Completing a marathon puts ordinary runners in the company of elite athletes—finishing a 26.2-mile run is an impressive accomplishment.
But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to join the ranks of marathoners around the world. With dedication and training, most runners can complete a marathon—and then have the satisfaction of being able to say, “A marathon” Yeah, I’ve done that.”
So don’t shy away from a marathon because it seems too hard, too long, too painful. With the right attitude and a good training regimen, it’s just 26.2 miles away.
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World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), a cable TV network and website that covers over 60 Olympic and lifestyle sports, announced on Monday that it has received a significant investment from private equity firm InterMedia Partners.
Los Angeles-based WCSN covers over 200 live events annually, and has exclusive programming agreements to cover major championship events in sports like track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, volleyball and karate.
The company has also recently signed deals to distribute its content with ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, AOL Video and Yahoo Sports.
“WCSN controls a powerful set of rights and some of the best-produced sports content featuring the greatest athletes from around the world,” said Peter Kern, managing partner at InterMedia Partners.
“Millions of sports enthusiasts have waited long enough for these events to be consistently available on all platforms.”
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The ends of bones are soft, so they must be covered with a thick white gristle called cartilage. Many people suffer from knee pain because the cartilage is damaged. They may have osteoarthritis in which the cartilage wears away, or they may have damaged cartilage in an accident or by playing sports. Once damaged, cartilage can never heal; the person spends the rest of his life losing cartilage until the cartilage is completely gone and the knee hurts 24 hours a day.
Until recently, the only effective treatment has been to cut out the ends of the bones of the knee and replace the entire knee joint. Now for some people, a simpler procedure may be effective: partial knee replacement, called unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. The surgeon removes just part of the cartilages and bones on the upper and lower legs on one side of the knee.
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Need advice? Injured? Confused? Overwhelmed? Bored? ASK LARA!
ASK LARA is a free advice column to help you with all of your running, fitness and nutrition inquiries. To ASK LARA — simply fill out the form at the conclusion of the column.
Q. I think I have plantar fasciitis and have a marathon coming up in 2 weeks. I’m not sure how much running I can do between now and then. Any advice on how I can keep my fitness level up? I already bike indoors once a week but I’m not sure if biking can take the place of running. Anything you can suggest is much appreciated.
~Darlene from Boise, Idaho
A. Plantar fasciitis is a pesky problem that affects numerous runners. With a marathon so close, you certainly don’t want to make matters worse, but you do want to maintain your fitness level. The good news is that you are only 2 weeks out from the marathon, and thus the work is done. As you have already accomplished your training over the past weeks, now is the time to begin a taper and thus decrease your training anyway. The severity of the problem should dictate how much you are able to run. If it’s painful to run, it’s not a good sign and you should focus mostly on other activities. Adding some good cross training to the mix can help you heal the problem while maintaining your fitness. First, let’s take a look at the injury.
Plantar fasci-what?
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the band of tissue, the plantar fascia, that connects the heel bone (calcaneus) to the forefoot, supporting your arch. When this area is strained through overuse or weaknesses, it causes irritation and inflammation, often causing pain in the heel first thing in the morning and …
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For those of us who travel for work, it can be a challenge to fit in our workouts. Over the last few months, this has become an issue for me as I travel at least once a month for 2/3 days, and I am training for a Half-Ironman in August.
However, after some trial and error, travel no longer gets in the way of my training. Here are some of my tips:
1) Make sure your hotel has a gym: Nowadays, most hotels do have gyms and you can generally check out what they have online before you go. While you don’t always have a choice, if you do, then find one that is open late and has a sufficient amount of equipment for the number of occupants in the hotel…
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Triathletes are injured only about one third as often as marathon runners even though they do far more work in their program of swimming, cycling and running. Training intelligently for three sports is less likely to injure you than training very hard for one. Training is limited by damage to skeletal muscles.
Every time you exercise, your muscles develop small tears with bleeding. It takes at least 48 hours for muscles to heal from exercise. Each sport stresses a particular group of muscles most. Marathon runners who train every day stress the same muscles and often do not allow adequate time to recover from the previous day’s workout, so they are at increased risk for injury.
Top triathletes train in different sports on consecutive days. Running stresses the lower leg muscles most, cycling stresses the upper leg muscles most and swimming stresses the arms and shoulders most. Triathletes usually set up a workout schedule that includes two sports on one day and one on the next.
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Today’s podcast features my interview with U.S. Olympic and TEAm LIPTON cyclist Kristin Armstrong.
Although osteoarthritis ended her competitive triathlon career, Kristin made the transition to professional cycling and never looked back. In just five short years she has become one of the world’s elite; winning the 2004 American Olympic Trials, 2004 U.S. Elite National Road Race and the 2005 National Time Trials Championship.
Download the podcast to hear Kristin talk about how she overcame osteoarthritis and her own self-doubt to achieve tremendous success. She also discusses the journey from multi-sport training to a singular focus on cycling, injury prevention, TEAm LIPTON, how fans often confuse her with Lance’s ex-wife, her advice for runners looking to attempt a triathlon and much more!
Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, 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: Kristin Armstrong
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 16.2MB
Length: 00:23:44
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Since moving to northern Utah I’ve developed a bit of a trail running habit. During the summer months the local mountains frequently invite me onto their paths of dirt and rock, and I gladly accept. I love the adventure of trail running, and the vistas discovered through the thin air on peaks and ridges make my spirit soar. In comparison to road, track, or treadmill, my trail runs are not measured by speed or distance, but rather by vertical feet climbed, peaks bagged, and post-run calories consumed. Most trail runners would agree that leaving the roads and civilization behind opens a whole new aspect to our daily running and overall training.
But for those who dwell in the northern latitudes, precious trails become blanketed by several feet of snow and disappear from late fall to mid spring. We still need our backcountry fix, but the avenue to do so has disappeared…or has it?
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We’ve made it midway through January, luckily without the icy conditions that can limit our runs, walks and outdoor activities. The stars have smiled down upon us – so far – in granting such twinkleyingly favorable weather jogs. Maybe we should gaze up in gratitude, give a nod and wink – but be prepared for the snow and ice that will inevitably arrive.
Speaking of the stars – Aquarius is an astrological sign, associated with the constellation Aquarius. This zodiac sign is symbolized by the Water Carrier/Bearer; birth-dates: January 20 - February 18; and it’s element is air.
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Fitness refers to your heart, and the harder you exercise, the more fit you become. But every time you exercise vigorously your muscles are injured, and the harder you exercise, the longer it takes for your muscles to heal. Muscle biopsies done the day after a person exercises vigorously show bleeding into the muscles and disruption of the Z-bands that hold muscle filaments together. You are not supposed to exercise vigorously again until the muscle soreness disappears.
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