Run for your life workshop

Run for your Life

Next workshop coming up – Sunday, 9 June, Newtown Park, 10am-2.30pm

Newtown Park is available again, with the fresh new running track and well-appointed function rooms, so Fem and I thought it was the right time to set up the next workshop for people searching for the secret of sustainable running.

Also, since the last workshop I’ve been in New York and met up and worked with Feldenkrais colleagues at The Balanced Runner, so am eager to pass on what I’ve learned.

Power of the Butt

This time we include a focus on Butt Power – the elementary role of our glutes in providing power for running and protection for joints.

There’ll also be good work on dynamic running style and form – “posture” is too passive a word. And much more. Full details available soon.

The timing is good – you can recover from the Dorne Cup the previous day, or take a timely break in your build-up/tapering for the Wellington Half and Full Marathon just 2 weeks later.

We’ll start mid-morning to finish mid-afternoon, so you still have time for “Sunday” stuff, and we’ll provide a light soup n bread lunch.

Cost: $60 (waged)

To register or get more info contact Rupert Watson: watson@slingshot.co.nz

Trainers: Femke Koene, movement specialist; Rupert Watson, Feldenkrais practitioner and evergreen runner.

Good background info on this website, with a similar approach: www.balancedrunner.com

Run for your Life – for runners of any age who want to go the distance!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Advice for a tired Ultra Marathon Runner

Hi Gary, I'm training for an ultra-marathon (89k) and am looking for something to help with recovery/nutrition. I have to do 2 long runs over the weekend (this weekend it will be 1h50 and 3h15 in duration) and are struggling on the second run at the moment. Any advice?
_____________________________________
Gary:
Yes, cut out the first run and the 2nd run will then be much easier to complete.

Or, if you are not willing to do that try these:

• Get a thorough massage, from the wife, on the legs an hour or so after the first run.  Make this more of a "flushing" massage than deep tissue.
• Have a long warm bath with about one cup of Epsom Salts and two dessertspoons of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in it.  Get the wife to give you a chilled beer and a shoulder rub while relaxing in the bath.
• Have a Super Smoothie within the hour of finishing the first run.  Throw in a half can of coconut cream and plenty of dark berries, banana and any other fruit that grabs you.
• Have some Balance Recovery Stack before, during and after the first run.  Ensure you are fully hydrated within about 6 hours of finishing (best done by before and after weigh-ins).
• Eat lots and lots of food over the 24 hours following the first run.  Mostly carbs but ensure there is plenty of protein and fat as well.  Much of the tired, heavy feeling the day after a run is due to depletion of muscle glycogen.  Replenish this with carbs.  
• Stretch gently every few hours.
• Get the wife to do all the work: Laze around the house for the rest of the day and go to bed early and lie in for as long as you can.

This advice is relevant for anybody doing extreme exercise of any kind, such as preparing for events such as the annual Oxfam 100km walk.  Not just runners.

There is much more that can be done, such as the use of various supplements to reduce oxidative stress and mineral supplementation but these are longterm strategies and best done by way of a one on one consultation because everybody is different.  This can be by way of Skype or in person.

Of course, it goes without saying that preparation for extreme endurance events of any kind needs to begin at least a year before.  There is never enough time to get ready for these events, no matter how long one has!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Running toward a better you

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Essential Lydiard by Lorraine Moller

Essential Lydiard

Principles, not formulas, are the keys to successful training

By Lorraine Moller

There's a story told about Arthur Lydiard and his golden boys at the '64 Olympics in Tokyo. Down at the training track, with their rivals looking on, they ran an impressive interval session of 20 quarters. The next day one of these opponents, a talented interval-trained Canadian in his first Olympics, showed up at the track with his coach and proceeded to run the same session. Lydiard's boys cheered him on as he ran each interval faster than the last. When it was all done a reporter asked Lydiard what he thought of the kid's workout. "I think it was the last nail in his coffin," Lydiard replied.

"But your boys ran the same session yesterday."

"Yes, but my boys needed it."

Perfectly peaked, Lydiard's protege, Peter Snell, won two gold medals. His teammate, John Davies, won a bronze. The Canadian who had eclipsed the Kiwis' training run with his own failed to advance to the finals in his event -- as Lydiard had predicted.

One of my former coaches, Ron Daws, often quoted the above story to illustrate his axiom: "Good training and bad training look exactly the same on paper." Twenty quarters can bring one runner to his or her peak and bury another in a hole. Daws, adhering to Lydiard's philosophy, recognized that stand-alone workouts mean little; it is their contextual application to the advancement of the athlete's goal that matters. Training, then, is not a series of numbers that can be universally applied but is rather the art of combining measure, timing and sequence to the specific needs of the individual. Herein lies the brilliance of the coaching of Arthur Lydiard.

My first coach, John Davies, the same Lydiard protege who won bronze in Tokyo, called Arthur to ask him how to adapt the training for a promising 14-year-old girl. He didn't want to wreck me. Arthur advised him to build a base by increasing my mileage. I began on regular runs, soon reaching my target of 40 miles per week, which I continued for some months. There were never any hard and fast rules that are regularly attributed to Lydiard, such as the 100-miles-per-week mandate, but rather a careful consideration for my age, gender, ability, fitness and event. And that's how it was for the next 28 years of my career as an international athlete under the guidance of three consecutive Lydiard coaches: Davies, Ron Daws and Dick Quax. My schedules were never replicated in content; however, the principles that defined them as good Lydiard training (and outlined in this article) were unwavering.

Please go here for the entire Running Times article.

