Clearspace Server Syndication Feed

Just Do it.

runbrandonrun@yahoo.com — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:12:20 GMT

Sometimes I feel I am the only addict (for running) out there. am i wrong??? hi.

Djokovic Beats Roddick, but Loses New York

active_tennis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:37:52 GMT

It was a tough loss for crowd-favorite Andy Roddick.

Coming back after two sets down to take the third 6-3, Roddick double faults twice at 5-4 in the fourth set, nets a drop shot volley in the tie break and sends a return long to lose his quarterfinal match 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 to Novak Djokovic.

But that's not the end of it. To add insult upon injury, in the post-match interview in front of 10,000 deflated New Yorkers Djokovic refers to beating Andy on his own turf and comments, "I know they're already against me because they think I'm faking everything. Andy was saying I have 16 injuries – obviously I don't."

The crowd responded with loud boos and obvious rejection of the self-proclaimed new king of tennis.

Djokovic was refering to comments in a press interview where Roddick jabs at Djokovic's injuries. "Yeah, something like 16 injuries. Neck, back, foot and mouth, SARS," Roddick said.

It's one thing to come into a match obviously pi$$ed at your opponent for off-court comments, but to take the matter public after just deflating the guy is down right childish.

If Djokovic is the new king of tennis, I demand a recount.

(Photo: AP/Charles Krupa)

Thursday

moormantv — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:31:55 GMT

4PM hot run. 3.4 miles 39.5 minutes. need to develop good post run stretch routine. Indulgent dinner at Siennas on Daniel Island tonight. Good thing we used a gift certificate. Very expensive Norhtern Italien. Appetizer, entree and dessert. Better be a long run on Saturday!

Wednesday RUN

moormantv — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:21:53 GMT

5:30 AM solo run in neighborhood. 3.2 miles. Cool outside. Great run.

Update - September 4th

ScottLo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:24:36 GMT

I'm a day late updating this. Yesterday I ran 4 miles for the first time. Total time was about 45 minutes. (Avg time/mile 11:15). I'm definitely in no danger of setting any kind of speed records but I did it. Hopefully this will help my times running 3.1 miles.

September 4

bvcc — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:50:24 GMT

Distance: 5.1 miles
Time: 57:05

Pace: 11:11 per mile
Stretch: Yes

Weekly mileage: 26.2 miles (Hey! I ran a marathon this week!)
Cumulative mileage: 454.9 miles

Tomorrow: Off

Comments: I was very tired, and there was steady rain. Not really a day I wanted to run. But I did.

Are You A Model Mom?

L. Druxman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:27:31 GMT

One thing all new moms have in common is the desire to lose weight. But when you're consumed with motherhood and restricted from dieting due to breastfeeding the challenge is often hard. My goal is to help moms eat a healthful diet while feeding their new baby. As your baby eats new foods, so will you. You are their model for healthy eating. The good news is that when you eat healthy, so do they. When they eat healthy, so do you! You need to model healthy eating behavior day in and day out. It's not enough to say that they should do so. They should see you eat your fruits, vegetables and wholesome foods. Most of all, they should see you eat. It is not uncommon that the moms with picky eaters are also the moms who are always on diets.

Most parents feed kids foods that they normally eat. You are exposing your children to a limited world of eating. Instead, bring new types of foods into the house for everyone to enjoy.

Time Goes By

L. Druxman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:24:34 GMT

Where does the time go? Summer is over and it's back to school, back to work for many of you. If you haven't figured it out yet, time is not a renewable source. Once it's used up, you don't get it back. That's why every minute you live is so precious. How often is your to-do list just running off the page? Let's face it, you will never get everything done. Our society has managed to fill every nook and cranny of time, especially with new technology that allows emailing and texting. Knowing that time is slipping away, don't you think you should use it wisely?

Make a list of the things that are most important to you. Chances are it includes motherhood, your spouse and hopefully YOU. Once you know what's really important, re-prioritize that to-do list. If you can't get everything done, at least spend time on the things that matter. Years from now, you won't remember which days you made your bed, but you will remember which days you sat on the floor and played peek a boo with your baby. Now that's what matters!

