A Lesson From Biking

Natasha Richardson's tragic death reminded me of something I was told when I was doing a lot of biking about 20 years ago. I was told that, unhelmeted, you can die from falling off a bike that's standing still. Ms. Richardson's death, happening on a bunny slpe, falling onto slushy snow show that great impact isn't necessary. I can only hope that her death gets a few more people to wear helmets both on the ski slope and on bikes. Here in NJ, our legislature enacted a law mandating helmet use by everyone under 17 on roads and public areas when biking, roller blading, and skateboarding. Unfortunately, it's widely ignored, even by the cops. I believe that failure to enforce laws breeds disrespect for the law, so the failure to enforce this law has a corrosive effect on society.

Sore Ass!

Last night was brutal! No, it really was, but that has little to do with the sore ass. I went to the gym yesterday, it was the first time in many months. I wanted to try to get myself back into shape, but I know the road will be long.

Here's what I did:
Leg press at 190 - 2 x 10
Leg Curl at 60? - 2 x 10
Pull Ups (with 70 assist) - 1 x 5
Walk (treadmill) - 30 min - just over 2 miles

Here's what I learned:
I need to relearn how to pack for the gym - I walked in without shoes (they were in the car), had no towel (had to rent one), and brought no toiletries (scruffy the rest of the day).
I also need to keep away from the locker room around 2:30 - the high school swim team is prepping for practice, were I a pedophile, I might enjoy that, but I wound up feeling uncomfortable and I suspect they were too.

You know who was there? The girl who walks on the treadmill at a BIG incline and holds on the whole time. You know the one, she wants to look like whe's working out really hard, but really isn't. I think there's one of them at your gym, right?

Crossing Paths

En route back from my run yesterday, I ran into a guy I would often race against. He's been racing more in short triathlons. He posed a question to me about long races, specifically, "Did I think doing long races was healthy?" My response was, essentially, they aren't unhealthy, but they can beat you up a lot, and that may be a price you don't choose to pay. It seems clear to me that long races are unhealthy for those with biomechanical issues...well, more exactly, likely to exacerbate your injury/condition, but probably neutral for those who do not have problems...though there are minor health issues, like the sun exposure of your skin during the event, risk of crashes/falls/injuries during an event, etc.
Later in the day, I was walking around town and found a local runner/coach was now managing the local store of a chain of running stores. We talked a bit about some other local runners, etc. It was a nice visit.
I mentioned my recent trip to Utica, and have posted some pictures on the blog attached to my club's website, here and here. You may want to stop by and take a look.

Coughing 'til My Eyes Hurt

About 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon, I suddenly felt badly. It was a kind of fatigue combined with feeling "off." By Tuesday, it was pretty much all I could do to get to my class. This cold or flu, which seemed to settle in my throat, caused me to cough a lot. It was a kind of dry cough, and was bad enough that at one point, the coughing actually hurt my eyes. The disturbing part of this was that afterwards, I would feel discomfort when I touched my eyes! Obviously, the vigor of coughing hurt me a bit.
What do you think? Brutal sinus pressure, chills, an awful cough - flu?
On two consecutive evenings, I found myself coughing 'til I lost my cookies. That was my alternate title for this post.
I still find myself coughing, but things are much improved. This seems to be more bronchitis, than any kind of real problem. Hopefully, I'll be able to kick this thing in the next several days.

Walk To School?

An article in today's New York Times advocates walking to school. It looks at the changing balance of walking vs. car transport vs. bus. I advocate it, but point out that school design criteria play a role in driving down rates of walking by encouraging large schools rather than smaller neighborhood schools.

Cerutty

There were a group of seminal fitness/running coaches in the 1950's and 1960's. I tend to put Arthur Lydiard at the top of the heap, at least as far as running goes. In the United States, Jack LaLanne brought fitness to TV. Bernarr MacFadden was one of the very early fitness proponents. (I differentiate strongmen and body builders from fitness proponents, though the lines are sometimes very grey.)
I had recently purchased a (used) copy of Percy Cerutty's Be Fit! or Be Damned!, and read it on my recent trip to the Dominican Republic. Some dismiss Cerutty as a crank, but he must be measured by the time and place in which he wrote. This book carries a 1967 copyright. Cerutty identifies himself as coach to both John Landy (second man to break four-minutes for the mile) and Herb Elliott (a world-record holder, though I'm not sure in what). If I were to sum up the basic theme of this book, it is "if you don't take care of your body, you'll die sooner."
Several of Cerutty's key points were: a) exercise inproves cardio-vascular health b) diet matters in your overall health and c) strength is needed in life. By today's standards, these concepts are almost laughable, but when you consider this was also the time when Dr. Kenneth Cooper was coining the term "aerobics" to describe long-duration, low-intensity exercise, it was important stuff.
Do I recommend that you read this book? No, while it is an important book, many of the concepts feel dated. Unless you have an interest in the history of fitness, it's probably not worth the time and effort to seek it out.

