10 myths of Barefoot running

If you are looking for more analysis and opinion on barefoot running, 10 myths of it are covered in this post on Podiatry today. (H/T's to Runblogger and Yelling Stop) Unfortunately, the post is a multi-page that you have to click through to get all the info, but it is advertising-free. The post is well-referenced (although I admit not being familiar with the podiatric literature). Interestingly, the author, Dr. Campitelli, considers orthotics to be overused by podiatrists. In the concluding material, he does disclose being a scientific adviser to Vibram (here is a link to his practice website)

Too much endurance exercise bad for the heart?

I was intending to blog about this study on the cardiac effects of extreme endurance sport, but Dr. John beat me to it and has a great commentary on his blog. The article from the European Heart Journal agrees with prior studies that extreme endurance sport can cause heart dysfunction in the short term, which usually recovers completely. The new finding is that for extremes of endurance performace, some permanent damage may occur. The study is not conclusive, and we cannot forget that regular exercise is an excellent way to reduce your risk of dying. It is possible, however, that running an ultra every weekend might be a bit too much for the ticker.

The Extra Mile, now with extra Galloway

The Extra Mile podcast has joined up with Jeff Galloway on a new venture to spread the word about JG's Run-Walk-Run methodology for distance running. Since his visit to Gainesville, I have incorporated RWR into my long runs and I feel like it has helped me greatly by reducing recovery time, making long runs more enjoyable, and helping me to keep the overall pace nice and slow on long runs. The intent with the new podcast appears to be to give runners some help and coaching through a 30 week program to prepare to run a fall marathon for 2011.

McRunner excels at LA Marathon

In the spirit of the twinkie diet and in contrast to Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, a man by the nickname of McRunner completed the LA Marathon today in 2:36, a new PR for him. For 30 days prior to the race, he ate nothing but McDonald's. Of course, during those thirty days, he ran 349 miles. He had a doctor following him, and of the lab values he posted, his lipids did not seem to look any worse than pre-Mickey-D's. The other reason for McRunner's diet choice is to promote the charity he was running for, the Ronald McDonald House. He did a stellar job, raising some $27,000 for the charity. Congratulations on the fundraising and the PR, but please do not fault me for not wanting to follow your new diet!

Runner's Round Table Episode 104: Endurance Relays

I am getting together a team of runners for the RAGNAR race to Key West and will be hosting the Runner's Round Table this week with several people (Mark U, Chris, Colin, and Amanda) who have run such relays before. Join us at the table if you'd like to hear us chat about the subject.

UPDATE: Audio is now posted and available here. Thanks to Mark, Chris, Colin, and Amanda for all the wisdom, I'm really looking forward to our race!

RRT Ep 93: Running in the Heat

This post is a little out of order since I've already mentioned and followed-up on my participation in RRT 94, but I started this and wanted to finish out a couple thoughts on the previous episode.

So, thanks to Adam, Amanda, Joe, and Flo for a great Ep of the Runner's Round Table. I've whined plenty (here, here, here, and more) about running in the heat, although it is not quite as bad as Amanda's in Austin. I enjoyed the discussion and in particular took away some good educational points. First was Flo's discussion of dew point and how to add it to temp to figure out how oppressive a run might be and second was the general discussion about the "quality" or training value of hot weather running and tried to make distinctions about training for hot races vs. how to get in daily runs in a hot climate.

Anyway, I've been running in Florida heat for a while and I found some stuff to learn, so you might too! Lately, I'll say that my primary tactic for hot weather running is to try and find some form of core/strengthning/quality that I can focus on which does not depend on speed. While I don't feel like I can do intervals, I do feel capable of Fartleks in the AM. Also, doing minimalist/Vibram runs and hill workouts have been keys to quality this summer.

RRT 94: Running for a Healthy Heart

Thanks Steve and John, I enjoyed doing the RRT with you and I hope you feel like the discussion went well.

Just a reminder...

*DISCLAIMER* All material discussed herein and on the Runner's Round Table is discussed in generalities. None of this is medical advice and you MUST seek YOUR physician's counsel prior to undertaking athletic activity, especially if you have known cardiac disease.

