Her Sports + Fitness Magazine

U.S. Olympic Trials Begin in Swimming and Track and Field

The road to Beijing for many American athletes begins—or ends—this weekend. The U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field athletes start today in Eugene, Oregon. On Sunday, swimming trials begin in Omaha, Nebraska.
    Kara Goucher, who earned instant fame when she beat marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe at the Great North Half Marathon in England last year, is expected to speed past the competition in the 10,000-meter event tonight. (She ran 31:26.48 at a race in Portland earlier this month—25 seconds faster than the required Olympic qualifying time.)
    On Monday, American women compete in the steeplechase, a 2-mile running race that requires athletes to jump over 28 hurdles and seven water obstacles. This will be the first time women have been allowed to participate in this event in the Olympics. (Men have been competing in it for more than a century.)
    At the swimming trials, medal contender Katie Hoff will kick off her Olympic effort on Sunday with the 400-meter individual medley event. (2004 Olympic superstar Michael Phelps will compete in the same event that day.) Watch 3-time Olympian Amanda Beard try to earn another spot on the Olympic team on July 4th in the 200-meter breaststroke. (For an interview with Beard, pick up a copy of the July/August issue of Her Sports + Fitness.) On July 6, 41-year-old swimmer Dana Torres could make history in the 50-meter freestyle event. Already the winner of nine Olympic medals, Torres is out to best her own unusual record: to be the oldest woman to make the U.S. Olympic swim team, which she established at age 33 in 2000.
    Both Trials will be shown on the NBC and USA networks. Visit these USATF and the USA Swimming links for the TV schedule.

—Kristin Harrison

Flip-Flop Flop

                           
As a Floridian, I live in flip-flops, especially in these sweltering days of summer. But according to a new study by kinesiology researchers at Auburn University, for the benefit of my legs, I should reduce my time in flops and ditch my long-time favorites. AU scientist Justin Shroyer says, “We found that when people walk in flip-flops, they alter their gait, which can result in pain from the foot up into the hips and lower back." Turns out, the more hours you spend in flip-flops, the more prone you are to injury. And they need to be replaced just as often as running shoes—every three to four months. But don't despair, researchers aren't suggesting we give up sandals altogether. Just save them for the beach.

—Kristin Harrison

Mudslingers Conquer Muddy Buddy Orlando

On Friday night we headed to Orlando and did some last minute costume-crafting for our Muddy Buddy race the next morning. Team Mudslingers did something that our normal journalistic-selves wouldn’t be caught dead doing—we bought every trashy National Enquirer-type publication we could get our hands on. Then we cut out choice headlines and pictures to cover our race shirts and bike helmets. Think “Hillary Kidnapped by Aliens.”
    The next morning at Disney’s Wide World of Sports we found a big crowd of people (2,500 participants) with costumes much more outrageous than ours—there were Elvis sightings and orange-cone-headed girls dressed as traffic cops, complete with mustaches. It felt more like a carnival than a race.
     The total off-road course measured 6 to 7 miles, and as we moved up toward the start line, the first men’s waves began finishing and we started to hear course reports. “It’s easy! There’s no sand on the trail,” one racer reported (and lied, as we discovered later). And the comment that struck fear in Jeana’s heart, “ there’s a huge brown thing floating in the mud pit!”
    Finally, our wave reached the start and we split up as we would for the rest of the race, alternating running and biking and trading off the bike after each of the four obstacles. Jeana stayed up front ready to bike, while Kristin headed to the back of the wave with the rest of the runners. Here’s what each of us experienced.

LEG ONE
JD: I pedaled furiously into the unknown with unbridled enthusiasm, completely caught up in the race-start excitement.

KH: The first leg of the run reminded me of my high school cross country running days, looping around a big grass field and along drainage ditches. I passed a cyclist whose bike pedal had fallen off and thought, “thank goodness that’s not Jeana!” I was so excited to finally be running that I reached the first obstacle—a climbing wall—in what felt like just a few minutes.

LEG TWO
JD: After dropping the bike in the transition zone, I ran for what felt like forever. My after-bike spaghetti legs were barely doing the job, and it donned on me that I may have pushed a little too hard on the first bike leg. It didn’t help that I had to make a detour to the restroom. Note to self: Save the water chugging until after the race.

KH: I grabbed our mountain bike, marked with a bright orange bandana we tied around the handlebar, and took off, zipping around the runners. But my speed was short-lived: very quickly I hit thick sand and dirt and had to use a “Granny Gear” to keep the bike moving forward.

JD: Kristin passed by me on the bike and shouted, “Go Mudslingers!” My first instinct was to respond, “I hate you for making me do this,” but instead I gave a half-hearted wave.

