about how cranky you are after you missed your run

you know the definitions fartlek, tempo run, taper, and glycogen stores and use them regularly

when you find that you have to think of your run schedule to remember what day of the week it is

when you have a folder for running webpages in your bookmarks

when you can name at least 3 writers of running blogs
when you wake up thinking about today's run and go to sleep thinking about

tomorrow's run

when you run up to a red light and think "Man, I wish I didn't have to stop!" instead of "Good, I want a break!"

when you drive your route after your runs to find out how far you went

when you drive the route to your next race days (or weeks) in advance
when you ask people (who didn't run the race and may or may not be runners) if they

want to ride with you while you drive the course of the race you just did and give them commentary of the race while doing so

when you dream about running

when giving directions, you can give the tenths or hundreths of a mile ("turn right in .38 miles")

when you use the words "easy" and "long run" in the same sentence

when you continue running despite the fact that when you blink your eyelashes stick together because they are collecting ice and snow

when you spend more time on sites like this than you do work

when you cross the finish line of a marathon and you start considering where/when the next one will be

when you can say "fartlek" without a single hint of a laugh
you spend your free time reading nutrition labels and race results

when you are running a race and your calves are cramping and your knees are aching and your lungs are burning but you still find yourself thinking, "This is fun!"

when you'd rather run than watch TV

when you have an exact 'prestart routine' for all runs: the same stretches in the same place for the same amount of time before you take off

when you notice that the only footsteps in the snow are yours and yours from yesterday

when you leave the New Year's Eve party early because you have a race in the morning

when you have to drive for 20 miles before you find a road you haven't run on

when you get out of your car at red lights and run around it a few times

when you buy Gatorade and Epsom salt by the truck load

when you have your race schedule set out for 5 years in advance but can’t remember if you scheduled to work the next day or not

when you pee in public when you aren't drunk

when your big date each week is the date you have with a good pair of running shoes and the road

when it is suggested that you give up running for Lent

Bug in Polar RS200sd

Let met start with stating that I am very satisfied with my Polar however....

On this image from the manual you can see that the polar RS200sd registers both the average and the maximum speed per lap. Small digits in red outline is average, large the maximum speed.


On my polar I find from time to time that my average speed is higher than the maximum speed. Could be that I didn't pay enough attention in highschool but I don't think so. So a bug in the RS200sd?
See the image: 9.1km/h average versus 8.5 maximum...

Are you a runner?

The site About.com delas with many topics that contain interesting elements for runners. They deal with health, nutricion, fitness and of course running itself. on this part of the site I ofund a list with criteria to determine if you are a runner or not. Of course it is supposed to be funny but the thing is....some of them sound familiar.....
In the category Travel:

You Know You're A Runner...

when the drive to the race is longer than the race itself ,

when you keep your family updated on how far you are from your destination by saying "There's only a half-marathon (10k, 5k, etc) until Grandma's house," and everyone knows how far that is.

when you run to your gate at the airport even though you aren't late and you aren't wearing running shoes

when you pack a seperate bag for your running clothes

when your idea of sightseeing involves visiting the local running store and finding the best place for hill repeats and long runs

when you get off an 18 hour flight and go for your long run because a) you need to stretch your legs, b) you want to see the city/country, and c) you have a scheduled run

when you realize that all the traveling you did in the last year revolved around races

when, on trips, you find it entertaining to see how fast you can convert speeds and distances from miles to kilometers and vice versa
you avoid travelling to places where you won't be able to run

when you get back from vacation and the first thing you tell people about is how the running was when you fly with your running clothes and shoes in your carry-on bag

Nutricion:

You Know You're A Runner...

when all your friends think you eat too healthy

when you not only eat gels, but you know the best flavors for every brand

when you consider pasta to be a food group

when the sports drinks are in front of the soda, beer, and juice in your fridge

when you know the name of all the checkers at your local health food store

when you have two eggs, two pieces of toast, a slice of cheese, a glass of juice, and a yogurt for breakfast and are still hungry by 11 AM

when you drink your least favorite kind of sports drink because you know it is what they will be handing out at waterstops for your next race and you want your body to be accustomed to it

when pasta is the only food you'll eat two nights before a race

Family and friends:

when you've run, showered, and eaten breakfast (twice) before your family/roommates even wake up

your family knows that you will run on Thanksgiving and Christmas (or other holidays you celebrate) now matter what

your friends no longer look at you like your nuts, because they know it for sure

when you forget birthdays and anniversaries, even major holidays, but never the date of your next race

when you have to make a real effort to remember to talk to your (non-running)family and friends about something other than running

you register for a race during your honeymoon even though your new spouse is not a runner (and he's not surprised or angry)

when your boss tells you to go run because your having a bad day at work

when your family plans vacations based on where your next marathon will be

when your non-running family and friends know the differences between feet that are neutral, over-pronating, and supinating

when you run so much that your family has a seperate laundry basket for your running clothes

when your family or friends sign up for "bike duty", to bike beside you during long runs so you don't have to carry anything you wouldn't carry during a race

