Simple Steps for Determining Diet Intake vs Performance Output
1. Everyone needs to know how to ready food labels so that he or she knows the number of grams of each food type, i.e., carbohydrates, fats, and proteins being ingested.
2. Calculate the number of calories needed for yourself on days when you do not exercise (see our diet and nutrition section). This is termed the REE or resting energy expenditure. As a rule of thumb, you can obtain a ball-park figure by multiplying body weight by 10 and adding 200. Let us use a 120 pound person for an example, REE = 120 pound x 10 + 200 = 1400 kcal (calories) energy required per day on days he or she does not exercise. This is just to maintain current body weight.
3. For exercise days, add the number of calories expended for the exercise to those determined from your REE in step 2 above (see “comparison” in the diet and nutrition section).
4. Adjust as needed. If you are slowly losing weight and you do not desire to do this, ingest extra calories on a daily basis. If you are gaining weight, ingest fewer daily calories.

Doing this will ensure that your diet matches your activity level. Thus, you will be the best you can be. For those who are involved in more intense activities, competitive fitness, or professional sports, please read the following section.

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Performance and Calories
I am often asked if one can perform well on a low calorie diet with the primary goal of the individual being to lose weight. The answer is no.
Your performance in any physical activity is directly linked to the energy your body can supply to muscles and cells. What happens when we cannot supply the energy we need to our cells for the activity we are doing? If the activity is done for only 2-3 hours, you will promote fat loss after exercise if this is an occasional event. However, if this is an everyday occurrence, the final answer is that protein will be used for the energy source and muscle mass will be cannibalized. And, it’s well known that the more lean muscle one has, the better able he or she is to control weight and possible obesity.
Again, the key is to balance input of food energy with output of energy used.

For example, muscle fatigue such as “hitting the wall” in running, generally occurs when the body’s internal carbohydrate stores are depleted and there is a shift towards fat metabolism as the energy source for muscles. At this point, maximum energy output is generally limited to approximately 50% VO2 max. (VO2 max. is the region in which oxygen consumption plateaus or increases only slightly with additional increases in exercise intensity, i.e., this is the maximal oxygen consumption). Logically we might assume that if adequate carbohydrates are ingested to offset those expended, that we can maintain our pace indefinitely. Unfortunately this is not the case. Athletes and fitness buffs with low muscle glycogen stores, but high blood glucose levels still experience fatigue at some point, even though the time to onset of fatigue may be delayed by ingesting carbohydrate supplements. We are not sure why this occurs, but it could be related to physical changes in muscle cells since this type of fatigue is more common in the untrained person or athlete.

Fats provide over 50% of the Calories expended during moderate exercise at less than 50% VO2 max., even when adequate carbohydrates (glycogen) are available. As the level of exercise increases towards 100% VO2 max., the proportion of the total energy expenditures replaced by fats decreases. Also, in maximum performance events, where metabolism becomes anaerobic (greater than 100% VO2 max.), fat metabolism ceases and only carbohydrates are available as an energy source; sprinting is a good example of this.

Protein is a maintenance material used to repair muscle (and other) cell injuries – including the micro-trauma that occurs in training.
When designing a nutritional program to supplement the body’s energy stores for an athletic event, the rate of digestion and absorption of foods must be taken into account. The time required for the stomach to start the digestive process, empty its contents into the small intestine, and have the foods absorbed into the bloodstream will directly affect how quickly any food energy will be available for muscles to provide the supplemental energy for exercise.

Four factors influence this digestive process, over which you have some control.
1. Solid vs liquid – liquids are expelled or emptied from the stomach more quickly than solids.
2. Fat content in foods – fat slows the digestive process and delays the availability of any Calories in the food to the muscles. This is why you don’t want to consume fats until at least two hours after exercise.
3. Sugars – a sugar content of more than 10%, especially in liquids, will slow stomach emptying. However, the use of complex carbohydrates, due to a decreased osmotic effect, will offset this somewhat and offers an alternative strategy to maximize Caloric intake to offset the metabolic needs of exercise.
4. Physical activity level – digestion is slowed by any vigorous activity, usually starting at 70% VO2 max. Except in short, all out events such as sprinting, this is generally not an issue. Also, in events such as running, the additional component of mechanical stimulation of abdominal contents from the sport itself slows digestive processes and tract functioning.

