Compression Sock Review: Zensah vrs Zoot vrs 2XU

Thanks to technology, I can't imagine being without compression socks now. I use them on my higher mileage or hilly runs where I need the extra ankle and calf support and during races. They really help so my legs are not tired after the run. Also  they are great to wear on planes, snowboarding, or at home for recovery. I even wore them during my vacation to New York where I knew I would have lots of walking and standing to do.

I really love these things and I've had the opportunity to try 3 different brands,

1 - 2XU
2 - Zoot
3 - Zensah

Zensah Compression Sock

 These are usually more affordable than other compression brands. I think I got these for around $35 or less.
However the material is thicker, so its good for winter or cold runs, but in the summer it can get a little too warm. Also the material isn't as "tight" as other brands. Over all pretty decent for its price. I like wearing these socks on planes and for snowboarding.

Race Results - I ran a 13.1 race in these, and afterwards my calves weren't tired. Over all very pleased.

Zoot

 I found these on sale at Amazon for less than $35, (pretty good deal). The material is much thinner than Zensah and very tight.

Race Results -  I ran a 13.1 race in these and my legs felt better than when I ran with Zensah, but they were still tired but a little sore, but again better than running without them.




2XU ( currently $30-35 on amazon. Retails $50)

 My Favorite compression socks so far. I got these as a gift. The material is similar to Zoot, very thin and very tight. I'm not sure if these perform so well for me because I'm wearing them 1 size smaller. I should be a S on their chart, but these socks are XS.

Race Results - I ran my fastest 13.1 race in these and afterwards my calves felt Fantastic. Every other part of my leg from the knee up was really sore and tired Except for my calves. My calves felt normal as if I hadn't just run 13.1 miles. I think these socks are magical.


Compression gear can get really pricey if you pay at retail. So if you have a coupon or keep an eye out for deals. Right now the 2XU are a pretty good deal at Amazon.. I just picked up my 2nd pair. :)

Why Triathletes Are Well Prepared For A Zombie Apocalypse

I came across this blog and this was too hilarious not to repost. :-D via http://swimbikerunlive.com

http://swimbikerunlive.com/2011/05/why-triathletes-are-well-prepared-for-a-zombie-apocalypse/

this is my favorite part -

Taste

You know why most shark attack victims are just chewed and spit out instead of swallowed? Humans are not delicious. You know what is even less delicious? A super-lean shaved down human with -5% body fat. If you are traveling in a group, I guarantee you’ll be with someone far more delicious looking than yourself.

I love Tri's - its an Addiction

Sometimes out of the blue, I'll think about Tri's and I'll smile to myself.

As  much has tri's consume your life, it really makes me happy. Its so much work and effort and time, but when you're at the event in the water with all the other swimmers, its just so exciting. Then to finally cross that finish line, exhausted, but you know its over.. its really over and you did it..

Time like this really remind me of why I do, what I do, and why its so freaking awesome.

Water - Drink it up

I admit, for the past few months, I got lazy. Usually I'd drink about 2 liters and I probably was drinking less than 1 liter a day, maybe only half a liter. During the winter its hard to think of 'water', when there's "hot coco or Hot tea" as an alternative :)

So for the past 2 weeks Ive been making it my mission to drink at least 3 liters of water a day. I know some people who drink by the gallon, I'm not quite up to that point yet..

And so far its been really great! I've noticed my skin looks So much healthier, (shouldn't have wasted so much money on expensive creams when water works even better and faster!)
Also, I've lost weight without even trying! I lost 2 lbs without exercising or cutting my diet.. (water retention was the culprit for the excess weight)

All and all, I'm really glad I finally stopped procrastinating and got on the ball of drinking more water. 

Even my dad is drinking more water!

For the past few years I've been on his case to just Drink more water, like 2 cups or 1 bottle, (I'm not even going to mention a liter).  He's always been a tea drinker, and if you know Chinese tea, its very small in quantities. Yes, Tea is healthy for you, but you still need more liquid in your system. And 2 small pots aint gonna do it. 
So talking to him til I was blue in the face, he never believed this "witchcraft" of water drinking. So I gave up.

