multisport mama

My First Rowing Race Re-Cap (As A Rowing Newbie)

2013-10-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Casitas Rowing's Girls Novice 8 as they passed third place
to finish 2nd at the Head of American 5K this Saturday
on Lake Natoma near Sacramento. Photo: Scott Brewer

I rowed my first race for Casitas Rowing's Masters team last weekend. Unlike most of the rowers on the Masters team, I never rowed before June of this year–a little over four months ago. The rowing club's home is at Lake Casitas--the rowing venue for the 1984 Olympics where Americans Brad Lewis and Paul Enquist won the gold for Men's Double Sculls. Lake Casitas is a beautiful dam-created lake surrounded by rolling un-developed hills of scrub oaks and chaparral in a protected federal wilderness area in the mountains just west of Ojai in California. Here's my first ever rowing regatta re-cap as a (very) newbie rower:

I raced my first regatta last Saturday at the Head of the American races on Lake Natoma near Sacramento and it was an uhm... "humbling" experience for this rowing newbie. The Head race was a 5,000 meters (5K) point-to-point race. But since but we had to row 5,000 meters to the starting line, and just got there a few minutes before our race start, our 5K race felt like rowing a 10K for time. Which for being a former marathon runner, didn't seem that far at first. It was. My longest distance of continuous rowing before Saturday was 1,000 meters (1K) on the ERG (a torture device invented by a sadist with a rowing background). But I figured, stupid (STUPID) me, that as an experienced endurance athlete I could wing it. That was gross over-estimation in this case as rowing fast requires a refined technique that comes from years (not months) of practice. I was sculling in seat #2 in a quad with three other masters rowers, two of them former college rowers who I just met that morning while getting into the boat. While rowing to the race start for what seemed like a half a day, I carefully calculated the number of times I have sculled before... once in June, maybe twice in September, three times before in October... six times.

Being a positive person by nature, I thought, "No problem."

Outcome: I truly believe that rowing is 90% technique and I don't have it. At least not yet. I mean it's got to be easier than what I did to myself on Saturday. I felt like I was trying to run a 5K race while running in step with three other women whom I barely knew (a la synchronized swimming with strangers), while, at the same time, knitting a sweater.... You heard me right, "while kitting a sweater". Unlike running where ones hands and arms act as unconscious counter weights to the pushing feet and legs, helping propel the human bipedal form forwards naturally, sculling for a newbie like me is like a cross between running and synchronized swimming -- while knitting a sweater.

For each oar stroke of sculling (rowing with two oars), there must occur a series of complicated ellipses, hand turns and oar pulls while, at the same time, you have to push off the foot braces (with your bare feet encased in someone's soaking wet size 13 mens leather rowing shoes) from a squat sitting position to an extended-leg sitting position while focusing on your belly button and breathing. You have to remember to breath in time with the oar strokes. Like the synchronous ballet of oar moves and sit squats, I also had to regulate my breaths in tempo like a yogi master. And, all this was happening while I'm careening along the surface of a lake in a beautifully engineered narrow, aerodynamic space age carbon fiber racing boat with paper thin hulls while I am trying to scull (or in my case, "knit a sweater") with javelin-length oars, in what felt like a car wash. Yes, a "car wash".

"I'm going to die." My thoughts a few minutes before the start
of theMixed Masters 8 5K race at Head of American last
Saturday. I rowed seat #4 port. Photo: AR Kirwin

Unlike doing "power tens" and technique drills at a leisurely 22 or 24 strokes per minute in rowing practice, racing a quad (a four seat double-oar sculling boat), for me that weekend anyway, is an "in the water" water sport speeding through the water while rowing 26 to 32 or 34 strokes per minute (going about 7 mph or 8 knots). For an inexperienced rower like me, it's like getting caught on a treadmill running 7 minutes per mile with my shoe laces untied and the emergency Off button DOES NOT work. Plus, for each synchronous oar catch, pull, sweep, sit squat, and exhale, my face got splashed with water from the rower's oars sitting in front of me. I tried not to take it personally. Fortunately, I was wearing sport sunglasses. Unfortunately, the oar splashes regularly soaked my hands-- which nearly slipped off of the oar handles, despite my death grip on them, with every stroke. I won't even go into the blisters on my hands as blisters, the amount of them, seem to be a matter of pride with competitive rowers. (Racing regattas is not for wimps. Even though there is very little archaeological evidence to support it, I just know that the Spartans must have been excellent competitive rowers.) For each "catch" (oars in the water), "pull" (oars pulling the water), "sweep" (legs pushing to an extended sitting position while oars sweep through the water), and exhale, a big splash of water hit me in the face. While I spit out the lake water I "return" and inhale (as my butt moves up the slide and back to squat sitting position on a seat the size of a quarter--while "feathering" the oars). Repeat. Repeat Again. Repeat again as fast as I can. And Again, and again. It was the longest 5K I have ever raced in my entire life.

And, it was totally awesome.

Now you probably think that either I'm totally insane or a masochist (or both) to enter a big regional regatta as an un-skilled and under-trained newbie rower.

Neither is true. Now, I don't want to get all gooey and saccharine here but rowing, so far as I have experienced it in these past few months on the Masters team, is my all time favorite sport culture.* From the first day of practice, nice rowers who I have never met before, smiled and said things to me like, "You're doing great! I used to do that all the time." (after my left sculling oar got stuck under the slipstream of the boat and it's handle nearly ejected me out of the boat in what I later learned was a "crab"). Or, very patiently reminding me to stay in tempo with the other rowers: "Number two! Timing! You're doing great! Just a little slower up the slide" after I rushed the rowers in front of me for the 33rd time that morning. And, "Wow Angela! You're so strong!" after I had to steer and row the boat towards the dock on my own. And, after practice, after I would apologize (again) for "rushing up the slide" (that means I was rushing after I took a oar stroke back to the starting or "catch" position and upset the rhythm and balance of the other rowers in the boat...repeatedly) one of the other rowers would typically say something like: "You're doing great. It takes three years to learn technique." These rowers were so nice. They must be all from Canada or something.**

So, when I was asked if I was going to race at the Head of the American with these super nice rowers, I said, "Yes!"

After my first race race was over (sculling in the quad with the two former college rowers), I apologized to the other rowers in my boat. Even though my contribution to the race was essentially as ballast, we did not place last in our heat of 18 boats. That was in of itself a testimony to the great skill and endurance of the boat's more experienced rowers...

Two hours later I had to do it all over again rowing seat #4 port for the Mixed Master 8 5K head race. At least in a sweep boat (rowing with only one oar this time instead of two in a sculling boat) I had only one oar to fight with. I would like to think that for this race, with eight other mostly newbie rowers rowing, my role as ballast was an essential factor in our boat not flipping over when we rowed "all eight" during the race and had to make that right angle turn midway on the course. I'm embarrassed to say that I did not contribute to any forward motion by the end of the that race as my hands were fatigued rigid claws at that point fighting to just hold on the oar and my leg muscles were left somewhere near the starting line. However, our 8-boat did much better and finished in the middle of pack in the masters race.

After the race, I remember someone helping me out of the boat as I could no longer grip anything to steady myself. My port-side left "feathering" hand was permanently stuck in the letter "C" oar grip position. On shore there was a bunch of Casitas Rowing's juniors from the our high school team cheering at us. Even though I know sucked, constant "you can do it!" encouragement and even having the teenagers cheering us on, was pretty cool. The kids were encouraging and said things like "You did great!" Their empathy for us older newbie masters rowers, their constant support and encouragement of their boat mates during their own races, and their positive team spirit gave me more hope for the future. "These kids are just about the most positive, hardworking and altruistic teenagers I have ever seen" I thought. Even if they weren't such good rowers (but they were as several boats placed at the Head of the American regatta), their "can do" team spirit and integrity for each other, makes this sport so more than just about learning rowing technique and winning races.

But I like a challenge. And, I have to admit, I like winning. Winning (or at least placing) in a race is way more fun than not. "I fought the oars and the oars won" is a new song that I have been humming to myself lately. It's to remind myself to slow down and focus on that 90% technique stuff. No more fighting oars...

I can't wait until the next regatta. Next time things will be different.***

* My favorite sport was probably Ironman triathlon training and racing. There's no other rush, no other completely engaging zen experience that racing an Ironman triathlon with several hundred other people just as crazy and committed as you are. My favorite sport culture though is rowing. It is just as tough and disciplined as training and racing in triathlons but rowing also has a culture of commitment to helping each other in the boat do their very best. The cheerful, hard-working and stoic but team-first attitude of our rowing team, makes even the tough days empowering, inspiring and even humbling. For example, instead of thinking, for example, after a triathlon, "I can't believe I did that. I'm so stoked!" after the Head of American regattas I thought, "Oh my God, my boat was so cool. Their encouragement got me to row harder than I thought was possible. I totally owe these guys. I'm going to practice my butt off and next time I will row better."

** There is only one Canadian on the Masters team, which leads me to think that being super supportive of one's team mates is just a part of the sport culture of rowers (or, at least, it is at Casitas Rowing).

*** I added more positive memories of the Head of the American race in this post on Dec. 2nd and Dec. 3rd (2013) since I first drafted it. I did this in order to explain more about how the culture of this rowing club inspired me to enter a 5K head race regatta (the longest distance race of the year) as an under-trained and un-skilled rowing newbie.

Knowing what I know now, would I of still signed up to race at the Head of American? Yes. I got to hang out with so many positive and inspiring athletes that weekend: masters rowers, former college rowers and amazing teenage rowers. Plus, I got in a great workout that day rowing a total of 20K, half of it at race pace. Looking back, I feel that it was an opportunity that I could not of passed up.

So, yes. Definitely.

Running Culture Re-Visited: Altruistic group identities and feminine fairy-winged resistance?

2013-09-09T14:40:00.001-07:00

Symbol of elite sanction: The U.S. national flag is held aloft while the
national anthem is sung before race start. Photo: AR Kirwin

Instead of women looking like men, I found many female athletes
performing their femininity in miniskirts and even fairy wings.
Photo: ARK Kirwin

After a four year hiatus from long-distance running, I finished the half marathon of the inaugural Ventura Marathon yesterday. This was a combination 5K, Half and Full Marathon with nearly 2,500 runners: about thousand runners in the marathon, twice that many in the half marathon, about a little less than five hundred in the 5K fun run. The Ventura marathon was also a USATF certified Boston qualifier so there were a lot of really fast runners there. The running field varied from lean and fast competitive runners who were building up their race resumes and/or trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon to beginning runners and people just trying to get fit or lose weight running in their first marathon or half marathon. So much has changed in the running community in the past four years-- and so much is the same. It was like coming home to house filled with friendly strangers. Like Roy Rogers said, "A stranger is a friend I haven't met yet." I have always felt the same way about long distance runners at races. There were some new groups and trends at this race compared to races I competed in while I was younger in the Nineties and the races I studied in early years of the millennium. Here are the trends I found most noteworthy:

Ultra femininity appears to be the new trend eclipsing the androgynous/male athletic ideal at the race yesterday with women of all ages wearing skirts, skorts (athletic running apparel with an elastic short sewn inside an outer running skirt), tutus, and fairy wings. I even saw a very masculine man racing in a sparkled red tutu. Women runners were wearing more skorts and there were groups celebrating the ultra female runner: Moms in Motion, Team Sparkle (both a group and a clothing company), and Glitter Gals.

Many runners were running for a cause, for a club or to
honor a loved one. Photo: AR Kirwin

Altruism as a valued ideal seems to be a growing trend in a traditionally individualistic sport. There was a marked increase of altruistic running groups and causes. Before I remember seeing the a few purple-shirted Team in Training runners at races who where raising money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, now it seems almost everyone was racing for someone else. I saw a lot of people with matching shirts or running apparel and individuals running for a team or a cause. I saw a very fit marine running the marathon while holding a giant American flag and a MIA flag raising awareness for his missing comrades in war, I saw three young ladies running for their friend's 30th birthday (their friend sprained her ankle and couldn't run), I saw a big yellow lemonaid stand/water station raising awareness child cancer research and many others who were running for others.

In addition to the traditional high-carbohydrate and
easy-to-digest bagel and fruit snacks, there were
lot's of caffeinated products donated by
food companies seeking consumers
in the running community.
Photo: AR Kirwin

As for food, it was about the same with a few changes. There were lot's of carbohydrate-rich and easy to digest snacks waiting for runners after the race finish as usual: big trays of donated bagels, cookies, snack mix, pretzels, and chopped bananas, pineapples, and watermelon were waiting at the finish line. The newer evolution seems to be that there were more caffeinated items from race product sponsors: Clif Shot gels with various quantities (in milligrams) of caffeine and free bottles of Starbucks in various flavors for the race finishers. However, this is just one race out of literally dozens each month here in So-Cal. I think I need to get in better running shape and do more participant observation at more long-distance races. Who said field work had to be difficult, take you away from your loved ones for a year, or dangerous? As long as I don't get a running injury or hit by a car again (long story and I was road riding anyway), I will be okay. Besides, long distance runners are an interesting community. They have their own embodied culture (with biocultural markers of their daily running practices and diet discernible down to their bones), hierarchical structures, markers of identity, value system(s), diet and foodways practices, rituals, pilgrimages, rites of passage, rebellions, and even spiritual beliefs. Someone should study their culture and I'm up for it. Even though I am no longer racing fit, it's time for me to "just do it" and get out there and do another race, meet more runners and learn more about their fascinating and oftentimes complex and contradictory cultures of Spartan inspiring training rituals, group identities, and beer-drinking and feminine fairy-winged resistance. Hopefully, the next race I run as a participant observer, I will be in better shape. My legs are killing me from yesterday's race. Ouch!

Resources

As is common when running long races, you strike up a conversation with another runner who is running about your speed on the race course. This is for a variety of reasons: typical race communitas, boredom, or a means of pain management while you look for things to distract your from your aching legs or digestion issues as you are pushing your body farther and/or faster longer than it wants to go. I met a bunch of runners at this race who shared with me some interesting resources about their running clubs and some recent studies of runners' health and injury rates in general. As usual, no one mentioned any cultural studies of runners. Please leave a comment if you know of any!

Stanford Runners Study:

"Running Slows the Aging Clock, Stanford Researchers Find" Annoucement published by Standford University. This is about their 6-year longitudinal cohort study of about 500 runners and 400 non-runners about health benefits of running in people over the age of 50.

"Predictors of physical disability after age 50: Six-year longitudinal study in a runners club and a university population" The peer-reviewed journal article in the Annals of Epidemiology

"Musculoskeletal Injury in the Masters Runners" University of Halifax study of runners competing in the Hood to Coast race, published 2006

Ultra Feminine Running Apparel Companies:

"Team Sparkle" mini skirts and fairy wings

"Glitter Gal" Sparkly mini skirts and headbands on Etsy

So-Cal Running Clubs*:

Moms in Motion

Vendurance Running Club Ventura runners and triathletes

Rincon Triathlon Club Ventura and Santa Barbara County Triathletes

Los Angeles Road Runners

VenturaMarathon.com <-- are="" doing="" if="" in="" interested="" marathon="" next="" p="" race="" s="" this="" ventura="" website="" year="" you="">
*There are many more worthy running clubs in the area and in southern California in general. This list includes only the clubs of the members I met at the race yesterday.

Food As Fuel: Why Triathletes and Marathon Runners Eat So Wierd

2013-03-03T18:53:00.001-08:00

This post is Part III of my research paper on the eating habits of 141 triathletes and marathoners I surveyed in the Fall 2008 during my first year of graduate school in anthropology. At that time I was still new to the various theoretical perspectives in anthropology and was figuring out myself how best to explain why people do what they do. In this post I will explore some of the reasons why triathletes and competitive marathon runners have their peculier diets and eating rituals according to two various anthropological perspectives.

Diet and food are the reflections of one's culture and status or class

The first theoretical model I used to explain the diet and eating practices of triathletes and competitive marathon runners is a post-modern one which explains the motivations of behavior and values as a product the dominant mores in a culture and one's class. I used the anthropological concept of one’s un-selfconscious habits and routine practices known as habitus. One's habitus consists of the variety of practices and routine habits of day-to-day living that are based on one's culture and one's class status in society. This concept was developed by French post-modern anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu. He believed that one's perspectives and habitual practices of day-to-day living were actually the products of the cultural rules and values of one's society and one's socio-economic status in that society. Either a person abides by the dominating ideals and practices (e.g. the hegemonic values) of his or her society or resists them. In the early days of triathlon it was a counter-culture sport that resisted the some of dominant values of American culture that idealized corporate life and making a lot of money as the dominant goals for an adult. This pre-Babyboomer culture relegated competitive sports to professional athletes, the military and young people who had the time and resource to train. Participation was regulated to members of a school or club team in order to compete in races.

The habitas of triathletes and marathon runners: Socio-economic class and dominant class values

The sport of triathlon matured from a bunch of crazy races done by a bunch of counter-cultural teachers, ex-Navy SEALS and lifeguards into a highly conventionalized sport that reflects the dominant values of fitness and individual achievement in American culture. It also has become commoditized enough to have financial barriers to entry for their participants (Giulianotti 2005). A typical triathlon race entry fee has escalated from $30-$50 to $100 and more per person. The Ironman triathlon entry fee was $300 in 2008 and is much more now (World Triathlon Corporation 2008). The sport is no longer accessible to people of average means. According to Triathlete Magazine, the average subscriber spent $24,408 each year on triathlon-related purchases in 2008 (Triathlete 2008). Triathletes and marathon runners routinely eat high-carb and nutritious home made meals and specially formulated high-carbohydrate meal supplements.

The socio-economic class indicators of the triathletes I surveyed are congruent with their dietary practices and the amount of leisure time required to be a competative triathlete.

71% are professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, environmental engineers, computer engineers, teachers, college professors, scientists, etc.
50% have an annual household income of $80,000 or more
53% have earned a bachelors degree
33% have post-graduate training, certification, a masters or a doctorate degree
42% have the leisure time to train 10 hours or more a week

The socio-economic class indicators of surveyed marathon and ultra runners also correlated with their upper middle class diets and time to train.

81% are professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, environmental engineers, computer engineers, teachers, college professors, scientists, etc.
56% have an annual household income of $80,000 or more
87.5% have earned a bachelors degree
49% have post-graduate training, certification, a masters or a doctorate degree

· 50% have the leisure time to train 10 hours or more a week

Triathletes’ and marathon runners’ food choices of “what to eat” reflect the resources and ideals underpinning the dominant culture dictated by professional socio-economic class (Bourdieu 1984). According to sport anthropologist and marathon runner Charles Prebish, like religion, a sport is both reflective of the dominant culture and supports the maintenance of the social status quo over time as it becomes commoditized and institutionalized (Prebish 1993). Individual achievement, self-discipline, sacrifice and unremitting work using ones “God-given ability as a way of glorifying God” is a core Protestant value that has dominated American culture since this country began (Prebish 1993:100). Mastering fatigue and hunger, many triathletes and marathon or ultra runners wake up “dark-thirty” (a term meaning “before dawn” according to one of my Ironman triathlete informants) each morning in order to get in an early morning run, bike ride or Master’s swim workout before they go to work. Again denying their hunger pangs they may skip the 12 o’clock lunch break with their co-workers in order catch a noon workout and then snack alone at their desks later.

It's no surprise that the rise of individual sports, fitness gyms and adult competitive athletes occurred with the rise of the "me" generation of Babyboomers. This generation valued individualism in their thinking and lifestyle choices and rejected some of the traditional and conformitive values of their Word War II generation parents. Beginning with the running boom there was a growth of street races that were open to anyone who could pay the entrance free. In the early years of triathlon, it was an individual sport where competitors competed against each other rather. The strain of individualism and counter-culture of the 1970s combined with the health and fitness movements to create these sports that were both the products of the new fitness and health culture and individualist and feminist counter-culture movements of the time.

Science is upheld as the ultimate authority in their food choices according to 92% of the surveyed triathletes who answered “yes” to the question if their athletic performance would improve with “scientifically advanced equipment, training aids or nutrition products.” Slightly less marathon runners, 83% , said “yes” to that question (Appendix B:15). None of the triathletes surveyed chose “low cost” as the most important factor in their food choices (Appendix A:14) and only 1% of the surveyed marathon and ultra runners did so (Appendix B:14).

The surveyed athletes responses are congruent with the dominant American cultural and the sports nutritionist view of the importance of basing one’s diet on nutritional guidelines that are based on scientific research in maintaining a healthy lifestyle (Hab 2008; USDA 2008; Maughan 2002, Ryan 2007). In my secondary research, articles and papers written by athletes, coaches, sports editors, exercise physiologists and sports nutrition experts seem to conceptualize the human body scientifically as a “bio-machine” and perceive food as a fuel for the body machine (Applegate 2006, Burke 2007, Fitzgerald 2006, Maughan 2002, Ryan 2007).

The rules and strict codes of behavior, dress and ritual for a sport often reinforce class divisions and may create financial barriers to participation (Bourdieu 1984:212). Bourdieu mentions the high membership fees, strict dress codes and rules enforced at private tennis clubs that effectively keep out the masses and reserve participation in these sports at these exclusive venues for the elite few. Bourdieu avows that tennis played in a municipal club with non-traditional attire of swim-trunks and running shoes, for example, is “indeed another tennis, both in the way it’s played and in the satisfaction it gives” (Bourdieu 1984:212).

Racing in a long-distance triathlon or ultra race without consuming scientifically formulated and packaged-for-convenience carbohydrate supplements is a different kind of race. In the early counter-culture days of triathlon before packaged endurance food supplements, Ironman triathletes such as Dave Scott relied on a support crew who carried his rack of 10 bananas while he raced (Scott 2008). The modern Ironman triathletes now must carry their own energy supplements and depend on their special needs bags to carry them for hours of bike racing. Consuming raw fruit such as bananas instead of the triathlete-marketed packaged food supplements of energy gels and carbohydrate replacement drinks, pegs one as an amateur according to several of my interviews with my triathletes. These items are more than status markers however. Not using them puts one at a material disadvantage when racing long distances.

Though one’s cultural habitus is unconscious, it presupposes beliefs influenced by one's culture and daily practice. In the translated words of Bourdieu, “The habitus is necessity internalized and converted into a disposition that generates meaningful practices and meaning-giving perceptions” (Bourdieu 1984:170).

The meaning of foods and food rituals

The other theoretical models I used were the interpretive one's of the British Structuralists Victor Turner and Mary Douglas. They both believed that there were universal cognitive structures in every culture that structured behaviors and practices as either good or bad. Turner believed that social rituals affirmed one's identity and membership in their group and reproduced their group's rules in successive generations. These universal structures are known as binary structures and were pioneered by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. I asked my triathletes and marathon runners how they felt about their diet (which foods were good ones and which foods were bad ones and why). I also asked them about their eating practices while training for a race, during a race and immediately after they finished a race. From these questions I learned about their common food beliefs, dietary rules and rituals which involved food. What I found out was really interesting. Most of them had strict food rules and food rituals which they followed during their training and racing regimes. But, they also broke these rules ritually in certain contexts.

Structure of a meal: from A+ 2B to CHO + xMm

According to sports nutritionists and my surveyed triathletes and marathon runners, a good meal for an endurance athlete can be in either a solid or beverage form but it must include a lot of carbohydrates (Applegate 2008; Fitzpatrick 2006, Ryan 2007). The traditional meal structure of the British which has influenced much of the food of dominant Anglo-American culture consists of a meat that is accompanied by a starch and a vegetable according to British anthropologist Mary Douglas (Douglas 1975). According to her research, the proper British meal includes an entrée of meat (A) that is accompanied by two side dishes (2B) or "A + 2B". The two side dishes include a starch and a vegetable. This entrée can be in the form of the proverbial "meat and potatoes" (with a side salad or cole slaw) or a hamburger with a meat patty sandwiched between bread and one or two vegetables (with ketchup being a vegetable in this context). The primary linchpin of the British meal though is meat.

Triathletes and marathon runners seem to have their own “proper meal” structure in the formula "CHO + xMm". The linchpin for their meals is, instead of meat, is an easily digestible carbohydrate such as pasta, potatoes, rice or bagels and bananas. The letters “CHO” is the sports nutrition and chemistry term for carbohydrates (Maughan 2002). In ”xMm”, the "x" signifies a multiple or quantity of "M" (Macronutrients) and "m" (Micronutrients). Macronutrients or "M", in this reference, are proteins, fats, and sugars in a diet that is optimized for athletic performances. The micronutrients or "m" are the necessary vitamins, electrolytes and minerals in a nutritious diet for an endurance athlete (USDA 2012).

What they eat: Semiotics of good and bad foods

The surveyed and interviewed athletes generally categorized foods as either “good foods” or “bad foods” most consistently by their digestibility (important for consuming foods while training and racing), their functional ability to increase the athlete’s endurance, and their perceived healthfulness (Appendix A: 27, 28; Appendix B: 27, 28). When asked to name “good foods” and “bad foods” triathletes and marathon runners athletes alike categorized foods by the foods’ perceived health, athletic and performance functions. Good foods were described as “healthy”, “nutritious”, “high carbohydrate”, “anti-oxidant”, “fresh”, “whole grain”, “organic”, “non-processed”, “vegetarian” and “raw” (Appendix A: 28; Appendix B: 28). Some of the descriptions they used for good foods seemed to be symbolic of the ideals of these sport cultures such as “lean”, “in moderation”, “light”, “low fat” and “whole” (Appendix A: 28; Appendix B: 28). Believing that they are what they eat, triathletes and marathon runners seem to prefer eating “light”, “low fat” and “whole” foods and thereby would imbue their bodies with those qualities and thus they, in turn, would seem to embody their sport cultures (Appendix A: 28; Appendix B: 28).

Bad foods were described as the very qualities triathletes and marathon runners try to avoid with their athletic performance. Symbolic of these bad qualities are their “bad” food descriptors such as “fake”, “processed”, “high fat”, “fried” (“fried” is also a slang term for “tired”—a state these athletes avoid when training and racing), “preserved,” “fat” (race times are slower generally the heavier one is), “heavy,” “artificial” and “junk” (term for over-training without a specific performance goal is called “doing junk miles” in the lingo of both of these sport cultures).