when people stop asking you if you are going to run today, but rather ask you when

when your friends by sports drinks for their party so you'll have something to drink, since they know you have a run/race the next day

when you tell your realtor that you want a house in an area with good schools and a nice area to run

when you tell people you ran a 10k and you are shocked that people think that is a long run

your spouse and kids (and maybe even friends) know your PRs at different distances when you call 4 miles an easy day

when your friends know that if you don't answer your phone, you're probably running

when you try to convince people to run a 5k because it's "only" 3 miles

when you pass on going out with your friends on Friday night because you have to get up early and run

when you no longer have to explain to your friends why cotton isn't the best choice for running attire

when an exciting date for you is going with your spouse to drive your 20 mile route for the next morning and plant sports drinks along the way

when you come back after a 1 hour run and your spouse says 'That was fast. I didn't expect you back so soon.'

when your friends think they need to practice more before they can run with you

when you smirk at people who tell you that you run too much or are crazy for enjoying a run

when your spouse begs you to go for a run because you are in a bad mood

source: About.com: Running

Stretching; Calf Muscle

Do you recognize this: People in sporting gear trying to push over a wall or lamppost? I don't think that is the proper way to stretch your calf muscle. Because you should be stretching it and not put strain on it which you'll do the minute you start pushing. So how should it be done?

1) place you feet next to eachother and make a step of normal length with your center of gravity (your hips) between your feet.
2) Bend the knee of your front leg and have your upper body and back leg in a straigth line. Keep the heel of your back foot on the ground. DOn't push an against a wall;-)
If you need support try to grab something on your side so you use it just for that: balance.

Hold this position for at least eight seconds. Than come back to the starting position and repeat the motion with the other leg. In video it looks like this (thanks to the Asics site):

Lose weight, run faster

Every runner has his own reason for running, Roughly you can divide it into two categories
1: Running for the exercise burning calories, being healthy, being outside instead of in the gym, etc.
2: Running for the performance: Further and Faster
Most runners know you’ll get reason one for free if you start working on number 2.
On one of the blogs on complete running I found this table which also shows that the reverse is true. If you loose some weight you will gain speed. According to research 2 seconds on a mile:

Unfortunately no link is present to the research that resulted in this table. There should be some optimum minimum weight. However I would not go for this optimum. Most top runners look like a running skeleton wrapped in a skin and nothing less. For me, and I think for most recreational runners, this is a bit over the top. So I stick to my current weight and try to gain these second with a little more trainingeffort!
Added on 21st of june: I found a nice calculator that gives an indication of the effect of weight on your performance. The results are in line with those of the table above.

Running in Poland

Last week I found myself in a different environment for running. Instead of the well kept level bicycle paths of Holland I found myself on (dirt) roads in the hills of Poland. I have been there before and I always enjoy the change off environment.
Running in Poland is not as popular as in Holland so you tend to turn some heads while your running. Furthermore most roads outside the towns do not have a path for cyclists or pedestrians. On the other hand: Beside for the main roads there are many smaller roads connecting smaller towns or more isolated houses that have no busy traffic and are therefore perfect for running.
I did two runs in the surrounding of Kielce. A medium sized city in the heart of the country. I started both runs taking unpaved tracks throught the fields overlooking some of the Kielce subburbs. The first I looped back clock wise finding myself on one of those major roads without any room for runners. However I noticed that the extra adrenaline generated by the passing traffic helps increasing speed to leave this stretch behind you as fast as possible. The second run I looped back the other way around on this more quite type of roads making the run more relaxed.
At the end of the week I decided to go running at the beginning of the Friday night. THrought the parcs and one of the main streets with cafes in the Polish capital off Warsaw. Nice to start ou in the green parcs to the south of the city center. Even better still explore the city center between the local people having there drinks in the bars and enjoying their Friday night. One advice: Take a quick sohwer after your urn and revisit Nowy Swiat to join the Locals and have a drink with the friendly people of Poland;-)

Following runners live during Leiden Marathon

During the Marathon of Leiden last weekend the spectators could follow the runners live on the course. Not just by textmessages on the mobile phone with the lap times but also on an big screen.

With the use of modern technology supplied by TNO it was possible to trace a number of runners during their race (speed, hartrate, location). For people at home the runners could be followed using google maps or google earth.
It was also possible to cheer on the runners using textmessages. All this as part of a graduation project.

Just for starters: Training for the 5k (or 3 miles)

A good post on an new blog on running: How to start?????
Just starting to run, getting yourself together, away from the TV en onto the road can be hard. Most people start simply to run every time the same route through the neighborhood. In the beginning they see progress but then they settle for the same route always in say 20 minutes and that’s it.
This scheme from coolrunning will help those who start to run 5K (or 3 miles) in 30 minutes and by following the program, creating a good base to head on for longer distances en who knows….marathons? Remember every marathon runner had to start sometime!
My biggest problem with the schedules was that I wanted to increase the rate of progress and started skipping runs. However someone who completes the 5K within 4 weeks and stops for a week or won’t be able to repeat the 5k. If you follow the program and then rest you’ll see you can easily run the 5k e second time and once you have….start looking for a new schedule that takes you up to the 10k or even more.
Double clikck the image for a readable format. I made a nice table in HTML the blogsoftware cannot handle it......