The consequences of this are that:
1) The optimal food for a rapid, high energy boost during sustained, fast paced exercises such as running or cycling would be a semi-liquid or liquid carbohydrate with little or no fat.
2) If you are an endurance athletes competing at a lower VO2 max., ingesting a complex carbohydrate with fat added for improved taste (generally in a solid form), will slow emptying from the stomach and prolong absorption for a greater period of time.

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Carbonation
Carbonation from soda’s and other beverages does not appear to affect the stomachs emptying rate. Various studies have found no difference in the gastric emptying rates of water, carbonated water, or carbonated carbohydrate drinks. Carbonated colas that contain an average of 160 Calories per 12 ounces and a caffeine equivalent to four ounces of coffee, are a favorite drink of many athletes when they are not in the last few weeks before competition.

As sugar concentration increases, several risks arise. For speed athletes, some studies have shown a greater tendency for muscle pulls such as hamstring tears. Endurance type athletes have the risk of nausea and bloating. Most athletes and fit persons can tolerate a 7 to 10% concentration of glucose, but endurance athletes for long events can often tolerate solutions of up to 15% to 20% glucose. Further, the use of polymers will allow more carbohydrates to be ingested and absorbed while limiting somewhat the overall concentration of the solution.

A fluid replacement rate of 500 ml per hour are appropriate for most athletes, cyclists, and runners during prolonged exercise, but rates of up to 1 to 2 liters per hour have been reported in some events such as the Iron-man Triathlon and the Tour DE France. The risk with the larger volumes is hyponatremia. For example, beginning an event with 400 ml of an 18% glucose polymer solution in the stomach and drinking 100 ml each 10 minutes will deliver 108 grams of carbohydrate with 600 milliliter (cc) of fluid each hour.

Following a vigorous exercise, there is what exercise physiologist refer to as a “glycogen window.” Ingesting a carbohydrate supplement within 4 hours immediately following exercise will allow the ingested carbohydrate to be converted into muscle glycogen at about 3 times the normal rate (and “the earlier the better” as some data suggests a 50% fall in the conversion rate by 2 hours and a complete return to normal repletion rate by 4 hours).

The above vigorous activity refers to a long-term event such as running. If you are a speed athlete, the “glycogen window” is narrower and ingestion should occur within 1-2 hours after the event. One hour is likely optimal although no studies have pinpointed the exact time.

Muscle glycogen repletion after two hours of vigorous activity generally proceeds at a rate of 5% per hour. Although it may require up to 48 hours for complete muscle glycogen replacement, most replacement occurs during the first 24 hours (post event). This is important for long-distance running and cycling events. If you are an athlete who trains daily, or are performing in a multi-day event, you can use the “glycogen window” to your advantage to get a jump on the normal repletion process and minimize the chance of chronic glycogen depletion, as well as the fatigue that accompanies it.

There is evidence that muscle stiffness that occurs after vigorous exercise is related to muscle glycogen depletion. Consequently, rapid repletion may have an added benefit of minimizing this effect. As a note, many simple carbohydrate snacks such as chocolate chip cookies contain more than 30% fat. Consumption in large quantities may exceed your planned daily fat intake of a suggested 20-30% of daily Calories.

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THE PERFECT DIET?
Is there a perfect diet for intense exercisers or athletes? Perhaps, but more importantly, there is significant research and supporting evidence, which show that adequate dietary carbohydrates are necessary for maximum performance. As a matter of fact, at least 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight are required per day. However, it is the absolute amount of carbohydrates that appear to be important, not the percent of total daily Calories that are derived from carbohydrates.

For athletes who perform or compete in multi-day endurance events, there can be an advantage to several weeks of moderate fat intake. The amount of fat consumed should be equivalent to 30% of total daily Calories. However, since good nutrition is a long-term activity, there is no evidence that fat intake for only one day is beneficial in this area. Also, there can be long term health consequences if you consume too much fat each day, i.e., exceed more than 30% daily percentage of your diet.

And what about protein? There is absolutely no evidence that more than two grams per day of protein are beneficial to performance in any athletic activity, including bodybuilding.

In summary, the body’s normal liver and muscle glycogen will support the first 1-2 hours of exercise at 70% VO2 max. without need for supplementation. A good training program will normally postpone the onset of glycogen depletion and fatigue.