Then a month ago while we were having dinner, he says to me, "I've been drinking 2 large cups of water (about 32 oz) each day and I feel so great. I realized tea isn't enough."

OMG I've been saying that to you for years and finally, he's doing it now and seeing the benefits. :-D Yay!

70.3 70.3 70.3!!!

I just signed up for my first 70.3 I'm really excited. I hope to finish in 7-8 hours. It'll be a summer of hard training. Looking forward to it!!

Superfrogtriathlon.com

2011 OC Half Marathon Review

I wasn't really planning on doing this race this year, but they sent me an email saying, "If you do 3 years in a row you get this awesome Duffel bag, and a special bib!"  This was their first year launching this Legacy program, and I wanted a free duffel bag. Also this race is part of the Beach Cities Series, and for 2011 I really want to complete a series, so I signed up.

The duffel bag ended up being really small, and quite poor in quality, and the "special" race bib, only added the word "Legacy" to the end of the banner, it was pretty much the same as everyone else. I was expected at least a different color or something.

This year the course was new with more hills. The general location of the race was the same. You start near Fashion Island, and then end at the OC Fairgrounds.

Prior years we would have to park the car at the Fairgrounds, then shuttle to the start at Fashion Island, but Luckily this year, our friend was kind enough to drop us off at the start near Fashion Island, and then pick us up at the end. It saved lots of valuable sleep time. I was able to wake up at 5am, and make it to the start line right at 6am.

The race starts off in Waves A - D (although C&D pretty much combined themselves).
The Full Marathoners and Half Marathoners all start at the same time, so the 3 "corrals" are pretty big. Expect to dodge a lot of  elbows, and people that started walking at mile 0.25 during your run.

They did have lots of water stops pretty much at every mile with a sports drink (Lemon Gatorade - yum).

There was a section around mile 9-11 where you get into a narrow trail of the Back Bay. About 3-4 people could fit in width of the trail, so it sucked if you got suck behind some girls that decided to walk and not move over and instead stay in the middle of trail and mess with their ipod, walking side by side with her friends, so they make a very firm wall, and are completely oblivious to the 15,000 people behind them that are still running, saying excuse me, and trying to Squeeze through, but all their efforts are wasted because her music is on too loud.

After the finish line, there was a complete bottle neck just trying to get out.

1 - They put the photo booth right after where you get your medal, so people are standing in line to take photos, and you can't get out and to get to the water.

2- Then once you passed the traffic of people waiting for photos, you had to deal with people that would get the drinks and food and Stand there, again bottle-necking, and again halting my goal of getting to water.

The event organizers shouldn't have put the photo booth right there and they should have organized to flow of traffic better.

m.i.a

Sorry for being m.i.a lately. I've been going back to school, and working full time from 8-5, then going to school M-Thurs 6-10, and studying and training, had led me to sacrifice things like TV, movies, internet, and long distance training.
Sometimes I'm so oblivious to the outside world and events. I don't watch the news or get the newspapers, and When I do have time to read, it'll be my textbooks, not a newspaper. But I'm halfway through the semester, and then I'll have summer break to train more and next semester I've learned to not take 2 science classes. Physics is totally consuming my life. I feel everything is sacrificed just a little because I don't have enough time. My work is suffering, my grades, & my training.
I ask myself if its worth it, but I still can't answer myself.
But I made some time today to post up a few more race reviews. yay.

2011 SuperSeal International Triathlon review

this weekend, I finished my first Olympic distance Tri. the SuperSeal - http://www.superfrogtriathlon.com/

It was tough, but so great to finish it. My goal was really to just survive it. I didn't care about times or transitions. Maybe next year, I'll aim for time. Surprisingly, the day after, I'm NOT sore at all. Very strange.

Coronado island is really pretty, and the weather was perfect! For a few days the heavy rains was threatening our triathlon to be changed to a duathlon, but luckily our Tri was able to go on.

