Conference pasta::flex

i'm not a marathon runner, but i run all year and lift all year: both are 
extremely complimentary to the body and fitness and unless you're really pushing
yourself to the limits with weights for strength and SIZE, i wouldn't stop 
lifting at all.  the running will keep the body at bay and help to breakdown the
muscle size created with weights, however, running also works on the protein 
stores a little more that say walking and keeping a good muscle base is 
essential for all runners.

keep lifting, but maybe you could cut back to a couple times a week if you 
really run a lot [and distance], but i wouldn't stop.

reg.

  I find it difficult when I cut my training way back in an effort to be
  well rested before race day. It really drives me nuts if I don't do anything
  for 3 or 4 days before the event. Never the less, it's important to be 
  well rested in order to compete in top form. 

  Early in the year, I was lifting 3 days a week. Then after some nagging elbow
  and shoulder pain, I dropped back to 2 days a week. This happened at about
  the same time as the weather started to improve so I was able to run more.
  Thus, I didn't train less, I just shifted more to running which is what I was
  planning to do anyways.
 
  All in all, I'm happy with the gains I made in the weight room and I think it
  should help me during the race and hopefully prevent some old injuries from
  popping back up.

  I did my last 20+ mile run 9 days ago. Since then, I've slowly cut back on
  running. This morning I ran an easy 6 miles and probably won't run again
  until after the race. I lifted hard on Saturday. I plan to lift again 
  tomorrow but only one set with lighter weights than normal. I won't do any 
  leg work with weights but I will stretch a lot and maybe do some kicking 
  in the pool. Thursday morning, I'll take a walk early in the morning.
  Friday, I won't do anything except drive to Buena Vista, the event location.
  Saturday morning at 6:30 I'll have 50 miles to run on mountain trails and 
  jeep roads at elevations ranging from 7,500-10,000 feet. There's a 12 hour
  time limit. I hope there isn't much snow to run/walk through and I hope
  it doesn't rain and/or snow during the event. 

	Keith

50 [?] MILES?!?! [forget about the elevations and terrain: 50, f i f t y, 50 
_MILES_?!?!?!]  good luck, Keith! and, if you're running those kind of 
distances, i think you're smart to taper off on the lifting to lighter wts 
and/or less sets.

reg.

btw: Boston just had it Patriot's Day Marathon yesterday- that would've been a 
good practice run! 8^)

  The course is a 25 mile loop. You can do it once or twice. A lot of the 
  people who sign up for the 50, drop out at 25.

  I'll be very happy if I just finish the whole 50 under the cutoff time
  without any injuries. The big race is in August. This race should give me a 
  good reading on how my training is going.

	Keith

so, how far is the "big race" ? like 50 miles is a small one; way mo' power to
you, Keith!

reg.

  The Leadville Trail 100, held on Aug 16, is the "big race" for me this year. 
  It's a 100 mile footrace on trails and jeep roads, with a 30 hour time limit,
  in the heart of the Rockies. The out and back course starts and finishes
  in Leadville Colorado, the highest city in the United States. Along with 
  the Western States 100, it's one of the 2 most prestigious ultra runs in the 
  USA. In the 15 year history of the event, they have never had a completion 
  rate greater than 47%. 

  It starts at 4:00 AM, then ya run/hike all day. If you're lucky and good,
  then you run/hike all night. If you're still moving  and you're not one of 
  the elite, you'll still have to run most of the morning the next day until
  the cutoff at 10:00. It's a tough race.

	Keith

you training for and Eco Challenge event? given the opportunity, i'd love to 
paticipate in the EC, but it has a time limit and i know i'd never be able to 
complete it in time and would thus have to be removed from the course and never
complete it.... if anyone ever catches the chance to watch one of these events,
Discovery channel usually runs it [not regularly], but ya gotta see what these 
people put themselves through in a relatively short period of time! they're 
given 1 week to traverse 300+ miles on foot, horse back, raft, canoe, swim, mt 
climb, ice climb, glacier crossing, trail blazing, etc. some teams [the elite of
the elite] complete it in about 72-84 hrs!!!

reg.

  No, it's not the Eco Challenge but in some ways it's similar. It's more of 
  a high altitude running/hiking adventure. But there may be snow on Hope Pass 
  to deal with and there is a stream crossing that can be very adventurous. 
  Most years the water comes up to your knees but on high snow years it can 
  be up to your waist. They do run a rope across which you hang on to for 
  dear life. But most of the event is just running, hiking, climbing and
  descending. The Leadville Trail 100 has been on TV most years. 
  I know CBS aired it a couple of times and ESPN has also. 