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.  Please give me your support by subscribing to my free email updates. Please shop at my Online Store. Please encourage your family and friends to do the same. While we may not always be able to compete with the big operators on price, we aim to more than compensate through personal service!
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Interview with Dr Keith Livingstone about Healthy, Intelligent Training and Lydiard

"Keith Livingstone, from New Zealand recently published a new book about an old training method, writing it in today’s language. He has taken the famous training method of the late and incomparable Arthur Lydiard and modernized it so everyone can understand the theory and application fully in a book he calls, Healthy Intelligent Training or H.I.T for short.

The Lydiard method may have produced dozens of international medals for New Zealand, Finland and several other countries,......."
For the full interview, please go here

I have a couple of spare copies of Keith's book. If you want a copy, you can have it for NZ$40 plus post. First in - first served.

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A summer training programme for triathlon and running a marathon

"Hi Gary
What would be the best approach?

A new schedule for each month, reassessed according to progress, or a full 5 month programme?

Photo: Gary making his move during one of the PNP club's 40km cycle races around Aotea Lagoon circa 1980.  From 1978-83 he averaged 3rd-4th placing in multisports races in NZ (run, bike kayak), due mainly to experience with club-based racing in all three disciplines.  Message: If you want to get good at a discipline, then you really should be competing in that sport against better competition.

Can train during lunch breaks (limited to 50mins) and could train in the mornings if required. Evenings are mostly free but constrained by transport, so training best done at home.

Would like to get started on it as soon as possible now, given the legs seem to be better.

I purchased a Triathlon wetsuit on the weekend, so am ready to start triathlons now, and was thinking about the Scorching Bay one on Sunday as a starting point.

Note – should we include a combination of the below?

5km races on Tuesdays
Splash’n’dash races - Wednesdays
Stroke training classes at Porirua Poll on Thursdays
Turbine training on Thursdays (8.5km of hilly off road running).

There’s a clash of events in January and March.

December:
Wed 3rd – Splash’n’Dash – 250m
Sun 7th – Either Korokoro Stream 10km, or Scorching Bay Tri Medium (500m swim, 20km bike, 5km run)
Wed 17th – Splash’n’Dash – 250m or 750m

January:
Wed 14th – Spash’n’Dash – 750m
Mon 19th – Scorching Bay Tri – Medium
Sat 24th – Ocean Swim Capital Challenge – 2.8km
Sat 24th – Cycle Challenge – Mount Taranaki 150km
Sun 25th – More FM Women’s Tri – 300m swim, 10k bike, 3k run
Wed 28th – Splash’n’Dash

February
Sun 8th – Scorching Bay – Med 750 swim 20km bike, 5km run, or Long 1500m, 40km bike, 10k run
Wed 11th – Splash’n’Dash – 750m
Sun 15th – Sub ½ Marathon - Martinborough
Sat 21st – Lake Taupo Relay Race – would do approximately 20kms.
Wed 25th – Splash’n’Dash – 750m

March
Sun 1st – Kapiti Women’s Tri
Sun 1st – GutBuster
Wed 11th – Splash’n’Dash – 750m
Sat 14th – Contact Tri Series – 1500m Swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Wed 25th – Splash’n’Dash – 750m
Sun 29th – Scorching Bay – Long? 1500m, 40km bike, 10km run
(I may be overseas from 1 March – 14 March)

April
Sun 5th – Grand Traverse – run only (18km mountain run)
Sat 18th – Xterra – 1000m swim, 26km mountain bike, 11km run

May
Sat 2nd – Rotorua Marathon - ? if I don’t aim for Rotorua, possibility of team event in Crazy Man –18km mountain run only.

Thanks Gary!
Nice and motivated, so looking forward to the programme!

Cheers"
Sarah
______________________________

Gary:

Sarah, I do not like schedules, including dictating time and distance because the human body does not work that way: It varies so much in what it can handle from one day to the next and from week to week.  It is better to set yourself a weekly framework with general guidelines and to listen to your body.  It will tell you each day whether to do more or less; to go faster or slower.  As strength and fitness improves, so will the quality and volume of the training - It will just happen naturally.

Here are a few guiding principles to help you along your way:

• To improve fitness of any of the three disiplines, train at it 3-4 times a week for about 4-6 weeks.
• To maintain fitness achieved in any of the three disciplines, train at it 2-3 times a week.
• Do not repeat the same hard workout on consecutive days.
• The cardiovascular system recovers in about 36 hours whereas the muscluloskeletal system takes about 3-5 days.  So, if you hammer your legs in a hard run, swim the next day and then cycle the next, then swim, the next, then be back into full running (You can jog easy on those recovery days).
• The more nutrient rich food that you can eat, the more training and racing you can do and the better you will get.
• When not training or eating - rest!  And get a weekly massage.
• Make about every 4th to 6th week a lazy restful one - train but make it minimal - fit this week in with when you feel a bit off colour, when work is hectic or when your period is heavy.  
• If you want to get really hard and efficient at a sport, then train with the pros - join a cycling club and get involved in their local races.  Join a running club and do their summer 5km series.  Join a swim squad and do drills with the speedsters.  
• Concentrate most of all on improving the event you are weakest at.
• In the swim triathlons, you must be a strong swimmer to have any hope of being competitive, so work on your swimming.
• Practice racing triahtlons at every opportunity by entering tri and duathlon races that you can play at without wasting yourself while practicing competition skills like swimming, cyling and running in congested surroundings and making slick transitions.
• Triathlons, swimming and clycing are much easier on the body than running.  For about every 2km raced running, you must take one day of relative rest.  For cycling and swimming, take a day rest for each 10km and 1km raced respectively.  If you do a two hour triathlon hard, take about four days of easy recovery days, then take another 2-4 more days to steadily ramp up the workloads back to normal.
• Be flexible and listen to your body: If it really does not want to train hard then take it easy or have a rest day.
• Do not put all your eggs in one basket: Enter every race you can and have a great time over Summer and Autumn traveling the country soaking up the thrill of exotic and challenging events.
• If you have a race that is really gruelling, like the Gutbuster, that is not your big one for the season, then do it as a team rather than risk wasting your body and wasting far too much time recovering.