We stayed at the Loews hotel, which hosted the expo for the race. It was so convenient to check into the race and into your hotel at the same time! then the race was just right out side the hotel too. Not having to drive and find parking is fantastic!!
Loew hotel was amazing. Pet friendly, very clean, great amenities the staff was super friendly, and we got an awesome rate being participants of the event!

The most stress free I've EVER been on a race morning.

The Swim part of the race starts out in the Bay, which I was really relieved, because the waves in the ocean were huge!

Before the race began, my fellow OC-Tri-Meetup buddy gave me some very useful advice. Put water inside your wetsuit which helps insulate you from the cold. and it really worked. It was really cold but it made the swim portion much better.  As we were dipping ourselves in the water, a boat goes out and outlines the course. Then the First waves starts. A few minutes later it was my wave, and we were off. Swimming in the bay wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I actually didn't need to take any breaks, and was able to swim the whole course. I had to stop a few times to sight because I'm terrible at sighting, (even on land!)

The 1 bad thing about the course is the transition areas seemed a little far away, but maybe that is normal?
You have to go under a tunnel that crosses a 4 lane highway, then curve up to get your bikes. and walking on the rocky pavement is painful! ouch!!

I was so tired from the swim, I walked over to the bike and took my sweet time. People are cheering, and I didn't care. I wasn't rushing, LOL I think i took about 15 mins in transition 1. I ate some of my cliff bar, drank my protein shake, hydrated - I was very dehydrated - went to the bathroom, then put on my cycling gear to head off.

The Biking course was 2 loops back and forth down the highway. So its like 6 miles each length that you go back and forth on. At times i hate loops because the turns sharp and you have to slow down, and you get bored. I kept myself entertained by memoring debris I saw on the road. I would think, "Oh hey i saw that dropped bottle, that means I'm 10 mins away from the roadkill"

The last 5 miles of the 24.6 mile biking part was the hardest. My Hamstrings were so tired, and my butt hurt!

The run was the hardest part of the race for me. My legs were tired but they were able to push through, but my body was tired, my lungs were tired, and my feet were numb. I walked a lot, (run a mile, walk half a mile)

During the bike there was a mean old man that yelled at me to move to the right, when I was already on the "rightish" side, and there was plenty of room on the left for him to move around me. He was just a bitter man.

On the run, I saw him, and we HAD to beat him!
That was our goal to beat the mean old man who yelled as us. hahhah

Overall we finished in just under 4 hours. If we had a shorter transition time, we would've had a better time, but overall I'm happy with my time. I estimated 4-4.5 hours, and I was glad to have come in under 4.

Its a great event, and I recommend this event to anyone looking for an olympic tri.

What's Tri?

my friend asked me, "What is a tri?" and then asked, "is that like the Special Olympics?"

umm...?

a Tri (short for Triathlon) is a 3 part race/event that has 3 portions - Swim, Bike and Run - hence the name Tri

Tri's vary in the length of the activities you have to do which determine the Name of the event.

I'll go over the common ones from longest to shortest. 

1 - The most common one people hear of is the IRONMAN aka 140.6 
   Swim- 3.86 km    (2.4 mi)
   Bike - 180 km    (112 mi)
   Run - 42.2 km    (26.2 mi) marathon
the name "140.6" comes from adding up all the miles together.
 Actually Ironman is more like a brand name. There are races that equal in length but are not called "Ironman"

2 - Half Ironman aka 70.3 or Long Distance Triathlon
  Swim - 1.93 km    (1.2 mi)
   Bike - 90 km    (56 mi)
   Run - 21.09 km    (13.1 mi)
 The name 70.3 comes from adding up all the miles together, which is Half the distance of a 140.6

3- Olympic/International       
    Swim - 1.5 km    (0.93 mi)
    Bike - 40 km    (24.8 mi)
    Run - 10 km    (6.2 mi)

4 - Sprint 
   Swim - 750 m    (0.47 mi)
   Bike - 20 km    (12.4 mi)
   Run -  5 km    (3.1 mi)
For pool-based races a 400 or 500m swim is common. Distance can very, sprints can be considered anything under an Olympic distance

Nike Training Club App

Great apple app and its FREE! super awesome!