Gebrselassie still capable of fast run on track

Although Gebrselassie has swithed his focus from the track to the marathon he is still capable of running a fast race on the track as he showed last weekend during a tournament in Hengelo in the Netherlands. He ran the 10k during the FBK-games under the 27 minutes in 26:52.81.
Check out this remark on runnersweb.com:

".....his official age is 34 but many observers believe he is at least a few
years older..."

Maybe there is still hope for me being 34.....

Roparun: Rasing money for cancer

Last weekend was the weekend of the Roparun. An estafette run with eigth runners per team from Paris to Rotterdam. Over 400 kilometer, with eight runners is one and a half marathon for each runner! Last year the event raisen over 3.000.000 euro's. The results for this year will be presented on June the 15th.

This year saw 209 teams participating, a record. Lets hope that tihs will help the set a record for the amount of money raised!

Runners are sexy

I came across are realy nice article about the link between running and sex. Stating that sex lives of both men and women will improve when running.
Furhter searching the net on this topic reveals that these findings from Harvard are not new as such as you can tell from this article from 2005: Running can make you a sex god
As for obstaining from sex shortly before a race???? This article makes a good read showing the research pont of view and the professional runner's point of view.

With some huomr you might say: Running gives you another excuse that the standard "no dear, I have a headache". Now you can use "I have to run tommorow". Unless you have done a serious training (see previous post)

Running Dutch = Running Cheap???

I know that in English the word Dutch has a rather negative ring to it. 'Going Dutch', 'Double Dutch', 'Dutch role' (aviation), etc. Furthermore I know that abroad the Dutch are, like the Scots famous for their greediness therefore a nice article to start with....'How to save money' when running is you favorite sport. The text is a copy from a blog on the complete running network .

It has been said more than once that running is a cheap sport. However,
when adding up the money I spend on it over a year, I’m not sure I agree. As
with everything you do, there are plenty of ways to spend your money. If you
want to run along at a budget, try a few of those things:

• Sports drinks are expensive. A cheaper alternative is to mix water and fruit
  juice. A 50/50 mix results in an isotonic drink, but you can water it down more
  if you find that easier to swallow during a run. Also, most sport drinks contain
  sodium, so add salt if you feel like it.
• Energy gels are ridiculously expensive, considering that they mainly consist of some sugary paste. I used to take one gel if I ran 15 miles or more, and 2 gels for any 20 miler (or more). I have since completely given up on gels, apart from during marathon races. And guess what? My distance runs don’t feel any more difficult as a result.
• Spending a lot of money on recovery drinks? According to coach Greg McMillan, the perfect recovery boost comes from a glass of Slim-Fast, because it contains the perfect mixture of carbohydrates and protein. My local supermarket even had it on a buy-one-get-one-free offer a few weeks ago, further driving down my expenses.
• Energy bars are an expensive snack. I can think of two
  alternatives straight away: many “normal” snack bars contain pretty much the
  same amount of carbohydrates than the sport ones, but at a lower price. Just
  look at the ingredients. Even better, try some fruit. An apple, orange, plum,
  kiwi, peach or any other fruit you can think of will give you the same energy
  boost, but is both cheaper and healthier.
• Running shoes are a major cost factor. Many shops have sales at the end of the year. Try and stock up on several pairs of runners then. You can literally save hundred of dollars/euros that way. (Disclaimer: I don’t have a local running shop to support.) Are you planning on an out-of-town marathon as well as a big holiday? Why not combine the two. Next time you take your spouse to Paris, why not do it in the middle of April? Just don’t get too romantic the evening before the race though, or you might come to regret it.

The tip on shoes is somewhat doubtful. Real running shoes are not very frequently on sale (at least not in the Netherlands). However I am not a fashion victim so I don't need matching running gear so I do buy al my other gear in the SALE.
I also found that a bar of mars delight also works in stead of a gel package. Easy to eat, enough calories to last another few miles.

Headaches after running

On a Dutch site a coach of a ladies running team is calling out for replies form people who have more experience with headaches after running. As I address in my original Dutch post I argument that mostly this headaches have to do with a misbalance in the levels of fluids in your head. Cause can be three fold:

1. drinking too little causing a lack of fluids in your body


2. drinking too much water causing a lack of minerals in your blood


3. tired muscles for example in the neck of running with to much tension in neck and shoulders.

People with other suggestion are welcome to respond!

My first, no second, post in English

Hi,
you have just found my first post in English. This is not entirely true because on my Dutch blog I have one post in English welcoming my readers from the English speaking world. There the readers can use for example babelfish to translate my Dutch site to English. On this blog I will, from time to time translate posts from the Dutch site myself....
As the statistics on my site tell me: 2/3 of my visitors is from English speaking countries so I hope they will appreciate this blog....