The categories of foods are based on their functional attributes. These functions are perceived to be based on scientific research on exercise physiology and sports nutrition as well as the health and fitness trend in American culture-- rather than on religious beliefs or traditions.

Good foods–

Moderate amounts of high carbohydrate and micronutrient rich foods were uniformly cited as generally “good foods”, a category which matched the prevailing sports nutrition discourse (Ryan 2007; Maughan 2002 ;USDA 2008). What I didn’t see that surprised me were foods being categorized “good” because they were “organic” or “natural.” Perhaps the mainstream acceptance of those labels have made them no longer differentiating or meaningful or perhaps these are just not as important to these athletes as the foods functional qualities in regards to one’s athletic performance. Though a few respondents did say that they preferred vegan or vegetarian foods. Also, many foods that were good were noted as “lean” which reflects the dominant fitness trend and embodied culture of runners as lean and athletic (Bourdieau 1984: 214). Representative examples of “good foods” for triathletes are in Appendix A: 28 and for runners are in Appendix B.

Bad foods–

The bad foods cited by marathon runners and triathletes generally mirrored the same foods categorized as “bad” in the American media lately. Foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, MSG, too much salt, and trans fats are “bad”. These athletes usually consider fried foods and “drug foods” such as coffee, alcohol and refined sugar are as “bad”. Also, considered “bad” are red meat, processed foods, fast foods. Representative “bad foods” by surveyed triathletes are in Appendix A: 27. Representative “bad foods” according to surveyed marathon and ultra runners are in Appendix B: 27. The responses for both of these sport cultures are nearly identical.

Food Rituals: Pre-race meals and post-race rites of reversal

Sharing a meal with others is symbolic of social ties and is often practiced ritualistically before an important race. Triathletes and marathon runners who train and travel together to a race often have a “Pre-Race Pasta” party or partake in “Carbo Loading” dinner. The commensality of these meals enforces the social bonds within the group of athletes and friends as they experience a spirit of communitas, or a feeling of egalitarianism and connection with each before a race (Giulanotti 2005:6).

Something interesting happens to the earlier mentioned food categories of “good foods” and “bad foods” when many triathletes and marathoners attend post-race awards dinners and celebrations. In these celebratory group meals many athletes who have abided for often months by strict dietary rules go on what is called "post-race binges". During a post-race binge, the categories of foods get reversed. What is normally a “bad food” like a hamburger and fries or alcoholic beverages, are now temporarily re-categorized as a “reward” or a “treat” and consumed with gusto and in large quanitities (Appendix A: 26; Appendix B: 26). Once these athletes cross the finish line many of them seem to ignore their food prohibitions and, quite frankly, go temporarily food crazy and eat things like donuts and steaks and junk food with abandon. Post-race celebrations seem to function as a rite of reversal as a socially acceptable way to blow off steam (Turner 1964). Many of these normally "early to bed and early to rise" athletes stay up late, party and sleep in the next morning. Some representative responses of what triathletes I surveyed said they ate after they raced in their post-race binges are in Appendix A. The marathon and ultra runners I surveyed had similar food category reversals are are mentioned Appendix B.

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Individualism, asceticism and the right to happiness

The sports of triathlon and marathon running both reflect the dominant individualistic culture in the United States where pursuing happiness is a right. (Csikszentmihalyi 1990) According to my triathlete and runner informants’ responses, the reason why they live this way is for self-improvement (Appendix A: 3; Appendix B: 3)--with the exception of only 2 of the 133 the survey respondents.

The sports of triathlon and marathon running also profoundly reflect the Protestant value system that has dominated American culture since America’s beginning. According to anthropologist and marathon runner Charles Prebish, the value orientations underlying individual competitive sports such as triathlon and marathon running are “more or less secularized versions of the core values of Protestantism” (Prebish 1993:97). The assumptions held by the Calvinist doctrine of Protestantism, as interpreted by sociologist Max Weber in his influential book “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”, is cited by Prebish to be nearly identical to the values held by marathon runners (Prebish 1993:98). A marathon runner’s disciplined diet and daily training regime, his “hard work”, is believed to be a necessary part of his success. To the Calvinists: “Work per se was exalted; indeed, it was sacred. The clearest manifestation of being chosen by God was success in one’s work.” (Prebish 1993:98) This individual drive for success (“Winning is everything”), self-discipline (“No pain, no gain”) and hard work (“God helps those who help themselves.”) are some of the most valued qualities in an athlete. They are also the original tenants of Protestantism (Prebish 1993:99). According to Prebish this congruency between the Protestant religion and individual competitive sports in the United States in not an accident. Like religion, a sport is both reflective of the dominant culture and supports the maintenance of the social status quo over time as it becomes commercialized and institutionalized (Prebish 1993:101).

Conclusion

The deliberative and structured food ways of triathletes and marathon runners are a significant element of cultural behavior. The food ways are a product of the athletes training schedules and physical demands, true, but are they are also products of the athletes’ belief in the supremacy of science and their position in the economic system. “All strictly health-orientated practices such as walking and jogging” are in the “ascetic dispositions of upwardly mobile individuals who are prepared to find satisfaction in effort itself and to take the deferred gratifications of their present sacrifice at face value” (Bourdieu 1984:214).

From reviewing the material culture of the typical triathlete’s or marathon runner’s diet, it became clear to me that food was considered more as a “fuel” for the “body machine.” Also, science in the form of sports nutrition articles and scientific sounding food packaging claims, seems to be the authority dictating much of the foodways of triahletes and marathon runners (Leslie 2001) and eating certain foods before races where one of several “pre-race rituals” practiced by most triathletes and marathoners. Meals and snacks are considered more as a means to an end (Appendix A: 22; Appendix B: 22) with the end being health and an optimal race performance. The exception to this is the post-race celebratory meals that clearly seem to function as a rite of reversal--a socially and culturally acceptable means for these athletes to relax their food rules and eat for taste, pleasure and commensality rather than for their individual health and athletic performance goals.

The food ways of triathletes and marathon runners are chosen for their functional attributes in helping them pursue their individual goals of self-improvement. The meaning of their food choices, influenced by sports nutrition and food marketing, are at the same time, symbolically maintaining their self-identity as being members of their class status and their these sport sub-cultures. Their daily practice as triathletes and marathon runners with their sports nutrition diet and structured training workouts and pre- and post-race food rituals, produce and re-produce these sport cultures.

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Appendix A: Foodways Survey for Triathletes (n=29)

1. How many triathlons have you done (of any distance)? (29 answered)

3.4% (1) None yet (zero)

6.9% (2) 1

6.9% (1) 2-4

27.6% (8) 5-10

13.8% (4) 11-25

20.7% (6) 25-50

17.2% (5) 50-100

0.0% (0) 100-200

3.4% (1) 200+

2. How many Full Ironman distance triathlons or longer races have you finished?

(29 answered)

62.1% (18) None

20.7% (6) 1-2

10.3% (3) 3-5

0.0% (0) 6-9

6.9% (2) 10+

3. I train and race triathlons primarily for (choose best answer) (29 answered)

93.1% (27) self-improvement

6.9% (2) to help others (wish to support my team, work, country, family, charity or group)

4. Many of my current friends are triathletes. (29 answered)

58% (17) True

41.4% (12) False

5. Age (29 answered)

0.0% (0) Under 20

10.3% (3) 20-29

27.6% (8) 30-39

31.0% (9) 40-49

24.1% (7) 50-59

6.9% (2) 60-69

0.0% (0) 70-79

0.0% (0) 80+

6. Gender (29 answered)

31.0% (9) Male

69.0% (20) Female

7. An athletic, lean and tanned body is essential for achieving my goals and mirrors my values. (29 answered)

37.9% (11) True

62.1% (18) False

8. What do you do for a living? (25 answered)

0.0% (0) Student

4.0% (1) Retired

12.0% (3) Caregiver or homemaker

(of your own children or elderly parents)

84.0% (21) Work or profession (fill in below):

About 57% of the respondents who work are employed as professionals such as accountants, medical doctors, engineers, and teachers.

9.Annual Household Income (28 answered)

3.6% (1) 0-$40,000

42.9% (12) $40,000-$80,000

35.7% (10) $80,000-$120,000

3.6% (1) $120,000-$160,000

3.6% (1) $160,000-$200,000

3.6% (1) $200,000-$240,000

7.1% (2) $240,000 +

54% of the triathletes had over $80,000 in household income

18% of the triathletes had over $120,000 in household income.

10. Highest level of education (28 answered)

0.0% (0) High School

14.3% (4) AA or some college

53.6% (15) Bachelor’s degree

14.3% (4) Some graduate study or certification

17.9% (5) Master’s degree

0.0% (0) Doctorial in law degree

0.0% (0) Medical doctor, Ph. D, other doctorate degree

11. Do you train and race on your own or with friends? (28 answered)

35.7% (10) Alone (I train and race mostly on my own)

64.3% (18) Communal (I train and race with friends or family)

12. On a good training day, about how many times do you work out physically? (28 answered)

17.9% (5) 1 time or activity

71.4% (20) 2 times or activities

3.6% (1) 3 times or activities

7.1% (2) 4 or more times or activities

13. How many hours per week do you normally physically workout (during race season or when actively training)? (20 answered)

Average: 14.2 hours

Men’s average (5): 14.8 hours

Women’s average (15): 13.5 hours

14. I can improve my race times and/or my performance with scientifically advanced equipment, training research, training aides, private coaching or nutrition products. (28 answered)

92.9% (26) True

7.1% (2) False

15. Why do you eat what you eat? For example, what is the most important factor in choosing your food? (27 answered)

70.4% (19) Nutrition, health and/or athletic performance benefit

11.1% (3) Convenience, ease of preparation or availability

0.0% (0) Low calorie

0.0% (0) Low cost

0.0% (0) Habit or tradition

18.5% (5) Fine ingredients and preparation, excellent quality and taste

0.0% (0) Sustainability, organic, and/or animals rights factors

16. Where did did you get most of your current knowledge and beliefs about nutrition? (Check all answers that apply.) (27 answered)

14.8% (4) My parents or other family members

0.0% (0) My religious, spiritual or moral beliefs

0.0% (0) Environmental, sustainability and animal rights information

44.4% (12) Written sports nutrition and scientific research information

11.1% (3) Trial and error

22.2% (6) Word-of-mouth from friends, athletes or coaches

7.4% (2) Other

17. Where do you frequently eat or snack (check all that apply) (27 answered)

88.9% (24) Home

14.8% (4) In the car

18.5% (5) On my bike

18.5% (5) Restaurant/deli/fast-food place

48.1% (13) Work

3.7% (1) Fitness center, park, pool, beach or trail

18. When do you normally eat? Please check each approximate hour that you normally consume calories as a food or a beverage. (27 answered)

0.0% (0) 1 AM 25.9% (7) 1 PM

0.0% (0) 2 AM 22.2% (6) 2 PM

0.0% (0) 3 AM 37.0% (10) 3 PM

3.7% (1) 4 AM 29.6% (8) 4 PM

0.0% (0) 5 AM 3.7% (1) 5 PM

14.8% (4) 6 AM 33.3% (9) 6 PM

55.6% (15) 7 AM 59.3% (16) 7 PM

25.9% (7) 8 AM 14.8% (4) 8 PM

14.8% (4) 9 AM 0.0% (0) 9 PM

40.7% (11) 10 AM 3.7% (1) 10 PM

14.8% (4) 11 AM 0.0% (0) 11 PM

59.3% (16) Noon 0.0% (0) Midnight

19. How often do you eat (consume calories as a food or a beverage)? (27 answered)

0.0% (0) 1-2 times a day

7.4% (2) 3 times a day

40.7% (11) 4 times a day

44.4% (12) 5 times a day

3.7% (1) 7 times a day

3.7% (1) 8 + times a day

20. Do you normally prepare most of your food or do you buy it pre-made or packaged? (27 answered)

66.7 % (18) Make it or eat it un-prepared (raw)

33.3% (9) Buy it prepared or packaged

21. How regularly do you consume the items listed below? (25-26 answered)

Never Sometimes Often

Energy or nutrition bars 11.5% (3) 34.5% (9) 53.8% (14)

Energy or sport drinks 24.0% (6) 36.0% (9) 40.0% (10)

Energy gels 28.0% (7) 40.0% (10) 32.0% (8)

Vitamin/mineral supplements 7.7% (2) 42.3% (11) 50.0% (13)

Caffeine (coffee, tea, etc.) 4.0% (1) 40.0% (10) 56.0% (15)

Low alcoholic beverages 8.0% (2) 76.0% (19) 12.0% (3)

(beer/wine)

High alcoholic beverages 68.0% (17) 28.0% (7) 0.0% (0)

(shots/mixed drinks)

Anti-inflammatories 20.0% (4) 68.0% (17) 12.0% (3)

(Advil, Motrin, etc.)

Electrolyte replacement pills 54.2% (13) 8.3% (2) 37.5% (9)

Fast-food or take out 54.2% (13) 41.7% (10) 4.2% (1)

Restaurant food 4.0% (1) 88.0% (22) 8.0% (2)

Home cooking 0.0% (0) 7.7% (2) 92.3% (24)

22. Do you eat to train and race? Or, do you train and race so you can eat what you want? (27 answered)

51.9% (14) I eat to train and race better.

48.1% (13) I train and race so I can eat what I want.

23. Night before an important race: Do you eat a certain food, food category or supplement the day before an important race? If so, please explain. (25 answered)

Only one of the twenty-five respondents said that they didn’t eat anything special the night (or 2-3 nights) before an important race. The other twenty-four respondents to the triathlete foodways survey mentioned eating special foods such as these: high carbohydrate foods or “carbs” such as pasta, rice, potatoes and moderate amounts of foods that are not spicy and are easy to digest. My triathlete informants told me that they try to eat the same foods before a race so as to better their chances for a good race.

24. Race morning: What do you normally ingest before an important race? How long before the race? (23 answered)

Typical “Race Morning” foods eaten by triathletes were: energy bars, bananas, oatmeal, Gatorade, water, bagels, peanut butter and honey (or jelly) sandwiches. The triathletes were pretty precise not only what food was eaten, but the quantities eaten and the period of time they ate before the race start. A typical response was this one: “1/2 banana, 1/2 energy bar; coffee; energy drink. 2-3 hours before; energy drink right before race.”

25. During a race: What do you normally consume while racing? (23 answered)

The triathletes’ “During Racing” foods most commonly mentioned were packaged carbhohydrate supplements such as energy gels, energy beverages and energy bars such as PowerBar. A typical response was this one: “I keep hydrated with Cytomax and water. Half Ironman=12 gels, Ironman=12 gels, Half Marathon=4 gels. I take a couple of PowerBars on the bike for the half and full Ironman. Ironman I always take a couple of Hostess fruit pies and a package of fig Newtons.”

26. Celebrating after a race: What do you normally consume the evening after you finish an important race? Is it different than your pre-race diet? Explain please. (18 answered)

The triathletes I surveyed wrote responses such as these:

· “anything/everything and beer”

· “love burritos and margaritas!”

· “French fries, burger, salty foods. Wine or beer. Treat foods.”

· “whatever I'm craving at the time, frequently something full of fat and salt (like pizza) after a long race.”

· “A big fat steak!”

27. Please name some "bad foods". For example what foods and/or beverages are bad for you and may hinder you achieving your athletic, health or philosophical goals if consumed too often? (24 answered)

Representative responses of “bad foods” for triathletes:

“simple carbs, alcohol, processed food”
“Alcohol, preservative laden foods, ice cream”
“fried foods, lots of meat, lots of alcohol, soda!”
“CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, SUGARS, STARCH”
“anything with fake sugars desserts fast food of any kind”

28. Please name some "good foods". For example what foods and/or beverages are good for you and may help you achieve your athletic, health and philosophical goals? (24 answered)

Representative responses of “good foods” for triathletes:

“carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar.”
“I find whole foods are best and I also try and avoid a lot of dairy …”

“high carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar”.
“fruit and vegetables and juices. Yams/sweet potatoes for high carb content.”
“WHOLE GRAIN BREAD, BANANAS, PASTA”

END OF FOODWAYS OF TRIATHLETES SURVEY

Appendix B: Foodways Survey for Marathon Runners (n=117)

1. How many marathons or ultras (races over 26.2 miles) have you finished? (117 answered)

6.8% (8) None yet (training for my first!)

5.1% (6) 1

15.4% (18) 2-4

22.2% (26) 5-10

22.2% (26) 11-20

18.8% (22) 21-50

4.3% (5) 51-100

5.1% (6) 100+

2. Based on your training and racing, what would you call yourself if asked?

(117 answered)

20.5 % (24) Marathon runner

43.6% (51) Ultra runner (runs distances longer than the 26.2 mile marathon)

23.9% (28) Runner

3.4% (4) Formerly competitive runner

6.8% (8) An athletic person

1.8% (2) Other

3. Most of the time I train for, and sometimes race in, marathons primarily for (choose best answer) (115 answered)

98.3 % (113) self-improvement

1.7% (2) to help others (wish to support my team, work, country, family, charity or group)

4. Many of my current friends are runners. (117 answered)

79.5% (93) True

20.5% (24) False

5. Age (114 answered)

0.0% (0) Under 20

8.8% (10) 20-29

27.2% (31) 30-39

32.5% (37) 40-49

23.7% (27) 50-59

6.1% (7) 60-69

0.9% (1) 70-79

0.9% (1) 80+

6. Gender (113 answered)

52.2% (59) Male

47.8% (54) Female

7. An athletic, lean and tanned body is essential for achieving my goals and mirrors my values. (113 answered)

33.6% (38) True

66.4% (75) False

8. What do you do for a living? (111 answered)

5.4% (6) Student

8.1% (9) Retired

5.4% (6) Caregiver or homemaker

(of your own children or elderly parents)

81.1% (94) Work or profession (fill in below)

55% of those who work were professionals such as attorneys, accountants, scientists, teachers, physicians, engineers, writers, and managers.

8. Annual Household Income (110 answered)

10.9% (12) 0-$40,000

32.7% (36) $40,000-$80,000

21.8% (24) $80,000-$120,000

20.0% (22) $120,000-$160,000

8.2% (9) $160,000-$200,000

3.6% (4) $200,000-$240,000

2.7% (3) $240,000 +

56% of the runners had a household income of $80, 000+

35% of the runners had a household income of $120,000+

10. Highest level of education (115 answered)

1.7% (2) High School

10.4% (12) AA or some college

37.4% (43) Bachelor’s degree

11.3% (13) Some graduate study or certification

25.2% (29) Master’s degree

5.2% (6) Doctorial in law degree

8.7% (10) Medical doctor, Ph. D, other doctorate degree

92% of the runners held a bachelors degree or higher.

11. Do you train and race on your own or with friends mostly? (112 answered)

51.8% (58) Alone (I train and race mostly on my own)

48.2% (54) Communal (I train and race with friends or family)

12. On a good training day, about how many times do you work out physically? (115 answered)

54.8 (63) 1 time or activity

39.1% (45) 2 times or activities

3.5% (4) 3-4 times or activities

2.6% (3) 5 or more times or activities

13. How many hours per week do you normally physically workout (during race season or when actively training)? (111 answered)

Average: 11.6 hours

Men’s average (57): 11.7 hours

Women’s average (52): 11.5 hours

14. I can improve my race times and/or my performance with scientifically advanced equipment, training research, training aides, or nutrition products. (115 answered)

84.3% (97) True

15.7% (18) False

15. Why do you eat what you eat? For example, what is the most important factor in choosing your food? (111 answered)

34.2% (38) Nutrition, health and/or athletic performance benefit

(Females responded higher: 40%, than males 29%)

21.6% (24) Convenience, ease of preparation or availability (males responded a higher percentage with 31%)

8.1% (9) Low calorie (females responded higher: 14%, than males 4%)

0.9% (1) Low cost

9.9% (11) Habit or tradition

14.4% (16) Fine ingredients and preparation, excellent quality and taste

10.8% (12) Sustainability, organic, and/or animals rights factors

16. Where did did you get most of your current knowledge and beliefs about nutrition? (Check all answers that apply.) (110 answered)

5.5% (6) My parents or other family members

0.9% (1) My religious, spiritual or moral beliefs

7.3% (8) Environmental, sustainability and animal rights information

38.2% (42) Written sports nutrition and scientific research information

25.5% (28) Trial and error

13.6% (15) Word-of-mouth from friends, athletes or coaches

9.1% (10) Other

17. Where do you frequently eat or snack (check all that apply) (111 answered)

86.5% (96) Home

22.5% (25) In the car

3.6% (4) On my bike

26.1% (29) Restaurant/deli/fast-food place

59.5% (66) Work

5.4% (6) Fitness center, park, pool, beach or trail

18. When do you normally eat? Please check each approximate hour that you normally consume calories as a food or a beverage. (111 answered)

0.0% (0) 1 AM 32.4% (36) 1 PM

0.9% (1) 2 AM 18.9% (21) 2 PM

0.0% (0) 3 AM 28.8% (32) 3 PM

1.8% (2) 4 AM 24.3% (27) 4 PM

6.3% (7) 5 AM 16.2% (18) 5 PM

15.3% (17) 6 AM 36.9% (41) 6 PM

47.7% (53) 7 AM 31.5% (35) 7 PM

26.1% (29) 8 AM 28.8% (32) 8 PM

19.8% (22) 9 AM 18.0% (20) 9 PM

33.3% (37) 10 AM 8.1% (9) 10 PM

14.8% (20) 11 AM 2.7% (3) 11 PM

42.3% (47) Noon 2.7% (3) Midnight

19. How often do you eat (consume calories as a food or a beverage)? (109 answered)

4.6% (5) 1-2 times a day

15.6% (17) 3 times a day

23.9% (26) 4 times a day

36.7% (40) 5 times a day

16.5% (18) 7 times a day

2.8% (3) 8 + times a day

20. Do you normally prepare most of your food or do you buy it pre-made or packaged? (110 answered)

68.2 % (75) Make it or eat it un-prepared (raw)

31.8% (35) Buy it prepared or packaged

21. How regularly do you consume the items listed below? (108-110 answered)

Never Sometimes Often

Energy or nutrition bars 15.6% (17) 56.9% (62) 27.5% (30)

Energy or sport drinks 12.8% (14) 37.6% (41) 49.5% (54)

Energy gels 17.3% (19) 37.3% (41) 45.5% (50)

Vitamin/mineral supplements 21.1% (23) 26.6% (29) 52.3% (57)

Caffeine (coffee, tea, etc.) 10.0% (11) 20.9% (23) 69.1% (76)

Low alcoholic beverages 22.7% (25) 53.6% (59) 23.6% (26)

(beer/wine)

High alcoholic beverages 65.7% (71) 31.5% (34) 2.8% (3)

(shots/mixed drinks)

Anti-inflammatories 28.2% (31) 56.4% (63) 15.5% (17)

(Advil, Motrin, etc.)

Electrolyte replacement pills 41.8% (46) 30% (33) 28.2% (31)

Fast-food or take out 42.2% (46) 50.5% (55) 7.3% (8)

Restaurant food 2.7% (3) 81.8% (90) 15.5% (17)

Home cooking 0.0% (0) 23.6% (26) 76.4% (84)

22. Do you eat to train and race? Or, do you train and race so you can eat what you want? (109 answered)

56.0% (61) I eat to train and race better.

44% (48) I train and race so I can eat what I want. (Females responded slightly higher percentage: 45%)

23. Night before an important race: Do you eat a certain food, food category or supplement the day before an important race? If so, please explain. (101 answered)

The percentage of runners who mentioned they eat “carbs”, “carbohydrates” or high complex carbohydrate foods such as pasta, potatoes and rice was 55%.

Only 24% (24) of the runners said that they don’t eat anything special for dinner the night before (or 2-3 nights before) an important race. The majority, 76% (76), of the runners said they do eat special foods before an important race and many of my informants mentioned that they “try to eat the same thing” before a race—to stick to what has worked in the past and to better their chances for a good race.

24. Race morning: What do you normally ingest before an important race? How long before the race? (103 answered)

The most commonly mentioned foods for breakfast on race day morning were: bagel, banana, oatmeal, PBJ sandwich, energy bar and toast. Most common beverages were: water, coffee and an energy drink. These foods were consumed generally 1 ½ to 2 hours before race start. Triathletes usually said they tried to “eat the same thing” before an important race.

25. During a race: What do you normally consume while racing? (104 answered)

For shorter distances such as marathons, energy gels were most commonly eaten while running. For longer distances such as ultras, foods most commonly consumed while running were less processed: baked potatoes with salt, cookies, gels, bananas, jelly beans, oranges, grilled cheese sandwiches, gummy bears, pretzels, electrolyte pills and Fig Newton’s.

26. Celebrating after a race: What do you normally consume the evening after you finish an important race? Is it different than your pre-race diet? Explain please. (102 answered)

· “… ice cold Sierra Nevada beer, big salad, maybe even some nachos. Mostly salty cravings and fat cravings”

· “very much so, often I will eat a very large, fatty, high protein dinner, like a gigantic cheeseburger, or fried chicken.”

· “1 or 2 beers, some sort of red meat. This is very different from my normal diet which is primarily vegetarian.”

· “Beer and Mexican food. Spicy.”

· “BEER OR MARGARITAS... BECAUSE I CAN!!!”

Representative “bad foods” according to surveyed marathon runners are:

“French fries, alcohol, sweets”
“Anything that takes a while to digest or impedes digestion. I tend to avoid: meat, friend foods, especially fried meat, cheese, anything ‘heavy’”
“Liquor, fast foods, red meat, salt, processed foods”
“Too much fat”
“Processed foods tell me ‘evil’. Although I used soda in ultras, just consuming them (my big vice) is not good at all. Dairy products…Eating too much puts on fat. Take out food. Coffee…”

28. Please name some "good foods". For example what foods and/or beverages are good for you and may help you achieve your athletic, health and philosophical goals? (104 answered)

Representative “good food” according to surveyed marathon runners are:

· “lean protein sources, wild salmon, grass-fed beef, veggies, fruits, nuts, fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, protein supplements, maltdextrin for recovery.”