Here's how a week might look:

• Monday, Quality swim and Bike easy, maybe an easy jog
• Tuesday, swim and bike easy and run 5km race, or just an easy jog or ride in the am and do the Splash and Dash swim-run series
• Wednesday, easy run, long cycle and easy swim
• Thursday, 80minute off road run with us plus a quality swim
• Friday, easy run, cycle and swim or even a complete rest
• Saturday, quality swim and 80 minute run with strideouts
• Sunday, 3-4 hour cycle and then maybe an easy run and swim later in the day

Consider the long cycle as your principal endurance training for the week.  So long as you do quality running durign the week, there is no need to hammer the legs doing extremely long runs that carry a high risk of injury.

When doing the weekly Splash and Dash races you can do these as fast as possible if you are feeling good becuase these are so short recovery will be very quick.  

If racing the 5km, then make about evey 3rd one an attempt at a personal best.  Other times, play the race by running parts very fast and other parts just jog.  You can run the first few Km hard, plod the middle part, then race the last km hard.  Got the idea?

These short fun races really hone top end speed that will pay huge dividends during the longer races.  You could also look at going to the cycling velodrom on Sunday afternoons and joining in the club practice sessions.  Even though you will be tired from your long Sunday am cycle, the track work will develop impressive top end cycling speed that will make triathlon cycling a breeze!

Race weeks

This is easy: Have two days of rest in the leadup to any races and make any races on the tuesday easy and playful and not much more than that.

When racing, do not waste yourself.  Have fun.  Enjoy the occasion and ensure that you are not so wasted as to spend weeks recovering.  You can go totally hard out during the final one or two big events of the season.

Make the day following a race a complete rest and then ease back into full training over as many days as is necessary to feel your post-race recovery is as good as complete.

Which races?

Hey - who cares!  Just enter those events that grab your imagination and get you excited.  You will be fit enough to do any of the races listed above.  The only thing is to concentrate mostly, but not exclusively, on the type of event you are most serious about.  So, if it is the triathlon, then generally favour triathlon related events.  

Marathon or not?

Go for it!  After the Xterra, recover a few days then step up the running and back off on everything else.  Run up to 2 hours three to four times a week with an easy early morning jog thrown in daily.  Peak with 10 days to go then reduce to the point of doing no more than your easy morning jogs with 2-3 days to go.

Go to the E-books section of my website and read my E-book about training for a marathon and the ones on nutrition and the Lydiard Method.  Also have a read of my recipes.

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Lorraine Moller talks about Athlete Conditioning based upon the Lydiard Method

When I was recently in New Zealand as a guest of the Lovelock/Davies Foundation, sponsored by Powerade, to speak of the work of The Lydiard Foundation I was both surprised and pleased. I had been concerned that New Zealand had lost the way and athletes had moved away from the Lydiard way of training, that it was seen as outdated and the public might not be interested.
There was an outstanding attendance at both lectures in Wanganui and Auckland. The packed audiences included many great and experienced coaches with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the subject that far exceeds mine - coaches such as Barry Magee, Arch Jelley, Chris Pilone, Gary Little and my co-presenter and long-time mentor, Dick Quax.
Almost every runner I knew trained 'Lydiard' when I was young. We ran cross country and road in the winter during our build-ups. We called people who went to the track and did speed work in the winter idiots. The strength building of the winter set us up for the track racing of the summer. The elders of our clubs explained that miles were like putting sand in your bucket and racing emptied the sand out again. (I would have preferred a 'money in the bank' analogy but the image of sand has stuck.)
New Zealand runners were at the top then. I grew up in the wake of the golden era of Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, John Davies, Marise Chamberlain, Barry Magee, and Mike Ryan. The trio Dick Quax, Rod Dixon and John Walker emulated their medal winning legacy. We women were soon to come into our own, in both parity of events and public and media recognition of accomplishment. All of us were coloured by the Lydiard brush. I was coached by John Davies, Ron Daws, and Dick Quax, all Lydiard aficionados.
Lydiardism had its own lore and lingo: we didn't periodise, we pyramidised; we didn't have heart-rate monitors, we gauged by effort; and our coaches were always mindful of how much sand was in our buckets. The Lydiard method was not a theoretical construct borne of lab formulae but a work in progress over the lifetime of Arthur (and others), trialed and tested on thousands if not millions of runners. What worked stuck to become an impressively sound and successful methodology, applicable to all endurance events in all sports over more than a few minutes in duration.
Why is Lydiardism so successful? Because it is a pyramid, solid from the ground up to its peak, it shape defined by the principles it embodies.
These principles are:
1. Maximum Aerobic Efficiency. The body is an oxygen dependant machine for movement. The better we are at utilizing oxygen, the faster and longer we can move at any degree of intensity. The bigger the base of the pyramid the higher the peak.
2. Progressive Development of Energy Transport Systems. Aerobic development precedes anaerobic development. The ascent up the pyramid is a movement from endurance to strength to speed, each stage building on and supporting the next stage.
3. Response Regulation. This is a fancy way of saying that everyone is different and each individual needs to keep an eye on their bucket and adjust their training so that they arrive at the peak of their pyramid with it filled to maximum.
4. Peaking. The pyramid focuses the efforts both physically and mentally so that the chances of performing well on the day that counts are greatest.
There are many such fine coaches scattered throughout New Zealand, coaches who long ago embraced Lydiard in principle and now carry a wealth of expertise. These are New Zealand's best asset for sport and I believe that support of these people at administrative level to teach and inspire our next generation of coaches and athletes is our best bet for a new golden era. Coaches are so often overlooked, especially in a sport that has become professional. As bucket-fillers they too need their buckets filled.
For more information on The Lydiard Foundation or to participate in our training forums with your training question, answers or comments log onto www.lydiardfoundation.org

Talk to Gary Moller (First 5 minutes are free):

Oxfam Trailwalker: How much should I be walking or running training?