 Chose a Goal

 Choose a Level

 My Favorite Goal is "Get Focused", which are 15 mins of targeted areas that I add in addition to my cardio workouts.

Start your Work out
There are videos that show you what to do.
You can add music and the timer will count down when to switch to the next move.

Run in Small Portions

A large misconception when a non runners thinks of the word "Running" they think, miles after miles at lightening speeds". Then they easily get discouraged because they think, "I can't run 5 miles! I can't run 100 meters, I can't run 6 min miles."

Running isn't all or nothing, Its not 5 miles or bust. Its putting 1 foot in front of the other, at a pace faster than speed walking, for whatever amount of time you want. There is no judge, only yourself.

Dont focus on "can't run # miles". Instead break it up.
Do 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile at night. Or even break it up until 3rds. Morning, Noon and Night.
You're working on building up the muscles in your legs. Once your legs get stronger, you can then work on building endurance, by extending the distance of each segment and then cutting down the # of segments. Then once you get your endurance up, you can focus on speed.

This is also a great method for runners recovering from injuries.
Instead of running 6 miles, run 3miles in the morning and 3 at night, or 2 miles Morning, Noon and Night.


Start of slow, in small segments and you'll reach your goal.

Lap Swimming Etiquette

Being new to swimming (about 2-3 years), I had a lot to learn, but some things just seem to be common sense, like Pool Etiquette. Just as you don't trim your nails at the dinner table, you'd think some things would make sense.

Now for myself, I was new to swimming, so I do understand how some things wouldn't be the first thought to come into your head if you're nervous and getting into the cold pool water. Sometimes I think its Karma for my beginning mistakes, that now I have to deal with. Or maybe its just the cycle of life in the gym pool.

Here is much more lengthy list rules.
http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/swimming-pool-etiquette.html

Here are the top ones that I've come to figure out on my own (which aren't new), just common sense from swimming at the gym. 

1.  If you're alone in a lane you can take up the middle
2.  If you all the lanes are taken, Scan to see which swimmer is around your speed and your style. 
3. WAIT for the swimmer to reach the end, and lightly tap them on the shoulder and ask if its ok to share. They have to say Yes, its just a Nice gesture to ask, and also you can set up ground rules.
• If there are 2 of you, just take a side and swim back and forth. 
• If there are 3 or more, swim in a circle (right lane goes out, and left lane comes back), so no one bumps into each other, and everyone can go at their own speed.
4.  If you can't find someone of you're speed, and you are slower, just pause and let them pass.
5.  Space out - Let there be enough space between you and the swimmer in front, so you dont touch their legs. 

Its really not too much to request, but there are some pretty comical situations that happen at the gym.

• People think that if they start on the Opposite side of the lane, that you magically wont bump heads. I really don't understand that concept.
• New, learning, or non swimmers seem like to stay on the left side with the sprinting swimmers. Why? I imagine the pool like a freeway, slow on the right, fast on the left.. These must be the same people who drive 50mph in the 1st or carpool lane
• Some reason the most popular stroke is the Frog, (not a legitimate breaststroke, its more like a modified doggy paddle). And those darn froggers take up the whole lane, and if you don't act fast, you risk getting groped by the creepy old dude. *shudders*
• Slowest swimmer in the world thinks its dandy to swim in the Middle of the POOL, not the lanes, the pool itself, so everyone has to swim around them, and they're not even phased by the disturbance they're causing. They're completely oblivious to it. And you can tell theyr'e not doing it maliciously, they're just doing it because they are stupid.

Peroneal Tendon Injuries

What is that?