Also, ingesting carbohydrates during your event provides an additional source of glucose for energy that will postpone the time at which you may hit “the wall.” However, this is more important for activities longer than 2 hours duration. As a general rule, the body can utilize 60 grams of ingested carbohydrate per hour to supplement muscle glycogen stores. Also, the stomach can handle 1-2 quarts of fluid before nausea occurs.

This will give you some guidelines for developing your own program. Also, using solid food supplements is appropriate as long as enough fluids are consumed with them.

Carbohydrate loading is okay for long-term events like cycling and running, but not for activities such as football and other type team sports or sprinting type activities. When carb loading, eating a high carbohydrate diet for several days prior to the event will maximize internal glycogen stores and prolong the duration of activity until fatigue occurs. However, it will not increase the muscle’s maximum energy output during the event.

The principles of training nutrition and performance are similar to those for any athletic event longer in duration than two hours. Happy training.

The initial and primary benefit of exercise and resistance training for children can help them in developing coordination skills in addition to building strength. We do know that a closely supervised resistance-training program that utilizes concentric-only muscle actions with low resistance and high repetitions significantly improves muscular strength with no adverse effects on muscle, bone, or connective tissues. Concentric-only exercises are exercises that shorten the muscle. An example is the upward motion in a biceps curl.

Below are general guidelines for resistance exercise training and progression for children and adolescents.

Age and Training Considerations

Up to 7 Years
At this age, simply introduce the child to basic exercises with little or no weight. It is important to develop the concept of a training program or session and to teach and emphasize exercise techniques. Also, very gradually progress from body weight calisthenics and partner exercises to lightly resisted exercises. It is important to keep the training volume low. Children are not professional athletes, do not expect them to perform like one.

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8-10 Years
Gradually increase the number of exercises. Practice technique in all exercises. Once good technique is learned, a gradual and progressive loading in each exercise can be accomplished. It is important to keep all exercises simple and to slowly increase training volume. Carefully monitor the child’s tolerance to each exercise and its induced stress.

11-13 Years
Teach all basic exercise techniques. You can continue progressive loading of each exercise, but emphasize technique rather than load. Again, do not overload the child and monitor load stress, i.e., load should not be so heavy that the child is groaning in his or her attempt to lift the weight. Introduce more advanced exercises, but use little or no resistance for them.

14-15 Years
Continue gradual progression to more advanced exercises and begin to add sport-specific skills and components. It is very important to emphasize technique as you increase volume.

16+ Years
Graduate your child to entry-level adult programs after all basic and advanced exercises have been taught and the child has good technique and shows a mastery of the exercises through his or her training experience.

As with all training programs, it is important to gradually increase intensity. Technique should always take precedence over weight load. And, obtain a physical check up for your child from a doctor before starting him or her on a training program.

Have fun working with your children, after all, it’s a learning process for all involved.

How Does Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease?

When there is too much cholesterol (a fat-like substance) in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup causes “hardening of the arteries” so that arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed or blocked. The blood carries oxygen to the heart, and if enough blood and oxygen cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack.

High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease, even if you already have it. Cholesterol lowering is important for everyone–younger, middle age, and older adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.

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What Do Your Cholesterol Numbers Mean?

Everyone age 20 and older should have their cholesterol measured at least once every 5 years. It is best to have a blood test called a “lipoprotein profile” to find out your cholesterol numbers. This blood test is done after a 9- to 12-hour fast and gives information about your:

• Total cholesterol
• LDL (bad) cholesterol-the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries
• HDL (good) cholesterol-helps keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries
• Triglycerides-another form of fat in your blood

If it is not possible to get a lipoprotein profile done, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels. If your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL* or more or if your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL, you will need to have a lipoprotein profile done.

See how your cholesterol numbers compare to those below.

Total Cholesterol Level Category Less than :

• 200 mg/dL Desirable
• 200-239 mg/dL Borderline High
• 240 mg/dL and above High

* Cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dL) of blood.

DL Cholesterol Level LDL-Cholesterol Category

• Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal
• 100-129 mg/dL Near optimal/above optimal
• 130-159 mg/dL Borderline high
• 160-189 mg/dL High
• 190 mg/dL and above Very high

HDL (good) cholesterol protects against heart disease, so for HDL, higher numbers are better. A level less than 40 mg/dL is low and is considered a major risk factor because it increases your risk for developing heart disease. HDL levels of 60 mg/dL or more help to lower your risk for heart disease.

Triglycerides can also raise heart disease risk. Levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more) may need treatment in some people. This is why lots of sugar is not good for you because sugar consumption raises cholesterol levels in the blood.