· “whole grains, fruits & veg[ie]s”

· “skim milk, yogurt, whey protein, bananas, apples, berries, oatmeal, lots of broccoli, olive oil, chicken breast, salmon, … wheat breads. Water”

· “Chicken, fruits, oatmeal, salads, beans, pasta, seltzer water! … fresh, stuff that is lower in fat content, stuff that will fill me but not fatten me…”

END OF FOODWAYS OF MARATHON RUNNERS SURVEY

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Bibliography

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2006 “The Best Food For Runners”, Runner’s World, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--10200-2-1X2X3X4X6X7-7,00.html

Applegate, Liz

2008 “Liquid Diet,” Runner’s World, June 9, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302--12702-0,00.html

Atkinson, M.

2008 “Triathlon Suffering and Exciting Significance,” Leisure Studies, April, Vol. 27, No.2, pp.165-180.

Blanchard, Kendall

1995 Anthropology of Sport: An Introduction, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp.31-224

Bourdieu, Pierre

1984 Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp.200-230

Burke, Louise M., Gregoire Millet and Mark A. Tarnopolsky.

2007 “Nutrition for distance events, “ Journal of Sports Sciences, Dec. 15, 25, Vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 281-300.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, p.77

Brownell, Susan

2000 “Why Should an Anthropologist Study Sports in China?” Games, Sports, and Cultures, New York, NY: Berg

Douglas, Mary

1975 “Deciphering a Meal,” Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology, 2^nd Ed.,, New York, NY: Rutledge Classics

Fishpool, Sean

2002 Beginner’s Guide to Long Distance Running, Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., pp.30-31

Fitsgerald, Matt

2006 Performance Nutrition for Runners, Boston, MA: Rodale Press, pp. 1-151.

Giulianotti, Richard

2005 Sport: A Critical Sociology, Malden, MA: Polity Press, pp. 4-165

Goody, Jack

1982 Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 119-190

Hab, Mark D.

2008 “Sports Nutrition: Energy Metabolism and Exercise,” JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, [J. Am. Med. Assoc.]. Vol. 299, no. 19, pp. 2330-2331.

Larkin, Duncan

2007 “Interview with Scott Jurek”, Elite Running, February 22, retrieved on October 13, 2008, from http://www.eliterunning.com/features/54/

Leslie, Charles

2001 “Backing into the Future,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol.15,No.4,

Maughan, Ronald J., and Louise M. Burke

2002 Sports Nutrition: Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, Inc.

Mintz, Sidney W.

1985 Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Prebish, Charles S.

1993 Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

2004, Research Digest, Series 5, No. 1, retrieved on October 12, 2008, from http://www.fitness.gov/Reading_Room/Digests/Digest-March2004.pdf

Runner’s World

2008 “Media Kit: Demographic Profile, Runner’s World, retrieved on November 26, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/mediakit/rw/audience/demos.html

Ryan, Monique

2007 Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes, Boulder, CO: Velo Press.

Scott, Dave

2008 “Nutritional Fueling for an Ironman, “ Active.com, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://ironman.active.com/page/Nutritional_Fueling_for_an_Ironman.htm

Triathlete Magazine

2008 “Print Media Kit”, Triathlete Magazine, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://www.triathletemag.com/Assets/2008PrintMediaKit.pdf

Triandis, Harry C.

1995 Individualism and Collectivism, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 14-80.

Turner, Victor W.

1964 Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage. In Magic Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, Seventh Edition, Pamela A. Moro, Arthur C. Lehmann, James E. Myers, eds. Pps: 91-100. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

2005 “Nutritional Goals for USDA Daily Food Intake Patterns: Goal for Macronutrients”, Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, retrieved on September 27, 2008, from http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/HTML/D1_Tables.htm

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Food As Fuel: How Triathletes and Marathoners Eat in Between Work and Working Out

2012-01-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

This article is Part II of my research paper on the eating habits of 141 triathletes and marathoners I surveyed in the Fall 2008 during my first year of graduate school in anthropology. At that time I was still new to the various theoretical perspectives in anthropology and was figuring out myself how best to explain why people do what they do.

Like any interpretation of behavior, my survey results are contextual of a particular place and time with biases per the questions I asked and the perspectives of myself and my respondents. That being said, trying to figure out "why people do what they do" is not only interesting to me, but it has obvious practical applications for public health initiatives and amateur-athlete targeting consumer and media companies. From altruistic societal goals such as changing consumer behavior to more healthful and environmentally sustainable dietary norms and to more profit-driven motives, figuring out why people do what they do has many practical applications.

My initial interest in the sport sub-cultures of triathlon and marathon running came from participating in both of these endurance sports as a competitive age-group winning athlete when I was in my twenties. I have watched both the triathlon and marathon cultures evolve from being comprised of mostly elite athletes and even counter-culture individuals who made up dedicated "core" groups of participants with their own evolving rituals, membership restrictions and "odd" habits to a more conventionalized, mainstream and commoditized sport cultures which welcome new members by mass-marketing the benefits of participation ("lose weight!" "Be an Ironman!") to anyone with the desire, leisure time and financial capital to become a member.

The eating habits of my sample of triathletes and marathon runners generally followed the working and break hours of an 8-to-5 office culture with the demands of training one to two workouts a day. Food consumed during the day was usually taken as regular snacks or a quick meal in between working and working out until the, generally, larger and main evening meal. Or, in other words, eating food was less about the sensual (as in tasting, smelling, etc.) and social bonding aspects of a communal meal and more about the utility of food to serve as a fuel.

What follows is what my respondents said via their survey answers about what they ate, when they eat (lunch was rarely at noon), and how much they ate. Finally, I end this report with a symbolic interpretation of the survey results about what consists of a “perfect” meal according my surveyed triathletes or marathoners.

Methodology

I surveyed 108 marathon and ultra runners of two local running clubs and 33 triathlete members of a local triathlon club. In addition to the online surveys, I interviewed several race participants about their food ways at the Carpinteria Triathlon, September 28, 2008 and Santa Clarita Half-Marathon and Marathon races, November 2, 2008.

My sample of respondents was purely convenience based: they were athletes and their friends who I met at the local running and triathlon clubs I joined and followers of my "MultisportMama" Twitter account and this blog. However, they represent “typical” triathletes and marathon runners per the demographic information from online media kits for Triathlete and Runner’s World magazines (Triathlete 2008; Runners World 2008). Their self-reported dietary habits and training practices may not be totally accurate, but it does illustrate the ideal practices and values of these respondents.

Results

Eating Alone and Together: Social bonds and individualism

Each of the triathletes I interviewed told me that he or she usually ate alone during the day and shared a meal with others only in the evening. Eating alone can connote ascetic values, spiritual purity and a social separation from others according to anthropologists (Goody 1982 ). Eating alone rather than with others also reflects the dominant individualist mores in America where the nuclear familial household is the most common kind (Triandis 1995). And, like people who live in other industrialized or urban communities, there is trend towards de-socialized eating habits as snacking has replaced sit-down meals by people who demand convenience due to their busy work schedules and the availability of prepared foods, packaged snacks and "fast" food (Mintz 1985). Sharing a meal with others is symbolic of social ties and is often practiced ritualistically before an important race (in the form of a “Pre-Race Pasta” or “Carbo Loading” dinner) by long-distance triathletes or marathon runners and after a race (such as an organized awards dinner such as at an Ironman Triathlon or at an informal celebratory meal among friends who raced together). The commensality of these meals enforces the social bonds within the group of athletes and friends as they experience a spirit of communitas (a feeling of egalitarianism and connection) with each before a race and celebrating afterwards (Giulanotti 2005:6).

When they eat: Fueling up and recovery

The triathletes and marathon runners I surveyed spaced their meals and food intake around their daily and weekly workouts (Appendix A:12, 13; Appendix B: 12, 13). Many of them reported the foods they have had to “give up” in order to live what French anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu terms the “ascetic exaltation of sobriety and controlled diet” of an upper-middle class lifestyle (Bourdieu 1984: 213). Living a disciplined and ascetic lifestyle and stoically enduring physically arduous endurance training and racing gives legitimacy to their membership within the triathlon community (Atkinson 2008).

Surveyed triathletes and marathon runners generally eat according to their daily training schedule and the professional 8 am to 5 pm work hours (Appendix A: 18, 19; Appendix B: 18, 19). The eating times of triathletes often reflected their multiple daily workouts (Appendix A: 12). About 81% of surveyed marathon and ultra runners ate more often than three times a day (Appendix B: 18). Triathletes seem to eat more often with 92% of surveyed triathletes claiming that they ate more often than three times a day (Appendix A: 18).

“Sports nutrition is a practice as much as a science,” according to Sports Nutrition: Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science (Maughan 2002:140). Triathletes and marathon runners are exhorted by sports nutritionists to eat the same foods as they normally do (in the evening and morning before a race or long workout) before an important race so as to not jeopardize their race outcome (Ryan 2007). Both the triathletes and marathon runners I interviewed and surveyed commonly practice eating these foods as one of their “pre-race rituals” (Appendix A: 23, 24; Appendix B: 23, 24).

Structure of the "Perfect" Triathlete or Marathoner Meal

The traditional British meal, made up of a meat dish plus two side dishes, preferably one a vegetable and the other a starch. The British meal has influenced much of the dominant American food culture according to Anthropologist Mary Douglas (Douglas 1975). According to Douglas, the proper British meal includes an entrée of meat (A) that is accompanied by two side dishes (2B): one that is a starch and the other that is a vegetable. Douglas encodes this meal structure as A+2B (Douglas 1975).

Triathletes and marathon runners seem to have their own “proper meal” structure that is based on the different proportions of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats) and includes carbohydrates of some form (Appendix A: 23; Appendix B: 23). The macronutrient proportions are different if the meal is consumed before a workout (or race) or after. Hence, according to my surveyed respondents their "perfect" meal could be generally denoted by this formula: CHO+xMacro. The letters “CHO” is the sports nutrition chemistry denotation for carbohydrate (Maughan 2002). The denotation ”xMacro” is my own endurance athlete denotation that stands for "x" times the proportions of macronutrients ("Macro") (USDA 2008). According to endurance athlete sports nutritionists, a good meal for a triathlete or marathoner can be either in a solid or beverage form but it must include carbohydrates (Applegate 2008; Fitzpatrick 2006, Ryan 2007). It's interesting that the surveyed triathletes and marathoners categorized food by their macronutrient type and the food's perceived functional attributes to create a physically fit athlete. These functions were perceived to be based on the current sports nutrition and scientific research on exercise physiology in both these sport sub-cultures as well as in the mainstream the health and fitness trend in American culture. Unlike abstaining from eating pork or eating turkey on Thanksgiving, these food habits are perceived to be based on nutrition science (and even use scientific terminology) rather than on religious identity or national or ethnic traditions.

My next post about eating habits of triathletes and marathoners will explore some cultural reasons why they eat this way according to interpretive anthropological theory. The working title for Part III of this series will be something like “Food As Fuel: Why Triathletes and Marathoners Eat So Weird Compared to Non-endurance athletes". Or, something like that.

In the meantime, bon appetit and happy training!

Note: I did not benefit materially from the mention of any of the products or brand names in this post.

Below is a list of the sources cited in my research paper and this blog post. If you are interested in the anthropology of food and material culture, many of the books and papers I cited are classics.

Resources

Applegate, Liz

   2006 “The Best Food For Runners”, Runner’s World, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--10200-2-1X2X3X4X6X7-7,00.html

Applegate, Liz

   2008 “Liquid Diet,” Runner’s World, June 9, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302--12702-0,00.html

Atkinson, M.

   2008 “Triathlon Suffering and Exciting Significance,” Leisure Studies, April, Vol. 27, No.2, pp.165-180.

Blanchard, Kendall

   1995 Anthropology of Sport: An Introduction, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp.31-224

Bourdieu, Pierre

1984 Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp.200-230

Burke, Louise M., Gregoire Millet and Mark A. Tarnopolsky.

2007 “Nutrition for distance events, “ Journal of Sports Sciences, Dec. 15, 25, Vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 281-300.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

   1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, p.77

Brownell, Susan

   2000 “Why Should an Anthropologist Study Sports in China?” Games, Sports, and Cultures, New York, NY: Berg

Douglas, Mary

   1975 “Deciphering a Meal,” Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology, 2nd Ed.,, New York, NY: Rutledge Classics

Fishpool, Sean

   2002 Beginner’s Guide to Long Distance Running, Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., pp.30-31

Fitsgerald, Matt

   2006 Performance Nutrition for Runners, Boston, MA: Rodale Press, pp. 1-151.

Giulianotti, Richard

   2005 Sport: A Critical Sociology, Malden, MA: Polity Press, pp. 4-165

Goody, Jack

   1982 Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 119-190

Hab, Mark D.

   2008 “Sports Nutrition: Energy Metabolism and Exercise,” JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, [J. Am. Med. Assoc.]. Vol. 299, no. 19, pp. 2330-2331.

Larkin, Duncan

   2007 “Interview with Scott Jurek”, Elite Running, February 22, retrieved on October 13, 2008, from http://www.eliterunning.com/features/54/

Leslie, Charles

   2001 “Backing into the Future,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol.15,No.4,

Maughan, Ronald J., and Louise M. Burke

   2002 Sports Nutrition: Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, Inc.

Mintz, Sidney W.

   1985 Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Prebish, Charles S.

   1993 Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

   2004, Research Digest, Series 5, No. 1, retrieved on October 12, 2008, from http://www.fitness.gov/Reading_Room/Digests/Digest-March2004.pdf

Runner’s World

   2008 “Media Kit: Demographic Profile, Runner’s World, retrieved on November 26, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/mediakit/rw/audience/demos.html

Ryan, Monique

   2007 Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes, Boulder, CO: Velo Press.

Scott, Dave

   2008 “Nutritional Fueling for an Ironman, “ Active.com, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://ironman.active.com/page/Nutritional_Fueling_for_an_Ironman.htm

Triathlete Magazine

   2008 “Print Media Kit”, Triathlete Magazine, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://www.triathletemag.com/Assets/2008PrintMediaKit.pdf

Triandis, Harry C.

   1995 Individualism and Collectivism, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 14-80.

Turner, Victor W.

   1964 Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage. In Magic Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, Seventh Edition, Pamela A. Moro, Arthur C. Lehmann, James E. Myers, eds. Pps: 91-100. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

USDA

   2008 “Nutritional Goals for USDA Daily Food Intake Patterns: Goal for Macronutrients”, Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, retrieved on September 27, 2008, from http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/HTML/D1_Tables.htm

Food as Fuel: Food Beliefs of Triathletes & Marathoners

2011-09-04T16:17:00.000-07:00


The post-race party has started

With the current healthy eating food movement extolling the benefits of whole foods, organic foods, slow foods, gluten-free, fat-free, bad-stuff-here-free and 100% natural foods, I thought it was interesting that many endurance athletes–self-described health nuts to the extreme– regularly consumed not only processed foods, but sometimes binged on junk food.

Instead of eating meals and snacks made of local farm fresh ingredients, the marathon runners and triathletes I interviewed in the Fall of 2008 for a graduate research project regularly gulped down processed and packaged convenience foods chock full of artificial ingredients known by name only to food chemists with PhDs. And, forget about sitting down to a home cooked meal served on china with friends or family around the dinner table. Many of the athletes I surveyed frequently ate alone and took their meals in the front seat of a car, under a tree on a running trail or pulled out of their jersey’s back pocket while riding a bicycle. Finally, the competitive triathletes and ultra runners I surveyed didn't even think of a meal in the same way that "normal" people did. Instead of dining on a meal made up of a variety of ingredients found in nature with a glass of wine, they were computing food calories and ideal proportions of macronutrients to optimize their athletic performance and "hydrating". What was going on here?

By looking at the dietary habits of nearly 150 triathletes and marathon runners in my area—what they eat, when they eat, how they eat and their food-related rituals and beliefs—I hoped to discover why competitive endurance athletes are “a little different” when it comes to their eating habits. The following report is an edited down version of a research project I did for a food anthropology class in the Fall of 2008. I edited out most of the social science lingo, methodological details and references to old dead French social theorists to spare you some suffering.

Methodology:

To figure out why many triathletes and marathon runners were preaching, but not necessarily practicing the healthy whole foods/slow food trend, I surveyed 108 marathon and ultra runners of two local running clubs and 33 members of a local competitive triathlon club called Inside Track. In addition to interviews, setting up a "MultisportMama" twitter account (Twitter.com/MultisportMama) and this blog, and online surveys, I did participant-observation by doing training rides and open water swims with the Rincon triathletes and marathon training runs with the Inside Track Runners. I also raced the Carpinteria Triathlon on September 28, 2008 and Santa Clarita Half-Marathon and Marathon on November 2, 2008. This research was very tiring.

My sample of respondents was convenience-based. I found my survey respondents from friends-of-friends, the athletic club memberships and MultisportMama's Twitter followers. However, they did represent “typical” triathletes and marathon runners according to the demographic information from online media kits for Triathlete and Runner’s World magazines (Triathlete 2008; Runners World 2008). I asked my survey respondents to self-report their eating habits while training for and during their last “important” triathlon or marathon race. Their self-reporting may not be totally accurate but I tried to account for that with some of my survey and follow-up survey questions. For example, my eight-time Ironman triathlete and personal trainer friend may not have come clean about his weekend beer and gummy bear consumption. In other words, the results should be taken with a grain of salt.

The eating habits and dietary beliefs of the interviewed athletes seemed to mimic the ideals of sports nutrition within both sport sub-cultures of triathlon and long-distance running. These ideals are represented in sports nutrition articles in both peer-reviewed research journals and popular triathlon and running magazines such as Triathlete, Runner’s World and Marathon and Beyond.

However, this is with the one significant exception: post-race binging. Very often, after a major race, my surveyed endurance athletes threw out everything they knew about performance enhancing nutrition and recovery and did the exact opposite. Basically, it seems that these normally sports nutrition disciplined and solitary eaters found their inner post-finals college party selves and went crazy–dietarily speaking. Many of the triathletes and marathon runners surveyed went on a post-race communal consumption binge: drinking enough beer or margaritas to make a fraternity guy (or sorority girl) wobbly, and happily consuming normally what they considered to be "bad foods" foods such as burgers, French fries, pizza…But I am getting ahead of myself.

Research Results:

The "good foods" and "bad foods" according to triathletes and marathon and ultra runners

“Good foods”

Good foods were described as “healthy”, “nutritious”, “high carbohydrate”, “anti-oxidant”, “fresh”, “whole grain”, “organic”, “non-processed”, “vegetarian” and “raw”. Some of the descriptions they used for good foods seemed to be symbolic of the body image ideals of these sport cultures such as “lean”, “in moderation”, “light”, “low fat” and “whole”.

Believing that they are what they eat, triathletes and marathon runners seem to prefer eating “light”, “low fat” and “whole” foods and thereby would imbue their bodies with those qualities and thus they, in turn, would seem to embody their sport cultures.

Representative examples of “good foods” from surveyed triathletes are:

“carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar.”

“I find whole foods are best and I also try and avoid a lot of dairy …”

“high carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar”.

“fruit and vegetables and juices. Yams/sweet potatoes for high carb content.”

“WHOLE GRAIN BREAD, BANANAS, PASTA”

Representative examples of “good foods” from surveyed marathon and ultra runners are:

“lean protein sources, wild salmon, grass-fed beef, veggies, fruits, nuts, fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, protein supplements, maltdextrin for recovery.”

“whole grains, fruits & veg[ie]s”

“skim milk, yogurt, whey protein, bananas, apples, berries, oatmeal, lots of broccoli, olive oil, chicken breast, salmon, … wheat breads. Water”

“Chicken, fruits, oatmeal, salads, beans, pasta, seltzer water! … fresh, stuff that is lower in fat content, stuff that will fill me but not fatten me…”

“Bad foods”

Bad foods were described as the very qualities triathletes and marathon runners eschew with their active life styles. Symbolic of these “bad foods” qualities are their negative descriptors such as “fake”, “processed”, “high fat”, “fried” (“fried” is also a slang term for “tired”—a state these athletes try avoid when training and racing), “preserved,” “fat” (race times are slower generally the heavier one is), “heavy,” “artificial” and “junk” (term for over-training without a specific performance goal is called “doing junk miles” in the lingo of both of these sport cultures).

The categories of foods are based on their functional role of health and athletic performance enhancement. These functions are based on what many of the athletes believe is scientific research on exercise physiology and sports nutrition as well as the health and fitness trend in American culture. This is a significant departure from food choices based on religious beliefs, flavor and family customs or traditions.

These “bad foods” generally mirrored the same foods categorized as “bad” in the American media lately. Foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, MSG, too much salt, and trans fats are “bad”. These athletes usually consider fried foods and “drug foods” such as coffee, alcohol and refined sugar are as “bad”. Also, considered “bad” are red meat, processed foods, fast foods.

Representative “bad foods” from surveyed triathletes are:

“simple carbs, alcohol, processed food”

“Alcohol, preservative laden foods, ice cream”

“fried foods, lots of meat, lots of alcohol, soda!”

“CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, SUGARS, STARCH”

“anything with fake sugars desserts fast food of any kind”

Representative “bad foods” from surveyed marathon and ultra runners are:

“French fries, alcohol, sweets”

“Anything that takes a while to digest or impedes digestion. I tend to avoid: meat, friend foods, especially fried meat, cheese, anything ‘heavy’”

“Liquor, fast foods, red meat, salt, processed foods”

“Too much fat”

“Processed foods tell me ‘evil’. Although I used soda in ultras, just consuming them (my big vice) is not good at all. Dairy products…Eating too much puts on fat. Take out food. Coffee…”

Post-race celebrations: Reversal of food categories

Something interesting happens to the endurance athletes’ categories of “good foods” and “bad foods” after they finish an important race. At many a post-race awards dinner or party the categories of good and bad foods seem to get reversed. What is normally a “bad food” is now a “reward” or a “treat” and consumed with gusto. Once these athletes cross the finish line many of them seem to ignore their food prohibitions and, basically, go nuts. Post-race celebrations seem to function as a rite of reversal (a socially acceptable way to blow off steam) for triathletes and marathon runners who normally abide by their strict dietary and training regimes each day (Turner 1964). Many triathletes and runners stay up late after they finish a race (or try to anyway) and celebrate in an un-characteristicly hedonistic fashion over-indulging in normally forbidden and unhealthy or "bad" foods, beverages and other activities... By purposely breaking their dietary rules in a post-race ritual of (food and lifestyle rules) reversal, they are reinforcing their fealty to these rules. Or, in other words, like your writing teacher taught you in high school or college, you have to know the rules, before you can break them.

Some representative "broken rule" responses of what triathletes said they ate after they raced on race day include a lot of "bad foods":

“anything/everything and beer”

“love burritos and margaritas!”

“French fries, burger, salty foods. Wine or beer. Treat foods.”

“whatever I'm craving at the time, frequently something full of fat and salt (like pizza) after a long race.”

“A big fat steak!”

The marathon and ultra runners I surveyed had similar food category reversals. Here are some of them:

“… ice cold Sierra Nevada beer, big salad, maybe even some nachos. Mostly salty cravings and fat cravings”

“very much so, often I will eat a very large, fatty, high protein dinner, like a gigantic cheeseburger, or fried chicken.”

“1 or 2 beers, some sort of red meat. This is very different from my normal diet which is primarily vegetarian.”

“Beer and Mexican food. Spicy.”

“BEER OR MARGARITAS... BECAUSE I CAN!!!”

I like to think of these crazy post-race binges of triathletes and marathon runners as their to equivalent of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Competitive triathlete women, normally never seen by their training mates in anything other than lycra with their hair bound up in a pony tail, are dancing in high heals (or barefoot) in some kind of feminine dressy thing, hair flying free and beads optional...and eating anything and going for the cold beer and nachos. Post marathon race men, usually decked out in some form of sweaty running shoe, tank and shorts ensemble, are showered up and jeans clad at a hotel bar chowing down ice cream and pie, after re-hydrating with a chilled bottles of their favorite beer and, maybe, tequila shots. Normally devout and disciplined, once a year (or on this case after a milestone race), the triathlon and marathon faithful relax and party like it's 1999.

Life is full of contradictions isn’t it?

In about a month I will publish Part II: “Food As Fuel: Eating Habits of Triathletes and Marathon Runners: How They Fit Food in Between Work and Working Out” of my research. This will include what triathletes and marathon and ultra runners to told me about their mealtimes: how many meals a day (usually more than three), when they eat (lunch is rarely at noon), how much they eat and the structure of a “perfect” endurance athlete meal.

Following that post, will be Part III: “Food As Fuel: Why Triathletes and Marathoners Eat so Weird According to Old Dead French Social Theorists”. That’s my working title for Part III for now anyway.

In the meantime, here are some healthy un-processed meal ideas from Opra Winfrey's ex-chef and marathon runner Art Smith in the October issue of Runner's World:

Comfort Fuel (Runners World, October 2011)

Happy trails and, if you just finished a race, "Cheers!"

Note: I don't benefit from mentioning or linking to any products or brand names mentioned in this post.

Resources

Applegate, Liz

2006 “The Best Food For Runners”, Runner’s World, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--10200-2-1X2X3X4X6X7-7,00.html

Applegate, Liz

2008 “Liquid Diet,” Runner’s World, June 9, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302--12702-0,00.html

Atkinson, M.

2008 “Triathlon Suffering and Exciting Significance,” Leisure Studies, April, Vol. 27, No.2, pp.165-180.

Blanchard, Kendall

1995 Anthropology of Sport: An Introduction, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp.31-224

Bourdieu, Pierre

1984 Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp.200-230

Burke, Louise M., Gregoire Millet and Mark A. Tarnopolsky.

2007 “Nutrition for distance events, “ Journal of Sports Sciences, Dec. 15, 25, Vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 281-300.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, p.77

Brownell, Susan

2000 “Why Should an Anthropologist Study Sports in China?” Games, Sports, and Cultures, New York, NY: Berg

Douglas, Mary

1975 “Deciphering a Meal,” Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology, 2^nd Ed.,, New York, NY: Rutledge Classics

Fishpool, Sean

2002 Beginner’s Guide to Long Distance Running, Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., pp.30-31

Fitsgerald, Matt

2006 Performance Nutrition for Runners, Boston, MA: Rodale Press, pp. 1-151.

Giulianotti, Richard

2005 Sport: A Critical Sociology, Malden, MA: Polity Press, pp. 4-165

Goody, Jack

1982 Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 119-190

Hab, Mark D.