Hi,
I have a question and would appreciate your advice.

I am a regular runner, running 5x weekly averaging approx. 40 kms a week. I prefer running to walking but think that I should be conditioning my body to walking as our team will mostly walk the trail. How much walking should I be doing? I was also thinking of doing a half-marathon in the first week of March – am I being too ambitious and should I focus more on the long distance walking?

I look forward to your ideas.

Regards
Leanne
___________________________________
Gary Moller advises:

Leanne, you are obviously very fit. You should have no trouble doing the half marathon and

then doing the Oxfam. Run the half not 100%. Run it steady with 10% left in the tank at the finish. Then have three days of complete rest, take plenty of vitamin C and eat well. After three days start back with half the usual training for the next 7-8 days and then gradually build back to where you were then ease off for the last 10 days leading into the Oxfam.

If 80% of the Oxfam is going to be walking then you should make 80% of your training walking. As you will quickly learn, some of the muscles used in running and walking are different and if you do not train them appropriately, then you will pay for it on the day, even if you are extremely fit.

All the best Leanne!

Training For the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km

Here is a selection of the latest articles on GaryMoller.com about running and training. To find more articles and information, please use the Keywords box in the right hand column of this page to do your search. The official site for the Oxfam Trailwalker is here.

Off Road Running: I take half an hour to work into a comfortable pace

"Hello Gary I have been running for fitness for around 18 months now and have recently started entering off-road running events. I am finding it takes me up to 1/2 hour of running before I get to a state of feeling comfortable (ie. get over the wall), once there I can run well. Is there a way of training my body to shorten the time it takes me to get comfortable? Im 43 and weigh 82kg (6 ft) My training runs are around 11km, I do 2-3 per week, the events I have run in have been 10km and I did a 21km run on sunday, (N-Duro Rotorua). I find I feel the same no matter what the distance, I just feel sort of exhausted to start with, it may well be a psyc thing as I can push through but it does seem to last 4-5km In the 10 days leading up to the last event I did a 30-40km bike ride, 2 x 1hr off-road runs with lots of hill work and a couple of 11km road runs. I did not exercise in the 2 days prior to the event. There is nothing special to my diet. Probably a fairly typical diet. I have 1/2 Cup oatmeal for breakfast, chicken rolls or similar for lunch and a fairly typical dinners with some meat, mostly lots of veges: Potato, peas, carrots etc. I snack on peanuts & raisins usually. I generally eat larger portions before a race. and drink a lot of fluids the day before too." "A"
_____________________________
Gary Moller comments:
There are a few possible things at work here. All I can do is list each and you will have to experiment with each to see what works:

Age at work
Sadly, as we get older, it takes longer for the motor to wind up to top revs as compared to a youngster. Once you are under way, there may be little difference between you and the younger ones in the field as far as cruising pace is concerned. The solution (In part) is to not get too carried away with the hype of the start and consign yourself towards the back of the pack when the gun goes, then steadily wind up to your steady state trot.

Most of these races start with an uphill or on terrain like sand
If you are slow to wind up you must be extra conservative if the race starts on sand or with an uphill. Let Granny go first and pass her later - if you can.

A good measure is to use a heart rate monitor. Work out in training what your steady state heart rate is for these kinds of runs and do not exceed this at the start and when climbing hills.

Don't drink too much water before a race
Yep, I have said it many times and I will say it again: Do not drink too much before a race. Drink only as much water as you need to pee regularly. If you overdo it you will get a soggy body that feels achy and heavy. You might feel tired and you might even have a headache. Do not get sucked in by all the propaganda by those who want to make heaps of money out of you by misleading you that you must drink sports drinks by the gallon. Read my other articles about this matter.

Go easy on the carbohydrates
While lots of carbs will boost your muscle glycogen stores over the days leading up to the race; there is a downside: Your muscles get swollen and heavy due and you may consequently find that you are slow to wind into a race. I have personally given away the carbohydrate loading and prefer to train well and to have a diet that is low in refined carbohydrates all the time. Please read my articles and e-books about running, marathon, cycling and so and so on there are dozens and dozens on this website.

Are you addicted to caffeine?
If you are a habitual mainliner of caffeine, this might come back to bite you on race day. You may find you are tired and achy when you line up for the race. Please read my articles on caffeine and dry out if you determine that you are a caffeine addict.

Do not over train during the last 10 days
From what you have described, you might be overdoing the training in the lead up immediately before the race. Anything exhausting or intense that is done during the last 7-10 days of a major event may take the edge off your performance on race day. Read my articles about Lydiard and periodisation.

Where's the speed work?
If there is one thing that is most often missing in a distance runner's training programme, it is speed work. How can one run fast, if there is no speed work in training? The best way to get your speed work in is to enter a 5km race series like the ones organised by Scottish Harriers of Wellington. See you there! Running 5km races as part of your distance running preparation gets you used to working hard - very, very hard - without wasting you so much that you can not train properly afterwards. Do this regularly as part of your training and you will find the slower pace of race day a breeze.

Train at the time you expect to race
Your circadian cycle adjusts according to the demands placed on it. So, if you eat breakfast at 7am every day then your body will produce a burst of digestive juices at that time after a short while. You will find that other bodily finctions, like going to the toilet also fall into a predictable cycle. The same happens with your physical activity. If your race starts at 8am, then it hardly makes sense to do your training in the afternoon, does it? You will only feel tired and probably feel like dashing off into the bushes. Some of your daily training should be ideally at the time that you will be racing.

