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Where do I buy my shoes?  At the Runner's Corner in Harrisonburg VA.  If you are ordering from them tell them you found them here. Their site also include a race calendar.

 

	Running is Fun!!

1. Reading list
2. Running tips
3. Injuries and Injury prevention
4. Links
5. Nutrition
6. Lifting
7. Other Fitness related activities
1. Biking
2. Yoga

Why an exercise and health page on a finance site? 

Well, because it is my site and therefore you need to know a bit about me.  Anyone who knows me, knows that running is one of my favorite things to do and also that I workout a great deal.  I simply love running, but I like many types of exercise:  you would never know it by looking at me, but I lift 3-5 times a week, bike whenever I have time, like hiking, and even yoga.  I am 100% convinced that exercise is needed for the maintenance of both physical and mental health.  So to tie it back to finance, exercise is a form of investment. An investment that pays you now and pays you later.  So go out there and do something.  It need not be running but some exercise is definitely called for!  ;-)
 

Running Trivia
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson ran?  Or that he hiked and rode a horse most every day for exercise?  Take his advice (and mine!) and get out the door and do something!  Run, Bike, Hike, walk, swim, the list is endless.  Getting started is always the hardest part!  You will be glad you did! (source Monticello)
 

Top Ten Running Tips

1. Be consistent.  Habits are tough to break.  Use them to your favor!
2. Stay uninjured. Get good shoes! 
3. Running on paved roads and paved "trails" (an oxymoron?) is not recommended if at all possible.  I realize this may not be popular at St. Bonaventure, but I personally will not run on the "Allegany-River Trail."  Running on grass is MUCH easier on your legs. 
4. Run alone sometimes.  Reliance on running partners leads to no running when your partner can not make it.
5. Hard and Easy!  Make your hard days hard, but your easy days should be fun.  Do not try to push it every day.  Your body (and your mind) need recovery days.  Let your mind wander.  Just run.  Go on a mental vacation to your favorite place, hum songs to yourself, HAVE FUN!
6. Run for time not distance.  To this day I do not know how far most of my runs are, nor do I want to.  Get a watch and run for approximately times. 
7. Do not eat before running.  I always feel run down and often have stomach aches if I eat up to 4 hours before the run.
8. Adjust to the weather.  Wear layers when it is cold. Drink Water on hot days.  Water is a great cooling agent.  Pour it on yourself, drink it, run in it, use it in any way you can!
9. Remember the hardest part of a run is getting started. 
10. Make exercise a part of your life--not something you have to do.  Look forward to the workout.  You will enjoy it that much more!

 

Running links:

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some on my favorite links:

Looking for races in the Western New York area?  Here are some links:
Buffalo Runners--this is the Greater Buffalo Area Track club.  Has many good links!
Rochester Area-Rochester has many good races.  Actually it is a good place to run except for the amazing sprawl and frustrating traffic
Runner's High (actually Run High is the link?) has races and results from Western PA.

Looking for track or XC meets?  TrackInfo has quite a few listed.  Their site has some problems (but then again so does this one, so...)
Lets Run! --Probably the best, if there is such an animal, running site: 

For daily news on running you can not beat the Runners' World Daily page. It is published new five days a week and they do keep older articles archived as well.  Runners World also has a good "normal" page and you might want to sign up for their free email newsletter that is pretty good.  RunningTimes has some good calculators and some free articles.

Speaking of cool, try CoolRunning.com   it is a New England centered site, but has news, articles, and an event calendar.   I like it a lot. 

The Runner's Web is a newer site (at least new to me).  It is pretty good!

For a list of running calculators and race-time prediction tools try the www.sportscoach.com  The site also helps know how hard to train and can make race comparisons.  Ok, several very good sites for training advice, especially more serious/technical advice:

 Sportscoach.com provides a long list or running tips and advice from Australia.
Good site for time and training advice especially on VO2 max vs threshold workouts

some Q&As from RunningTimes

Something that comes in handy during Western New York winters (September to June ;-) ) a windchill chart

I used to be a member of the Dead Runners Society.  It was fun but took too much time, but they do have many some good links and they are very nice people!
 
 

Nutrition

I have long been a big backer of nutrition and running going hand in hand.  I love staying abreast with the newest innovations in nutrition.  So hear are a few sites I have found useful.


So much of nutrition is common sense that you probably know what you should be doing (eat your vegetables--they are cheaper than almost all other snacks!), but sometimes reading about it helps to keep you motivated, so here goes.  some of my favorite links.

Links on the Glycemic index

• Dave Holt's advice on sports and nutrition
• The University of Sydney has a good site on the Glycemic Index including a searchable index. 
• Rick Mendosa's glycemic index site has more information and is really good.  If you can not tell, I am a big believer in the index.

While I like much of the Zone Diet, personally it is too low on carbs for me, but I do think there is some sound science behind it and I do think when combined with low glycemic fruits and vegetables, we are on to something really good--it is effectively how I try to eat..  But anyways, here are some links on it:

Pro:Dr. Sears.com Not bad for a commercial site, a good Q&A and a pretty good "news" section
       FormulaZone-- cool site that not only examines the Zone Diet, it also has discussions on the diet, and 1000s of Zone based recipes.  It is a pay site, but there is some free stuff 

Con:  What's wrong with the Zone Diet

If you have not seen the work by Harvard nutrition professor Walter Willet, you owe yourself a look at his pyramid.  His basic idea is that vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts are good for you and that there are good fats and bad fats.  Good stuff!