  I know most people think that running/hiking 100 miles in
  difficult terrain within 1 day + 6 hours is nuts. But it really is amazing
  what the human body can do with the proper training, dedication and diet.
  It's an adventure that's more than just a race. it's all those early
  mornings in the weight room, those long training runs on weekends, the scenery
  of the mountains, the feeling and pride that you have when you know that
  you're in great shape and have given it everything you could. The journey
  is just as important as the race.

  BTW, we just woke up to about 8 inches of wet heavy snow and it's still
  snowing hard. That A-10 attack plane that crashed on the mountain will
  be buried under a lot and I do mean a lot of snow. It may be mid summer
  before most of the plane is visible.

	Keith

    

    Keith,
    Isn't there a similar endurance run across Alaska? And Australia? 
    Sarah

  I know there's a Equinox marathon run on and off trails near Fairbanks.
  A friend of mine did it a couple of years ago. I pulled out my Ultra Runner
  magazine and found a Coldfoot 100, held on Oct 31 in the Brooks Range, Alaska.
  It's north of the Arctic circle and held on a snowpacked gravel highway
  paralleling the Trans-Alaska pipeline. Sounds like a cold one. There may also
  be some Eco-Challenge type events in Alaska and Australia but I'm not
  familiar with them.

  The most popular 100 mile trail races in the United States from Ultra 
  Runner magazine:
	Western States 100 (Squaw Valley, California)
	Leadville Trail 100 (Leadvile, Colorado, Sawatch Mountains)
	Vermont 100 (South Woodstock, Vermont, Green mountains)
	Mohican Trail 100 (Mohican River Valley, Ohio)
	Old Dominion (Massanutten Mountains, Shenandoah valley, Virginia)
	Wasatch Front 100 (Wasatch Mtns in Utah)
	Angeles Crest 100 (Near Pasedena)
	Hardrock 100 (Silverton, Colorado, San Juan Mtns)(This one is incredibly
		hard)
        Rocky Racoon 100, Huntsville, Texas

  The biggest Ultrarun race is in South Africa, called Comrades Marathon(54 mi)
  I believe somewhere around 20 or 30 thousand people participate. There's 
  also an Ultra from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean in Panama.

  Sarah, you would be glad to hear that the people who are the very best at 
  this sport are the Taramuhara Indians from the Copper Canyon in Mexico. 
  They follow a traditional diet which you would be proud of. They also run 
  in sandals made from discarded tires.

	Keith

  The race was held on Saturday. It snowed during the event and there was a 
  lot of big hills and some mud to contend with. I was very happy to finish the 
  50 miles in 11:24 without any injuries. I felt really awful the night after 
  the race. The next day, I was a little better but didn't regain my appetite 
  until dinner. Now, I'm eating everything in sight. Tomorrow, I'll stretch 
  and swim a little. On Wednesday, I'll resume the weight workouts and on 
  Thursday, I'll start running again.

  I think the taper worked well and I'm glad I did some light lifting 3 days
  before the event. 

  In the last few years, I've had a lot of problems with my Ilio Tibial Band 
  in both legs. My physical therapist suggested lifting weights to prevent
  the ITB problems. I'd say they got a good test on Saturday and came through
  as good as I could hope for. 

  Also, in years past, I remember getting pain and soreness in my 
  shoulders and arms after runs as short as 12 miles. On Saturday, I had no 
  soreness until maybe mile 48. It was really minor and after the finish, it 
  disappeared completely.

  All in all, I am very happy with how things turned out and I'm sure the
  last 6 months of weight workouts helped a lot.

	Keith

congrats, Keith! now for the really really big one, huh?

reg.

    Ditto! Congrads Keith!:)

    Keith,
    I have a bad case of ITB tendonitis in my left leg, moderate in my
    right. I find weight lifting exacerbates it if I don't stretch
    repeatedly during leg workouts, and any other time when I'm standing
    around doing nothing.  Did you get specific weight work to do? I went
    to a sports PT, who helped me out tremendously. I was literally
    crippled from the pain, but she worked out the scar tissue and gave me
    some good stretches. It's still a killer for me to run (but I do it
    anyway).  If you have any words of wisdom or advice, I'm all ears.
    And congrats on the accomplishment!  Amazing!
    Sarah

  Sarah,

	Sometimes, I think I could write a book about ITBS. I've had it in my
  right leg 2 years ago and in my left leg last year. Usually, I feel OK
  for about 3 miles. Then it comes on slowly and after a while, I can't run
  because of the severe pain.