2008 “Sports Nutrition: Energy Metabolism and Exercise,” JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, [J. Am. Med. Assoc.]. Vol. 299, no. 19, pp. 2330-2331.

Larkin, Duncan

2007 “Interview with Scott Jurek”, Elite Running, February 22, retrieved on October 13, 2008, from http://www.eliterunning.com/features/54/

Leslie, Charles

2001 “Backing into the Future,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol.15,No.4,

Maughan, Ronald J., and Louise M. Burke

2002 Sports Nutrition: Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, Inc.

Mintz, Sidney W.

1985 Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Prebish, Charles S.

1993 Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

2004, Research Digest, Series 5, No. 1, retrieved on October 12, 2008, from http://www.fitness.gov/Reading_Room/Digests/Digest-March2004.pdf

Runner’s World

2008 “Media Kit: Demographic Profile, Runner’s World, retrieved on November 26, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/mediakit/rw/audience/demos.html

Ryan, Monique

2007 Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes, Boulder, CO: Velo Press.

Scott, Dave

2008 “Nutritional Fueling for an Ironman, “ Active.com, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://ironman.active.com/page/Nutritional_Fueling_for_an_Ironman.htm

Triathlete Magazine

2008 “Print Media Kit”, Triathlete Magazine, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://www.triathletemag.com/Assets/2008PrintMediaKit.pdf

Triandis, Harry C.

1995 Individualism and Collectivism, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 14-80.

Turner, Victor W.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA's MyPlate Challenge: How do we get enough time to eat healthy?

2011-08-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

I like to eat about as much as I like to workout so, you could say, food and foodways (the study of the norms and traditions of eating and meal taking) really interest me. This is not just because I'm a nerdy anthropology graduate student, but it's also because I'm a parent of two school-age kids and the primary "food production specialist" in our household (e.g. I do the cooking). Since I work and workout nearly everyday, I don't have a lot of "extra" time to prepare the family meals from scratch. When I worked full-time at a local company, I had even less.

In June of this year, the USDA replaced it's MyPyramid icon on healthy nutrition with a strikingly better icon based on a dinner plate called MyPlate according to an informative and well-written article on GoodGuide.com. The MyPlate icon, using the familiar symbol of a dinner plate, is a such better way to explain nutritious proportions of macronutrients to kids and adults than the previous symbol that I wonder that they didn't think of it before.

With MyPlate (see graphic on the left) it's easy to visualize that 50% of a meal should be veggies and fruits, 25% protein and so on. The icon of the glass of milk I don't agree with as there are better sources of calcium than dairy, but I figure the folks at the USDA had to give in on something to appease dairy industry lobby. What is noteworthy is that "Grains" are no longer the staple macronutrient. They are no longer the base of the traditional food pyramid, so to speak. For most Americans, this nutritious diet plan will be easy to understand but difficult to employ.

The hard part of the MyPlate nutrition plan will be getting the time to cook healthier meals in our industrialized, dual-earner-families-are-the-norm culture where more often than not, families are eating out. In the United States “restaurant bills account for 48 percent of spending on food” in 2008 according to National Restaurant Association (Bunker 2009).

How will we translate the healthy precepts of MyPlate's nutrition recommendations into a practical plan for the typical busy professional who doesn't have the time to cook every meal from scratch and relies on prepared or fast-foods?

“Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (and another four minutes cleaning up),” according to nutritious food advocate and professor of journalism Michael Pollen (Pollan 2009). That is less than half the time spent cooking and cleaning up forty years ago (Pollan 2009).

Obesity rates are inversely correlated with the amount of time spent on food preparation according to a cross-cultural study led by Harvard economist David Cutler in 2003 (Pollan 2009). Some people guess this has to do with women entering the work force in the United States. However, food preparation time has also declined in households with stay at-home wives due to the increased availability of convenience foods (Pollan 2009). In the industrial economy, affordable fast food outlets provide calories for busy working people who don’t have enough time to prepare meals at home from scratch. Processed convenience foods are marketed to women, the traditional home meal specialists, as emancipatory.

What we will need is a huge cultural and economic shift towards restaurants and markets selling healthier prepared meals with a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. We can market the dietary shift to Americans as emancipatory and healthy.

All civilizations have been based on surpluses of grains or starches. Even the ancient civilizations such as the Mesopotamia, Maya, Chinese, Yoruba, and Inca relied on either a surplus of wheat, cassava, rice or corn to feed the masses as well as to provide wealth to finance for their civilization's growth (Trigger 2003). The United States, socially and economically, is no exception. “Grain is the closest thing in nature to an industrial commodity: storable, portable, fungible, ever the same today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow,” says journalist and food activist Michael Pollen. He adds that, “Since it can be accumulated and traded, grain is a form of wealth…throughout history governments have encouraged their farmers to grow more than enough grain… (Pollen 2006:201).” It's no accident that most fast food and packaged snack foods are based on corn, wheat, and rice. These grains are the foundation of many an American's diet and are also government subsidized, inexpensive (e.g. highly profitable for food manufacturers). They are also the pillars of our economy as well as our diet.

But it is these pillars that are also making us sick. The cheap processed grain-based foods are contributing to the epidemic of chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, some say cancer from processed grain-based foods) and the epidemic of obesity in this country.

“Chronic diseases—such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes—are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Chronic diseases account for 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (Centers for Disease Control 2009). Today, heart disease is leading killer worldwide but was rare in ancient societies other than in the very elite upper classes who had access to high sodium preserved foods, more sweets and more calories in general (Winslow 2009:A5). As the most lethal chronic disease, some believe it is an unavoidable consequence of the modern diet.

Happy Meal Makeover: First Lady Michelle Obama praised McDonald's reduction of fries (from 2.2 oz to 1.1 oz) and the addition of a side of fruit in their iconic Happy Meals as "first steps."on the Obama Foodorama blog. The First Lady has been advocating for more healthful foods served to children in restaurants in her Let's Move! campaign to end childhood obesity. The USDA tries to tackle the junk food preference of many children with their "Ten Tips Nutrition Education Series.

I hope these initiatives work but it will take time for both kids and their parents, raised on french fries and junk food, to develop a taste for more veggies, fruit and other healthier choices. Food gurus such as English chef Jamie Oliver realize how difficult it is to change culturally bound eating habits on both sides of the Atlantic. He is trying to get American kids to eat a healthier diet that will make them smarter and more slender by taking on the food lobby controlled lunches in the American school system in his television show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (Gordinier 2011).

Our biggest hurdle to clear towards healthier eating in this country will be more than just educating people on nutrition and getting nutrition information posted in fast food restaurants. It will making nutritious foods available to Americans more cheaply, already prepared and available virtually everywhere. Especially since so many meals are eaten in the front seat of a car these days.

We may need another icon for that campaign. MyBag anyone?

.....................................................................................................

Cited Non-Linked Resources:

Bunker, Katie (2009) “ On the Menu: Nutrition Facts May Be coming Soon to A Restaurant Near You,” Diabetes Forecast, Pp. 72-75.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) “Chronic Disease Prevention and Promotion,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site,retrieved on November 24, 2009, from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/

Gordinier, Jeff (2011) "Will Work 4 Food," Outside Magazine, September, pp.66-68.

Pollan, Michael (2006) The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc., Pp. 450.

Pollan, Michael (2009) “Out of the Kitchen, onto the Couch,” New York Times Magazine, August 2, 2009, Pp. 26-47.

Trigger, Bruce (2003) Understanding Early Civilizations, Cambridge University Press, MA, pp.757.

Winslow, Ron (2009) “Curse of Heart Disease Is Found in Mummies,” The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2009, P. A5.

(Almost) Happy Feet: Steps for plantar fasciitis recovery & good shoes

2010-11-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

I still have plantar fasciitis (PF) in my left foot but I'm finally seeing progress again. This is since the disasters earlier this year that have pushed back the healing process. In January I tried running a few miles (2 to 4) per my doctor's okay after having my PF foot immobilized in a cast for a month (in October'09) followed by three months of physical therapy and a cortisone shot (November thru December'09). I ended up with a calcaneal contusion (bone bruise in my heel) and plantar fasciitis all over again. While riding my road bike in May, I got hit by a van and between the road rash, an infected abrasion on my ankle, bashed up hand, and whip lash from hitting the pavement that day, I wasn't able to train or do the PT exercises for about 8 weeks. Argh! So, 2010 will not be my fondest year. After doing core and strength workouts in the gym with an athletic trainer beginning in July and getting the foot treated by running injury specialist chiropractor once a week in mid-October this year, the PF is finally getting better. And, I'm finally starting to much feel better physically and mentally.

If you are suffering from plantar fasciitis, I have a lot of empathy for you. Don't ignore that heel pain! I did two years ago and that is how I got into this situation. I've had to deal with this running injury off and on since December 2008. Finally, it's starting to go away. Here is what is working for me...

Plantar Fasciitis Recovery Steps That Seem to Be Working –Finally:

Sleeping with a Strassburg Sock night splint on my PF foot; By keeping the foot stretched in a dorsaflexed position, it allows the damaged fascia tendons to heal in a stretched position that prevents re-tearing every time my arch flexes down when I walk or run (Earlier this year I wore the Swede-O Thermoskin night splint with good results but had to stop after a bike accident since its thick ankle strap irritated the road rash on my left ankle) - every night
Stretching the Achille's tendon every day (and calves and hamstrings) for 30 seconds each day- 1x/day
Core and strength training (upper and lower body) in the gym to develop better running posture and prevent re-injury - 2x/week
Foot strength training with toe-towel pull and other exercises from recommended by my physical therapists, chiropractor and the book Injury Afoot by Patrick Hafner* - 2x/week
Increasing circulation to damaged fasia tendons to expedite healing and optimal tissue alignment (while breaking up the twisted scar tissue) with deep tissue massage, ultrasound or rolling my foot on tennis ball (followed by 10min ice treatment) - 3-4x/week
Cardio workouts in the pool, on an elliptical machine or on my road bike - 2x/week
Good chiropractic therapy by a sports injury specialist at Wilson Chiropractic Clinic in Ventura. This place was recommended to me by someone who had plantar fasciitis and recovered from it (I don't receive a benefit by mentioning this place and haven't told my chiropractor about this post) - 1x/week
Think positive thoughts (thinking positively lowers one's stress hormone levels which enables healing)
Eat highly nutritious foods: A fresh organic fruit smoothie on most mornings followed by a low-processed carbohydrate diet mostly nutrition-rich whole foods (fruits, vegetables, dairy and nuts) in meals I prepare for my family at home from our local grocery store and CSA farm basket from Ojai
Wear good shoes: I wear my regular shoes with custom orthotics or the anatomically designed comfortable Kuru shoes** or stylish FitFlops (Both of these footwear companies make shoes that come with anatomically supportive arch supports and heel pads, and they are, honestly, the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn.* ) I had to get rid of all my sandals and flip flops that didn't have arch supports.:(

Weekly Workout Time: Those ten steps translate into a half hour to one hour workout per day– about 5 hours a week. That should be do-able for most people. As a busy parent, who is in a graduate program and who works part-time, this is all I have time for now. This is about half to a third of the time I normally would like to workout each week (10 - 15 hours). Wouldn't that be nice.

Motivation: I try to workout first thing in the morning before I take the kids to school. Also, I register each workout on my free DailyMile.com account. Stressing about staying on track with my workouts on dailymile.com is self-motivating and allows me to see progress and trends with workouts the past year.

Full Disclosure:

I promoted several products in this post. For full disclosure, below are the details about my experiences with the two products that I have received free for this review and my relationship each.

*You can find plantar fasciitis recovery and strengthening exercises in the book Injury Afoot: 30 things You Can Do to Relieve Heel Pain and Speed Healing of Plantar Fasciitis by Patrick Hafner. The book is clearly written and features photos of every stretch and strength training exercise recommended by podatrists to recover from plantar fasciits. The author has a degree in kinesiology and has recovered from PF himself. I bought my first copy on Amazon.com and reviewed it earlier this year on a post about minimal shoe and barefoot running. The author Mr. Hafner contacted me after reading my post and offered to send me a free copy. The exercises in the Injury Afoot book worked for me except that I put off wearing good shoes and a custom orthotic the first year. Now, I know better.

**Kuru Shoes sent me a pair of their Halcyon model in October to review on this blog. I wore them at our kids cross-country meets for a few weekends and they are the most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn. They were even more comfortable on my feet than my running shoes with my custom orthotics. I asked a few parent friends what they thought about my free comfy Kurus and here is what they said:

"They look funky...With shoes I don't care what they look like. It's all about comfort for me." ~ Physician and mother of two very speedy little girls on the cross-country team.

"Well, they're earthy looking. I'm not a real earthy person." ~ Local race director and multisport retail store owner

"They're, uh, kind of funny looking. But I like 'em!" ~ Local catering business owner

"You didn't buy those, did you?" ~ Hubby

Oh well, so the particular model they sent me won't be found in a fashion magazine but at least they allow me to walk pain free and are good for my PF recovery.

When recovering from chronic plantar fasciitis (or "plantar fasciosis" as one of the several foot specialists I've seen has called my particular chronic case), the key is doing something every day to help the healing and prevent re-injury. After spending hundreds of dollars on medical care for this running injury, what seems to be finally working is doing basic stuff consistently: Deep tissue work followed by ice treatment, daily stretching, wearing a night splint each night, cross-training and wearing good shoes.

Sadly, I can't walk around barefoot anymore. And running in minimal shoes--at least in the near future-- is out of the question. But I really don't care. I would wear clown shoes if I thought it would help me run again...Really!

Social reproduction of two ex-Ironman triathletes: Why our kids like sports

2010-10-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Our family has fun working out together.

This morning, after the kids and hubby left for school and office, I was thinking what a wonderfully wacky and athletic family we have. Our kids, a 14-year old son and 11-year old daughter, actually wanted to get up at dark-thirty (in multisport terms that means "pre-dawn" which was 5:15 this morning) and hit the gym with their parents. This isn't every morning and usually my son sleeps in until the last possible moment before school or friends or sports drags him away from dreamland. I asked him why he wanted to get up so early. It was still dark! "It would be a fun way to start the day," he said. "The jacuzzi and a swim just sounds so good right now." Similar response from our daughter: she likes to get her workouts "done in the morning." She's been running regularly since last Thanksgiving and she joined the local club cross-country team this Fall.

Our kids think that running and working out every day is normal.

I think that is so cool.

But why do they like sports so much when some of their friends seem to be allergic to sea water, "hate running," and couldn't stay on a skateboard un-assisted for longer a second?

Pierre Bourdieu, a French anthropologist, said the goal of a family, culturally speaking, is "social reproduction". Whether it is our conscious intention or not, our kids repeat our lives in one way or another.

Social reproduction: Praxa and doxa

In An Outline of a Theory of Practice, Bourdieu’s ethnography of the indigenous Kabyle tribesmen of Algeria, Bourdieu explains his materialist (socioeconomic) and post-modern social theories within the context of interpreting Kabyle cultural practices (Bourdieu 1977:vii). In particular, Bourdieu makes a decisive break from his French structuralist predecessors by analyzing the human agency and strategy behind the practices of his Kabyle informants, or, what Bourdieu calls their culture’s assembled practices or praxis. Bourdieu believed that “society is constructed by purposeful, creative agents” who create their culture “through talk and action” (Erickson 2008:187). He believed that a cultural group or a society is united in “systems of relationships" and praxis and that have a natural order or "orthodoxy" that is promoted by the dominant group or authority. He calls this cultural authority, it's doxa (Bourdieu 1977:169).

Our family is a prime example of what happens when two athletic ex-Ironman triathletes have kids.

Our family praxis is based on working out together. There are usually workout clothes and sports equipment somewhere on the floor of our house, water bottles on the kitchen counters, HEED and Cytomax tubs in the cupboards and wet suits and beach towels drying in the tree by the backdoor. We "play" every day. Nearly, every day since they were born our kids have seen Mom and Dad leave the house for a run, swim, bike, surf or do some other physical activity, alone or with friends. By watching us, they've learned that working out is fun and makes them feel good afterwords. With friends, it's like a playdate. Soccer, rugby, swimming, taekwando, running, and junior lifeguards, our kids have been on a competitive team of some kind since kindergarten. When not competing, they are usually doing some sport just for fun like surfing, playing around on their skateboards or riding their bikes around town with their friends. Working out is just part of our family's daily praxis. It is a part of our daily routine like brushing our teeth is in the morning.

Our kids have seen their mother push herself to try qualify for Boston and have their seen their father race the Big Sur Trail Marathon with the flue. (He survived fine thank goodness. We figured he scared the flu right out of him with that run--the old "in-hospitable host" theory of flu recovery). They have also seen their parents go back to school and take entrepreneurial risks so they can be more competitive professionally and happier personally. We have had set-backs, been injured, and have bad days like everyone else, but pushing ourselves physically and mentally is a positive value in our family's doxa.

If all of that sounds too good to be true, I don't blame you for thinking that. But how did we get our kids to join us working out? How did we get them to not rebel against a parental and cultural hegemony that extols a healthy and athletic lifestyle?

They gotta wanna

I think it is, in part, just as Bourdieu said: social reproduction. Our kids are only mirroring what we are doing every day. If they saw us read, compose songs, drink a lot of beer with our friends, or work longer hours instead of working out in the outdoors--they would probably seek and mirror those behaviors instead.

But I also think their choices are due to our high expectations and use of constant positive re-enforcement. We don't make them go running with us because it's healthy, we encourage them because it's fun. We ask them to just give a sport a try for one season, and if they don't like it, they don't have to do it again.

The key is for us to encourage our kids to try new things, to do their best, and to have fun.

Our daughter just started running regularly last year. Before that she really wasn't in to sports. It was our idea when she was younger that she try soccer, Junior Lifeguards, and taekwando. Now, it's her idea to go running and workout at the gym.

Our son got into soccer, taekwando, and running, initially, because it was our idea. Now he runs and plays rugby because it is his idea. We tell our kids, "Just try it for one season. Do your best. If you don't like it, you don't have to do it next year." If they don't like a sport, that's fine. It is important that they know that we are on their side.

It is also about those old fashioned words of parenting that I remember hearing when I grew up: "Just try it," "Don't quit," and "Do your best." With the grueling cross-country races our kids have been enduring lately, our advice has been even more empathetic, "I know it's hotter than hell out here and it sucks. Just do your best." and "Don't listen to that guy. Just do your best." And, most importantly, and simply, "I'm so proud of you."

The key for me is to make sure our kids' main motivation is internal. They have to want to do well to really excel and be true competitors. They have really believe in themselves. As my old Masters swim coach in San Diego used to say, "You gotta wanna." Empathy coupled with high expectations are important values in our family doxa.

Old School

My childhood experience was not particularly athletic. As an admittedly non-athletic artist and family iconoclast who preferred books and horses to bicycles and health clubs, my single-parent mother couldn't relate to my desire to run the trails after school when I was a teenager. Or, to learn surfing, on my own, when I was 19. My mom didn't even know how to swim. But to her credit, she always encouraged me and cheered me on at dozens of cross-country races in high school and drove me to many a 5K and 10K race on the weekends. She allowed me to hang out at the beach, it seemed, nearly every single weekday, during the summer. She even bought me my first triathlon racing bike, a Specialized Allez, when I was in college. I rode that bike all over San Diego country in my twenties and decorated it with my product sponsor's stickers. I heard "I'm so proud of you" a lot from her when it came to racing.

I'm an old school runner and triathlete. When I started racing, it wasn't cool for girls to be a competitive runner. It was unusual. I was the only girl I knew to enter the first Los Angeles Marathon in 1986. My college training buddies were a Phi Delt and a Sigma Chi who were in my advanced running class. I think I was the only girl in that class, too. That first marathon was only two years after the first Olympic woman's marathon ever at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. I did my first triathlon in 1987 as one of the few women in my age group and one of the few people who even knew what a triathlon was it seemed. I taught myself how to swim freestyle in Mission Bay in San Diego – trying to keep up with my roommate who grew up with a pool. Eventually, I found my way to the slow lane and some coaching at a local Swim Masters club in La Jolla. On the bike, I would train Dave Scott-style, usually alone, with a ziplock bag of Fig Newtons, a baked potato or a PB&J, stuffed into a fanny pack for long road rides and a bottle of water. My training pals were usually athletic college students or young people trying to make money in the outdoor sports industry.

It's an endurance sport culture

Nowadays, there are packs of brightly colored and jerseyed road cyclists all over our local highways each weekend morning. Nearly every town has their own running club, triathlon team and local Masters swim program. Most of the multisport athletes, it seems are middle aged professionals. The doxa of American sport culture has changed since the days when I was a kid. Marathons, triathlons, and lately long-distance trail running ("racing ultras") have gone mainstream (Helliker 2010). Today there are about 1.2 million triathletes in the United States, up 51% from 2007, and according to last Sunday's New York Times article, a third of them are men in their 40s (Gardner 2010). A few weeks ago, the Boston marathon sold out in less than eight hours. The proportion of women racing marathons have grown from 10% of the field in 1980 to 41% in 2009 (Running USA 2010). "Marathoning has soared in popularity in the United States. In 1976, 25,000 Americans finished marathons, according to Running USA. Last year, there were a record 467,000 American marathon finishers," according to The Boston Globe on October 18th (Pepin 2010).

Our kids are turning out athletic like us. And, it appears to be national trend. Those wacky multisport events called "triathlons" and long-distance races we did in our younger years are conventional now. "Training for Ironman is the new golf!" an old Ironman training pal and multisport retail shop owner told me the other day, rolling his eyes.

I'm so grateful that both of our kids like doing endurance sports. It has been so fun to workout together--as a family. I'm going to enjoy it as long as it lasts.

_________________________________________________________________________________
Resources

Bourdieu, Pierre, 1977 An Outline of a Theory of Practice, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, Pp.248.

Gardner, Ann Marie 2010 "Triathletes, Swim, Bike and Run for Youth," New York Times, October 24, 2010, R12.

Helliker, Kevin 2010, "Making marathons even tougher," Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2010; Retrieved on October 26, 2010, from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960004575427561884547420.html

Pepin, Matt 2010 "Boston Marathon sells out in a day," The Boston Globe, October 18, 2010; Retrieved on October 26, 2010, from: http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/blog/2010/10/boston_marathon_sells_out_in_a.html

Running USA 2010 "Running USA's Annual Marathon Report," Running USA; Retrieved on October 26, 2010, from: http://www.runningusa.org/node/57770

5 Steps to heal plantar fasciitis (after getting hit by a car)

2010-07-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's been exactly two and a half months since my last blog post about treating plantar fasciitis and it is with great disapointment that I must report that MY HEEL STILL HURTS. And, you know that really sucks and I'm tired of blogging about it and it's not entirely my fault (or my heel's fault) and I wish to God that I could blog about being CURED of plantar fasciitis, instead.

(Sorry about the all-caps words. I just wanted to get my point across that if you are tired about this topic of mine, I am very, very tired of it.

If you are new to plantar fasciitis and are looking for treatments that work, please see my earlier post: "5 Steps to Heal Plantar Fasciitis: Cloud Care from Running Twitter Friends" or go see a physical therapist or athletic trainer who specializes in healing running injuries – or a podiatrist– with good references from runners. If I learned anything from this year of chronic plantar fasciitis pain is that getting a good reference from a runner is key. I didn't a year ago. And, I still have plantar fasciitis.

The reason why I haven't written earlier is two-fold and related:

I got hit by a car while riding my road bike on May 15, 2010
I had to stop doing my "5 Steps to Heal Plantar Fasciitis" after the accident

Because of the accident I have not been able to follow the "5 Steps..." for the past eight months. Before the accident, according to my orthopedic surgeon foot specialist on my last visit in mid-February, I had a calcaneal contusion and still had plantar fasciitis – but it was going away. I was getting better and was advised to keep doing what I was doing and to gradually build up my running mileage from jogging a block, to a mile, to two miles, etc. Two months of doing this, on my first road ride since December, I got hit by a car. :(

However, I believe my "cloud care" steps to get rid of plantar fascitis came from real people who really recovered from plantar fasciitis. I found them at my Twitter account @MultisportMama by posting a tweet: "How did you recover from plantar fasciitis?"

So, that being said, here are the 5 Steps to Heal Plantar Fasciitis that worked for other people*:

Stretch (gastrosoleus/calves/hamstrings): Increase flexibility by daily stretches and by wearing night splint when sleeping

(From the accident I had road rash on my legs and elbow from hitting the pavement and a puncture wound that got infected on my left ankle. That means I could not wear a night splint. Consequently, my arch stiffened up while sleeping and I experienced heel and arch pain with the first foot step out of bed each morning. Sound familiar? The night splint was really helping me keep the fascia loose before the accident.)
Strength train: Heal raises, towel pulling with toes, core workouts, etc

(After the accident I had to stop weight training for about 6 weeks because of my right strained wrist and hand, a wicked cervical (neck) strain from my helmet hitting the pavement, and a strained left shoulder. I couldn't carry anything in my right hand for weeks and, doing push-ups, pull-ups and using free weights were just not possible.)
Increase circulation: Get deep tissue massage, Rolfing, ultrasound in the affected area or by rolling your foot on tennis or golf ball each day

(With a banged up body trying to heal itself, the idea of causing more muscular and tendon pain with deep tissue work seemed like a bad idea the first few weeks after the accident.)
Wear custom orthotics

(Yay! The one thing I could do consistently-- except that week when my foot swelled up with an infection from the heel wound--was wear my new custom othotics. They relieved some of the pressure on my arch but I can honestly, say that used alone without the other four healing methods, didn't work.)
Cross-train: Swim or bike

(My bike was trashed and I'm still waiting for the insurance settlement to get it fixed. With the road rash and a seeping icky infected punture wound on my left heel at that, swimming was out of the question for a while.)

Now, it's eight weeks since the bike accident. I've made an appointment with a podiatrist recommended by a running friend. In the meantime, I will be back at the "5 Steps to Heal Plantar Fasciitis" again (with the exception #1's "wear a night splint" since the abrasion on my heel is still sore and number 5's "bike"). Barring any other ridiculous miss-fortune (with my luck lately, who knows?), I will post a status report on the results of the 5 Steps to Recover from Plantar Fasciitis. Believe me, I'm motivated get running again. :)

QUESTION: How did you recover from plantar fasciitis? Please let me know by posting a comment. I may try it. If it works for me I will happily sing your (or the product or services you used) praises right here. Please, only first person experiences.