Some of the more athletically related nutritional sites:
From Run Quick, Lance Armstrong, Kenyans, and an other good article on the diets of Kenyan runners. 
 
What do I do?
Going back to high school I have eaten low fat diets (Eat to Win for much of the time) and flirted with vegetarianism (largely for health reasons, but also for efficiency and animal rights reasons).  In recent years I have essentially become a vegetarian (I had chicken at a friend's wedding), but still do eat fish.


I typically have tofu a few times a week (with spaghetti sauce and broccoli is my favorite!) and try (not always with great sucess to only have carbs that are relatively nutritious.  My staples are oatmeal with nuts and fruit, Orange Juice, and PB and Jelly sandwiches (Smuckers' Natural PB) all of which Ihave virtually every day. 



Other Fitness activities

In the past year or so I have begun to use Tae-Bo and even some yoga.  I am doing both of them mainly for flexibility but find them both very fun.  I am not very good and while Tae Bo is a workout, I really think Yoga is more of a warm-up or cool-down.  But I remember in Frank Gifford's book on Courage that Rocky Blier did it and got faster, so I will give it a try.

Here are some links that you may find useful.
 

Yoga Links
Yoga-Zone-I try to watch it for new stretches
Yoga.com
YogaBetsy--From OLEAN!
Taebo.com

And for those of you who know me from the fitness center (both at SBU or at JMU) you know that I often use a Resista-ball.   I think they are a great workout.  You can really work on flexibility with them and even weights!  And as promised here is a link to buy a Resista-Ball, and here is a link to explain what a Resista-Ball is.  What are Resista_balls good for?  Lots!  Stretching, flies, and most for abdominal exercises.  I have one at home and use it almost daily in addition to the gym. 
 
 

Biking links:


GORP is a good spot to look for off-road biking/hiking trails, including the top ten road biking courses in the US
IMBA-No, it does not stand for in international MBA, rather the International Mountain Biking Association, USA Mountain biking off-road site
Keystone Biking-a pretty good site for mountain biking in Pennsylvania, and Ohio, Rockies,
BicyclingLife is pretty good as is the Minneapolis's Twin Cities Biking Club's page
And of course Lance Armstrong's page as well as his training page and that of his coach Chris Carmichael.
I have never done a triathalon, but I do like to watch and read about them.  Insidetriathlon.com is the best I have found.

I am a big fan of biking.  Although I am not 100% sure it makes you any faster for running (maybe), it is fun and is great since there is no impact. I have biked the length of the Skyline Drive though Shenandoah National Park and much of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The problems with biking are that it takes too long and I hate cars near me.  But other than that it is really fun and you can see much more of an area than you can on foot or in a car. 
 

Fitness and Weight lifting

Weight lifting is also an important part of my training (although you can not tell!).  Unlike many runners I believe lifting with your legs is quite important in staying uninjured.  I lift with my legs approximately 9 months a year, quitting only when I am trying to race well. 

about.com does a nice job of summarizing the debate on whether runners should lift or not.  My two cents on the issue is that lifting is not only fun but also helps prevent strength imbalances that can lead to injuries.  Although I am sure I can race faster in a single race if I do not lift (and devote more energy to running--hey do I hear Peter Lynch's deworsifcation here?), my longer term goals (stay healthy and injury free) may be better suited when I include lifting.  And lifting is fun!
 
 

Injuries and Injury Prevention


When it comes to injuries the best advice comes from old clichés:
 

• A stitch in time saves nine
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure


Staying injury free is always the best policy.  How can we do this?  Common sense is a big help.  Do not run hard every day, alternate your workouts, wear good shoes, stretch, run on soft surfaces, listen to your body, and eat well.

In spite of our best efforts, injuries do occasionally occur.  My advice then is ice, ice, ice for 2 days.  Then ice and hot treatments for a few days.  Also increase your vitamin C intake and try to find the cause of the problem.  Often this leads to the purchase of new shoes.

Although generally not a running-related injury, the very serious injury the fear of which keeps me from playing basketball is a blown out knee or ACL tear.  It is indeed unfortunate that so many do get this painful and traumatic knee injury.  One of the unfortunately injured is my brother Pat. He tore his ACL and MCL in a basketball game in the spring of 2000.  I put this ACL injury, research, and recovery page together for him.
 
 

A Runner's Reading List

Want to read about running?  As promised, here are some great books!  Especially Once a Runner by John Parker!!!

Unpaid endorsement :-) Runners go through many shoes.  I highly recommend going to a specialty running shoe store where you will get service and know-how that you do not get at a department store.  My personal favorite (and where I still buy my shoes) is the Runner's Corner in Harrisonburg VA.  It is used to be owned by two great guys (Phil Dickenson and Craig Lowry) who know running because they both run. In fact they were my frequent training partners when I was at JMU, but now Phil has moved to North Carolina, so it is just Craig.  That said, you should still check it out.  Their site also include a race calendar.
 
 
 
 
 

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