Are you healthy?
There are few, if any men and women older than 40 who have not built up various nutritional deficiencies. If you do punishing sport, then a deficiency in nutrients like magnesium is pretty much guaranteed. Sure you get your nutrients from a great diet. All I can say is "Yeah right!" All the evidence is to the contrary. A magnesium deficiency, for example, will result in muscle weakness, cramps, erratic blood pressure and a weak heart.

While you could go ahead and supplement with what you are most likely to be lacking, the better action is to first complete a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis or other nutrient testing and these will eliminate most of the guesswork

Please help! I have injured my knee!

"Hi Gary Me again! My old knee injury (sprained or damage to the anterior cruciate ligament & medial collateral ligament) appears to have flared up so was wondering if you could recommend anything to help with the inflammation? and whether you think i should go back to physio?

It is pretty minor compared to what i experienced years ago & was at its worst on Monday but has calmed down a bit thanks to wearing a stocking all day/night. The inside of my knee seems a little swollen & it feels tight at the back to the point that it is hard to completely straighten or kneel. I could still run quite happily on Tuesday but after realising my knee was a bit swollen have decided to stop until its back to normal. In terms of the cause I am not sure as have not had a sprain as such. However, my knee did start to 'click' a lot more (& is clicking quite a bit now) when I started to do single leg extensions where my leg/knee is at a 90degree (sitting on a gym machine) & I lift a 5kg weight with toe slightly pointed out.

This exercise is part of the program that my trainer at the gym (Chek Practitioner with Diplomas in Rehabilitation & in Sports Medicine from Otago Uni) designed & apparently works to strengthen the inside of my knee. She also just started me on a new exercise with the swiss ball where my torso is on the ground but lifted up in the 'bridging' position & my calves are on the swiss ball & i have to lift one leg up at a time & hold it for 5 seconds so as to apparently strengthen my core, butt & hamstring. i have found this exercise really hard & pretty much strain the balancing leg so i can keep the lifted leg up in the air.

The trainer is convinced that these exercises could not have caused my knee to flare up unless i was incorrect in my technique & suggested it might be a hamstring insertion (whatever that is!)& thought i should try antiflam cream & seeing a physio in a few days if it had not self-corrected. but as she has overrided my old physio exercises & your advice to do 1/4 squats (she got me doing full squats with minimal weight)

I'm now confused as don't know if i can trust that she knows what she's talking about or who i should ask....except you! all i know is that my knee has been fine for the past 5 years & now its not!

Pretty gutted as i ran 9k for the first time in 5 1/2 years last week! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated."
"R"
Gary Moller comments:
"R", The swelling is telling you that your knee has been injured somehow and the swelling is your body's way of restricting movement.

Knowing your history of knee injury, it is possible that the damage to your knee ligaments previously and possibly to the knee cartilage makes the joint vulnerable to further damage.

It is possible that some of the exercises that you describe doing could have irritated the knee joint.

Your anterior cruciate prevents forwardsliding of the tibia on the femur, especially when the large quadriceps contract. The medial ligament prevents the knee from buckling inwards. Between all of them, the ligaments hold the knee joint snug and secure. The articular cartilages form a shock absorbing dish between the bones of the knee joint (tibia and the femur). It is possible that you damaged one or two of these cartilages when you sprained your ligaments.

When you are doing any kind of strengthening exercises using the big thigh muscles you should be weight bearing. This is because the knee bones are held firmly in place in the dished cartilages. If you do leg exercises such as leg extensions on a leg extension weight machine, the lower leg will be hanging free, gapping the joint and throwing stress on already damaged or stretched ligaments. The joint cartilage is vulnerable to further damage as the joint is gapped and twisted.

I would be very careful of the Swiss Ball bridging exercise that you describe because the knee could gap and twist. If you want to work the hamstring and butt, do standing dead-lifts with a barbell or dumbells; but make sure you get expert instruction in safe technique, lest you do your back in!

Stick to weight-bearing exercises such as squats and never go beyond right angle knee bends when under pressure. Deep knee bends may strain the ligaments and pinch the cartilages. The best machine in the gym for you for strengthening the quads is the incline leg press. Avoid the hack squat, including wall squats with a Swiss Ball behind your back. These throw excess strain on the front portions of the knee, including the undersides of the kneecaps. You don't need this.

Always get professional instruction by a weights expert and review your technique regularly.

Ice may help with the swelling but I am not a fan of it. Elevation, plus rhythmic exercise is best. Massage the knee, thigh and calf.

Exercise in warm water to manage swelling and to maintain strength, endurance and flexibility.

Take a glucosamine and chondroitin formulation and MSM and take generous doses for as long as there is pain and swelling. Use these in preference to pain killers and anti-inflammatories. Add 2,000mg of vitamin C per day. Copious amounts of fish and flax oil and especially Evening Primrose Oil have natural anti inflammatory qualities while not compromising healing. These natural supplements will assist healing. Continue normal doses for at least three months after the knee has settled.

Contact me if the knee does not settle significantly by next week.

Stiff Big Toe (Hallux Rigidus) in active people - runners and other athletes

The most common site of arthritis in the foot is at the base of the big toe. This joint is called the metatarsophalangeal, or MTP joint. It's important because it has to bend every time you take a step. If the joint starts to stiffen, walking can become painful and difficult.

In the MTP joint, as in any joint, the ends of the bones are covered by a smooth articular cartilage. If wear-and-tear or injury damage the articular cartilage, the raw bone ends can rub together. A bone spur, or overgrowth, may develop on the top of the bone. This overgrowth can prevent the toe from bending as much as it needs to when you walk. The result is a stiff big toe, or hallux rigidus.