What Affects Cholesterol Levels?

A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

Diet

Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level go up. Saturated fat is the main culprit, but cholesterol in foods also matters. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet helps lower your blood cholesterol level.

Weight

Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise your HDL and lower your triglyceride levels.

Physical Activity

Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.

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Things you cannot do anything about also can affect cholesterol levels. These include:

Age and Gender

As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.

Heredity

Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.

What Is Your Risk of Developing Heart Disease or Having a Heart Attack?

In general, the higher your LDL level and the more risk factors such as being overweight (other than LDL), the greater your chances of developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Some people are at high risk for a heart attack because they already have heart disease. Other people are at high risk for developing heart disease because they have diabetes (which is a strong risk factor) or a combination of risk factors for heart disease. Follow these steps to find out your risk for developing heart disease.

Step 1: Check below to see how many of the listed risk factors you have; these are the risk factors that affect your LDL goal.

Major Risk Factors That Affect Your LDL Goal

• Cigarette smoking
• High Blood Pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher or on blood pressure medication)
• Low HDL cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL)*
• Family history of early heart disease (heart disease in father or brother before age 55; heart disease in mother or sister before age 65)
• Age (men 45 years or older; women 55 years or older)

If your HDL cholesterol is 60 mg/dL or higher, subtract 1 from your total count.

Even though obesity and physical inactivity are not counted in this list, they are conditions that need to be corrected.

Step 2: How many major risk factors do you have?

If you have 2 or more the risk factors listed above, use the attached risk scoring tables (which include your cholesterol levels) to find your risk score. Risk score refers to the chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years, given as a percentage. My risk score is ________%.

Step 3: Use your medical history, number of risk factors, and risk score to find your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack below.

Your risk factors determine your category.

• Heart disease, diabetes, or risk score more than 20%*, I. Highest Risk
• 2 or more risk factors and risk score 10-20%, II. Next Highest Risk
• 2 or more risk factors and risk score less than 10%, III. Moderate Risk
• 0 or 1 risk factor, IV. Low-to-Moderate Risk

* Means that more than 20 out of 100 people in this category will have a heart attack within 10 years.

My risk category is ______________________.

Treating High Cholesterol

The main goal of cholesterol-lowering treatment is to lower your LDL level enough to reduce your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack. The higher your risk, the lower your LDL goal will be. To find your LDL goal, see the boxes below for your risk category.

There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)–includes a cholesterol-lowering diet (called the TLC diet), physical activity, and weight management. TLC is for anyone whose LDL is above goal.
Drug Treatment–if cholesterol-lowering drugs are needed, they are used together with TLC treatment to help lower your LDL.

If you are in…

Category I, Highest Risk, your LDL goal is less than 100 mg/dL. If your LDL is 100 or above, you will need to begin the TLC diet. If your LDL is 130 or higher, you will need to start drug treatment at the same time as the TLC diet. If your LDL is 100 to 129, you may also need to start drug treatment together with the TLC diet. Even if your LDL is below 100, you should follow the TLC diet on your own to keep your LDL as low as possible.

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Category II, Next Highest Risk, your LDL goal is less than 130 mg/dL. If your LDL is 130 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin treatment with the TLC diet. If your LDL is 130 mg/dL or more after 3 months on the TLC diet, you may need drug treatment along with the TLC diet. If your LDL is less than 130 mg/dL, you will need to follow the heart-healthy diet for all Americans, which allows a little more saturated fat and cholesterol than the TLC diet.

Category III, Moderate Risk, your LDL goal is less than 130 mg/dL. If your LDL is 130 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin the TLC diet. If your LDL is 160 mg/dL or more after you have tried the TLC diet for 3 months, you may need drug treatment along with the TLC diet. If your LDL is less than 130 mg/dL, you will need to follow the heart-healthy diet for all Americans.

Category IV, Low-to-Moderate Risk, your LDL goal is less than 160 mg/dL. If your LDL is 160 mg/dL or above, you will need to begin the TLC diet. If your LDL is still 160 mg/dL or more after 3 months on the TLC diet, you may need drug treatment along with the TLC diet to lower your LDL, especially if your LDL is 190 mg/dL or more. If your LDL is less than 160 mg/dL, you will need to follow the heart-healthy diet for all Americans.

To reduce your risk for heart disease or keep it low, it is very important to control any other risk factors you may have such as high blood pressure and smoking.