KH: By the time I reached the second obstacle, I was out of breath and sweating. I hauled myself up the cargo net and then got to relive my elementary school days by flying down the inflatable slide.

Swimming in the Arctic

Last year, I met Lynne Cox, one of the world's best open water swimmers, and wrote a profile about her for our January/February 2008 issue. Cox became famous for breaking a world record when she swam across the English Channel as a teenager, and in her adult career she moved beyond breaking speed records to performing a number of swimming "firsts" around the world, from crossing the Straits of Magellan in South America to swimming one mile in Antarctica's 32 F iceberg-studded water. Did I mention she wears nothing more than a regular TYR bathing suit during each frigid swim?

When I interviewed her, Cox mentioned that she was writing an article for the New Yorker about her latest swimming adventure. She wasn't allowed to talk about the project until the article published, which it did this week with the highly understated title "A Dip in the Cold."

It turns out Cox has bested herself yet again. Last summer, she performed four swims along the Arctic's Northwest Passage, which runs between Greenland and Alaska, that were as cold—or colder—than her Antarctic swim. In fact, she swam in water that was 28 F; most of us would be hypothermic within seconds if submerged in water so cold.

Cox performs her historic swims with little fanfare or media attention. She told me she continues to do cold water swims to see how far she can push herself. But she's doing the rest of us a favor, too: expanding the supposed boundaries of what the human body can achieve.

—Kristin Harrison

The Elusive Runner's High

Running is my therapy. I run to de-stress after a hectic day, calm down after a difficult conversation or find a solution to a complex problem. Those closest to me know the best way to deal with me when I'm irritated, grumpy or upset is to suggest—nicely—that I go for a run.

Often, but not always, I feel like I'm able to drop my concerns on the pavement as I run. Mile one, I replay whatever is bothering me, speeding up or slowing down depending on my mood; mile two, I puzzle over possible solutions and outcomes; mile three, I'm writing the emails or planning the conversations I'll have to solve the problem; mile four (five or six, depending on how worked up I am), I'm singing along to my iPod. By the time I get home, I feel happy and incredibly energized.

I've always wondered: Is this the so-called "runner's high?" Or would I be able to reach the same state if I sat on my couch for an hour or more and thought things over carefully?

Until recently, researchers have never been able to prove that the runner's high—long fabled to be caused by the release of endorphins, your body's natural stimulants—exists. Gina Kolata's article in the New York Times  today unveils the research conducted by German neuroscientists that finally provides evidence to back up the lore. (Read the study abstract from the  Cerebral Cortex journal here.)

Led by Henning Boecker, the scientists scanned the brains of 10 long-distance runners before and after a two-hour run. Using PET scans, they were able to measure the amount of endorphins in the runners' brains and where the endorphins were located. Not only did each runner's level of endorphins increase during the run, the endorphins clustered around the part of the brain associated with mood and feel-good emotions—providing that blissful runner's high.

The next step for researchers: figuring out why this doesn't happen for all runners after every run. How long or hard do you have to run to get a happy high?

Solve that riddle, and my therapy will be complete.

—Kristin Harrison

Oakley for Women

I'm currently in Miami for the unveiling of Oakley's first pair of high performance sports glasses designed for women. Unlike previous women's sunglasses that were downsized from a men's design and released in a line of "feminine" colors, the new Endure was crafted around the size and shape of the female head and features smaller nose pieces and shorter temple lengths. The final product offers a snug fit that doesn't bounce or shift during high-intensity exercise. Oakley athlete Lolo Jones is endorsing Endure, and I chatted with her on the beach this afternoon. The track and field speedster just won gold in the 60 meter hurdles at the World Indoor Championship in Valencia, Spain. (It took her less than 8 seconds to leap over five hurdles that stood 33 inches high.) Although happy to have a little downtime in the sun, Jones is eager to leave Miami and get back on the track to prepare for her next big event: the U.S. Olympic trials this June.

Already the owner of a silver Olympic medal and numerous international titles, including a gold at this year's X-Games, snowboarding superstar Gretchen Bleiler has also made an appearance here to give the press a preview of her new Oakley snow apparel collection, which will arrive in ski shops this fall. With numerous technical features, including water resistant fabrics and pockets for iPods and goggles, the line is designed for high performance, but it's also appealingly hipster, with a subtle lion logo and details like diagonal zippers and leather tab snaps. As Bleiler proclaimed, "It's super cute."

