i-run.com

AS men ogle - or, some say, appreciate - the shape of a woman, spare a thought for the pain it could bring her.

No, not so much the indignity of being gawked at, but the trauma she could suffer because of her body shape.

You see, it has been medically established that because of the way they are ‘built’, women are more prone to picking up ailments like ‘runner’s knee’ or a tear to the ACL.

That’s the anterior cruciate ligament - one of four ligaments that help stabilise the knee joint.

It’s not something to be taken lightly and, according to specialists in sports medicine, an ACL tear could be a traumatic experience.

Four years ago, Fang Shi Han developed ‘runner’s knee’ while training with the cross-country team in her junior college. She had the classic symptoms - pain to the front of the knee or behind the kneecap.

Read the rest at The Electric New Paper

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Biomarkers of muscle and cartilage damage and inflammation during a 200 km run.

Kim HJ, Lee YH, Kim CK

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007 Jan 6;

Ultra-marathon running is frequently associated with muscle fibre damage. However, ultra-marathon related information is scarce. The present study evaluated muscle and cartilage biomarkers, and cytokine secretion during a 200 km running event.

Venous blood samples from 54 trained male ultra-marathon runners (mean +/- SD, 45.7 +/- 5.1 years). Plasma creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate, glucose, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), TNF- proportional, variant and serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) content were determined before, midway and immediately after the race.

CPK increased 90-fold (19-fold at 100 km) from pre-race value and LDH increased 3.7-fold (2.2-fold at 100 km). AST increased 15-fold (5-fold at 100 km) and ALT increased 3.9-fold (2-fold at 100 km). Blood lactate and glucose levels did not change significantly. Hs-CRP increased 23-fold (3-fold at 100 km) and IL-6 increased 121-fold at 100 km, and then remained stable up to 200 km, whereas TNF- proportional, variant did not change significantly. Serum COMP increased 3-fold (1.3-fold at 100 km).

Post-run CPK was correlated with LDH (r = 0.62, P < 0.001), Hs-CRP (r = 0.45, P < 0.001), ALT (r = 0.89, P < 0.001), AST (r = 0.97, P < 0.001), and IL-6 (r = 0.61, P < 0.001). The present study demonstrated that blood biomarkers related to muscle and cartilage damage and inflammation were increased during a 200 km run and that this was particularly marked during the second half of the event. Ultra-marathon running clearly has a major impact on muscle and cartilage structures.

Via HubMed Abstracts

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The Springtime training group start at 5:45 p.m. Monday at Myers Park. The group is for all levels of runners, from beginner to advanced. The group will train on the Springtime Tallahassee race course.

The beginner level group will run/walk two miles on the first day; the intermediate group will run three or four miles and the advanced will run five to five-and-a-half miles.

Group organizers are also looking for people can help set up at 5:15 p.m., who know the course and can lead a group.

From the Tallahassee Democrat

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It’s the fastest race in the Lone Star State, and it swept through Austin Sunday. It is the 3M Half Marathon and the course is just over 13 miles.

Runners of all skill levels look forward to it because it is mostly downhill. Even the cold morning temperatures could keep them away.

The money raised from the race will help feed hungry central Texans.

Read the rest at News 8 Austin

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At the ripe old age of 12, Katelyn Shackelford has much to be proud of. She’s battled and beaten cancer. Now she’s living — and running — to tell about it.

On a recent day, Katelyn laced up her running shoes and ran a 5K race to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at Memphis, Tenn.

It was July 1997 when Gary and Lisa Shackelford learned that their daughter, then 31/2, had a malignant kidney tumor. Doctors removed the toddler’s kidney, and she underwent chemotherapy. Treatments continued through 1997.

Though doctors declared her to be in remission in 1997, Katelyn still has to make the trip to St. Jude once a year for checkups.

For the past decade, however, Katelyn has been your average healthy, young girl.

Read the rest at MyFox Memphis

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