About a month ago, I started getting a really bad pain on the outer side of my foot, and near the bottom of my foot. It would happen a few hours after a long run.  It feels similar to the pain felt with a stress fracture, except the only difference is that this pain will fade away, and a stress fracture wont.
It would prevent me from even walking. It was a very sharp Stabbing type of pain, mixed in with a deep cramp. It would go away after a day, so I didn't think much of it. Then it happened again and again.

X marks the spots of pain 

I found out my Peroneal Tendon is pissed off. It supports the ankle and foot movement. I've been having ankle problems for the past few months, so its no surprise that another issue as risen. I did a trail run, and uneven ground made for a pissed off Peroneal Tendon.







Here is a good article about it
http://www.foothealthfacts.org/footankleinfo/peroneal-tendon.htm

Treatment:
I took some aspirin, elevated my foot and rested, and sure enough it went away. But for good? Not sure.. but at least I know what it is now.

Trapezius Muscle pain

Last week I learned of a "new" type of pain. The Trapezius muscle pain.

Last week, after my 13.1 and nursing some old injuries, I wasn't able to run as much as I normally do. And on top of that, I was insanely stressed out at work, putting in LONG hours sitting at the computer.

Finally Saturday morning, my body had enough, and the spot right between my middle and lower trapezius was in excruciating pain.

I've never had a pain so bad where it made me want to throw up and I couldn't breathe. And whats worse is that I didn't even "earn" the pain, like through rock climbing or from training, just stress at work. So unfair and evil...

I spent all Saturday using all my remedies - foam roller, a tennis ball, stretching, yoga, massage therapist, soaks. Nothing relieved it. People say don't move it, but the less I moved, the MORE it hurt. So I tried to always keep moving, not matter how painful it was. Sunday morning, my back was still in pain, but I had more movement in it. At least I could swing my arms for my 10k that day.

I thought it was going to be hard to run with my back pain, but actually running HELPED! Half way through the race, all the pain in my back was gone, and I felt 'normal' again! It was great! Running is my savior.

Later that day, the pain slowly crept back, but not as strong as it was initially. But now I know what I have to do, run, and run some more. :)

2011 Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5/10k Run

This was the 33rd Annual Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5/10k Run. But this was the first year I've heard about it.



It was a really fun event, 100% put on by volunteers which donate all the proceeds to the Chinatown community.
Its a great event for a great cause.

Here is the link to their Facebook site which has some videos - http://www.facebook.com/lacfrc

and their main site - http://www.firecracker10k.org/

When I signed up for the 10k, my friend told me, he ran this race last year, and it had a ton of hills and he wasn't doing it again this year.
I usually dont mind hills and thought, "How bad could it be?"

If I had to describe this race with 1 word it would be HILLS!! It was tough, but Beautiful.. You start off near the end of Chinatown, and run up toward Elysian Park, coiling up all the way to the top, then down towards Dodger Stadium, and back down onto Broadway, where you have the last stretch to the finish line. At times I wanted to take out my camera, but then I didn't want to slow my time down.

As we started the race,  I saw the 5k runners coming down the last final turn, and making it back onto Broadway, so I had in my mind, "that's the last turn, then gun it for the finish line."

The race wasn't very crowded, a few thousand people, so the corral markers were pretty much ignored, I didn't stand in my corral, because I wanted less people to dodge.

At the first hill people weren't defeated yet, we ran. It went up forever... After the first mile, it flattened like 100 feet, and I thought, yes its over.. I usually like hills, its my strength where I usually find opportunity to pass up others, but that joy was short-lived as another hill approached. There were a few times when I thought, its over..but no, another hill around the corner. But through all the painful hills, running up Elysian Park had beautiful views of Down town LA and Dodger stadium. It was worth it.
I wanted to run the entire course, but at the peak, it was just too much and I walked the last 100 feet incline.

The rest it was "mostly" all downhill from there. Made up my lost time, and when I saw that last turn, The finish line was near.

I really liked having the finish line so close to the last curve.. If I had to run another 1-2 miles after that brutal hill, I don't know what I would think.. in my mind I kept telling myself, just look for the last turn, it'll all be over soon. It's really what pushed me through it.