Flatlining

The New York Times has an article (registration required) on heart disease. It's a profile of a man who had a heart attack after making some progress with weight loss and exercise. He made the mistake of taking himself off his medications for his heart condition (he is a big guy who'd had an earlier heart attack). It's worth a read.

Generic Drug Pricing

Check out this link to the Freakonomics blog. If you have parents, health issues, or know anyone with them, it could make a real difference.

Garlic Doesn't Lower Cholesterol (Or Not Very Well)

A newly published study, led by Christopher Gardner at Stanford University, has shown that use of garlic is inconclusive at lowering cholesterol. So, if you like the taste of garlic, eat it, and if you want to believe it helps, then go ahead, it won't hurt you, but if you have a cholesterol issue, then don't consider garlic to be medicine.
In addition to being the "Harvard of the West," Stanford has perhaps the finest distance running program in the country. Their teams can beat the best in the country in distance racing.
So, I salute the Cardinal (singular, they are NOT the Cardinals!) for good science and good running.

Spaghetti

I like to listen to Dr. Kenneth Cooper's radio show (available online). A recent episode had a discussion of cardiovascular disease. One point they made stood out, most of our arteries, when healthy, have an opening the size of cooked spaghetti. Memories of high school first aid class had made me think of arteries that could spurt blood several feet if cut (and I guess it's possible even at this size - think about a water pistol), making me think of opening the size of a finger.

This radical size difference makes very vivid, to me at least, just how important it is to minimize arterial plaqueing. Think for a moment how easy it is for a little bit of fat or scab from in a vessel to break loose and block blood flow. Frightening, isn't it? I bet you're going to be more diligent about diet and exercise now.

NYC Bans Trans-Fats

Today, (well, actually yesterday, I'm writing this in the middle of the night) New York City's health department banned trans-fats in restaurants. The process looks like it might well be fraught with litigation, but I think they'll succeed. I should elucidate that the ban is neither immediate, nor complete for some time. Further, even when the ban is complete, you'll still get some trans-fats that occur naturally in some foods.

The basic structure of the ban is as follows: use of hydrogenated oils for frying or as an added ingredient is prohibited as of July (2007); then a year later, the synthetic trans-fats are banned from any presence in foods.

What did I just say? Let's look at the french (should that be capped?) fry as an example. If a restaurant buys prepared french fries, then in about 6 months, they are prohibited from using hydrogenated oils to fry in. The fry may still contain some trans-fats because the factory that prepared it may have used hydrogenated oil to improve handling or flavor characteristics. A year later, that french fry can't contain even that small amount of trans-fat.

What does this mean in real terms? Fats come in solid and liquid forms, and there are differences between how the two behave, feel in your mouth, etc. There are also flavor differences between various fats. Most of us are familiar with trans-fats as the can of Crisco (or equivalent) in the cabinet that we use for baking. You can't make a flaky pastry without solid fats. This ban likely means that in some applications, lard or other animal fats will be substituted for the hydrogenated vegetable fats. This has implications for those who have dietary restrictions due to religious, health, or personal belief issues.

In other applications, the impact on flavor is a factor. I understand that from a flavor viewpoint, it's usually possible to use an non-hydrogenated version of an oil and retain the same flavor. There may be slight flavor differences if hard fats are required, though I suspect that food and flavor technologies have advanced to a level where they will be almost undetectable.

Further, I've heard that while non-hydrogenated hard fats are costlier than their hydrogenated cousins, they are normally absorbed less and don't break down as fast in use. This means two things, first, lower actual costs of use (though higher start-up costs) and a healthier product due to lower oil absorbtion and thus, lower calorie products. I suspect that there is a bit of untruth there, fat tastes good to us, and so some restaurants will likely choose oil blends that are more readily absorbed, thus, the absorbtion reduction will be compromised by restaurant choice in exchange for improved taste.