Best wishes and health and have a great injury-free summer!

:) A

*The 5 Steps To Heal Plantar Fasciitis methods have been validated by peer-reviewed medical research that I have access to as a graduate student. The latest research suggests increasing flexibility, circulation and using orthotics and anti-inflammatories to help that crummy little fascia tendon heal itself. The medical research and Runner's World running experts also suggest supporting the arch during the healing process. They also recommend s-l-o-w-l-y working up to barefoot or minimalist running if you are injury free. However, with plantar fasciitis, barefoot and minimalist running like a Tarahumara (as mentioned in the book Born to Run by Chris McDougall), running in minimalist shoes like Vibrams and running on the beach are definite no-nos. It puts additional strain on an already strained arch.

Eccentric Exercises for plantar fasciitis & patellar tendonitis (runners knee)

2010-04-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

After six months and hundreds of dollars spent treating my running injury under a conventional doctor's care who proscribed solely the treatments paid for by my insurance company has failed, I'm trying unconventional methods. By "unconventional" I mean therapies that are not paid for by my insurance company.

To find these therapies I crowd sourced therapy advice from runners, cyclists and multisport athletes on Twitter. I coined the term "cloud care" to describe my new medical care system that involves free outcome-oriented advice from injury-recovered athletes. Basically, it's asking people what worked for them. The old "conventional" care system, based in large part on what my doctor figured that my insurance company would pay for, I now like to call "crappy care." I posted the results of my survey on a previous post titled "5 Steps To Heal Plantar Fasciitis".

Since my last post, I've discovered three basic tendon/fascia healing principles:

Increase circulation: Rolfing, deep tissue massage, PRP, and "tennis ball therapy"
Increase flexibility: Stretches specific for the injured tendon/fascia
Increase stress gradually: Stress the injured area to facilitate tissue repair and regrowth

Notice how these principals do not include many of the ones proscribed by crappy care: Cortisone, immobilizing the injured area with a cast, daily intake of ibuprofen and icing. What I'm not saying is that these treatments don't work. They just didn't work for me and they cost me and my insurance company a lot of money. In defense of crappy care: the physical therapy and proscribed flexibility, stability and strength exercises did help my injury recover. However, due to poor management of my case, a stress fracture went undiagnosed and the foot pain became worse at month five of crappy care. Also, I just could not afford more PT after over 20 visits at $40 co-pay each. Below are some links to online sources about some "unconventional" (e.g. not paid for by insurance) therapies that have really worked according to athletes. They are treatments you can do at home for free (with the exception of the deep tissue massage/Rolf Therapy and the PRP therapy).

Cloud Care Healing Therapies for tendon/fascia injuries:

Rolfing–Rolf Integrative Therapy
http://www.rolf.org/about/index.htm
Eccentric exercises and tendonopathy treatment research:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2505250/
Eccentric exercises and stretches that worked for by Sigfús Víkþörðson a cyclist who suffered from patellar tendinitis (runners knee):
http://eccentric-exercises.blogspot.com/2007/12/video-deomonstration-of-eccentric.html
http://eccentric-exercises.blogspot.com/2007/12/importance-of-daily-stretching.html
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) blood therapy to oxygenate fibers with little blood circulation such as tendons, fascia, ligaments to induce faster tissue repair and recovery:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/sports/17blood.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDu_yK6FpCreFsGIVMeNVgYcxEmQD9ESBQI00 (concerns about PRP)
Eccentric exercises (strength training by lengthening muscles/tendons) for plantar fasciitis:
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/rehabilitation-exercises.html (scroll down half the page to "Problem: Plantar Fasciitis...")
Stretches and more strength training with eccentric exercises for plantar fasciitis:
http://www.plantar-fasciitis-treatments.com/exercises.php

Please let me know what works for your tendon injury by making a comment or sending me a tweet @multisportmama. I think more people should know what really works–even if it's not blessed by the insurance companies.

Here's to hitting the trails, roads or courts again soon!

Cheers,
:) A

5 Steps to heal plantar fasciitis: "cloud care" from running Twitter friends

2010-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm still hopping around on one foot. After more than a year of painful plantar fasciitis heel pain in my left foot (since December 2009) and months of not running (since June 2009) and medical care, this cursed injury has still not gone away.

It's hard to have an identity of "Runner" and not be able to run. Having a cheerful and fit ultra runner girl friend who moved in across the street recently just put salt in the would.

Me: "How did your 50K training run go in San Diego last weekend?"
Ms. Ultra Runner: "Oh fine. I'm really not very sore at all. *laughs * It was a tough run though. The wheels came off at about mile 20 but I managed to get it together and finish..."

Dang! I so wanted to be her. Dang! She's so happy and looks so fit...Dang! I want to run again...Dang! Dang! Dang! (Can you tell I'm missing my daily running fix? :/ )

So, out of frustration (and desperation) I looked for some sports injury advice from my @MultisportMama followers on Twitter. Here's their advice in a nutshell:

5 Steps to Get Rid of Plantar Fasciitis That Worked

Stretch (gastrosoleus/calves/hamstrings), wear night splint to take load off foot tendons/fascia
Strength train (heal raises, towel pulling with toes, core workouts, etc)
Increase circulation with deep tissue massage, ultrasound or rolling foot on tennis ball
Wear custom orthotics (I'm waiting for a pair to get finished now)
Swim or bike (Don't run and cross-train instead)

How is that for some open source "cloud care"? It was free. It actually worked for other runners. It's based on first person evidence. It's current (meaning it is not based on some study done 20 years ago or a book). And, there is no financial incentive for them to sell me over-priced products and services that don't work.

To give credit where credit is due, here are some of running Twitter friends who kindly gave me the advice (and agreed to share their tweet names in time for this post):

@boulderrunner
@dogbert10
@rundigger
@SoloRunner
@Wesley_K

Do you remember those $700 toilet seats from back in the 90s? That's how I feel about the insurance-inflated prices for stuff I have in my medical system. The $250 co-pay for the MRI, the $40 co-pay ($150-$212 cost to insurance) for "therapeutic exercises and ultrasound therapy" twice a week, the $20 ($53 cost to insurance) felt heel pad shoe inserts, and waiting 10 weeks for Anthem to approve the MRI so I was getting the wrong kind of treatment for months (getting PT for plantar fasciitis and not a stress fracture). I think our medical system has some inherent conflicts of interest. I mean when my orthopedic surgeon foot specialist is part-owner of the medical and physical therapy clinic providing me with advice, products and physical therapy, it benefits him financially when I buy as much care as my insurance will approve. So, for example, the stress fracture in my heel-- the "calcaneal contusion"--that didn't show up in my X-Ray-- went untreated for three months before the doctor requested an MRI. Then it took 10 more weeks for the MRI to get approved (thanks Anthem). In the meantime I'm continuing with the same regime of physical therapy for plantar fasciitis and asked to walk on my foot--even though I had a stress fracture.

The current medical system is a game based on wrangling profit from the patients by both the care providers and the insurance companies. In this system I only get as much care as my insurance company allows my doctor to proscribe. My doctor only proscribes as much care that the insurance company will approve to pay. That care is not based on needs of my running injury. It's based on what each side can get away with. That is not good outcome-orientated care. That is not good medical care. That is crappy care.

At this stage of the game, I'm sticking with my running Twitter friends' advice (see above). As far as I'm concerned, it's outcome-orientated care devoid from any profit incentive or conflict or interest. I will do another blog post about their collective "5 Tips to Get Ride of Plantar Fasciitis That Worked" in mid-May. It will be a status report on how my new social media/sports injury "cloud care" system is working. If those "5 Tips..." actually worked for me.

Hopefully, by then I won't have to hop on one foot anymore.

Happy Trails!

Illnesses Linked to Industrial Foods, Part III (Discussion & Resources)

2010-02-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

This is Part III, the final part, of my report on the link between chronic illnesses and industrial foods consumption that I researched for a graduate-level class on social evolution taught by an archeologist. My goal was to discover and describe the markers (or in non-archeological terms "physical evidence") that are found in the human body that indicate habitual industrial food consumption. In populations that consume mostly industrial foods, the markers are mostly chronic diseases, dental deformities and some contaminated food borne infections.

Discussion

Today’s global market and industrial economy drives the demand for cheap, calorie-rich but nutrient-poor processed foods. This is not just in the United States. Industrialization has transformed commodity grains such as corn, wheat and rice into “inputs” to create profitable “outputs” through industrial production and globalized commerce all over the world. In the United States, the government promotes the industrial food system with government subsidies, which in turn fosters more surplus grain production and consumption. The unintended consequences of the industrial food system are scary:

1. Industrial foods have taken over most American’s diet and are making people sick

2. The centralized industrial food system is based on an unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels and non-reproducing genetically modified plant species that require annual seed purchases, fertilizers, herbicides and irrigation water to ensure productivity and distribution

3. The industrial food system is resistant to change as it is integrated with the American industrial economy, cultural identity and political structure.

4. The industrial food system does provide enough food for the current U.S. population with 14.6% of American households “food-insecure” in 2008 (USDA 2009).

The industrial food system is integrated in our industrial culture and economy. Mainstream consumers “show little interest in a new food economy that might require them to pay substantially more for food (to cover it’s external costs) or to eat substantially less of something they enjoy (such as meat) (Roberts 2008:272).” The current rise in health care costs due to the epidemics of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease demonstrate this. The structural barriers of the working and middle class “time famine” and lack of access to affordable nutritious foods are other roadblocks to shifting to a sustainable and nutritious food production system (Pollan 2009a).

However, with cultural change and political will, a new food system that is safer and healthier is possible. As the demand for non-industrial foods increase, their availability at affordable prices increase. You can help change the food system by voting with your dollar. If you can't grow or prepare your own foods (most people can't) then support local organic farmers, heritage or non-GMO (non-genetically modified) varieties of plant and animal foods, and humane non-industrial animal husbandry food products. It is up to you. It is only your health...

References

Boserup, Ester

2005 The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change under Population Pressure. Chicago: Aldine, retrieved on October 30, 2009, from: http://www2.truman.edu/~rgraber/cultev/agint.html

Buck, David D.

1975 “Three Han Dynasty Tombs at Ma-Wang-Tui,” World Archeology, Vol. 7, No.1, Burial, June 1975, Pp. 30-45.

Bunker, Katie

2009 “ On the Menu: Nutrition Facts May Be coming Soon to A Restaurant Near You,” Diabetes Forecast, Pp. 72-75.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2009a “Chronic Disease Prevention and Promotion,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site,retrieved on November 24, 2009, from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2009b “Obesity: Halting the Epidemic by Making Health Easier,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site, retrieved on November 24, 2009, from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/AAG/obesity.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2009c “Cancer: Halting the Cancer Burden,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site, retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/dcpc.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2009d “Diabetes: Success and Opportunities for Population-Based Prevention and Control,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site, retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/ddt.htm

CIA Factbook

2009 “United States: Economy,” CIA Factbook, retrieved on October 30, 2009, from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

Diamond, Jared

2005 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, NY: Penguin Group, Pp. 575.

Dowdle, Hillari

2008 “Eat for Change,” Vegetarian Times, April 2008, Pp. 69-73.

Economist

2009 “”A Hill of Beans,” The Economist Magazine, November 28, 2009, P. 94.

Frenzen, Paul D, Alison Drake, Frederick J. Angulo et al

2005 “Economic Cost of Illness Due to Escherichia coli 0157 Infections in the United States,” Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 68, No. 12, Pp. 2623-2630.

Indian Health Service

2009 “Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention: Facts At-a-Glance,” Indian Health Service, retrieved on October 30, 2009, from: http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/Diabetes/index.cfm?module=resourcesFactSheets_AIANs08

Johnson, Allen W. and Timothy Earle

2000 The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging to Agrarian State, Sanford, CA: Sanford University Press, Pp. 440.

Kenner, Robert, dir.

2009 Food, Inc., 93 min. New York, NY: Magnolia Pictures. Retrieved on October 30, 2009, from http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-film.php

Larsen, Clark Spencer

1981 “Skeletal and Dental Adaptations to the Shift to Agriculture on the Georgia Coast,” Current Anthropology, Vol. 22, No. 4 (August ), Pp. 422-423.

Monash University

2009 “Well-educated Women Hardest Hit By Breast Cancer,” ScienceDaily. Retrieved on November 4, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/10/091019122952.htm

Miller, Daphne

2008 The Jungle Effect: The Healthiest Diets from Around the World, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishing, Pp. 370.

Mintz, Sidney W.

1985 Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, New York, NY: Penguin Group, Pp. 274.

Nahban, Gary Paul

2004 Why Some Like it Hot: Food, Genes and Cultural Diversity, Washington, DC: Shearwater Books, Pp. 233

Neel, J.V.

1998 “The ‘thrifty genotype’ in 1998,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Vol. 4, Pp.44-74

Nord, Mark, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson

2009 “Household Food Security in the United States, 2008,” Economic Research Report, No. (ERR-83), U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pp.66. Available online: retrieved on December 5, 2009, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR83/

Pollan, Michael

2006 The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc., Pp. 450.

Pollan, Michael

2008 In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc. Pp. 224.

Pollan, Michael

2009a “Out of the Kitchen, onto the Couch,” New York Times Magazine, August 2, 2009, Pp. 26-47.

Pollan, Michael

2009b “Why Bother,” Food, Inc., Karl Weber, Ed., Philadelphia, PA: Perseus Books Group, Pp. 183-196.

Price, Weston A.

2008 (1939) Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, La Mesa, CA: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Pp. 527.

Rose, Jerome C. and Richard D. Roblee
2009 “Origins of Dental Crowding and Malocclusions: An Anthropological Perspective,” Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry, June 2009, vol. 30., No.5., Pp. 292-300.

Salatin, Joel

2009 “Declare Your Independence,” Food, Inc., Karl Weber, Ed., Philadelphia, PA: Perseus Books Group, Pp. 183-196.

Schollmeyer, Karen Gust and Christy G. turner II

2004 “Dental Caries, Prehistoric Diet, and the Pithouse-to-Pueblo Transition in Southwestern Colorado,” American Antiquity, Vol. 69, No. 3, July, Pp. 569-582.

Schlosser, Eric

2001 Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Pp. 383.

Schlosser, Eric

2009 “Reforming Fast Food Nation,” Food, Inc., Karl Weber, Ed., Philadelphia, PA: Perseus Books Group, Pp. 3-18.

Time Magazine

2009 “The Year In Health,” Time Magazine, December 7, 2009, P. 57.

Trigger, Bruce G.

2003 Understanding Early Civilizations, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, Pp.757.

USDA

2009 “Food Security in the United State”, United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, retrieved on October 30, 2009, from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/Foodsecurity/

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2009 “Hunger Stats,” retrieved on September 1, 2009, from http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

Winslow, Ron

2009 “Curse of Heart Disease Is Found in Mummies,” The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2009, P. A5.

Wroth, Carmel

2009 “Simplifying Supplements,” Ode Magazine, November, Pp. 44-49.

Illnesses Linked to Industrial Foods, Part II ( and health linked to non-industrial foods)

2010-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

This is Part II of my report on the link between chronic illnesses and industrial foods consumption that I researched for a graduate-level class on social evolution taught by an archeologist. My goal was to discover and describe the markers (or in non-archeological terms "physical evidence") that are found in the human body that indicate habitual industrial food consumption. What I found out was that in populations that consume mostly industrial foods, the markers are mostly chronic diseases, dental deformities and a few other pathalogies.

Research Results

“The way we eat has changed more in the last fifty years than in the previous ten thousand,” according to industrialized agriculture expert Eric Schlosser in the documentary Food, Inc. (Kenner 2009). Up until the past 200 years or so, most people lived relatively strenuous lives and subsisted on whole foods they foraged or produced themselves. When there was inadequate food, birth and survival rates either decreased to keep a population in equilibrium with the local ecology’s carrying capacity or there was societal collapse. Nowadays, the United States, the “leading industrial power in the world,” has longer life expectancies, longer daily work hours requiring little physical exertion and more affordable and abundant unhealthy convenience foods. This is resulting in both less access to nutritious foods and healthful physical activity and greater access to calories and unhealthful chemicals and food borne pathogens. Together these factors are making more and more Americans sick.

The United States relies on a fossil fuels-based and centralized food system that is highly resistant to change. Less than 0.6 percent of Americans are involved in producing their own food by farming, forestry/hunting or fishing (CIA Factbook 2009). In the United States where 60 percent of the adult population works in non-physically demanding service jobs, “restaurant bills account for 48 percent of spending on food” in 2008 according to National Restaurant Association (Bunker 2009; CIA Factbook 2009). The industrial diet most Americans eat is characterized by refined flours and food processed for increased profitability, shelf life and convenience instead of nutrition. Much of the industrial diet is “nutritionally worthless” (Pollan 2008:108). These foods often contain high proportions of simple carbohydrates and fat that are “energy rich and nutrient poor” according to Bruce Ames, a nutrition researcher at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California (Wroth 2009).

Self-contained societies devoid of chronic diseases

Self-contained societies that consume solely whole foods that they produce themselves seem to be devoid of chronic diseases, dental crowding and feedlot produced food borne pathogens such as E. coli 0157:H7. Epidemiologists call these communities “cold spots” for these illnesses of their rarity (Miller 2008:17). Medical doctor and nutrition researcher Daphne Miller traveled and documented the cuisines of “cold spots” for chronic diseases and published them in a nutrition self-help book titled The Jungle Effect (Miller 2008). She documented the correlation between diet and health in self-contained societies where chronic diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and breast and colon cancer are rare to non-existent (Miller 2008). Dentist and medical researcher Weston Price found many traditional self-contained societies in the 1920s and 30s, some of them are located in isolated European communities in Switzerland and the Outer Hebrides Islands, that didn’t suffer from chronic diseases and dental problems that were currently endemic in the United States and industrialized Europe (Price 2008). Both researchers documented a link to the diets and these illnesses (as opposed to inherited genetic traits or socioeconomic factors) by tracking the onset of these chronic diseases in genetically and economically identical populations of decedents or relatives who became sicker and exhibited dental problems once acculturated to industrial foods (Miller 2008; Price 2008).

The diets of hunters and gatherers and early agriculturalists reveal dietary markers in the human skeleton and dentition. A Paleoepidemiological study of genetically continuous human remains of Native Americans in Georgia for about 3,500 years (2200 B.C. – A.D. 1150) by Clark Spencer Larsen, of the Southeastern Massachusetts University, shows a decrease in maxillary bone growth and an increase in nutritional stress, infectious diseases and dental caries with the shift from hunting and gathering to corn agriculture (Larsen 1981). Studies of other pre-European contact dentition remains of Native Americans show an increase in the frequency of dental caries with the consumption of “highly-processed stone ground” flour derived from maize (corn) or gathered acorns (Schollmeyer 2004). The presence of dental caries in the teeth of acorn gathering hunters and gathers in California and mandible and dentition bone growth decreases in agriculturalists (that were once hunters and gathers) in Georgia show that dental pathologies stem more from diet than anything else (Larsen 1981; Schollmeyer 2004).

To be continued...

I will post the conclusion of my report at MultisportMama.com in a few days with the cited references. Thank you and I wish you good health.

Illnesses Linked to Industrial Foods, Part I

2010-01-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

Why is it that chronic deseases such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers, dental crowding, and E. coli 0157:H7 infections have been increasing in industrialized countries (Dowdle 2009; Pollan 2008; Schlosser 2001; Wroth 2009)? Have technological advances in medicine and public health resulted in longer life expectancies and more age-related illnesses? Or, are these illnesses somehow linked with the industrialization of societies and industrial food production? Are these chronic illnesses correlated with an increasingly globalized food market that delivers exotic and out of season foods to ethnic groups that have not physiologically adapted to them? Or are these chronic diseases a product of over-population and insufficient food that is nutritious? Are the ever-more densely populated and urbanized industrial societies exceeding their carrying capacities for providing affordable and nutrient rich foods?

This report is from a research project I did in 2009 for a graduate level class called Social Evolution taught by an archaeologist. My goal was to discover and describe the markers (or in non-archeological terms "physical evidence") in the human body that indicate habitual industrial food consumption in populations. What I found out was that in populations that consume mostly industrial foods, the markers were mostly bad.

Chronic diseases, formerly known as “Western diseases” or “modern diseases,” are common industrialized countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and countries in Western Europe. They are common in all populations acculturated to industrialized foods (CDC 2009; Kenner 2009; Pollan 2008; Price 2008; Roberts 2009; Schlosser 2001). In the United States where industrial food production and consumption predominate, chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability. They account for 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year according to the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC 2009). Chronic diseases such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers are believed to be diet-related diseases by medical researchers (CDC 2009). Interestingly, chronic diseases are non-existent to extremely rare in non-industrialized and pre-agricultural societies (Miller 2008; Price 2008). Fossil remains from the Cro-Magnun period “show none of the diet-related chronic diseases that plague us today,” according to Neil Mann, an expert of paleonutrition at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia (Roberts 2008:8). The only evidence of earlier peoples suffering from obesity and heart disease are the upper-class elites in early civilizations such as Ancient Egypt and Han China (Buck 1975; Rose 2009; Winslow 2009).

Human populations all over the world have physiologically adapted to a diversity of diets based on locally available foods and environments. There is no single ancestral diet that is optimal for everyone (Naban 2004:55). Some diets are entirely vegetarian and adapted to local wild and domesticated plants. Other diets are entirely carnivorous and adapted to local sources of animal protein prepared in a traditional manner. Most diets are a combination of both. But what humans have not adapted to, it appears, is the industrial food diet. The industrial diet features a high proportion of calories produced from grains. Grains are commodity foods that are easily produced, traded and stored with commercial profitability as the goal rather than nutritional value (Pollen 2008:10). “Grain is the closest thing in nature to an industrial commodity: storable, portable, fungible, ever the same today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow,” says journalist and food activist Michael Pollen. He adds that, “Since it can be accumulated and traded, grain is a form of wealth…throughout history governments have encouraged their farmers to grow more than enough grain… (Pollen 2007:201).” In response to food surpluses, changes in diet were induced politically by elites to encourage further consumption of wealth-building commodity foods such as sugar and tea in Victorian England (Mintz 1985), corn derivatives such as high fructose corn syrup in modern day America and the consumption of maize in Inka empire (Hastorf 1990).

In fact, the key correlate between the development of early civilizations and the concentration of political power in the hands of a few was their ability to produce, store and control commodity food surpluses. According to anthropologist Bruce Trigger, it was “the upper classes’ ability to ensure that farmers produced substantial agricultural surpluses and that most of these surpluses be at the disposal of a small ruling group” that helped early civilizations develop, and, eventually, what that gave rise to the Industrial Revolution (Trigger 2003: 395).

This report is a review of illnesses linked to the consumption of industrial foods by looking at their prevalence in the populations that consume them. Or, in other words, looking that the dietary markers in populations that consume industrial foods.

The sources of data in this paper include ethnographic research of the diets of both industrial and non-industrial or self-contained societies, where access to industrial foods is limited, and medical and dental studies. Material evidence of food production and dietary markers are from ethnographic and archeological research.

Definition of Terms

Researchers and journalists have used many different terms to categorize processed foods commonly eaten in the United States and chronic non-infectious diseases. To make my explanations more clear about the correlation between chronic illnesses and food produced by the industrial food system I will define my terms.

Industrial foods

Instead of referring to refined and processed foods made from access to cheap commodity grains such as corn, wheat or soy as “fast food,” “modern” foods or “Western” foods as some researchers do, I use a generalized term “industrial foods” because it describes their key differentiating feature: their industrial method of production (Price 2008; Pollan 2008; Schlosser 2001; Weber 2009). Industrial food production is a mechanized system in which “inputs” of capital “in the form of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, machines, fuels, and research” are expected to deliver a predictable income from “outputs” such as grain, meat or processed foods made from them (Roberts 2008:25). The main “hallmarks of the industrial food system,” according to Joel Salatin, a third-generation sustainable farmer in Virginia are these:

· Centralized food production and processing

· Mono-speciation (growing only one species on a piece of land)

· Genetically modified plant species that require artificial fertilizers and herbicides and can not adapt to fluctuations in the environment

· Confined animal feeding operations (also known as feedlots or CAFOs for “centralized agricultural feed operations;” These generate huge concentrations of animal waste and methane –a significant source of green-house gas emissions)

· Chemicals that end in “cide” (Latin for “death) such as herbicides and fungicides

· Ready-to-Eat packaged convenience foods

· Long-distance transportation based on fossil fuels

· Externalized costs that hurt the economy, society, ecology and human health (Salatin 2009:189).

Most of the food consumed in the United States is produced by the industrial food system. “For all intents and purposes, the traditional farm has vanished,” according to journalist and industrial food system expert Paul Roberts in his book The End of Food (Roberts 2008:23).

Self-contained society

A “self-contained society” in this paper means any society that is either not industrialized or is not involved with an industrialized economic system by purchasing or consuming manufactured commodity foods. I use the term “self-contained society” instead of referring to self-contained population that produces it’s own food as a “non-Western” or ”pre-industrial” society as do some researchers (Mintz 1985; Trigger 2003). Self-contained societies are societies that produce their own nutritious food in adequate quantities and in environmentally sustainable ways.

Chronic Diseases

Chronic Illnesses are obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer (CDC 2009a). These are also known as “Western diseases” due to their early prevalence in Western Europe and rarity in non-European or Euro-American societies until the last hundred years (Pollan 2008). It was once believed that only Westerners suffered from chronic diseases until British doctor Denis Burkitt and other Western researchers in the early 20th Century observed that non-Westerners were also suffering from these diseases once they adopted a diet of refined and processed foods (Pollan 2008:91). The diseases seemed to occur with the introduction of sugar, refined flour, and processed “store foods” that contained high concentrations of fat or sodium (Pollan 2008:91). Chronic diseases are also known as “modern diseases” due to their significant increases world wide in the past 50 years (Miller 2008:15).

Illnesses traced to industrial foods

The industrial food system’s over-abundance and centralized production have some unintended consequences. Chronic diseases, food borne illnesses and dental crowding have been linked to the consumption of industrial foods. All three of these have increased significantly in industrial societies where people are acculturated to industrial foods.