I think I might do this race again next year. :-D

2011 Surf City Half Marathon

The weather was fantastic for racing. It was cool and a nice marine layer kept the temps low. When your running your body temperature rises and keeping yourself cool improves your performance.

This was one of the most well organized races Ive been to and its a HUGE race too. Seriously other event coordinators should take some tips from Surf City on how to organize an event.

Usually most races everyone start at once, marathoners, halfers, 10k, elite, and 1st timers, so the first few miles are dodging elbows, cutting around slower runners, and finding the right pace.
But with the way Surf City was set up, you didn't have to deal with that. I loved it!!

1- Marathoners started 1 hour before the half marathoners so the crowds were already cut in half.
2- Your bib number was determined by your time. For me I put my expected finish time to be 2 hours so I was in the 8000 group.
3- Your bib# determined your corral so it was a no brainer. So if you think "hey everyone here is a 4000 and I'm a 15000... hmm am I in the right spot?" (there are the occasional few that have late regs or something else, but for the most part it follows that pattern)
4- The corrals were sectioned off in 3-5 min waves with ribbons and tape, so people couldn't get anxious and go ahead.

This enabled everyone to have a crowd-free experience during the Entire route. Awesome!

Running in Silence

Lately I've been in search  to be more spiritual.

I've been trying to meditate to make sense of my thoughts but its hard to tune yourself out. After a few failed attempts, I remembered I was really good a tuning myself out while I was running without music.So yesterday I did a good 4-5 mile run, in silence, and it was so freeing.

Now its Not easy to start off running long distance without music, if its something you're used to. Trust me.

I did Not start voluntarily. It started 1 day my ipod wasn't charged all the way, another day, I forgot to bring it, another day, the stupid thing started to die mid run. Now when this happened, I didn't handle it well. I would seriously "sabotage" my run, so it would end early and I could avoid running without music. My 5 mile runs would turn to be 1 mile, looking back, it was kinda pathetic of me. haha

I started off with a few miles, here and there. As my Ipod would die more and more often, I would get so frustrated at it, I just stopped bringing it altogether.

Eventually, I started to appreciate running with out music. Its a very "interesting" feeling. The best way I can describe it when you're driving home really late, and you're really tired, and you got home, but you have no recollection of "How" you got home. Your body knew how to drive home, even though your mind wasn't fully into it.

That's kinda how it is. I finished a 10+ mile run, and didn't even realize the time that goes by. Its actually quite amazing on what you find out when you're alone with your thoughts and just space out.
I've come up with so many "Million Dollar Ideas" only to race home and google that its already been invented. haha! one day.. one will work..


In September/October, I bought the new Ipod Nano  the one like this.

Its a fabulous device because its small, and can clip onto your shirt. So for the past few months I've been so addicted to it, I haven't ran without music and actually that concept completely eluded me.

So now, on my long runs, I plan to put the nano down, and be alone with my thoughts..

lets see what "peace" it can bring.

Run Less, Run Faster - Session 1

  My friend gave me this book for my birthday, and its something I've been striving to do ever since my first race - Run faster. Why? Not so I can win a race, or prove anything, its merely so I can spend less time running!! As much as I love running, I do love other things in life too, like eating, or swimming. Spending 4-5 hours running, every Sunday morning isn't always ideal. Once in a while its ok, but all the time gets a bit draining. Now if I can cut that down to 3 hours, now we're talkin!!

So I started the Half marathon training program listed in the book.
The first workout are timed intervals, (I usually don't train with a watch, so this was difficult for me to figure out how fast I was supposed to be running)

10 - 20 min warm up,
12x400 @9.15/min pace, 90 sec RI (rest interval)
10 min cool down.

Actually using the "Dreadmill" aka (treadmill) worked out really well. It was easy to set the pace and make my legs go. I ended up on the Dreadmill for over an hour. I've Never spent that much time on a treadmill, usually I'm bored out of my mind after 20 mins and I'm dying to get on the pavement.