Energizer�s e2 Lithium headlamp

Stephen Regenold — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:19:29 GMT

That famous pink bunny powered by batteries has rolled into the outdoors arena. Energizer’s e2 Lithium headlamp, unveiled at a consumer-electronic trade show in early 2008, is an interesting new entry into the now-crowded product category. The solid little light has an aluminum lamp case and an LED that delivers up to 100 lumens of brightness (140 lumens in a boost mode, as per the company’s spec).

I tested the headlamp on several nighttime hikes this month, and it provided a bright, clear light that created a wide window of virtual daylight. I was impressed with its adequate brightness and peripheral range: The lens has a super-wide setting that illuminates a giant circle of nighttime air, providing a full field of vision (as opposed to a tunnel of light or a beam). This light doesn’t reach as far as the focused beam of a Princeton Tec Apex or a similar model, though for hiking and easy biking after dark the Energizer e2 Lithium gives more than enough light, stretching about 150 feet outward and 75 feet wide in a strong bubble of light.

Bonus: Energizer added a few features I’ve not seen on many other headlamps, including interchangeable battery packs (you can use AA or AAA batteries); a red-light mode for map reading at night (it won’t wreck your night vision); and a tiny blinking green LED on the battery case to provide easy location of the headlight in a dark backpack and to allow your fellow hikers to see you on the trail, even when your light is turned off.

Ergonomically, the e2 Lithium felt fine. That is to say its fit was average — not extremely comfortable but for the most part unnoticeable. Small cord-routing plastic clips on the webbing can rub a bit weird if the unit is worn too tight.

It weighs 6.3 ounces on my scale with its AAA battery pack, which is an average weight. Energizer (energizer.com) ships the lamp with two sets of its Ultimate Lithium batteries, purportedly “the world’s longest lasting AA & AAA batteries,” according to the company. These batteries do have some advantages in the outdoors, too, as they are good in temps ranging from -40° F to 140° F.

Energizer touts the e2 Lithium headlamp as “hands-free light for the most extreme outdoorsmen.” I’m not sure I’d go that far. But this light is an admirable new entry into the headlamp game. It is high quality and solid, and its wide, clear and white LED window of light illuminated with aplomb as I hiked down the nighttime trail.

Price: $54.99

Available at www.brightguy.com or www.opticsplanet.net

(Stephen Regenold writes The Gear Junkie column for eleven U.S. newspapers; see www.THEGEARJUNKIE.com for video gear reviews, a daily blog, and an archive of Regenold’s work.)

Starbucks' Secret Sports Supplement

Dan Peterson — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:23:53 GMT

From:
Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
For an athlete, it seems to good to be
true. A "sports supplement" that increases alertness, concentration,
reaction time and focus while decreasing muscle fatigue or at least the
perception of fatigue. It can even shorten recovery time after a game.
HGH? EPO? Steroids? Nope, just a grande cup of Best, Liquid Lightning, Morning Mud, Wakey Juice, Mojo, Java, aka coffee. Actually, the key ingredient is caffeine
which has been studied repeatedly for its ergogenic
(performance-enhancing) benefits in sports, both mentally and
physically. Time after time, caffeine proves itself as a relatively
safe, legal and inexpensive boost to an athlete.

Or does it? If caffeine is such a clear cut performance enhancing supplement, why did the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who also monitors this month's Beijing Olympics for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), first add caffeine to its banned substance list,
only to remove it in 2004? At the time that it was placed on the banned
list, the threshold for a positive caffeine test was set to a
post-exercise urinary caffeine concentration of 12 µg/ml (about 3-4
cups of strong coffee). However, more recent research has shown that
caffeine has ergogenic effects at levels as low as the equivalent of
1-2 cups of coffee. So, it was hard for WADA to know where to draw the
line between athletes just having a few morning cups of coffee/tea or
maybe some chocolate bars and athletes that were intentionally
consuming caffeine to increase their performance level. However,
caffeine is still on the WADA monitoring list as a substance to screen for and watch for patterns of use.

Meanwhile, athletes are still convinced that caffeine helps them. In a recent survey from Liverpool John Moores University,
480 athletes were interviewed about their caffeine use. One third of
track and field athletes and 60% of cyclists reported using caffeine
specifically to give them a boost in competition. In addition,
elite-level athletes interviewed were more likely to rely on caffeine
than amateurs. Dr. Neil Chester,
co-leader of the study, commented about the confusion created by the
WADA status change for caffeine, "There's been a lack of communication
from WADA and there is a question about whether or not sporting
authorities are condoning its use. Ultimately there is a need to
clarify the use of caffeine within the present anti-doping legislation."