Chronic diseases

“Chronic diseases—such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes—are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Chronic diseases account for 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC 2009a). Today, heart disease is leading killer worldwide (Winslow 2009:A5). As the most lethal chronic disease some believe it is an unavoidable consequence of modern times. However, the upper classes in early civilizations such as Ancient Egypt suffered from heart disease, too. A team of archeologists and medical imaging specialists has recently found out that seven of the eight mummies, determined to be older than 45, they examined from the National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, had obvious symptoms of heart disease. The “artherosclerosis looks just like it does in our modern-day patients,” cardiologist Randall Thompson said (Winslow 2009:A5). Today, due to industrial food production, high-calorie and high-sodium diets combined with a sedentary lifestyle, are now the provenance of commoners (Pollen 2008).

“Every year, cancer claims the lives of more than half a million Americans. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (Centers for Disease Control 2009c).

“The United States has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world,” according to food activist Eric Schlosser (Schlosser 2001).” Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. “More than one third of U.S. adults—more than 72 million people—and 16% of U.S. children are obese. Since 1980, obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009b).”

At least “23.6 million people in the United States (7.8% of the total population) have diabetes. Of these, 5.7 million are undiagnosed,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009d). “If current trends continue, 1 in 3 Americans will develop diabetes sometime in their lifetime, and those with diabetes will lose, on average, 10–15 years of life,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,”(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009d).

Food borne illnesses

“Some 5,000 Americans die and 325,000 are hospitalized annually as a result of food contamination.” according to a 2009 news brief about food safety in Time Magazine (Time 2009:57).” Food borne illnesses traced to large-scale factory farms and CAFOs has increased significantly “with some of the biggest recalls in U.S. history occurring in the last few years (Schlosser 2009: 14). E. coli 0157:H7 is a particularly lethal strain of bacteria produced in the gut of a corn fed feedlot cow didn’t exist until 1980 and by 2005, 15 years later, was responsible for 73,000 illnesses and 2,000 hospitalizations (Frenzen 2005; Pollan 2006:82). Centralized meat production has brought new epidemics into the food system from pathogens that didn’t exist before the industrial food system: camphylobacter, lysteria, E. coli, salmonella, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, avian influenza or bird flu (Salatin 2009:188).

Dental crowding

Nearly two-thirds of Americans suffer from some degree of dental crowding or malocclusion caused by insufficient alveolar (tooth arch) bone growth that is related their diet diet (Rose 2009). “In contrast, most of modern society’s ancestors naturally had ideal alignment without malocclusion and their third molars were fully erupted and functioning (Rose 2009).” Recent research on relatives who consume industrial foods and those show don’t indicate that refined foods cause these pathologies and not inherited traits (Rose 2009). Dental researcher Weston Price believed that the increasing incidence of dental crowding and tooth decay that he saw in the 1920s was due to “poor health” caused by the consumption of nutritionally inferior produce grown with artificial fertilizers, factory farmed meat and processed foods made of refined grains and preserved foods (Price 2008:xxiv).

Next week, in Part II of Illnesses Linked to Industrial Foods, I will post several explanations for the increase of chronic disease, dental crowding and E. coli infections in the United States and other industrialized countries. In Part III next week I will post my research results and my references.

Stop running (or not) & lose weight by changing your diet

2010-01-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

I believe that our bodies are adapted to mobility (such as walking or running) and surviving periods of food scarcity. Faced with running each day (or nearly each day), our body's metabolism adapts and slows down becoming more efficient with it's caloric fuel. I have a friend who complained to me that she runs hilly trails every day and she feels chubby. I've experienced the same thing, when training for a marathon, after awhile my weight plateaus and I will actually gain weight if I eat too many junk food carbs.

Science research (and personal experience!) supports that we crave ingredients that are rare in nature: sugar, fat, salt.So after a period of time, running every day and eating carbs with higher-than-found-in-nature levels of sugar, fat and salt may often result in weight gain or at least, no weight loss.

If you cut your carbs from refined grain sources and add weight training to increase your muscle mass you can increase your metabolism and burn through those excess calories. Follow that up with a decrease in your sugar, fat and salt consumption and I think most people will see the results with a more muscular and lean physique in about a month. This is because they are approaching weight loss on two fronts: increased calorie absorption through increased muscle mass-induced metabolism gains and reduced calorie intake from less nutritionally "empty" calories. Basically they are making their bodies less efficient in fuel consumption--like a big engine SUV. Increasing muscle mass is like increasing the size of one's engine. I tried this strategy and it worked better than I had expected. I even stopped running due a running injury (plantar fasciitis and hip bursitis) so I was working out less--just weight training for three months-- and I still lost weight.

On September 28, the day after I did the Sprint of the Carpinteria Triathlon, I got a cast on my foot. My plantar fasciitis, in spite of not running and daily stretching, arch supports, night splints, ice, tennis balls and other arcane treatments, was getting worse, not better. For the month of October I could not run, bike or swim--nothing but weight train. I was feeling chubby, and pretty bummed about my situation until I applied my nutrition research on myself.

Being my own test subject I radically changed my diet to exclude processed foods and industrially produced foods. By "industrial foods" I mean non-organic produce, genetically modified produce and animal products, animal products produced from CAFOs (Concentrated Agricultural Feeding Operations) and anything already prepared. I've been eating solely organic, mostly locally produced produce from a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. "CSA Program" is fancy name for a basket of fresh produce that I pick up each week at a local farm). For protein I get lot's of nuts, beans, organic dairy products and free-range poultry products. I haven't baked my own bread yet but I am making my own corn tortillas from scratch to avoid preservatives. By eating these foods I am getting nutrition-dense food and avoiding the big three industrial food additives that are bad for my health in excess: sugar, salt and fat. The organic foods are more costly, but not eating out anymore and not buying energy bars or other processed foods is really saving me money. The cost to our family food budget of the non-industrial diet is significantly less than with our usual diet.

I've been researching various diets and native foodways and sports nutrition for a while as an anthropology graduate student (see my foodways research on triathletes and marathon runners in an earlier posting here). I noticed that native populations that consumed their traditional foods did not suffer from chronic diseases that are the number one killers in the United States: heart disease, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Yet, healthy and physically fit triathletes and marathon runners still seem to suffer from heart disease and some cancers. After a bit more anthropological research I've found that it's not genetics, it's the industrial diet that is the root cause of these chronic diseases. I've come to the conclusion that if you avoid processed foods and don't eat anything made of refined grains (no store bought bread, no pizza, no pastries, muffins, burger buns, flour tortillas, white rice, corn chips, crackers, pasta,etc.), you will be healthier and feel better. In addition to the refined grain foods I have been avoiding processed packaged foods such as frozen foods, canned foods, nutrition bars, or any beverage made with corn syrup such as Gatoraid and sodas. Following my "non-industrial diet" in just one month caused a weight loss of about 3-4 pounds. The refined grains have nearly no nutrition (so you're just adding fat calories) so why do we continue to eat them? It's culture and tradition. Pre-race meals of pasta dinners, nutrition bars and food supplements during racing and a group Saturday morning runs followed by coffee and muffins. I think the traditions of consuming industrial foods is killing us.

For three months (October thru December) I weight trained three times a week and stuck to my whole foods/no refined grains non-industrial diet and lost 5 pounds since September. I'm 5 foot 9 inches and I began at 139 lbs and now weigh consistently at 134 lbs. This is with no cardio workouts. Crazy, huh?

I'm easing back into running again, with short runs of 30 minutes a week focusing on my gait and stretching a lot before and after. The heel pain from my plantar fasciitis is officially gone. (Woohoo!) I'm going to try to stick to my non-industrial diet and see if I can sustain it with increased running mileage and the need for more carbohydrate energy. If the Kenyans and the Tarahumara can run fast for hours on a traditional non-industrial diet, why can't I?

I should start a diet plan...

A Year of plantar fasciitis: 12 months of pain and recovery

2009-12-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've had plantar fasciitis for about a year now. If you have plantar fasciitis and this is your first time, just know this: this running injury can take a very long time to heal. It can take "10 months" (as my orthopedic surgeon foot specialist told me) to two years to heal. Below is a review of the past year of my plantar fasciits pain and my slow road to recovery. I'm not back running yet, but at least the pain is gone--most days anyway.

December 2008:
I first got that nagging heel pain in my left foot just before Christmas last year but being me, ignored it and kept on running. Each day the pain in my heel was more acute when I stepped out of bed. Gradually, through the weeks, it did not disappear after my foot muscles loosened up after a morning run. The pain continued after Christmas during our annual "week in the snow" in Mt. Shasta. My beloved mountains runs combined the physical exultation of striving up hills in the thin cold mountain air with the gorgeous visual of mountain roads blanked in white snow lined by contrastingly dark trunks and snow covered bows of evergreens. the sky varied from gray clouds with misty white snow fall and fog to blindingly bright blue skies and fresh snow glistening in the sunlight. So ignoring the heel pain, I savored the mountain scenery and kept running.

January 2009:
The heel pain was joined by a partner in January from me favoring my "good" right foot: hip bursitis in January. I self-diagnosed the searing to aching pain on the top of my right hip bone. It made sense to me since I knew I was favoring my right side to keep pressure off my left foot with plantar fascia pain. Being stubborn I kept on running because (1) if I didn't get a good run in every day I got cranky and (2) See number one.

April 2009:
The pain got worse each week of running that by April I was limping and down to running only two to three times a week with a long run on Saturday's with a fun local running club. I resisted getting off my feet because I would miss my morning chats with fellow runners at the Inside Track Running Club. Running was more than just a work out for me--it was also the only way I could spend time with my busy running friends. To lesson the tenderness I was applying ice to the painful foot and hip and taking lot's of ibuprofen.

May 2009:
I started buying stuff to lesson the pain. I got over-the-counter arch supports, a heel sock that kept my foot in a dorsoflexed (toes pulled towards the knee) position while I slept at night and bought a great book on Amazon.com Injury Afoot: 30 things You Can Do to Relieve Heel Pain and Speed Healing of Plantar Faciitis by Patrick Hafner. I did every exercise in the book and found it helpful. However, I think my injury was too far gone. Also, I kept walking barefoot on the beach each week when I did my open water swims with my new swimming friends. The "ice pick in the heel" pain of the plantar fasciitis in my left foot persisted.

June 2009:
Finally, after six months of increasing heel and hip pain joined with lower back pain (!), I stopped running. I replaced my 4-6 day a week running habit with road cycling and doing more open water swims. I started seeing a Rolfer once a month who came highly recommended. The Rolfer helped me walk normally. I was pain free after each session which was great. But the plantar fasciits and hip pain returned a day or two after each session. By this time I was wearing a night splint (which keeps my arch stretched while sleeping) every night.

August 2009:
I bought arch supports such as SuperFeet and wore them all the time. I got a special bicycle shoe version for my road cleats. My workouts consisted of road biking 2-3 times a week and swimming 2-3 times a week. No running or long walks. I saw a doctor for the first time in August and my x-ray showed that at least my foot bones were normal. I stopped running totally per the doc's advice and stretched my calf muscles every day, several times a day. According the doctor, I had to loosen up my tight calves as they were pulling on my foot tendons and exacerbating my symptoms.

September 2009:
I didn't run at all this month until a test jog a few days before the Carpinteria Triathlon. This month I just swam and road biked. I did the Carpinteria Triathlon and think I did my fastest swim and bike ever. I ran the 5K run portion slowly in the triathlon and had a realy fun race and saw lot's of old tri-geek friends. Was it worth it? I don't know now. I think that 5K really messed up my plantar fascia. I got a cast put on my throbbing left foot the day after the triathlon.

October 2009:
The day after the Carpinteria Triathlon I got a cast put on my foot. I wore the cast for four weeks. The week before the cast was to be removed, I had no heel or hip bursitis pain at all. Then I did a fast hike, hop and jog up Romero Canyon with some ultra runner friends. I think I re-injured my left foot then. The next day my left heel was painful to the touch again when I got the cast removed. I got a prescription for physical therapy (PT). The cast did cure that nagging right hip pain from hip bursitis, though.

November 2009:
After I got the cast off my left foot it was still sore. The doctor gave me felt heel lifts for my shoes but my heel was too sore to use them. My left ankle and foot felt very weak and fragile after being in a cast for four weeks so the physical therapists started me with some gentile strength and stability exercises that still challenged me at the time. On my first PT session I was pessimistic about the treatment and not in a good mood with my left heal throbbing in pain. It felt about the same that it did a month earlier after the triathlon and before the cast. The heel pain on the diagnostic pain scale was about a 5 or 6. It just ached the first two weeks. I did two PT sessions each week through the month of November. Each 1 1/2 hour session went something like this (from my PT notes from the November 10th):

Stretch calves (2x 30 seconds each side)
Stretch hamstrings (2x 30 seconds each side)
BAPS aka the "Biomechanical Ankle Platform System" (this is an egg-shaped disk about the size of a large pizza with a screw-in half plastic sphere under it so I can rotate my foot 360 degrees)
Straight leg extensions, four directions by pulling surgical tubing (2x 30times each direction, each foot)
Foot/ankle stretches with a TheraBand #3
"Monster walk" (walk about 20 feet with a giant rubber band around my ankles and legs shoulder width a part: forwards, backwards, left and right-2x)
Ultrasound
Deep tissue massage
ice (1o minutes)

After a week the PT's added these exercises:

Stand on one foot on the squishy top of Bosa ball and try not to fall off (30 seconds, 2x)
Step up on top of a Bosa ball: forward and back, then side-to-side (2x)
"Horses Head" (stand on one foot and at the same time pull on the light green stretchy surgical tubing with my opposite side hand towards my hip while lifting my right knee to a 90 degree position; then bend forward, letting foot down and straightening arm so the surgical tubing slakens; Repeat 15 times, each leg 2x)
Stand on the flat bottom of a Bosa ball that is flipped upside down & do knee bends without falling off (about 30 seconds)

December 2009:
By December my heel hurt at about a 2 on the pain scale. This month, now that I'm officially "high functioning" according the PT staff they have me doing more strength and plyometric exercises in addition to the stability and core work. After each PT session I was sweating and my legs felt fatigued and shaky-- like Jell-O. Here is a typical routine of PT exercises after 6 weeks of treatment (from my PT notes from December 15 & 17):

Treadmill walk (10 minutes, 2.0 incline, 4 mph)
Stretch calves (2x 30 seconds each side)
Stretch hamstrings (2x 30 seconds each side)
Foot/ankle stretches with a TheraBand #3 (2x dorsal, medial, lateral for each foot)
"Horses Head" (stand on my left foot on a trampoline and at the same time pull on the stiff dark gray surgical tubing with my right hand towards my right hip while lifting my right knee to a 90 degree position; then bend forward, letting foot down and straightening arm so the surgical tubing slakens; Repeat 15 times, each leg 2x)
"Monster walk" (walk about 20 feet with a stiffer rubber band around my ankles and legs shoulder width a part: forwards, backwards, left and right-2x)
"False Starts" get into a track starting position with each foot on a furniture slider (flat thing with a slick plastic bottom that slides on the carpet and sticky rubber top surface where you put your foot) and go back and forth until "fatigue"--for me that's 50x--each side, 2x)
"Triple Threat" ( This is tough for me & I just look ridiculous so I try to get out of doing this exercise each session). Here is how it goes: lay flat on the ground with a giant beach ball (aka "balance ball") under your legs and lift up your pelvis so your legs are straight like a board. (That #1 of the "Triple Threat.") Bring the beach ball close to your butt by bending your knees and keeping your pelvis up (That is #2). With ball at your butt, lift your pelvis higher (That is #3). If I can get through 5 repetitions of these without shooting the ball across the room and hitting the ground with a thunk, it's been a good session for me. (2x5 repetitions)
"Wooden Steps" First I step forwards one leg at a time on the step like I'm doing some sort of traditional hat dance, Then I side-step up on the step and down the other side, both feet on top and on the floor for "two-beat" version, then I step side-to-side up and over the thing with only one foot on the step and the floor at a time for the "one-beat" version.
"The Matrix" This exercise is sick: As fast as you can do (1) 30 squats (butt out so as to not overload the knees); (2) 30 lunges (knee almost touching the ground); (3) 30 squat-jumps; (4) 30 lunge-jumps switching feet mid-air. Twice.
Leg press (30x 80 lbs--but now I do 2x 100 lbs, twice)
ice (1o minutes)

I have have been generally pain free from my left foot plantar fasciitis for two weeks now. I had a relapse earlier this week for two days after I had the amnesiatic and stupid idea to stroll around barefoot in the sunshine for about an hour on Saturday on a friend's deck-- but other than that, I'm recovering from this affliction. I still can't run. I can't walk barefoot. But, at least (for today anyway) my plantar fasciitis pain is gone.

My plan for January is to start running again. Slow-ly.

Triathlon Training Tips for First Time Triathletes

2009-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Now that we are entering the triathlon racing off-season, it's a great time for people considering on doing their first triathlon to start building a fitness base and getting familiar with their new sport. This posting is an abbreviated version of one I posted last summer and it's better suited to winter and spring off season training here in Southern California.

My personal philosophy for triathlon success is less "purchase" and more "practice". It's based on a daily practice of training one's body within the rhythms of one's daily life that includes work and family. During the late spring and summer racing season I call this the "Daily Practice of Triathlon Training". By "daily" I mean that each day during the racing season has a fitness purpose. It is either a training day (making me stronger/faster) for a particular sport or a recovery (non-training) day (making me stronger/faster by letting my body re-build). During the Spring and Summer I train in one of the three sports six days a week. The seventh day is a recovery day for all three of the triathlon sports.

These tips are geared towards those who live in Ojai and Ventura, California but if you replace the triathlon store name and local triathlon club or running club name with one in your town, I think this list can be helpful for most people. Also, there are many excellent online resources for information and athletic inspiration for beginners, too.

If you are interested in more details on training and sports nutrition, please checkout RunnersWorld.com or Active.com/triathlon. Both of those sites have links to training schedules and performance tips for running road or trail races and racing triathlons.

Here is my advice for training for one's first triathlon in 2010:

1. Research the sport.

Talk to Triathletes The best information I ever got about doing triathlons was from people I met while training, buying gear and racing. You generally get un-biased information when speaking with people who don't have anything to gain by you purchasing something.
Go online

Social Media Sites Twitter.com and search "#triathletes" is a good way to find triathlon information from triathletes. Most are regular people just like you, online. It's neat to pose a question (in 140 characters or less) on Twitter and have triathletes from all over reply back with a tip. I found online training schedules on these training social media web sites: dailymile.com, endurancejunkies.com , and buckeyeoutdoors.com (you can embed your training schedule in your blog--I haven't tried this yet) and MapMyRun.com. I use dailymile.com.

Websites Websites such as Active.com/triathlon and Multisports.com feature free tips and triathlon training schedules (some must be purchased).
Books Get a good triathlon training book to get an overview of the basics the sport and time managing the multi-sport workouts. Here's a good one that a friend found for me at a garage sale: Triathlete's Training Bible. but, I'm sure there are others, too.
Magazines Checkout Triathlete Magazine. There’s great training and nutrition articles and the race and athlete profiles inspire. Be aware that this magazine is product advertising-supported.
Learn by doing. Now is the time to experiment with new shoes, try a friends bicycle and to have fun with triathlon training. During the off-season your goal is to buildup your base and find out what gear works best for you.

Training for a triathlon is a daily practice and you will learn how to do it best by trial and error. There are core principals about physiology and nutrition but every body is unique. What works for the Dude at the Triathlon Shop Who Has Done Ironman 18 times ;) may not work for you. It’s necessary to get to know what YOUR body needs and how it performs by doing it and listening to it. Do your first Brick Workout (bike ride followed immediately by a short run) and find out what you can ingest to keep your energy consistent that doesn't make you feel sick. Go for a bike ride on borrowed bike to test it out. Do a mini-triathlon on your own from your local pool. Just do it. The cool thing with triathlon training is that it is cross-training so as your individual running or swimming mileage may be less, you will have the additional benefit of training and getting stronger from the other two sports.

3. Daily Practice of Triathlon Training.

Consistency is key. The off season is a good time to get used to training once a day, six days a week. Now is a good time to experiment with new gear. It's also the time to build up one's endurance base. Triathlon training is a Daily Practice that will take some getting used to.
During the spring and summer each day will be a workout day. By Spring you should be used to training six days a week and fitting it into your work, school or family schedules if you can. The Daily Practice includes: your daily work out, your pre-workout food/beverage that is mostly carbs and easy to digest, your post-workout recovery food/beverage and sleeping more.

4. Become a member of a local triathlon, running or athletic club.

This is a good and socially fun way find out about local road rides/open water swims and have better access to find other tri newbies. Plus, according to scientific research, you will get faster and stronger training with others than if training alone.* Being a member of a training club may translate into other benefits such as club discounts on gear and race entries. Some of the more experienced or long distance triathlon club members may seem a little arrogant or hardcore to a beginner. Just don't take it personally. It takes a lot of mental and physical focus to be competitive in the Ironman triathlon distance these days and that can take a toll on one's social skills. The qualifying times Ironman and Nationals has gotten a lot tougher than when I started doing triathlons in the free-wheeling late Eighties. It seemed more fun in those days. Though training was just as tough (and in some ways more difficult without all the energy supplements they have these days) there were less people to race against and the triathlon community was smaller and friendlier to each other as crazy kindred spirits. We were considered nuts by non-triathletes in the early days of the sport.

*See the article "Get Fitter with Friends”, The Economist Magazine, September 19, 2009, P. 92.

5. Swimming

Swim Training If you are new-ish to swimming, try to get in the water (lap pool, lake or ocean) at least 2-3x/week (30 minutes each) to build up your form & confidence. Do intervals if you can when in the pool. (I have some beginner swim workouts you can do to break up the monotony, too] Check out Active.com and look up swim stroke technique web videos and tips there or on youtube.com. Sometimes having a few pointers & practicing some swim drills can really make a difference in swim efficiency.
Swim Suit For women, the two-piece swim suites with the draw string bottoms are good and one-piece suites are fine, too but can get hot when your running.
Swimming Wet Suit If you don't have a swim wetsuit, a surf wet suit can still work but won't have the range of motion in it's fit nor the sleeker less-resistant material for is best for swimming. Great quality swim suits are at Inside Track Multisports in Ventura and Hazard Cycle Sports in Santa Barbara for new ones. Inside Track Multisports and GoForItSports.com offer used wetsuit rentals for sale for a fraction of their new retail price if you are on a budget. I've heard that retailer Play It Again Sports in Ventura has had swimming wetsuits, too. Craig's List and Ebay have been used successfully by friends for getting good quality used wet suits and gear, also. Wetsuits are not cheap but a good one that fits can transform non-tropical open water swimming from cold misery to comfortable fun. Swim wetsuites add buoyancy and speed, too. That is always a plus for me. There are a lot of quality brands with slightly different fits for different body shapes such as 2xu, Blue Seventy, Quintana Roo and others. I wear a Woman's Blue Seventy. When I open water swim in the ocean during the winter with my Blue Seventy wetsuit and matching swim booties and neoprene cap I may look ridiculous, but I am never cold. If you are new to open water swimming or swimming with faster people, it's a good idea to invest in a pair of swim fins. I swim with TYR Crossblades in the ocean sometimes. One more point about swimming open water: wear a swim cap. Sports Chalet and several online retailers such as Goforitsports.com sell them.

I recommend wearing a brightly colored swim cap when open water swimming for two reasons:

You will feel significantly warmer when swimming with a swim cap
You will have a better chance of being seen and not run over by boater or surfer when wearing a bright colored swim cap

6. Cycling

Bike The bike, for non-road cyclists, can be tough hurdle for a beginner or cash-strapped first time triathlete. My best advice is to go to your local multisport or bike shop. A triathlon racing bike is not necessary to race in a triathlon. The tri-bike geometry has more severe angles for time trial efficiency on flat courses and with a proper fitting is slightly faster than a conventional road bike, but is not as comfortable to ride for long rides. A "traditional" road bike shop may not have the expertise in tri-bikes and their accessories. I ride 12-year old conventional road bike with "cross-country" geometry. To get faster, I train more. If you just need a bike, almost any bike that is safe to ride can help you achieve your goal of doing a short or Sprint triathlon this summer. You can even ride your mountain bike or a cross-bike. I don't recommend riding a single-speed cruiser bike, though as they weigh a ton and you may need hand-brakes on the handlebars to compete in a triathlon. As long as you bought your bicycle from a reputable source and it has been safety checked by an established bike dealer such as Inside Track Multisports, Avery's Open Air Bike Shop, or Trek Bicycles in Ventura or Hazard Cycle Shop in Santa Barbara, it should be fine. If you want to go fast on a bike, my best advise is to spend more time in the saddle, than buying expensive gear in a shop.
Bike Helmet You need a certified-for-safety bicyle helmet or you can't participate in an organized triathlon race. Check out your local bike dealer or multisport shop for this. Your brain is the only one you got, so protect it with the best helmet you can afford. I've been in a bike crash before and my helmet (which hit the pavement--hard) probably saved my life.
Bike accessories to carry your food & water, etc. If you buy a new road bike you will need two water bottle cages, a seat pack with spare tube, allen tool & patch kit, frame pump, clipless pedals and shoes. You can wait on the clipless pedals and shoes but they allow you to make a more efficient (e.g. faster/more power) pedal stroke when riding. You can buy water bottles or re-use Gatorade bottles or small water bottles in an earth-friendly fashion.

7. Running

Races are "won" on the run Triathlons, at the elite level, are won and lost during the run. It’s during the last portion of the race, during the run, that the hours of daily training and preparation comes together. many triathlon pros believe that the last segment of the race, the run, is when real race begins. The cardiovascular conditioning benefits you get from running will transfer to swimming and cycling. However, your swimming and cycling muscular training won't transfer to running. If your training time is limited (whose isn't?), I recommend focusing on your running and swimming. You can’t "fake" either of these in a triathlon.
Local Running Clubs: Inside Track Running Club has daily groups running workouts for all levels of runners in Ventura and Santa Barbara Athletic Club is resource for local workouts in Santa Barbara.