For those that listened, I've got some notes here on things I mentioned:

• Each increase in MET you can tolerate is associated with a 12% increase in survival. Men whose maximal exertion was < 5 METs had a 4 fold higher risk of death than men who could achieve > 10.7 METs. (Morrow Circulation 2010;121:2681)
• The average person who is active, doesn't smoke, eats fruits and veggies, and doesn't drink to excess will live an average of 12 years longer than someone who does not do any of those healthy activities. (Kvaavik Arch Int Med 2010;170(11):998)
• About 30% of your risk of death comes from your genes. (Perls, Ann Int Med 2003;139:445) Another similar estimate shows that 90% of stroke risk comes from 10 risk factors, many of which are modifiable by lifestyle or medicine. (O'Donnell et al. Lancet 2010;376:9735)
• The Government Accountability Office recently reviewed the current state of direct-to-consumer marketed genetic testing.
• Air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. (Brook et al. Circulation 2010;121:2331)

We didn't get to talk about everything I thought that people might find interesting, like:

• People with heart transplants have run marathons! A worldwide organization similar to the Olympics which helps transplant patients compete in sports. Read about athletes like Ernesto Antonio, heart transplant recipient and finisher of the Dublin Marathon.
• People who have heart conditions should get cardiac rehab, which can have an incredible impact on improving your fitness. 3-6 months of supervised activity can increase aerobic capacity (VO2) by 11-35%!

Other References:

ACC Guidelines on Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16697342

AHA Guidelines on Cardiac Rehab:

http://www.ncbi/nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15668354

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/111/3/369

Join me at the table

I'll be a participant on today's episode of the Runner's Round Table at 4pm (work permitting). Visit the RRT website for more info about how to listen live, download the podcast, or join in the chatroom discussion. We will be discussing the cardiovascular benefits of running with myself, another cardiologist, and members of the Run-Net community.

Florida Track Club Meeting: July 2010

I've been meaning to make a little post about this, but it slipped my mind until recently. I finally made it out to my first local track club meeting to say hello to some other local runners. I got drawn out my the guest speaker, Andy Mathews who is an ultrarunner, the race director for a local ultra race the Croom's Fool Run, and the Mountain Ultra Trailrunner of the Year in Florida for 2006. He's run some of the well known ultras such as Western States 100 (which was run this year in an astonishing record time of 15:07:04). He blogs over at intheslam.blogspot.com.

His topic of his talk about general tactics and preparation for going into the ultra distance (anything beyond a marathon, 26.2 miles/42.16 km). It was informal, brutally honest, and pretty entertaining. I didn't get much opportunity to meet and introduce myself to other runners, but it did remind me that I could be interested in doing some ultra-action one day. Right now, though, the time commitment to put in a hundred plus miles is a bit much.

iRun/iRead and Ep 75 of the Runner's Round Table

Most podcasts are set up as a host (one, two, or an ensemble cast) who covers some topic (news, reviews, etc.) in a familiar format (something akin to a radio show with intros, outros, segments, etc.) One running podcast which breaks that format is the Runner's Round Table. This show is more of a populist creation where someone comes up with a topic and volunteers to moderate a panel discussion held over the internet with each person calling in to a central number. Additionally, the audience can watch/participate live during the recording on a chat channel, or sometimes just calling in themselves.

I bring up RRT as an alternative to other podcasts if you are looking for a new place to branch out in consuming content about running. I especially wanted to mention episode 75 featuring Grant, Vicky, Joe, and Toni talking about the iRun magazine and the accompanying iRead program. I'll let you listen to the show for their discussion of those, the part of the episode I wanted to discuss here is their review of Born to Runand the accompanying question of barefoot running.