Lowering Cholesterol With Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)

TLC is a set of things you can do to help lower your LDL cholesterol. The main parts of TLC are:

The TLC Diet. This is a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol eating plan that calls for less than 7% of calories from saturated fat and less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol per day. The TLC diet recommends only enough calories to maintain a desirable weight and avoid weight gain. If your LDL is not lowered enough by reducing your saturated fat and cholesterol intakes, the amount of soluble fiber in your diet can be increased. Certain food products that contain plant stanols or plant sterols (for example, cholesterol-lowering margarine and salad dressings) can also be added to the TLC diet to boost its LDL-lowering power.

Weight Management – Losing weight if you are overweight can help lower LDL and is especially important for those with a cluster of risk factors that includes high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels and being overweight with a large waist measurement (more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women).

Physical Activity – Regular physical activity (30 minutes on most, if not all, days) is recommended for everyone. It can help raise HDL and lower LDL and is especially important for those with high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels who are overweight with a large waist measurement.

Foods low in saturated fat include fat free or 1% dairy products, lean meats, fish, skinless poultry, whole grain foods, and fruits and vegetables. Look for soft margarine (liquid or tub varieties) that are low in saturated fat and contain little or no trans fat (another type of dietary fat that can raise your cholesterol level). Limit foods high in cholesterol such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy products.

Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, certain fruits (such as oranges and pears) and vegetables (such as brussels sprouts and carrots), and dried peas and beans.

Drug Treatment

Even if you begin drug treatment to lower your cholesterol, you will need to continue your treatment with lifestyle changes. This will keep the dose of medicine as low as possible, and lower your risk in other ways as well. There are several types of drugs available for cholesterol lowering including statins, bile acid sequestrants, nicotinic acid, and fibric acids. Your doctor can help decide which type of drug is best for you. The statin drugs are very effective in lowering LDL levels and are safe for most people. Bile acid sequestrants also lower LDL and can be used alone or in combination with statin drugs. Nicotinic acid lowers LDL and triglycerides and raises HDL. Fibric acids lower LDL somewhat but are used mainly to treat high triglyceride and low HDL levels.

Once your LDL goal has been reached, your doctor may prescribe treatment for high triglycerides and/or a low HDL level, if present. The treatment may include losing weight if needed, increasing physical activity, quitting smoking, and or other potential remedies. Have a happy and healthy day.

Recently, MyHealthandFitness caught up with Ms. Scott, President and Founder of a healing organization (not now named since the organization is currently rebuilding their website and would like to keep traffic to a minimum until rebuilt; it will be mentioned in Part II – a follow up to this story). The organization promotes healing and rebuilding for women and men who have found themselves in an abusive relationship in their lives and are attempting to deal with the problems within it or are attempting to get out of the relationship.

The organization also promotes fitness among it’s thousands of members so that they can feel good about themselves. You know it; we all feel better when we’re fit or at least trying to become so.

We caught up with Ms. Scott at a local marathon. MyHealthandFitness asked Ms. Scott why she chose to run a marathon? Ms. Scott replied, “I feel that if I am going to promote fitness and a healthy lifestyle among our members that I should set the example.”

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MyHAF:
How do you plan on doing that?

Ms. Scott:
Recently, I became involved with the American Heart Association’s, Train to End Stroke Campaign. I felt there would be no better way to not only set an example, but to run for a very worthy cause. So, I chose to make my grandmother my hero and run for her. However, I have absolutely no experience.

MyHAF:
You mean you have never run a marathon before?

Ms. Scott:
Well, I run 2-3 miles per day several days per week, but I’ve never run a 26.2 mile marathon. It’s daunting, but I am determined to do it and hope that our members and others will take up a personal fitness challenge as well. I may walk across the finish line, but I will complete it!
MyHealthandFitness agreed to develop a marathon training program for Ms. Scott. The first four weeks of this program are included at the bottom of the article. As with all training, you should seek the advice of your physician before attempting this or any training program. Before attempting this program, you should be able to run 2-3 miles per day at least four days per week.

MyHAF:
Once we agreed to write Ms. Scott’s training program, we asked her what made her decide to get involved with the American Heart Association’s Campaign.