—Kristin Harrison

The Battle of the Sexes

Last night, clicking through channels, I stumbled upon the final scenes of "The Biggest Loser," NBC's popular reality TV show that features contestants who compete to lose the most weight through healthy diets and hours of daily exercise. The scene that caught my attention—and surprise—showed trainer Jillian Michaels angrily berating the host for asking one of the female contestants if she'd given up on winning the game."She knows it's impossible for her to win," snapped an exasperated Michaels. Her reason why? A woman couldn't best the men in the weight loss and fitness game. (There's never been a female winner on this show, which is now in its fifth season.)

Having met many exceptional female athletes and women who've changed their lives dramatically through healthy eating and exercise, I had to wonder: Is Michaels right?

I've spent some time consulting academic journals to find some answers. Turns out, men hold a slight, but not significant, advantage in the weight loss category. According to this study in the journal Obesity, men and women lost weight at similar rates, with a modest 0.6 kg more weight lost by the men. Other studies reflect the same conclusion, showing weight loss differences between the sexes within a few pounds in the men's favor. Mostly, studies note the differences between genders in two important factors: where men and women store fat; and how they go about losing weight. Generally, men exercise; women diet. Studies show that by shifting their approach from fads to a healthy, well-balanced diet and an exercise plan that includes strength training to build muscle—which burns more energy than fat—women can hold their own against men.

And perhaps that's why on last night's episode of "The Biggest Loser," the one who ultimately lost the most weight for the week was a woman.

Nike Women's Marathon: Register Today, Hope for an Entry

The Nike Women's Marathon and Half Marathon in San Francisco is one of my favorite races. A benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the event features a beautiful, albeit hilly, course through the city and along the Pacific Ocean. Even better: A Tiffany's necklace is the finisher's medal, distributed by men in tuxedos (really). When I ran the half marathon in 2006, the October weather was perfect, cool but sunny with stunning views appearing through the occasional fog.         
    Now in its fifth year, the race has become so popular—it filled in three days last year—the organizers are trying something different for registration in 2008. To try to get a spot in this "Run Like a Girl" event on October 19, you  must enter a random drawing at NikeMarathon.com today (starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time) through March 18. You'll get an email on April 1 letting you know whether or not you've "won" one of the 20,000 available spots.The only way to get in without going through the random drawing, unless you've run this race every year since its inception and are a "legacy runner," is to join a Team in Training program.
    While I commend Nike for trying to be "fair," I'm not sure how I feel about this new approach. What do you think? Is first-come-first-serve race registration really a bad idea?

—Kristin Harrison

Happy 30th Birthday, Ironman!

Thirty years ago today the first Ironman competition was held in Honolulu, Hawaii. The multisport race was the brain child of John Collins, who was intent on settling the dispute of which athlete—swimmer, cyclist or runner—is in the best overall shape.
    On February 18, 1978, 12 men completed a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.  Gordon Haller finished first, in 11:46:58, and received the original "Ironman" title.
    Just one year later, cyclist Lyn Lemaire became the first woman to complete an Ironman. Proving women are just as capable as men, she finished 5^th overall. In 1992, Paula Newby-Fraser became the first woman to break the 9-hour mark at a full distance Ironman competition, and in 1993 set a women’s Ironman world record with a time of 8:58:23.
    Then, in 1994, Newby-Fraser won the Ironman competition and succeeded in becoming the first, male or female, to win the championship seven times. Newby-Fraser’s record still stands today, 30 years later.  (For a complete history of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, visit History of the Ironman.) Want to try to break it? Ironman now hosts hundreds of events around the world.

—Amanda Smith

Group therapy

I’ve never been much of a group-exercise sort of person, so the fact that I joined the Her Sports + Fitness monthly yoga class was huge. The idea of sweating and looking like a physical wreck in front of my tri-athletic co-workers was less than appealing, but as a newbie, I figured I should at least give it a try.   
    So it’s been four months since we started yoga, and I have to say that I am so glad I decided to participate. Not only is yoga a great bonding experience – nothing like hanging upside down in a swing to make you feel like “one of the girls” – it’s also encouraged me to push myself.   
    Our yoga instructor, Chris Acosta, says that we shouldn’t be competing with other people in the class, but c’mon, it’s Her Sports + Fitness, and there are a lot of competitive athletes in the group. And even though I’d never count myself among the “athlete” group, seeing everyone trying to hold a pose makes me think, “Stop whining, Tiff. You can do it, too.”
    There’s an article in the Feb. 7 New York Times that discusses how group personal training sessions can get too competitive, and I can see how that could be a problem, especially among friends and family who are not at the same physical levels. But for someone like me, who has enough trouble staying motivated to work out, much less push myself to the next level, group training is just the boost this part-time fitness freak needs.

-- Tiffany Connors