For me, Interval training and focusing on the distance really helped make the time go by much faster (instead of focusing on the time), because 400meters later I'd have to switch up the pace.

I've always read so many articles of how to "have fun" on the treadmill, and I actually did!

Lets see if I'm faster after 18 weeks.

Corona Del Mar

My friend recently gave me this book for my birthday. I love running quotes, and this was perfect.

Although its not all fun and games, the author sprinkled in a few, what he calls "detractors and reactors" type of quotes, things non-runners say, which is kinda cool. 

One quote was:
"Its unnatural for people to run around on city streets unless they are thieves or victims.."-Mike Royko

This is all too true almost every time I run, and I think its true for most people, unless you live in a city where people run and everything is runner friendly or bike friendly.

Like its 1000% clear that I'm just jogging, I have workout clothes and a water bottle, My hair is tied up with a hat or visor, yet people still look at your like you're an alien, or you're up to no good. Sometimes I envision myself getting shot from the police because they mistaken my water bottle as a gun, and my water belt as a holster.

At times I really would like to move to a city where exercise was accepted it. Where people don't try to kill you for being in the bike lane, or Honk at you when you're running on the streets. Where people don't feel threatened because you are exercising. Which is why I would Love to live in Corona Del Mar, one day.....

I train down in Corona Del Mar (about a 40 min drive) and I always say that those are "my" people. They're up at 5am on a Saturday and already clocked a few miles on their bike or on the pavement. Its really amazing and heart warming. These people do what I do, all the time & more hard core, and its the whole city. In CDM, you won't have the conversation with someone, "Why do you run" instead it would be "When do you run? Can I join you?"

Great Article via Runner's World

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7124,s6-238-267--13818-0,00.html

A Great article of why Running is awesome, via Runner's World (the best runner's magazine ever!)


It's All Good
More scientific proof that running keeps you healthy.

By Amy Rushlow
Image by John Hersey
From the February 2011 issue of Runner's World

Scientists have discovered the fountain of youth—it's running. Studies continue to find that hitting the roads improves health and well-being. "The biggest benefits come from vigorous exercise like running," says JoAnn Manson, M.D., chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Here are the latest reasons to lace up.

LOOK AHEAD
People who run more than 35 miles a week are 54 percent less likely to suffer age-related vision loss than those who cover 10 miles a week.

KEEP THE BEAT
Runners who log a weekly run of 10 miles (or more) are 39 percent less likely to use high-blood-pressure meds and 34 percent less likely to need cholesterol meds compared with those who don't go farther than three miles.

FUNCTION WELL
Men who burn at least 3,000 calories per week (equal to about five hours of running) are 83 percent less likely to have severe erectile dysfunction.

BUILD BONE
Running strengthens bones better than other aerobic activities, say University of Missouri researchers who compared the bone density of runners and cyclists. Sixty-three percent of the cyclists had low density in their spine or hips; only 19 percent of runners did.

THINK FAST
British workers were surveyed on a day they worked out and a day they didn't. People said they made fewer mistakes, concentrated better, and were more productive on the day they were active.

STAY SHARP
A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported that women who were active as teenagers were less likely to develop dementia later in life.

SLEEP TIGHT
Insomniacs fell asleep in 17 minutes on days they ran, compared to 38 minutes on days they didn't. They also slept for an extra hour on days they exercised.

SNEEZE LESS
People who exercise for an hour a day are 18 percent less likely to suffer upper-respiratory-tract infections than those who are inactive, according to a study from Sweden. Moderate activity boosts immunity.

BREATHE EASY
Researchers had asthmatics do two cardio workouts and one strength session a week. After three months, they reported less wheezing and shortness of breath.

LIVE LONGER
A review of 22 studies found that people who work out 2.5 hours a week are 19 percent less likely to die prematurely than those who don't exercise. A separate study found that active people have a 50 percent lower risk of premature death.

COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO EXERCISE AT LEAST 20 MINUTES 7 DAYS A WEEK HAVE HIGHER GPA'S THAN THOSE WHO ARE SEDENTARY.