Ms. Scott:
I received news of the campaign from a flier at the University of Denver where I attended business school. So, I decided to go to the meeting and find out what it was all about. The presentation was nicely done, but what really shocked me was an 18 month old baby, held by his mother at the meeting, who had suffered a stroke. I had no idea that those so young could suffer from the problems associated with stroke. My grandmother had, but she was older. As a result, I made a commitment to take the plunge and here I am.

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Statistics on Stroke:
Every 53 seconds someone suffers a stroke
Every 3.3 minutes someone dies of a stroke
There are 4.4 million stroke survivors
29% of people who have strokes are under age 65.

A stroke can affect the very young to the very old. Without warning it can leave you partially paralyzed, unable to function fully, and cause a myriad of unwanted health problems. No one is immune to a stroke.

MyHAF:
Are you excited about the challenge?

Ms. Scott:
I’m very excited about it and have lots of support from my friends and many others. I have two coaches (Dr. Tindall of MyHAF and Coach Will from the Campaign), a team to run with, training schedules and clinic and a reason that makes this more than a personal goal. I am helping to raise funds for stroke research, education and advocacy programs.

MyHAF:
What do you anticipate in the upcoming months?

Ms. Scott:
Over the course of the next 5 months, I will be running hundreds of miles to prepare. I will also be busy raising over $3,500.00 for the American Stroke Association. I would like to seek your support in this effort through your good thoughts and through a generous contribution to the American Stroke Association.
I am excited about running this marathon on behalf of many who couldn’t even walk it due to a stroke. While I will not be able to attend the Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 4, I’ll be competing in another not specifically sponsored by the American Heart Association. I’d like to ask your readers and members as well as all others who can to please join me in reaching the finish line of my fund-raising goal and helping end stroke. The marathon is the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon (and ½ Marathon) to be held October 08, 2017 in Long Beach, California. It is also a Boston Qualifier. Like I said, while not specifically an American Heart Association marathon, many will be there running for a cause.

For those interested in learning more about the Train to End a Stroke Campaign CLICK HERE to help in efforts to support research and education in this worthy endeavor.

Following is the first four weeks of Ms. Scott’s marathon training program. This program is not meant for speed, but for the fun of running; more importantly, running for a cause. We wish Ms. Scott much success in her efforts in such a worthy endeavor. We urge you all to find something that will make fitness a worthwhile endeavor for your own life.

Beginning Marathon Training Tips:
Build mileage safely. As a rule of thumb, run 4-5 days a week to begin, for a minimum of 25 miles per week before considering training for a marathon. The program below is a buildup schedule for that purpose. Each time we post additional weeks of Ms. Scott’s program, you will notice an increase in total miles and long-run miles.

Use the 10% Rule: (a) do not increase your weekly miles by more than about 10%; (b) do not increase your long-run mileage by more than about 10%.

Use the following program to safely build up your mileage. However, before using it, you should be able to run 2-3 miles per day. If you cannot do that, use a lower mileage rate to help you prepare for it. If you have difficulty in this, please contact us. We’ll help answer your questions.

Beginning Marathon Program: Running for a Cause

Warm ups
100 crunch sit ups (break into sets if desired
(4 sets x 25 reps or 2 sets x 50 reps)
20 yard slow lunges (down);
Skips (back to start) x 3
5 Minute light stretching (isometric)

Week 1 by day
1. 3 miles easy
2. 5 x 440, after- jog ½ mile
3. 3 miles
4. Rest
5. 3 ½ miles
6. 3 miles
7. Rest Total- 12 ½ miles

Week 2 by day
1. 3 ½ miles
2. 3 miles
3. 10 x 440 faster than jog pace
4. 4 miles
5. Rest
6. 3 ½ miles
7. Rest Total- 14 miles

Warm-Down
Light jog- (1/4 – 1 mile)
Light Isometric stretching x 8 minutes

Warm ups
100 crunch sit ups (break into sets if desired
(4 sets x 25 reps or 2 sets x 50 reps)
20 yard slow lunges (down);
Skips (back to start) x 3
5 Minute light stretching (isometric)

Week 3 by day
1. 3 miles
2. 3 miles
3. Rest
4. 3 miles
5. 4 miles
6. 3 miles
7. Rest Total- 16 miles

Week 4 by day
1. 3 miles
2. Rest
3. 4 ½ miles
4. 3 miles
5. 3 ½ miles
6. 4 miles
7. Rest Total- 18 miles

Warm-Down
Light jog (1/4 to 1 mile)
Light Isometric stretching x 8 minutes

Enjoy your new cause and just get out there and be active.