Hallux rigidus usually develops in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 years. No one knows why it appears in some people and not others. It may result from an injury to the toe that damages the articular cartilage or from differences in foot anatomy that increase stress on the joint.

Signs and symptoms

* Pain in the joint when you are active, especially as you push-off on the toes when you walk
* Swelling around the joint
* A bump, like a bunion or callus, that develops on the top of the foot
* Stiffness in the great toe and an inability to bend it up or down

Diagnosing the problem
If you find it difficult to bend your toe up and down or find that you are walking on the outside of your foot because of pain in the toe, see your doctor right away. Hallux rigidus is easier to treat when the condition is caught early. If you wait until you see a bony bump on the top of your foot, the bone spurs will have already developed and the condition will be more difficult to treat.

Your physician will examine your foot and look for evidence of bone spurs. He or she may move the toe around to see how much motion is possible without pain. X-rays will show the location and size of any bone spurs, as well as the degree of degeneration in the joint space and cartilage.

Nonoperative treatment options
Pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen may help reduce the swelling and ease the pain. Applying ice packs or taking contrast baths (described below) may also help reduce inflammation and control symptoms for a short period of time. But they aren't enough to stop the condition from progressing. Wearing a shoe with a large toe box will reduce the pressure on the toe, and you will probably have to give up wearing high heels. Your doctor may recommend that you get a stiff-soled shoe with a rocker or roller bottom design and possibly even a steel shank or metal brace in the sole. This type of shoe supports the foot when you walk and reduces the amount of bend in the big toe.

A contrast bath uses alternating cold and hot water to reduce inflammation. You'll need two buckets, one with water as cold as you can tolerate and the other with water as warm as you can tolerate. Immerse your foot in the cold water for 30 seconds, then immediately place it in the hot water for 30 seconds. Continue to alternate between cold and hot for five minutes, ending in the cold water. You can do contrast baths up to three times a day. However, be careful to avoid extreme temperatures in the water, especially if your feet aren't very sensitive to heat or cold.
Source: American Academy of Orthopaedics
(This article then goes on to describe the surgical options)
_____________________________
Gary Moller comments:
This article is pretty typical of the advice given for arthritic toe conditions. For the athlete, the advice is inadequate, does not get to the heart of the cause and does not offer lasting solutions.

Sore toe joints is a common complaint in active people. It can come about as the result of a joint sprain or dislocation, such as happens when kicking or when the foot is trampled by a sprigged boot. It can also happen as the result of excessive repetitive repetitive stepping back and forth such as when doing Tae-Bo fitness classes. Accidentally stubbing the toe on a piece of furniture is another painful cause.

Joints require movement to be healthy. Without movement, the joint tissues are poorly nourished and they may consequently degenerate, causing a painful arthritic condition. If there has been damage to joint ligaments, such from a dislocation, the scar repair that binds the healing joint shrinks over time. If this is not stretched and mobilised during the healing process, the joint may be bound painfully together. Scar tissue shrinks over time and must be stretched and softened to ensure there is the restoration of normal function.

Wearing shoes all the time can contribute to the development of a painful rigid toe by restricting the natural movements of the feet. Feet, including the toes, are designed to be flexed and extended all the time to be strong and healthy. Shoes are no good for the feet if worn all the time. Lack of natural movement lays the feet open to the development of arthritis.

If you hurt a toe
So long as it is not broken, immobilise it for no longer than about 2 days. Using the healthy toe on the other foot as your guide, gradually work within pain limits to restore normal movement over several days. This should include careful traction to gap the joints.

If you have developed a rigid arthritic toe
This is where the fun begins and where I come into action! Forget about the injections, ultrasound, ice and surgery: By far the most effective way to fix an arthritic toe in an athlete is manipulation without anaesthesia. This can be extremely painful for the affected person. One woman described the pain as being more intense than child birth!

The purpose of the manipulation is to gap the joint that is bound tightly together by scar and unhealthy fibrous tissue, to break up any restrictive adhesions and calcification and to get some circulation back into the joint tissues.

There is no need for pain relief or anti-inflammatories. It may be a good idea to take some glucosamine and chondroitin and MSM to aid the healing.

While this procedure is agonising, the result after just 3-4 sessions is dramatic pain relief and full resumption of normal activity. Over the years, the results have been 100%

Ongoing maintenance of recovery includes getting about daily barefoot. Running and walking on sand is best for keeping the feet strong and healthy.

Please read my other articles about this painful and disabling condition (hallux rigidus).

If you have a problem with a stiff and painful toe, contact me directly.

How much vitamin C should an athlete take to keep healthy?

It is the common experience of many athletes to finish an exhausting event like a marathon or iron man triathlon and feel surprisingly good; only to crash several days later going down with a virus an injury like tendonitis or feeling very depressed and tired or all of the latter. This may be fully or partially due to the delayed effects of the extreme oxidative stress suffered during the exhausting exercise (This can be either from competition or heavy training). In many cases, such as multiday events there is the added stress of sleep deprivation which hammers one's immune system.

"A practical way to reason is that, if a person carrying out heavy exercise feels that he or she has colds too often, he or she could (should?) try vitamin C.

The doses have been about 0.5 to 2 grams per day in the controlled trials and that kind of doses are safe for ordinary people (and cheap). In the US nutritional recommendations they consider that safe range goes to some 2 g/day. That is a conservative limit in my opinion, but with the current knowledge, I do not think it makes much sense to use substantially larger doses even though I consider them safe.