8. Training for your first Sprint Triathlon

Plan ahead--at least six months before your first triathlon. Most Sprint distance triathlons also fill up so it's a good idea to register for a race you are interested in as soon as you can. I usually register about six months before race day for the short races. For of the more popular and longer races (such as the Wild Flower Triathlon) you may have to register up to a year before. I think the Carpinteria Triathlon Sprint Course filled up about two months before the race this year (I registered for the September 27th race the first week of July).
If you are doing a Sprint Triathlon with a 5K run distance, I recommend going online to checkout a few 5K race training plans and modify them to your triathlon schedule. There’s a cardio-crossover benefit from cycling and swimming, so your running workouts should focus on building speed and endurance by doing intervals—but only after building up your base. Your “base” in reference to running, is how far you can run or jog comfortably for your longest run and run each week in total. Rule of thumb: do at least one speed or interval workout for running each week.

9. Weekly Triathlon Training Schedule for Sprint Triathlon

You can train for a triathlon in as little as 1 to 1 1/2 hours per day. Just make each day’s workout a quality workout and abide by the periodization principal (hard days followed by easy days, hard weeks followed by easy weeks, etc.)
Sample Training Week Here's a sample week from my own standard training schedule from when I was racing regularly BC (“Before Children”).

Monday (Swim or Nothing--Recovery Day)
Tuesday (Run & Bike)
Wednesday (Swim)
Thursday (Run & Bike)
Friday (Swim or Run)
Saturday (Swim & Long Bike)
Sunday (Swim and Long Run, a triathlon or running race or Brick Workout (bike followed immediately after with a run, usually 10-24-mile bike/3-6-mile run)

Do not do a tough workout of the same type of activity two days in a row. When racing, I take Mondays off if I raced or did a tough Brick on Sunday. If I raced Saturday, I planned for Sunday being a recovery day, etc.
Brick Workout A Brick Workout (or just Brick for short) is when you combine a bike ride with a run afterwards in one long continuous work out with a few minute break just to change your shoes. Basically, you go for a bike ride, stop to change into your your running shoes (and drink water) and then start running down the road like you got rocks in your quadriceps. This sadistic workout prepares your body for race day both physically and mentally. It's a tough workout and I recommend doing a recovery day/rest day after you do a Brick Workout.

10. Train with others if you can

It's safer and you will usually be able to get a better workout when you train with others. This is especially true when open water swimming, trail running or road riding. And, it makes the workout time go by more quickly. In my experience, triathletes are usually just busier people in general (many run their businesses, have families, etc.) and training is their way of socializing, too. I've learned more over the years about training and racing from other triathletes while chatting in between workouts, than I ever have from a book, video, or web site. Word of mouth is best. And, it's more fun, anyway.

11. Keep a Training Log or Schedule

Keep a training log. It keeps you on track when training towards a goal and it also gives one a sense of achievement. Even if it’s just jotting down “Run, 3 miles, hilly” or "Tuesday: Run- 5 miles, hilly, felt tired." on your calendar, planner or Facebook profile or it’s worth the trouble. (You can also refer to your old training logs to track improvement progression or to help you remember how to train for a certain distance or weight loss or PR years later.) Good stuff.

12. Food & Beverages

Nutrition & fluid/electrolyte replacement: Don't forget to drink enough water & always bring some source of carbohydrate for workouts longer than an hour (banana, bar, energy gel, cookies, orange, gummy bears, etc.). When it's hot, make sure you replace electrolytes lost during perspiration (banana, a few saltines, Gatorade, PowerFul, enduro caps, Hammer HEED, etc) during rides or runs over an hour, too.
Sports nutrition is a practice: What and when you eat really does affect your training and can help or hinder your improvement. Triathlon is an endurance sport that requires a specific type of energy replenishment for your muscles while working out and for recovering from a workout. The most efficient form of energy for your body to process is carbohydrates. Triathletes, like runners, are known to eat lots of carbohydrate rich foods & food supplements that digest quickly: energy drinks, bagels, pasta, rice, energy gels, bananas, fig newtons, potatoes, etc. Monique Ryan and Liz Applegate are excellent sources of information of performance optimizing sports nutrition for endurance athletes. Check out Amazon.com for their books.
Before training/racing: Try to eat a easily digestible source of carbohydrate, about 200 calories for most folks, about 1-2 hours before working out. Give yourself about 16 oz. of water with your food to aid hydration and digestion. For long slow workouts, I can eat a banana or PowerBar while I'm running or riding. However, some people can't eat when they run or bike. Trial and error is helpful here. Get to know what works for you.
After training/racing: You will recover faster and feel better if you get eat or drink a source of carbohydrates 30-45" after a long (1 hour plus) workout or race. Just remember you have a 30"-45" window after a tough workout to replenish with carbohydrates. Research shows that long distance (over 1 1/2 hours) training should be followed by carbohydrates and some protein) Even a food as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a great recovery food to have after a long bike ride or run or swim. Cold pizza is good, too. Especially on hot days when you need to replace electrolytes lost through perspiration.
• Avoid drinking any alcoholic beverages right after you work out. Consuming alcoholic beverages after working out retards your body’s ability to rehydrate and recover from the workout. Replenish with water and nutritious foods first. Be kind to your body. It needs to recover from the stresses of training and racing with good stuff. Not beer.

13. Sleep more

You will need more sleep if you train every day (six workout days + one recovery day). Your body will require more of sleep for new tissue growth to deal with the physical stresses of training and the mental stresses of managing workouts and racing. If you don't get enough sleep your immune system will weaken and you will be more likely to catch something and get sick. You won't recover as well from your workouts, either. And, you will be tired and grumpy which messes up relationships. So, try to get to bed at least an hour earlier this summer while you are training for your first triathlon. That means usually 8 hours of beautiful, healing sleep. (Maybe more if you can get away with it.) Naps are good, too.

14. Triathlon Terms:

PR: "Personal Record" (Your fastest race time.)
WR: "World Record" (I'm glad they invented the term PR for the rest of us!)
PW: "Personal Worst" (Your slowest race time.)
Bonk: to run out of energy while exercising; to have an over whelming desire to stop moving and lay on the couch. Symptoms include feeling exhausted, dizziness, confusion, sleepiness, an over-whelming desire to sit under a tree and take a nap, grumpiness and sometimes, even tears. This is what happens when your body runs out of accessible blood sugar called glycogen that it needs to powers your muscles and to think clearly. You can avoid this awful state by making sure you have a source of easily digestible energy and water handy when working out such as bananas, energy gels and water or an energy drink. A good pre-race practice that helps me is to consume a banana or energy gel with a 16-oz. bottle of water about 30 minutes before race start.
Carbo Load: This is a pre-race rite of commensality (ritual meal sharing) that features a large meal of mostly carbohydrate-rich foods such as pasta, potatos or rice. It is generally shared with family members, loved ones or with other triathletes. It’s stated purpose is to increase your body’s glycogen stores so you don’t bonk in the following day’s race. It also reinforces the social solidarity and specialness of the triathlete as he or she prepares to athletically test his or herself at publicly during the race the following day.
Trigeek: a triathlete or wannabe triathlete who takes their athletic training and race performances bit too seriously for his friends and believes that upgrading to newer and more expensive triathlon gear and racing is more important than anything else.

15: Triathlon Race Distances (USA):

Sprint: 0.5k-swim/15k-bike/5k-run
Olympic: 1.5k-swim/40k-bike/10k-run
Long Course Santa Barbara Triathlon: 1mi-swim, 34mi-bike, 10mi-run
70.3 or Half Ironman: 1.2mi-swim,/56mi-bike/13.1mi-run
140.6 or Full Ironman: 2.4mi-swim/112-bike/26.2mi-run
Double Ironman (a multi-day stage race of double the Ironman triathlon distances): 5.4-m swim, 224-m bike, 52.4-m run

16: Upcoming Local Triathlons and Multiport Races

The best way to find local races online is Active.com which has an online database of just about every "all comers" triathlon, road race and other sports competitions in the United States. Printed race entries and flyers can be found on the "race table" at Inside Track Multisports in Ventura, CA.

You can find my daily workouts & multisport musings at: Twitter.com/multisportmama and Dailymile.com/people/multisportmama .

:) A

Plantar Fasciitis update: I got my cast off but I can't run...yet

2009-10-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

I got my cast off today. I posted a photo of my cast-freed atrophied leg on my Facebook page with the caption, "Yikes! The horror! The hair!" The leg is cleanly shaven and sterilized with antibacterial soap now. Thank goodness.

Here is a summary of what my orthopedic surgeon told me that I need to do in order to get back to running long. If you are suffering from plantar fasciitis, I will tell you right now, I don't have the answer on how to get you back to running again. After months of self-treating it, reading about it in both consumer and fry peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, I only know this: what treatments didn't work for me, mistakes I've made that made it worse, and that there is no single cure or treatment that works for everyone.

This is the second time I've had plantar fasciitis so bad where I had to completely stop running for over three months. The first time was a flare up that happened a few months after I got Achilles Tendonitis in the last mile of the Chardonnay 10 mile race in 1995. (I think the micro-tears in my Achilles was from under-training in my running, not stretching before the race and having tight hamstrings from my long road rides and from wearing racing flats for the first time in a long time.) It took about four years and two non-running periods of third-trimester pregnancy to get rid of the plantar fasciitis the last time I had it. The Achilles tendinitis only lasted about six months.

"You still have plantar fasciitis," said the doctor.

So, that means to me that I still need to sleep in an awkward putty-colored scratchy night splint at night. And, I still need to wear my store-bought orthotics (Superfeet and Spenco), and I can't wear flip-flops or cute sandles, and I can't walk around barefoot--even to the bathroom or to the pool. *Sigh* My foot doctor wrote me a prescription for physical therapy, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. The doctor wanted me to wear the felt heal lift I got from his office, too. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in my shoes with the arch supporting orthotics and my husband cut a hole in it. I asked him to cut a hole in it because the pressure of it was hurting the inflamed area on the front of my heal in September--before I got cast. So "no go" on the $58 felt heal lift thingy. Hopefully, that is crucial.

"It takes about 10 months to get rid of it."

Okay, so does that mean I count 10 months from my first blog p osting about my plantar fasciitis injury? Or, when I stopped training with Inside Track Running Club, the day after a painful 8 mile run along the coast on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning on June 27th? Or does it mean I count from the day I finally stopped running all together, the day after the Carpinteria Triathlon on September 28th? The next day I could hardly put my left food down without a sharp ice pick-like stabbing pain in my left heal. It was also on that Monday I got the cast put on. If so...

Crap! That means I won't be back running at 100% until May 2010.

I'm going with the first blog posting date, August 6th, minus one month. That way, I will be back at 100% in March. That's not scientific but I'm an optimist. (That's me at the Carpinteria Triathlon in the photo above. Not in the photo is my son waving and my daughter yelling, "Mom! What the heck?! I thought you weren't going to run!" The ambulance in the photo is symbolic of the damage that I did to my foot that day. Next time I will listen to my kids. Photo by Christine Paone)

"Before you can run, you need to walk."

Here's my walk-to-run training regime per my doctor -- as I remembered it (I was still in shock at the time after he said, "it takes 10 months to heal...":

1st month: I need to walk up to a 1/4 mile the this week, then the 1/2 mile the second week and by 4 weeks be able to walk 2 miles.
2nd month: I need to then add 1/4 of slow jogging (8-10 mpm) then walk 1/4 mile and so on the second month. By 8 weeks, I should be able to jog 2 miles--pain free.

"This will get you running again but you won't be able to go back to doing 10 mile runs until March."

:(

"You need to strengthen your left leg."

But before that I need to do the calf/Achilles tendon stretching exercise several times a day. Here's how:

Stand facing the wall with feel comfortabley apart (8-10 inces) Put your left foot about one foot length away from the wall (about 10 inches), toes pointing straight towards the wall. Put your hands on the wall and push back so your weight goes on the left foot. Keeping your back straight, slowly bend your knees, keeping your weight on your left foot. Hold this position 30 seconds before slowly rising to a standing position. Switch to the other foot and repeat. (The image above is from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons web site. The position shown is slightly different from my doctor's instructions. In his version, the feet need to be closer together with the back foot's toe just behind the front foot's heal. This web site has other helpful stretches to treat or prevent plantar facsiitis and a good description of the injury.)

Strengthening exercises:

Calf raises; You do this by standing facing a wall, about 24 inches away from it, and raising on your toes; do this while standing on one leg at a time and continue this exercise until you can do as many calf raises on your weak (injured) foot as you can on your strong foot
Wall hamstring strengthening exercise; We called this doing "The Torture Chair" when I was in Track and Cross-Country in High School. It involves leaning against a wall in the sitting position with your legs at a 90° angle and then sliding up the wall and back down to 90°. Try it. It's fun. ;)
Calf raises over steps; This exercise sounded a bit too similar to the Negative Calf Raises that aggravated my plantar fasciitis for two months last summer. I may do this exercise later when my foot gets stronger
Do leg extensions to strengthen the quads and hamstrings in the gym

"Your range of motion is much better after four weeks in a cast."

Apparently, my left Achilles tendon and calf muscles were so tight before he casted my foot into a 90° angle, that he could not dorseflex my foot (push my toes towards my knee) more than a few degrees. Now I can flex my foot up 10-15°. The cast apparently immobilized the injured tissue and helped helped to loosen a tight Achilles tendon that was causing me to repeatedly strain the plantar fascia. The night splint wasn't enough.

"You will be able to run again and do ultras and race triathlons again. No problem. Just stay positive. "

Actually, he didn't say that. But I wish he did.

Dealing with Plantar Faciitis: Trying a cast to heal the cursed thing

2009-10-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have had more kind words of advice to help me recover from plantar faciitis these past few months than I can count from friends, family, Twitter, Facebook and blog followers and even complete strangers.

I've been battling this affliction off and on since 1995 when it first reared it's evil head after I finished the Santa Barbara Chardonnay 10 mile race and got micro-tears in my Achilles tendon. (I still remember that awful popping sensation in my right Achilles tendon just above my heal in the last mile of the race.) I PR'd that day but I paid a terrible price. After limping into the finishers area my running would never be the same. The Achilles tendinitis forced me to drop out of Canadian Ironman and eventually, I developed a case of plantar faciitis on my left foot--my "good" foot--while trying to recover from it. The Achilles tendinitis healed completely after a few months or so of no running. However, the plantar faciitis wouldn't go away until I got pregnant with my first child and stopped running completely for about 5 months.

But then the plantar faciitis came back again after I did the Catalina Marathon in March 2000. To combat it I wore my own homemade arch supports, eschewed wearing flip-flops, got deep tissue sports massage and cross-trained for a few months. It really didn't go away for another year. Later, I was able to train for and completed several more marathons, including the heinously fun Big Sur Trail Marathon in 2003, and later qualified for Boston. My last long, 15+ miles, run was the Boston Marathon in 2004.

To date, my current case of plantar faciitis began after I increased my running mileage too quickly in Dec'08 after joining a local running club. I was working, being mom and juggling writing a difficult research paper then, so I had very little time to train. I was doing the long running club road runs on the weekends (10-14 miles) while only running 2-3x during the week (5 miles). In hindsight this was stupid and I knew better. The pain got worse and by six months later I couldn't run a step without pain. I also had two secondary injuries: hip bursitis (right side) and lower back pain. I tried changing running shoes: first buying a new pair of my usual cushioned and structured New Balance running shoes, the NB 1224, then when my heal still hurt, I went for less structure and switched to Brooks Cascadia trail shoes. I also bought a running video of a running technique developed by Ken Mierke called Evolution Running that was mentioned by Christopher McDougal as one of the curatives for his own case of chronic plantar faciitis and Achilles tendonitis in the recent published best selling book, Born to Run. Nothing worked.

What I have tried

This past summer, to treat my plantar faciitis, I've did just about "everything but the kitchen sink". Beginning in June:

I stopped running
Cross-trained in swimming, bicycling and weight training.
I bought a pair of last year's racing flats on sale, Brooks T5s, and used those to walk around in with Superfeet orthotics (the green high arch model) most of the time and as soon as I got out of bed in the morning.
I got the book Injury Afoot by Patrick Hafner on how to treat my plantar faciitis iinjury and tried everything in the book. (Sponsorship disclosure: After I reviewed Injury Afoot, the author kindly sent me a free copy as well as some advise on good stretches for plantar faciitis sufferers on his blog "Heal Your Heel Pain".) In hindsight, I was was doing some of the stretching exercises too early, re-injuring the facia. I also wasn't diligent in obeying the book's advise to never walk barefoot. I was re-injuring the facia as soon as I got out of bed in the morning when I walked barefoot into the bathroom and three times a week when I walked barefoot from my car to the beach for my open water swims or from the locker room to the pool at our local fitness club.
I actively treated the the plantar faciitis stiffness and pain in my left foot with monthly Rolfing sessions (if you try this, bring a piece of wood to chew on, it's deep tissue work and can get uncomfortable)
Iced my heal and arch 1-2x/day (10-15 min each time)
Took Advil (2-4x/day, 400mg each time, as needed for pain
Slept with a night splint (so sexy...not!)
My husband administered deep tissue work on the injured foot once a week during the last month
I saw an orthopedic surgeon foot specialist finally
After the doctors visit, I wore Superfeet orthotics or the over-priced ($58 but $8 to me with insurance) heal lift given to me by my orthopedic surgeon in my shoes

During my summer of plantar faciitis, at about every 3 or 4 weeks, I would do something stupid and re-injure it. In desperation, one beautiful dawn morning while visiting Leucadia, a north county San Diego Meca for old school triathletes, I tried jogging barefoot on the hard packed sand of Moonlight beach for 30 minutes while my husband coached me on my gait for less heal striking. Another morning, I tried jogging in my socks on a treadmill (only 1 mile) after being inspired by the barefoot running tweets and articles I have been reading. Both times had disappointing and painful results. (At least the beach run was pretty.)

Nothing I have done has worked for longer than a day or so. Even the deep tissue massage and Rolfing didn't work for longer than two days. Sure, my foot felt great afterward (my whole body felt great), but the classic symptoms of tendon tightness in my arch, a hard swelling from the adhesion at the front of my heal and sharp pain (like an ice pick jabbing violently in my heal) returned after a day or so of tentative painfree bliss.

What I have not tried

I had not tried aqua-jogging, acupuncture, cortisone shots, surgery, seeing a shaman, praying to the Virgin Mary, taking supplements, meditation or wearing a cast. For now, I am trying the cast method. And, to I'm eating mostly fruits and vegetables to boost my antioxidant intake and to maintain my weight. I hope that by immobilizing my foot in a cast for 4 weeks and keeping all pressure off my plantar facia, it will be able to finally get better.

Someday I hope to be able walk and eventually run long distances again without that ice-pick-stabbing-in-the-heal debilitating pain.

If those Tarahumara that Chris McDougal wrote about in his book Born to Run can kick ass in their forties, fifties and sixties running twenty, fifty or hundred miles on mountainous trails wearing nothing but homemade tire sandals, there must be some way to recover from this affliction. I'm open to just about any suggestions people may have who have recovered from plantar faciitis.

For now, I just hope the cast and the diet of mostly fruits and veggies work.

Climate Change Talks in Bangkok for COP15, inspired by green Copenhagen

2009-09-30T10:11:00.001-07:00

While clicking around looking for inexpensive travel options for my husband to attend the COP15 Climate Change Treaty talks in Copenhagen this December I found an inspiring web video about the amazingly sustainable and healthful features of living in Copenhagen. See below.

"Amazingly" is not a bit of hyperbole compared to my own town and nearby ecological disaster area called Los Angeles. Nearly everyone seems to be riding bicycles in the main city of Copenhagen. Over 40% of Copenhageners ride to work and there are over 300 kilometers (186 miles) of bike lanes according to the video. The water ways running through the city are clean enough to swim in and water sports in it seem to be encouraged from the scenes of people frolicking in the water. Also, twenty-three percent of food consumed in Copenhagen is organic with a civic goal of 90% by 2015. Why can't we do that here in Southern California? Heck, we got much better weather for year round biking, water sports and a much longer growing season for organic veggies...How cool would it be if we could safely swim or kayak in the LA river and bike to work breathing fresh air and riding safely in a designated bicycle lane? Check out Denmark's green efforts in Copenhagen--it's possible:

The COP15 and follow-up United Nations climate treaty negotiations are trying to make more Copenhagens possible through financial incentives to go green. My husband may attend the COP15 United Nations Climate Control Treaty meeting Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen. He would be going as a volunteer mediator representative of Mediators Beyond Borders. Since he is volunteering and paying his own, as you can imagine, he is pretty committed to the environment and facilitating peace globally through encouraging mediation as a dispute resolution tool. Right now hubby is at the UNFCCC Climate Change Talks in Bangkok, Thailand as a volunteer with Mediators Beyond Borders. To read Mark Kirwin's field reports from Bangkok go to the 11th Hour Mediation blog.

An organization of journalists have even created a web site to track the climate control treaty negotiators called Adoptanegotiator.org. Some of these UNFCCC observers feel that the United States isn't taking enough responsibility for reducing carbon emissions and if the US keeps blaming China and India for polluting, that the US will end up stalling substantive progress on the talks in Bangkok. It's good to remember that the US did not sign the last climate control treaty, the Kyoto Protocol. And, after eight years of the Bush Administration, our reputation abroad on environmental and "play-well-with-others" matters has been seriously tarnished.

It has been fascinating to hear, second hand, about the daily negotiations over the text of the different elements of the treaty's specifications for reducing carbon emissions. The competing national, economic, humanitarian and environmental concerns and perspectives are interesting and, to me, sometimes, disheartening. The volunteer mediators at Mediators Beyond Borders certainly have their work cut out for them.

Read about Day 2 of the UNFCCC climate change treaty text negotiations in Bangkok >

Future graduate students take note:

The Danish gov't is awarding about $700,000 in 2-year climate masters degree scholarships at Danish Universities--in honor of the COP15 summit's green agenda and practices. Here's the link: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=641

PS: Now the trick is, how does one get paid to do this good work????

You can get fitter faster with friends

2009-09-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well, leave it to science to explain what most runners and triathletes already know: that you can get fitter faster if you train with your friends. "Exercising in a group can be more effective by making things easier" declared the subheading in in an article titled Fitter with friends in the September 19, 2009 issue of The Economist Magazine.

That's not news to me but it's nice to feel that my experiences training with friends has been validated by science as the best method! What was interesting in the article to me was the physiological process that causes a person to get fitter by training with others. According to the research of anthropologists Emma Cohen of Oxford University, and Robin Ejsmond-Frey there is a heightened tolerance for pain in athletes working out in a synchronized group. In their studies of competitive rowers they found that the usual production of endorphins that are released during extreme physical exertion (and which serve to numb the pain from lactic acid buildup in muscles) are increased. From their studies, they found that endorphin levels of athletes working out in a group are significantly higher than when the same athletes are working out alone. Working out with others is less painful. Sign me up.

Swimming with others

When I'm not joining my friends for our group open water swims at "dawn-thirty" on the weekday mornings (see photo above), my swim speed declines down to my slow baseline "yawn" pace of about 50 meters at 50 seconds. Too slow! Plus, I usually get bored after several weeks of solitary pool swims (no matter how creative I try to get with intervals, etc.) and usually climb out of the pool after 30 minutes with a lame self-promise that I will make it up later. If you are new to swimming and are looking for swim pals the best bet would be to ask about a Masters Swim group at your local public, university or club pool. Another option, if you have a background in swimming, is to see if there is a local swim or triathlon club. You can also take a swim class at a local community pool or university through a continuing ed or extension program. I improved my swim technique last summer at a month long group swim Stroke Refinement class at our lcoa Ventura Aquatics Center. It was fun; and I got faster.

Here are few online resources for group pool and open water swimming:

U.S Swim Masters (National)
Rincon Triathlon Club (Ventura County pool and open water swimming)
Santa Barbara Swim Club (Santa Barbara-based, pool & open water swimming)
Channel Island YMCA (Santa Barbara & Ventura County pools)
Buenaventura Aquatics Center (Ventura)

Running with others

Running with others has always made me faster. It has also brought me countless hours of communal fun, has given me new friends and has strengthened friendships. ("Friends who play together, stay together..."). There are military studies that show that coordinated physical exercise can strengthen social bonds.

The best way to find running friends via word-of-mouth. If work for a large organization, generally there is another runner to partner up with. Another way to find running friends is at a local running club. Most clubs are based around either a geographic location or non-profit fund raising organization such as the Leukemia Society's Team In Training (TNT). Another group running source would be enrolling in a running class at a local university of college or finding a coach (which is sort of the same as joining a running club).

Finally, you can sign up for a race. I recommend this especially when traveling as it's a fun way to get the know the local geography and culture. As a race participant at races far away from home, I've been happily surprised how inclusive the local runners were to myself, a stranger to the area. For example, I'll never forget the friendly invitation I got from a few local runners when I did the Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, I was too exhausted after the race to accept the party invitation. But it was really nice to be invited. If you are visiting for a while check online for a local running group. One of my favorite places away from home to run is Washington, DC. It's a really wonderful experience to cruise through the The Mall at dawn on foot and see so many historical places and enjoy the serene vistas along the Potomac.

Here are a few online resources of group running opportunities:

Road Runners Club of America (National)
Leukemia Society's Team In Training (TNT) (National)
Inside Track Running Club (Ventura County)
DC Road Runners Club (Washington, DC)
Active.com (National list of nearly every major road and trail race)
Trail Runner Magazine (National)
Runner's World Magazine (National)

Bicycling

Well, since I'm still nursing a running injury (the dreaded plantar faciitis) I've been riding my road bike a lot. And, frankly it gets boring. By accident (serendipity really) I hooked up with the some local riders of the Channel Island Bicycle Club the other day on a group ride. By far, these are the friendly folks on two wheels that I have ever meant. No "Freds" or "Big Head Todds". They were inclusive, fun and they had some inspiring hill climbers in their group, too. Another way to find people to ride with is to check out a local bike shop. If they don't have shop rides they will certainly know about club rides, popular riding routes (road and/or trail) and should be a good resource for all things bike-related. I bolded "local bike shop" because the local bike shops can be a terrific resource. (Full disclosure: I used to be a sales representative for Diamondback Bicycles. There will always be a place in my heart for the local bike shop..:))

Here are a few online resources of group bicycling opportunities:

Channel Islands Bicycle Club (Ventura County)
Santa Barbara Bicycling Coalition (Santa Barbara County)
Goleta Valley Cycling Club (Santa Barbara County)
Inside Track Multisport (Ventura, mostly triathlon bikes)
Avery's Open Air Bicycles (Ventura, mostly road, mountain, cruiser bikes)
Hazard's Cyclesport (Santa Barbara)
Active.com (National list of major bicycle fun rides, races, century rides)
International Mountain Biking Association (National)

Well, that is it for now. There are so many great group workout resources that I haven't mentioned and I apologize. I haven't worked out yet today and I've been itching for a hilly road ride since before work. And, that was nine hours ago! Ugh....must get outside and workout now...