I really appreciated how well the panel disagreed on the book, its tone, and the "fad" of barefoot running. While I greatly enjoyed the book, it was great to hear a point of view from someone who didn't like the book. The panel also did a great job of putting into words, my thoughts about the barefoot running phenomenon. To summarize some of their points:

1. The Tarahumara don't actually run barefoot, they have makeshift sandals to protect the bottom of their feet.
2. The effect of barefoot running/minimalist shoe training can be largely duplicated with a conscious effort at better mid/forefoot striking and form.
3. Amateur runners who never received formal coaching (ie: were not runners in high school/college) are frequently coached to "find their own form" and assume that whatever they do is "best for them".
4. Alternatively, amateur runners might well benefit from formal (even if brief) coaching.
5. If you are not having knee/back/other pains and injuries in standard shoes, you may not derive any benefit from barefoot/minimalist running.
6. Maybe you don't need to always run barefoot/minimalist, but doing so as part of core training will help to keep propriceptive and balance muscles in the calf and ankle strong.

Anyway, the panel is not a group of scientists and there is no hard evidence discussed in the show, but I thought it was a great discussion. If you have heard about barefoot/minimalist and are considering it, I would check out this episode as a great review of differing opinions on the subject and see how you think it might work with your training.

Weight Loss, tips from someone actually doing it

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I used to weigh about 265 lbs. One Xmas, I was home with my parents contemplating going up to size 42 pants when I said "no". Instead of new pants, I started counting every single calorie and exercising regularly. Over the following 12-18 months, I dropped 70 pounds and weighed in at 195. Since then I have become the avid runner I am today, and the weight has stayed off.

That intro aside, I have been following Tyler's story at: 344pounds.com. He has been trying to drop from 344 lbs, and presently is down to 215 (awesome!). He recently posted 50 thoughts about weight loss. What I especially like about the list is that it is coming from someone who is ACTUALLY WORKING TO LOSE WEIGHT. Better still are his two first points, 1) read everything you can, and 2) be skeptical of everything. I could not agree more, especially when I see how many "quick, easy" fixes are out there being pimped and sold, but have no evidence of benefit beyond just getting out there and doing exercise or just eating less. There are no magic formulas!

The one thing missing from his list which I would add is: "Just do it". This is not an endorsement of Nike (one day I will get around to writing a post about Team Sweat) but it is advice on the observation that being committed is simultaneously the most important advice to accept and the hardest to employ.

What I mean is, how many people think you can eat whatever you want, never exercise, and have the perfect body? It just can't be done, we all know this in our hearts, but many people spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on gear, DVDs, books, diets, supplements, and more to find the magic answer, when the magic answer is to "just do it". Imagine, instead of spending hours shopping online for the next great fad workout video, you just went outside and went running, or cycling, or even just walking. Instead of going to GNC trying to find the bestest protein bars and shakes, you just had an apple, or a glass of water and waited until it was time for your next meal. That's why I like #18 as well. Finding an accountability partner can make the process a lot easier.

The rest of the list has some great practical advice as well. Some are psychological tactics (throw away your 'fat' clothes), but I am not sure all of them would work for me (buy clothes that are too small for you, as an encouragement). He recommends taking a multivitamin, which I cannot imagine being harmful, but don't spend a lot of money on yet another thing that sounds like a good idea but has no science behind it (also, if you eat healthy with lots of fruits/veg, you will get more than enough of all your nutrients). He recommends carbs, but I would temper the advice by saying the right carbs. In my opinion the nutritional value from same number of carb calories in bananas and a bowl of Cap'n Crunch is not the same. The mint idea is a good hack and makers all other food taste lousy for hours after a meal (I still do this sometimes).

I don't mean to say that this process is easy, I know it is not, but what is important is getting out there. Learn, but be skeptical. Because in the end, you know the answers, now you need to "just do it".

Zen Habits does running

Zenhabits.net is a blog about living a minimalist lifestyle. The author, Leo, does some interesting posts on how you can cut down on superfluous crap in your life and focus on what is important. Anyway, he did a great and pretty lengthy post about running and specifically some tips on how to get started if you are new to, or considering taking up running.

Runblogger: video from Disney 2010

Congrats to Runblogger, Pete Larson who posted this video from the 2010 Disney Marathon. He ran a PR that day, despite the frigid temps and it turns out we were only a minute or so apart!