If we assume that the oxidative stress caused by the marathon would b protected against by higher vitamin C levels in the body, I think that the time scale would be initiation a few days before and continuing a few days after the marathon (one or two times per day I would think)". Harri

(Excerpt from correspondence between Gary Moller and Harri Hemilä, MD, PhD,Department of Public Health,University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr Hemilä is one of the world's leading researchers into the benefits or otherwide of substances like vitamin C and vitamin E).

Dr Hemilä's impressive work in this area makes fascinating reading.

With what we know about free radicals and how they are generated during exhasting or intense exercise, it would make good sense to anticipate excessive oxidative stress to your body and take preventive measures, if you are doing heavy training or have an exhausting competition coming up. This migh also apply to work and personal situations that may be emotionally as well as physically exhausting.

Using Dr Hemilä's advice as our guide, here is my guidance:

• If you are doing exhausting training take 1-2,000mg of vitamin C per day
• If you have a history of frequent colds, take towards the upper level (2,000mg)
• Take 2,000mg per day over the 2 days before an exhausting competition and for 2 days afterwards
• If you are taking Wagner Ester C, then you could reduce these guidelines to 50% and you will probably get the same protection or still better.
• Regardless of vitamin C supplementation, take a daily Super Smoothie that has red berries and whey protein added and eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Go to sleep before 11pm every night and be out of bed by 7am
• Get plenty of sunlight on your body to boost your vitamin D levels. Get a blood test of your levels.
• An athlete requires more minerals and B group vitamins than most
• Other antioxidant food extracts like high potency garlic extracts could be added to the diet
• Have recovery days within your training schedule and take 3-5 days rest after an exhausting competition like a marathon.

I will be posting some guidelines about use of vitamin E which is currently a confused and controversial matter.

Advice sought about post-exercise muscle cramp

"I enjoy hillwalking and a few months ago did the most arduous walk yet. Next day my thighs were tight for a day and next day fine.

However on this second day a knot started in my right calf and progressed to almost crippling status and remained for 3-4 weeks before suddenly disapearing. Whilst there I took anti inflam , asprin and ibufrofen gels without much relief.

I went on almost as hard a walk 3 weeks ago and although filled with trepidation, nothing untoward occurred. I was on holiday this week and played a round of golf and carried my bag. Now 2 days later the cramp has re-ocurred.
Help? Whats going on?"Gary Moller comments:
This 41 year old male appears to be in reasonable shape; but definitely overdid things by doing a hike that appears to have been partially unplanned, turning into a 16 mile hike over and around a couple of mountain peaks. It is understandable that he suffered a quite severe calf strain/cramp that has not resolved.

It may never completely resolve unless dealt with properly.

Here are some observations and advice:

Should one take anti-inflammatories?
In most instances, the answer is "No!"This is because anti-inflammatories may interfere with the processes that lay down healthy collagen scar tissue. If this process is interfered with, the resultant healing may be weak and prone to further injury. Inflammation is healthy: it is the body's mechanism for bringing blood, nutrients and other resources to the injury site. It makes no sense to suppress this mechanism with drugs. These drugs can also interfere with digestion and therefore your nutritional status. While it may have the injured limb back in action sooner (this is questionable anyway) this may be a fool's gain.

The only "anti-inflammatories" that might help are natural ones. Kordel's MSM is one as are Omega oils like fish oil, flaxseed oil and olive oil. Evening Primrose oil is very beneficial. These enhance the healing process rather than interfere with them.

Re-mineralise the body
I doubt there is a 40+ year old male or female who leads an active and stressful life that is not deficient in minerals, principally magnesium. Exhausting exercise chews through magnesium and may result in disabling muscle cramps and failure to recover. In conjunction with the minerals is the need for rich supplies of the B group of vitamins.

So, my advice is to top up with a magnesium supplement and a B group supplement. You can also add a lengthy soak in an Epsom Salts bath which relaxes the muscles while supplying sulphur and magnesium through the skin.

Minerals can be obtained from a bone broth that is consumed daily and this is additional to a course of magnesium supplementation.

Take the guessswork out of supplementation and improve your health by ordering a hair tissue mineral analysis. Although $225 it is well worth the cost.

Massage the injured limb
It is highly likely, if not inevitable that there are still painful knots within the calf muscle that was injured. The uninjured limb may be similarly affected but to a lesser degree. As long as these knots remain there will be ongoing pain and limitations on ability to exert oneself. The risk of further injury is great and rest alone is never the solution. Deep tissue massage is the solution but only commence this 2-3 weeks after the dietary measures have had time to kick in.

Deep tissue massage causes damage to the unhealthy tissue that forms the knot within the muscle. The damage is in carefully controlled doses, stimulating the body's natural healing processes to lay down new healthy tissue to replace that unhealthy tissue. It is painful but highly effective - but only if your nutritional status is healthy.

Deep tissue massage the calf muscle to break down and soften any hard knots and injury-prone spots within the body of the calf. This requires about 30 days to have a lasting effect done every 3-4 days. Get this done by an experienced therapist. If in Wellington I can do this for you.

Do a steady buildup in fitness next time
Recovery includes a steady increase in fitness over about three months and then maintaining a high level of fitness indefinitely through consistent weekly exercise and good nutrition.

Think specificity: If your most challenging past time is hiking mountains, even if only a couple of times per year, then the bulk of your weekly fitness training should be geared towards preparing for these hikes. That means getting outside and doing a lot of walking over tracks and trails. Training in a gym on a treadmill, elliptical and lifting weights are beneficial; but should not be the principal fitness training for hiking. Hiking each week is best.

athlete, runner ultra marathon burnout advice

"Gary,
I am 48 y/o and have been suffering from some form of chronic exhaustion the past 6 years. I've had every medical and mental test known to man but nothing shows up defective, and the only diagnosis I've received is ME/CFS.