'Bye!

Diet, Health and Teeth from an Anthropological Perspective

2009-09-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

And, now for something completely different: the interaction between one's diet and one's teeth from an anthropological perspective.

I became interested in the paleoarcheology of dental remains when my open water swim pal and dentist, who in addition to being an excellent open water swimmer, has an insatiable curiosity about almost anything and a particular talent for making just about anything seem interesting. In this case the topic on one pre-dawn swim morning at the beach was about why 3,000 year old Egyptian dental remains found in a commoners grave in Amarna, Egypt had such beautiful teeth. (He also teaches dentistry at UCLA and when fully awake I'm sure his lectures and funny stories must be even more engaging.) A few days later my open-water-swim-and-dental surgeon friend gave me a back issue of a dental magazine called Compendium with very anthropologically interesting headline on it's June 2009 cover: "Anthropology: Origins of Dental Crowding and Malocclusions"

According to the article dental anthropologists believe that there is a correlation between a modern or industrial diet of highly processed foods and malocclusions. (Malocclusion means "dental crowding with teeth out of alignment.") Consumption of a diet of processed high-calorie and low-fiber foods occurs with the transition from indigenous or non-industrial culture to an industrialized culture and diet. What is not so clear is why this is so: is it genetics or is it diet or is it a combination of both? Nearly two-thirds of American’s have some degree of dental crowding while indigenous peoples subsisting on their native diets seem to have nearly perfectly aligned teeth with almost no crowding (Rose 2009:292). The trend seems to hold for the majority of societies that consume an industrialized diet of mostly soft processed foods.

Traditional orthodontic textbooks attributed dental crowding to teratogens (agents causing birth defects), malnutrition, genetic disturbances or a genetic admixture of inherited genes and behaviors such as thumb sucking (Rose 2009: 294). But the hereditary cause of malocclusion proponed by the National Institute of Health doesn’t seem to be true (NIH 2009) according to the latest studies. The photos above are from IslandBraces.com via Google Images.

Compendium cites dental anthropological and archeological studies in its June 2009 issue that supports a connection between an industrial diet and dental crowding or malocclusion. The most common reason why people in the United States need orthodontic treatment seems to be a insufficient alveolar bone mass of the upper and lower jaw bones in order to hold thirty-two teeth in alignment. The latest research seems to indicate that this is due to insufficient chewing stress during childhood rather than to genetic causes as originally believed. The Masticatory Function Hypothesis promoted by Carlson and Van Gernven maintained that dietary changes initiated by the adoption of agriculture and food processing technology in the Nile Valley over the past 10,000 years have resulted in changes in the skull such as reduced jaw sizes (Rose 2009:296). “Carlson and Van Gerven argued most of the facial changes were not the result of genetic changes but caused by reduced chewing stress during development (Rose 2009: 296).”

The implications for orthodontic treatment is to treat dental crowding not with tooth extraction and orthodontics but rather with dentofacial orthopedics and orthodontics in order to increase alveolar bone growth during growth and development (Rose 2009: 297).

A prescription for straighter teeth may also be a diet of more tough and fibrous foods for young children while their jaws are still developing. The reason is that foods that require more mastication seem to stimulate more alveolar bone growth in the maxilliary and mandibular dental bridges in both cross-cultural cross-generation studies and in animal studies, too (Rose 2009:296).

Dental anthropologist Robert Corruccini gathered 20 years of research on the cross-cultural and generational differences in occlusial (alignment) anomalies and concluded that reduced chewing stress in childhood produced jaws that were too small for the teeth despite the ubiquitous trend in dental size and reduction since the advent of agriculture (Rose 2009:296). Corrucini reviewed several previously unpublished cross-cultural studies that showed a significant increase in malocclusion in younger generations who consumed a more refined commercial diet than that of their grandparents who consumed a traditional diet of coarser and more fibrous foods (Rose 2009: 296).

Diet has long been associated with dental health. Weston Price’s 1939 cross-cultural study of 11 human diets titled Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects were one of several early cross-cultural studies that pointed to traditional indigenous diets rather than inherited characteristics to be a greater contributing factor to general and dental health.

Robert Corrucini, a dental anthropologist, labeled malocclusion as a “disease of civilization (Rose 2009:299).” Once again, it seems that a Western or industrialized diet characterized by processed, low fiber, high fat, and high sugar foods may be to blame for another modern health malady besides diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity and so on: crooked teeth.

….

Resources

National Institute of Health
2009, “Malocclusion of Teeth”, United States National Institute of Health, retrieved on September 7, 2009, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001058.htm#Causes,%20incidence,%20and%20risk%20factors

Price, Weston A.
1939 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects, La Mesa, CA: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Pp. 524.

Rose, Jerome C. and Richard D. Roblee
2009 “Origins of Dental Crowding and Malocclusions: An Anthropological Perspective,” Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry, June 2009, vol. 30., No.5., Pp. 292-300.

Wellsphere
2009, “Nutrition and physical Degeneration,” WellSphere, retrieved on September 7, 2009, from http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/nutrition-and-physical-degeneration/22844

Dealing with plantar faciitis: an update--Post Doctor Visit

2009-08-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

After six weeks of not running and following several recommendations to the "T" and still no progress on regaining a pain-free left foot, I finally went to a medical specialist this morning for my nagging case of plantar faciitis-- a common running injury that is hard to treat successfully. The graphic to the left that I got from the AAOS web site shows it's location.

I've been suffering from a worsening case of plantar faciitis on my left foot and a secondary injury of hip bursitas on my right side (which since has subsided since I stopped running about 2 months ago) and intermittent lower-back pain (sacrum area), since December 2008.

The injuries seemed to correlate with a sudden-I'm-so-dumb-to-do-this jump in running miles (more than 10% increase each week) and writing a research paper on the foodways of triathletes and runners for an anthropology class. My days in December were sleep-deprived generally and usually involved long hours of sitting at my computer, sitting in my car on the 101 Freeway or in class followed by a long Saturday road run with the gazelle-like Inside Track Running Club ultra and marathon runners. ("Who needs to gradually increase their mileage to train for a marathon? Not me!") Nine months is long time for me to be nursing an injury. Lately, I've been doing more mileage writing and reading about running, than actually doing it. I've been a runner who can't run.

Since I forgot to ask the good doctor's permission to blab about his advice to me online, his identity won't be revealed. However, I'm confident he knows what he is talking about. He's an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the foot and ankle, is athletic himself (runs and surfs) and has been treating foot injuries for twenty-five years. Finally, two of my doctor-swimmer friends recommended him.

After the doctor reviewed my gait and stance, an x-ray of my foot, and the wear pattern on my old NB 1224 running shoes, according to him, I had no obvious mechanical problems with my gait. Both feet have good flexibility and perform well. I just have a very painful heal (pain located at the mid-point/center and front area on the sole). And, I have tight soleus muscles. Apparently tight calves strain the plantar facia & Achilles tendons by deprecating my gait efficiency which puts additional weight and pressure on the arch/heal area with each step.

Here are his recommendations (as I understood them) to treat my plantar faciitis:

1. Wear a foam heal-lift in my shoes to remove the constant strain on my plantar facia & Achilles tendon's attachment on the calcaneous (heal bone)

2. Stretch my soleus muscle (muscle below the gastronemius that is just above the heal) with a wall stretching technique three times a day; Web pages that show how to do the stretches properly are at SportsInjuryClinic.net and at the AAOS web site.

3. Use ice on my heal/arch for pain management within 30 minutes after an activity inflames it; massage with ice is okay if done gently

4. Lay off strength training for a while: it's too soon for me to engage in heal lifts or heal dips or walking around barefoot if the heal hurts or hurts afterwards; As the doctor said, "If it hurts, don't do it!"

5. No running of any kind until the pain/inflammation subsides; That means no barefoot walking or running and no up hill, forefoot, or beach walking or running for a few weeks

6. Go for a walk on flat ground with supportive shoes (Brooks T5 with Superfeet insoles & foam heal lifts or NB 1225 with Superfeet insoles and foam heal lift) for a mile; then progress to a 1/2 mile walk, 1/2 mile jog (no faster than 8 or 9mpm for jogging intervals); and work up the mileage if there is no pain (If there is pain, back off and go back to walking)

7. When I can run again, practice a mid-foot running style with a shorter stride and feet landing underneath my center of gravity--not in front of me, landing lightly on my mid-foot before rolling off. For more information about improving one's efficiency through running mechanics check out RunningTimes.com for a mid-foot running article that covers the many current running biomechanic trends and philosophies such as Chi Running, Evolution Running, Dr. Ramanov's Pose Technique, barefoot running, etc. I got this from Clynton at Running Quest.net. He posts informative articles on running and diet with cited sources, too.

8. Continue using the night splint; stretch the calf muscles before getting out of bed each morning

9. Cross-train (continue swimming, weight training & riding my bike to keep up my cardio)

10. Gentle self-massage of heal and facia of arch on the foot every day followed by ice only if needed for pain and inflammation; As the doctor told me, "Ice doesn't help this injury."

Even though I wasn't running earlier this summer my heal pain kept hurting while I was doing my six-week Born to Run- and Advice-from-Friends- inspired "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" and two-week "Kitchen Sink" Plantar Faciitis Treatment Program. According to the doctor, I kept straining my arch/heal facia by strength training too early (calf raises and dips, lunges and walking barefoot around the house and beach). These failed treatment programs culminated with two desperate (but enjoyable) barefoot jogs on the beach. Severe pain was the result of the final beach runs. It was only nagging pain before.

If this new treatment plan doesn't help then the doctor will consider putting my injured foot in a cast for 4 weeks to take the pressure off my Achilles/heal or plantar facia. That means I can't do my dawn open water swims, though. And the thought of riding a stationary bike to keep up my cardio really isn't appealing. I hope it doesn't come to that.

My doctor didn't talk about the barefoot running nor of the forefoot running discourse in the running community. That may be because either he was unfamiliar with the trend of training this way with barefoot-in-the-grass running drills and strength training. Or, it may have been because he ran out of time for my appointment. He emphasized only that the calf muscles of one's leg drives and supports one's foot. This is a paradigm shift for me: my calves are a part of of my feet. To fix my feet I must first fix my calves by frequent (at least 2x/day) stretching of my soleus muscles done with correct form.

For now I'm wearing my $8 foam heal lifts from Ventura Orthopedic in my lightweight and flexible Brooks T5 running shoes, $70-ish (it was last year's model on sale), I bought at Inside Track with my $35 Superfeet insoles (green ones for high arches) that I also picked up at Inside Track. My left foot aches a bit today. But is probably from yesterday's painful one mile forefoot running experiment on the treadmill. And, playing with the kids in the water at the beach yesterday--barefoot of course.

Thank you so much to those who have left me informative comments & encouragement!

Dealing with plantar faciitis: an update

2009-08-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

After six weeks of following my Everything-but-the-kitchen sink Plantar Faciitis Treatment Plan my foot still hurts.

This is a real bummer.

Briefly, my six week Everything-but-the-kitchen sink Plantar Faciitis Treatment Plan was:

Ice pack treatment 2x/day (no longer than 10 minutes each per my doctor friend)
Ibuprofen when there's arch/heel pain/inflammation (per my retired PT friend)
Wearing shoes with arch supports such as SuperFeet all the time--even at the beach
Calf strengthening exercises: positive heal rises 3 sets of 20 and negative (off a step) to exhaustion, for each leg every other day
Stretching my calves, hamstrings, glutes--everyday
Cross-training everyday by either swimming, road cycling, or 30 minutes on the elliptical machine with weight training of my upper body everyday
Survive a pain and straight-talk session once a month with my gifted and no-nonsense Rolfer who keeps repeating "Don't run for two months!"
Wearing a night splint (which keeps my arch stretched while sleeping), etc.
Complain about it and my inability to do my favorite athlete past time ever: run

So, six weeks later, my heal wasn't hurting at all and I found myself with an hour to myself on Santa Cruz Island at the bottom of my very favorite running trail that meandered to the top of the bluffs. This beautiful trail gives a 360 degree view of the island's windswept hills, sea lion and seabird nesting areas on the rocks below, it's still native chapparel-covered peaks, and a soaring view of the mainland across the Santa Barbara Channel and open ocean with seagulls and pelicans flying by.

I jogged up the hill.

Thirty-five minutes later back at the bottom of the trail, my heal hurt. A lot. Damn.

The soreness went away a few days later so when I found myself at Moonlight Beach, site of my very first full triathlon (Bud Light Series, Olympic Distance, 1988) I thought that a barefoot run on the hard packed sand might be good for it.

I was wrong. After thirty minutes of trying to jog like a Kenyan or Tarahumara (landing on the forefoot, heals flicking up and faster turnover), my heal hurt. A lot. Again.

Damn.

Okay, so here's my new Kitchen Sink Plantar Faciitis Treatment Plan:

See an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in feet, has been recommended by a former patient or medical doctor and who is athletic; the appointment is tomorrow and I'm anticipating it with both hope and fear (What if he can't do anything for me or recommends expensive options such as custom-made insoles that don't work?)
Ice pack treatment 2x/day (longer than 10 minutes each per myself)
Take two Advil when there's arch/heel pain/inflammation
Wear my new Brooks T5 Racing Flats (last year's model to this year's "T6" that I got on sale) with the disco shoelaces with a pair of SuperFeet high arch (green) insoles when I'm not icing my feet, showering, swimming, riding my bike or dreaming.
Do calf strengthening exercises every other day (positive heal rises 3 sets of 20 and negative (off a step) to exhaustion, for each leg)
Stretch everyday (calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, lowerback)
Cross-train everyday (Swim, bike or do 30 minutes on the elliptical machine with some free weight training of my upper body)
Wear a night splint (which keeps my arch stretched while sleeping)
Avoid wearing flip-flops, shoes with no arch support or walking barefoot whenever possible
Tweet about my Plantar Faciitis woes on Twitter in hopes that some one can offer me some good advice, encouragement or at the very least, commiserate (misery loves company)

Since I've been complaining about my running injury on Twitter, a lot of people have kindly shared advise or words of encouragement. So many people have tweeted me that I am really feeling good right now. My heal still hurts but everything feels great. Especially my heart.

Here's some of the Tweets I've received about treating Plantar Faciitis or offering encouragement:

"@Superfeet@multisportmama Hoping you get some relief – if we can be of any help, please let us know! 1.888.355.3338"

"@RaceSpeed@multisportmama Let me know what you find with your PF. Swimming seems to be good. Enjoy."

"@trijd@multisportmama Hope you get rid of it soon."

"How is the foot? Been able to do any BF running? Would love your thoughts on new post http://bit.ly/HPlxg" (Direct Message)

"@RaceSpeed@multisportmama Be careful with this type of injury. Here is a link to wikipedia write-up http://bit.ly/UnMD They say time is best cure."

"@RaceSpeed@multisportmama At bottom of this article is more links to exercises that help RT @faceurfears: Top 10 Sports Injuries - http://shar.es/qxtU"

"Thanks for the follow. Have you tried Active Release Therapy on your calves for your Plantar Faciitis? Worked instant wonders for my wife." (Direct Message)

"@kchealy@multisportmama you're welcome. I hope your PF resolves soon...it's a pesky injury!"

"@RaceSpeed@multisportmama Two points, bear with me. 1) If going on for 6 weeks without running, I worry and definitely worth Drs visit."

"@RaceSpeed@multisportmama 2nd point, I found video claims good for all foot related weakness injuries. http://bit.ly/15Srde Worth a look at."

"@kchealy@multisportmama the thing that helped me with PF was massage. Very painful but effective."

"@boulderrunner@multisportmama in my experience it [visit to a podiatrist] can be [a waste of money]. They love custom footbeds. Don't underestimate rolling on a golf ball and rest"

"@michaelsally@multisportmama well, depends on the dr. Most traditional drs like drugs or the cut & burn approach. Neither solve the cause."

"@runnrgrl@multisportmama pf sucks. Are you getting orthotics. After 3 mths of finetuning, mine helped! Still no more pf since-2 yrs of relief so far"

"@donna_de@multisportmama I'm reading Chi Running on the same topic [barefoot running]!"

"@ajrizza@multisportmama I see runners all time with PF we do foot and ankle exercises, EPAT (check out link) and Orthotics from Foot Management ..."

"@wildcelticrose@multisportmama the story of the accident-shows that an athlete can overcome anything http://wildcelticrose.net/l..."

"@the17thman@multisportmama @FootPursuita You should try Aqua Aerobics http://bit.ly/eldVE"

"@behindtherabbit@multisportmama thinking a lot about adopting 'less shoe is better' - slowly, to avoid injury. starting with light trainers, then mayB VFFs?"

"@dnorton@multisportmama I will go out on a limb to say a little barefoot running may actually help your PT. It has with mine... YMMV."

"@bmolloy@multisportmama I had PF last year for the first time and it took 3 months to be gone completely. heat moldable orthotics were my cure."

"@RunningQuest@multisportmama That's great! Remember to take it slow, to give yr muscles time to awaken. Good news is they do so pretty quickly."

"@healthyashley@multisportmama I'm sorry about the news (and pain!)... Good luck with your alternative exercises! Can you bike?"

"@turtlescanrun@multisportmama I guess you are with us on that list...It is so hard sometimes..I'm always injured or recovering lately :S"

"@ultrarunnergirl@multisportmama best advice 4 PF i know: keep supportive shoes on all the time, never go barefoot, esp getting up in a.m. or @ nite 2 pee."

"@DCrunnergrrl@multisportmama I know how you feel! Contemplating one of my 1st runs "back" tonite, and trying to make sure I don't jump the gun. So hard!"

"@ncjack@multisportmama awesome! How's the PF??"

"@misb@multisportmama how's the PF? Hope it's settling down! Orthotics, ART, & the night splint cured my chronic case."

"@misb@multisportmama it's Active Release Technique http://bit.ly/7xB4V & http://bit.ly/ZVzis ; really helps with soft tissue/fascia issues"

"@chicrunner@multisportmama gosh! get better soon. I am stretching as I type ha ha :)"

"@IronmanLongRunr@multisportmama I say tape it strong and give her a go"

Thank you everyone. Just knowing that there are people out there (fellow runners, parents, triathletes, non-athletes--people) who care enough to take a minute to Tweet me a word of encouragement or healing advice for my plantar faciitis really rocks.

It makes me feel better.

:) A

Dealing with Plantar Faciitis, review of article about barefoot running & less is more running shoes

2009-08-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

"Barefoot Running: Not just for bums and hippies", is a well-researched blog article found at runningquest.net. It's an excellent source of news about the new discourse in the running community about the benefits of running barefoot or with "less is more" minimal running shoes.

The trend seems to be inspired by the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougal that came out earlier this year. The book documents the author's search for a cure for his nagging running injuries including the dreaded plantar faciitis (PF) that has ended running for many. The "Barefoot Running..." article's author Clynton expounds on the McDougal's findings about barefoot running, the running shoe industry marketing shoes known to be bad for running efficiency, and current articles. He also, very nicely and responsibly, cites his sources. (I love that!)

According to Clynton the benefits of running barefoot are these:
1. Shock absorption: Barefoot running makes you run using the body's natural shock absorption system by landing mid-foot while conventional running shoes force you to land on your heals which is damaging [my paraphrase]
2. Lighter Strike: Landing more lightly on your feet happens naturally barefoot [my paraphrase]
3. Muscle Strength: Your feet become stronger and more resilient to injury when running barefoot [my paraphrase]

What I also found useful were his several reviews of minimalist running shoes such as the Nike Free racing flats and Vibram Five Fingers shoes.

I used to run barefoot on the beach in my twenties as an undergrad at SDSU. I felt better, more free, and lighter running barefoot than plodding along on the concrete bike along the beach in my big running shoes. I had sore calves after my barefoot runs, but that was it.

Flash forward 20 years with 2 kids, 2 great careers (one in sales, other in web design) and current grad student & PT web designer ...

Bare with me on this, but I believe that our occupation, which effect the movements we do every day habitually, is directly connected to our fitness. My occupation, unfortunately, requires me to sit on my butt for hours--all day sometimes--and that is not conducive to being physically fit.

I'm not running now because of a nagging case of the dreaded plantar faciitis injury. The facia, a tendon that acts as a shock absorbing and flexible band runs from my heal to my forefoot, is badly strained and inflamed. (See drawing at the left of the Plantar Fascia from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons helpful web site.) This is the the same injury that prompted author Christopher McDougal to write his book Born to Run.

To figure out how to recover from this cursed injury, my research included the above mentioned web site, several other web sites I found via Google, and two peer-reviewed articles written by physicians (that I found online via CSUN's library with my student access), and this very helpful little book that I found on Amazon.com: Injury Afoot: 30 things You Can Do to Relieve Heel Pain and Speed Healing of Plantar Faciitis by Patrick Hafner. It seems that my case of plantar faciitis comes from a combination of variables:

1. Weak feet. At the time of injury I was sitting all day and doing short "maintenance" jogs 3-4x week--no more than 45 minutes long each.
2. Wearing heavily structured and cushioned running shoes; In my case it was the NB 1223) during my sleep-deprived grad school semesters (sleep deprivation inhibits tissue repair, etc)
2. Tight calves from inadequate stretching (because I was always in a hurry to get my run in),
3. Weak abdominal muscles (probably from sitting hunched over a compooper all day (miss-spelling of "computer" is intentional!)
4. Walking around in stiff/arch-free flipflops all day (we live at the beach) which further caused my foot muscles to atrophy
5. A dramatic increase in my weekend long runs in a couple of weeks (from 5 miles to 14 miles--more than double) when I joined our local running club in November 2008.
6. Ignoring the nagging pain in my left foot PF for months, favoring my right foot which did two things: (1) made my injury worse and (2) gave me another injury: hip bursitis on my right side. This was probably caused by subtly shifting my weight off my left injured foot to my right foot. So, I came down with two injuries by December 2008 and by May 2009 I could not walk without extreme pain, on both sides of my body and suffered from lower back pain. How dumb is that? See where ignoring the obvious gets you? Don't do what I did!

So, unlike Clynton's article implies, my case of PF is due to more than atrophied foot muscles and tendons caused by over-structured expensive running shoes, it was my lifestyle too. However, I believe those shoes contributed my weaker arches in general and, eventually, plantar faciitis. But not by themselves.

I thought my years of racing and "muscle memory" could carry me through the jump in miles. I've done 20 marathons and used to train mostly on hilly trails. As an out of shape and older grad student, road runner and web developer, my "old school" attitude that training intelligently was for beginners, got a rude smack down by the reality of my current state of fitness. I had forgotten the miles and months it used to take me to get in good running shape when I was younger.

Right now I'm walking (not running) around in a new pair of NB 1224s with Superfeet insoles for high arches nearly all my waking hours. Even with dresses. Not very flattering but I figure it's my version of foot cast. It allows the plantar facia to heal and, unfortunately, atrophy. I'm no longer in pain with I walk but the tenderness is there and I have to be very careful and slow with my feet strengthening exercises and walking barefoot right now--or I'm back to square one.

(1) My Everything-but-the-kitchen sink Plantar Faciitis Treatment Plan:

• Ice pack treatment 2x/day (no longer than 10 minutes each per my doctor friend)
• Ibuprofen when there's arch/heel pain/inflammation (per my retired PT friend)
• Wearing shoes with archsupports such as SuperFeet all the time--even at the beach (this really was not fun at the Hurley US Open Surf Championship two weeks ago!)--per my graduate adviser at CSUN who suffered from PF
• Heal rises: positive 3 sets of 20 and negative (off a step) to exhaustion, every other day
• Stretching my calves, hamstrings, glutes--everything every day
• Cross-training once or twice (if I'm lucky) a day by swimming, cycling, core workouts, elliptical workout, or weight training
• Survive a pain and straight-talk session once a month with my gifted and no-nonsense Rolfer who keeps repeating "Don't run for two months!" (I just repeat his words over and over again when I'm tempted to skip..errr... I really mean run... down the beach a bit after an open water swim or when I'm with the kids).
• Wearing a night splint (which keeps my arch stretched while sleeping), etc.

If you suffer from Plantar Faciitis, the book Injury Afoot: 30 things You Can Do to Relieve Heel Pain and Speed Healing of Plantar Faciitis may help you with it's plan to get rid of it. So far, when I follow that little book's steps for healing and strengthening exercises, my foot is pain-free.

(2) As soon as my PF is healed, the plan is for me to return to barefoot running on the beach to strengthen my feet. Gradually--just mile or two at first. I've come to realize, during this injury, that my body needs more than muscle memory to get conditioned, especially at my age.

That being said, my footwear plan:

(1) I will get a pair of Vibram FFs. They fit my feet fine and the weird factor is kinda cool in my book. I like them. They crack me up! Also, I think Barefoot Ted (from book Born to Run) is on to something.

(2) For road running I also have a pair of Brooks Cascadia 4 trail running shoes that I got just before my PF injury got too painful to run. I like them, too, and I feel that my foot can flex more naturally while wearing them. I heard that Scott Jurek designed them. Maybe he added some magical running powers to their design. I need it.

(3) I don't think I will go back to wearing conventional running shoes. But, then when marathon training on concrete and asfault I'm not sure if the Vibrams and trail running shoes will adequately protect my feet from injury. I'm waiting to hear more and may purchase a pair of racing flats for this reason in the future. I was considering the Nike Free or a NB racing flat (if they have one) but I'm kinda pissed off at Nike and coventional running shoe companies right now for inventing and marketing the over-structured/padded running shoes that contributed to my running injury in the first place. I still don't know what to get.

Please comment and keep me updated on your own barefoot running or "less is more" running experiences! And, feel free to offer any "less is more" running shoe tips.

:)