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Lead Stories: Friday, November 21, 2008

A comparison of performances by American marathoners: 1980 vs. 2005

Posted April 21st, 2007 at 3:29 PM by Jim Fortner

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TheFinalSprint.com. Make sure to also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

In 1999 I posted two essays titled “The Decline of American Marathoners” & “Why Have They Declined?” on Runner’s World and Merv Competitive forums, which I subsequently updated in 2001.

They generated extensive discussions concerning the deterioration in performance of American marathoners throughout the 1990’s, as compared to the 1970-80’s.

The decline at the elite level was well documented by official records. Not only were U.S. elites no longer competitive on the international racing scene, but they could not even match the performances of their predecessors a decade or two earlier.
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Q&A: Abdominal exercises and related info for runners

Posted March 31st, 2007 at 11:34 AM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

Strengthening the abdominal muscles is important for runners. One function of the abs is to counter the force exerted on the pelvic structure by back muscles in order to stabilize the pelvis structure and maintain an erect posture.

Running strengthens back muscles, but not abs. If a runner doesn’t exercise his/her abs to strengthen them, an imbalance can develop. Stronger back muscles can overpower the abs and result in a tilted pelvis, or forward hunch, when running …
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