So, have athletes found a loophole to exploit that gives them an edge? Dr. Carrie Ruxton recently completed a literature survey
to summarize 41 double-blind, placebo-controlled trials published over
the past 15 years to establish what range of caffeine consumption would
maximize benefits and minimize risk for cognitive function, mood,
physical performance and hydration. The studies were divided into two
categories, those that looked at the cognitive effects and those that
looked at physical performance effects. The results concluded that
there was a significant improvement in cognitive functions like
attention, reaction time and mental processing as well as physical
benefits described as increased "time to exhaustion" and decreased
"perception of fatigue" in cycling and running tests. Longer, endurance
type exercise showed greater results than short-term needs for energy.

Given
these results, how exactly does caffeine perform these wonderful
tricks? Dr. Ruxton explains from the study, "Caffeine is believed to
impact on mood and performance by inhibiting the binding of both adenosine and benzodiazepine
receptor ligands to brain membranes. As these neurotransmitters are
known to slow down brain activity, a blockade of their receptors
lessens this effect. " Bottom line, the chemicals in your brain that
would cause you to feel tired are blocked, giving you a feeling of
ongoing alertness. Your body still needs the sleep, caffeine just
delays the feeling of being tired.

As to the physiological
benefits, caffeine has also been shown to stimulate the release of fat
into the bloodstream. The early conclusion was that the increased free
fatty acids in the blood would allow our muscles to use fat as fuel and
spare glycogen (carbohydrates) allowing us to exercise longer. Another
theory is that caffeine stimulates the central nervous system reducing
our perception of effort so that we feel that we can continue at an
increased pace for longer periods.

The
discussion on glycogen has recently taken another interesting twist;
caffeine's apparent ability to replenish glycogen (the body's primary
fuel source) more rapidly after an intense workout. A team at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research
has found that athletes who consumed a combination of carbohydrates and
caffeine following an exhaustive exercise had 66% more glycogen in
their muscles four hours later, compared to when they consumed
carbohydrates alone. They asked cyclists to pedal to exhaustion in the
lab, then gave them a drink that contained either carbohydrates with
caffeine or just carbohydrates (the cyclists did not know which drink
they were getting). They repeated the process 7-10 days later and
reversed the groups. Muscle biopsies and blood samples were tested for
levels of glycogen after each trial period. The researchers did not
have an explanation for the increased levels of glycogen resulting from
the caffeine-spiked juice. One theory is the higher circulating blood
glucose and plasma insulin levels caused by the caffeine were key
factors. In addition, caffeine may increase the activity of several
signaling enzymes, including the calcium-dependent protein kinase and
protein kinase B (also called Akt), which have roles in muscle glucose
uptake during and after exercise.

So, before you start drinking the Starbucks by the gallon, here are some guidelines. You
can consume 2-2.5 mg of caffeine per pound of body weight daily to
achieve its ergogenic effects. This equates to 250-312 mg for a
125-pound woman and 360-450 mg for a 180-pound man. More is not better,
as other research has shown a decline in benefit and an increase in
caffeine's side effects beyond this level. One "grande" cup (16 oz.) of
Starbucks coffee contains about 320-500 mg of caffeine, while a 12 oz.
can of soda will provide 35-70 mg of caffeine. Maybe we'll see the
ultimate sports drink soon, kind of like Monster meets Gatorade...
wait, its already here: Lucozade Sport with Caffeine Boos t!

t

C.
H. S. Ruxton (2008). The impact of caffeine on mood, cognitive
function, performance and hydration: a review of benefits and risks Nutrition Bulletin, 33 (1), 15-25 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00665.x

N. Chester, N. Wojek (2008). Caffeine Consumption Amongst British Athletes Following Changes to the 2004 WADA Prohibited List International Journal of Sports Medicine, 29 (6), 524-528 DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-989231

D.
J. Pedersen, S. J. Lessard, V. G. Coffey, E. G. Churchley, A. M.
Wootton, T. Ng, M. J. Watt, J. A. Hawley (2008). High rates of muscle
glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is
coingested with caffeine Journal of Applied Physiology, 105 (1), 7-13 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01121.2007