Just prior to this all starting I was running ultras and my last race put me in the emerg ward, blood work showed me void of electrolytes, although I was eating and drinking lots. It felt like my body was not going through a recovery cycle but I plodded through the race and went straight to the food table afterwards, but felt like it was just sitting in my belly, then I started to cramp everywhere, then I threw everything up. I made it home and drank more Gatorade and lay in bed feeling like I was literally going to die, then finally dialed 911. What a trip!?!?!

This was after a tough year of training, did not feel like my normal self, so not sure this incident was the beginning of the problem or the result of a poor training year. I started tapering down my training but soon realized I was suffering from exhaustion before I even started, recovery was non-existent. "

................"

G

_______________________________

Gary Moller comments:

"G" goes on to detail the longterm health consequences that we might discuss in a later article; but let's start with a general discussion about training and nutrition for ultra distance running.

Recover!

Preparing for and running ultra marathons is all about recovery: recovery following training sessions and recovery after an event.

An ultra distance runner needs only to do three long runs per week and plenty of shorter ones in between including cross training like aqua-jogging. Of those three long runs only one should be of three hours or longer.

Training should go in peaks and troughs over about a 4-6 week training cycle. Each cycle finishing with the longest run of the cycle such as a 4-5 hour pod before having a lazy rest week before doing another build up.

Watch the video here about Lorraine's advice about recovery. For every mile raced, you should schedule a day of recovery. That means 50 days of relative rest if you ran a 50 miler. The video deals with this in more detail.


Mineralise!

Ignore the claims of commercial electrolyte replacement drink, carbo shots and so on - they are totally inadequate for replacing the minerals lost during exercise. Minerals are lost even when not sweating. They are lost as waste products of muscle and other tissue damage and the high metabolism. All that these drinks and gels do is rot your teeth and set you up for early onset diabetes.

The usual refined carbohydrate diet that is promoted to endurance athletes is quite devoid of minerals, let alone the fat soluble vitamins (D,A,E,K). These dietary practices are a recipe for disaster! And the consequences can continue for many years later including the development of seemingly unrelated medical conditions.

The solution is daily consumption of a cup or two of my bone broth recipe. This is the distance runner's best dietary source of minerals as well as providing a rich supply of collagen and protein for repair and recovery.

Protect your Joints
There are plenty of examples of ultra distance runners who have worn their joints to the bone. Some have required joint replacement decades before time.

When training running huge mileage there should be measures to aid the joints with repair. That means taking a joint food formulation daily along with the mineral rich bone broth. Go here for product details and watch this video if you are wondering which one is the best for you.

A brief chat with Lorraine Moller

By Peter Gambaccini

"Few runners enjoyed the range of success or career longevity that Lorraine Moller attained during her career. When she started running barefoot as a teenager in New Zealand in the early 1970s, women were only allowed to run races up to ... "

Please click on the linked title to go to the Runner's World article.

Photo: Please take note of Mum's vegetable garden in the background

Video demonstration about how to strengthen weak and pronating feet

This video demonstration shows how to strengthen the tibialis muscles to give you a strong and arches of the feet that are up to the punishement of running sports. This video should be viewed along with careful study of the e-publication: "Correcting Weak and Pronating Feet".

How one long distance runner found his way

Kevin writes:
Went for a 3hr easy run today, and I feel good.

I began running seven years ago, with a history of hunting, tramping, and working out doors, I thought I would be fit enough to adjust. I remember watching runners doing the Kepler Challenge, and I felt I was getting to old to start at the bottom, so I set my sites high, and decided to do the Kepler the following year. Six months out from race day, I put on my old sneakers, and at a steady pace went for my first run, I arrived back home with blisters on my feet, and for the next week I could hardly walk. After I recovered I bought myself a pair of running shoes, and set off again with my own training programme, throughout that six months, I had lots of injuries, groin, shin splints, twisted ankles, sore muscles, you name it. On race day I made it around, but only just, and I kept saying repeatedly, I would never do this again. But after I learned to walk again, and my body got back to normal, and being a slow learner, I thought I would have another go.

Looking on the net for some sort of training program, I decided on a seven-day on, and two days off, which I ended up with more injuries, frustration, and stress. I did four more Keplers, and then I took a year off, to let my body heal completely. While looking up the Rotorua marathon on the net, I came across Gary’s training programme, and this is where things started to change for me. I rang Gary, and he put me on to some supplements, and we talked about a training program, which involved three long runs and one short fast run per week, it has made a big difference, I used to think recovery was a good nights sleep, now I only run every other day, I feel so much fresher, and I haven't had any injuries. It is much more enjoyable.

I would say to anyone who is thinking of taking up any sport, or just wants to feel better, give Gary a call, don’t be like me, and do it the hard way, start off right. Thank you so much Lorraine, for taking the time to answer my questions, you have been a big help, I shall change my ways and heed your advise, It has been so neat to have two professionals to work with. Thank you.

Training Advice for running the Kepler Challenge

Hi Gary,
Did the Rotorua Marathon in 3hr 4min 20s just missing out on a sub 3hr, maybe next year. Have a couple of questions for you, if thats ok thanks.



1. My next race will be the Kepler Challenge in early december, which is 60km, how long should I rest before starting trainning?

2. If I do one long run a week, would that maintain my fitness level?

3. Is there anything else I should do for this longer distance, compeard to a marathon?

4.How much fitness would I lose if I took a month off, and how long would it take to regain, at my age 52.

Thanks for any information you can supply. Regards Kevin.

An interview with Olympian, Lorraine Moller, about her autobiography

An interview with multiple Olympian and marathon bronze medal winner, Lorraine Moller, about her autobiography which is being published in October 2007