Eating disorders can be devastating to not only teams but also to families. Coaches and parents alike want their athletes to eat well and be healthy. The struggling athletes just want people to stop policing their eating and exercise. The athletes have difficulty talking about why they struggle with food; they instead communicate unhappiness by starving or stuffing their bodies. This distracts them from the pain of feeling “not good enough” and other hard feelings.
Unfortunately, too many athletes struggle with food issues. A survey of more than 400 female collegiate athletes indicated they typically believed their bodies were not good enough and wanted to lose five pounds.
Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
You’re all geared up for your workout. Water bottle - check. Running shoes - check. Ipod - check. Sports or jogging bra - check. Everything seems set, but have you ever thought to question whether your sports bra is really giving you the support you need?
Far too many are going for looks rather than function when it comes to their workout clothes. Make no mistake about it, when you go the gym you want to look good; everyone does, so there is no need to feel like you are the only one. But when you start sacrificing proper function for aesthetics, that’s when you may start to run into problems.
Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
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Active.com has put together a wonderful page devoted to celebrating 35 years of Title IX. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is the landmark legislation that bans sex discrimination in schools, whether it be in academics or athletics. Although athletics has created the most controversy regarding Title IX, its gains in education and academics are notable. Before Title IX, many schools refused to admit women or enforced strict limits.
The following articles take a closer look at Title IX and the breaking down of gender barriers in athletics.
A Look Back at Title IX with Joan Benoit Samuelson By Skip Cleaver
Joan Benoit Samuelson is one of the all-time greatest distance runners in the world. Best known for her Olympic gold medal in the Women’s Marathon in 1984–the first women’s Olympic Marathon–she also set world and American records. She won the Boston Marathon twice, setting course records both times along with a world best in 1983. Tremendously personable, she remains one of the most popular and highly recognized distance athletes in the world.
Read the rest at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
We see her running at cross-country and track meets every season; we watch her as she propels her thin arms and legs, conspicuous ribs, hollow cheeks and eyes, bulging veins and concave stomach forward. The visible markers on her body shout that something is not right, as her drive for perfection pushes her towards a dangerous dance with death.
The prominence of professional sports in America places athletes on the highest pedestal of celebrity, praise and respect. This cultural phenomenon gets replicated in college athletics in the form of big time Division I athletic programs. Often times, these programs incite the same excitement and feverish fandom as professional sports do - sometimes even more so because of the appeal of an athlete’s amateur status to the American imagination, and the almost cultish following of the universities that these athletes represent. Without question, the enormous pressure to excel and win in NCAA Division I programs creates serious issues concerning the physical well being of its athletes.
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TheFinalSprint.com’s monthly Success Story selection aims to highlight remarkable and factual accounts of runners who have overcome major obstacles and/or changed their lives, or the lives of others, through running and fitness.
I am proud to announce that TFS’s April 2007 Success Story and my guest in Episode 37 of The Final Sprint Podcast is the legendary KATHRINE SWITZER!
Kathrine, who was called the “Susan B. Anthony of running” by fellow running great Joan Benoit Samuelson, broke the gender barrier in 1967 when she became the first woman to officially enter and complete, what was at that time, the all-male Boston Marathon.
She also won the 1974 NYC Marathon, was a driving force behind the inclusion a women’s marathon in the Olympics, received an Emmy for her work as a sports broadcaster and remains one of the most courageous and inspiring runners in history.
Download the podcast to hear Katherine discuss what led to her iconic run, little known facts about her “race gear”, attempts to forcefully remove her from the course, finding the inner strength to push forward, how the race forever altered the course of her life and the lives of all future generations of female athletes, her new autobiography “Marathon Woman” and much more!
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Kathrine Switzer
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 21.5 MB
Length: 00:31:25
Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!
Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!
Today’s podcast features a very special interview with Grete Waitz; the legendary Norwegian runner who, among her plethora of accomplishments, won a record nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, a silver medal in the first Olympic women’s marathon, five World XC titles and broke the world marathon record nine times.
Grete, a woman of incredible talent, passion, modesty and grace, has also been instrumental, through both her athletic achievements and tireless advocacy, in promoting equality for female athletes. In the interview Grete speaks about how things have changed since she first began running; describing the lack of opportunities in the 1970’s, the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, and the vast array of athletic opportunities available to women in today’s society.
Grete talks about her transformation into a marathon runner; the story behind her historic, debut victory at the 1978 NY Marathon and her special bond with Fred Lebow, the NYRR and people of NYC.
She also explains that running alongside Fred - her dear friend and the race’s legendary co-founder – as he completed the 1992 NY Marathon while undergoing treatment for the cancer that would ultimately take his life – was a very special experience; one that makes up for the 10th victory that Fred always wanted her to win.
Download the podcast to hear Grete discuss these topics, her own battle with cancer, being inspired by Lance Armstrong, and how Fred’s legacy continues to thrive through the NYRR’s efforts in America, around the world and via the NYRR Foundation.
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Grete Waitz
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 12.6 MB
Length: 00:18:26
Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!
Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!
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