	A lot of things can contribute to it and it's not always obvious what
  is the cause or causes. For instance, everybody's feet are different.
  If you don't have the right type of shoe for your foot type it can help bring
  on the problem. I have a high arched foot which supinates. Most people have
  flatter feet and pronate. High arched feet are not good shock absorbers.
  Because of this, I require a flexible shoe(slip last or mochasin construction)
  with lot's of cushioning and little or no medial support. A person with
  flatter feet require a shoe with motion control and stability. You can tell
  what type of foot you have by getting your bare feet wet and stepping on a 
  paper towel. If the water makes a "C" shape, you have a high arch. It it 
  makes a straighter shape, you have the more common, pronating foot. I 
  believe the high arch foot is more likely related to ITBS.

	With my right leg, the PT did ultra-sound, massage and then stretching.
  I would lie on the table. He would take my upper leg, the one with ITBS,
  which I kept straight and pull it slightly backwards and then push downwards 
  down below the table surface. One hand would be on the knee and one by the 
  ankle when he pushed. I would really feel the ITB in the hip when he did 
  the stretch.
  
	With my left leg, the PT did the same stuff but it didn't work as well.
  She was not as strong as the PT I had the year before. Maybe that had 
  something to do with it and maybe it didn't. (it seems that someone else
  in this notes file had a discussion about weak PT's a while ago). Anyways,
  the treatment was not as effective. They also had my feet analized and I 
  found out I was wearing the wrong type of shoe. They suggested weight lifting
  to balance things. She was high on squats and presses with both having a
  maximum bend of 90 degrees. But other people who treat this condition 
  recommend leg extensions. I do all of them plus leg curls. I was still 
  having problems shaking the ITBS so I just quit running for 1 month but 
  continued with the stretching and lifting. Then, everything
  was fine for the rest of the summer until I did the Leadville Trail 100.
  The ITBS came back at 30 miles and gradually got worse until I had to drop
  at 72 miles.

	Then my massage therapist, who is an exceptional athlete in her own
  sport, suggested I see this chiropractor who works with the athletes at the 
  Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. He did a bunch of
  manipulations which are hard to describe but did give me immediate relief
  from the pain. He also suggested I do calf raises, one leg at a time, in 
  order to exercise the calf muscle in it's fullest range of motion. I've
  incorporated this into my weight workouts. I saw him again before last
  weekends race and he did some different manipulations, basically trying to
  stretch the ITBs. He told me I'm more likely to have problems with my right
  leg this year. When I got a massage the day after the race, she told
  me that my right ITB was tighter than my left. 

	It helps to warm the outside of the knee, where the ITB attaches,
  before exercising and then use ice after exercise. I've also used Non
  Steroidal Anti-Inflamatory Drugs(Aspirin, Ibuprophen, Orudis, Day-Pro)
  but I can't take then for more than a few days because they upset my 
  stomach.

	I wish I could show you the stretches I do but they are really hard to
  describe. 

	It's hard to tell exactly what has been most effective in my ITBS 
  treatment. It's probably a combination of everything. I'll keep doing
  doing the exercises and stretches and wear the right shoes. It seems to be
  working.

	Keith

  Whoops, after I entered the last reply and read it, I realized I my 
  description of the stretch done by the PT was not accurate.

  He would have one hand on the hip and push in the direction of my head
  with the other hand on the knee where he pushed down. Thus, a hand would be
  on each end of the ITB, trying to maximize the stretch.

	Keith	

    Keith,
    I understand that manipulation. I have had it done, seems to really
    help. Apparently I had been irritating my ITB for so long that scar
    tissue had built up along it, and they did deep-tissue massage for
    several sessions until the ITB was more pliable.  Nice torture session!
    My favorite stretch is the 'wall bump' - stand next to a wall, raise
    the outside foot up onto the toe so you are just using that foot for a
    balance point, and ease the inside hip over to the wall. It really
    elongates that ITB, loosens up the hip tremendously. I can actually
    feel it pulling up under the knee cap, so it really hits the whole
    length.  I'm sure mine wouldn't last 30 miles!  I used to be able to
    push it to 8 miles, then it would start to get cranky. Luckily I'm not
    a runner (I prefer aerobics for my cardio workout), so it didn't put
    too much of a dent in my training program.
    Sarah