Dean Karnazes's Blog, page 3

Marathon Record Set

A remarkable new record was just set in the world of marathoning. The time was 2:41, eclipsing the previous record by over five hours.  In a quicker pace than it takes most marathoners to finish the race, registration for the … Continue reading →

The Gods Must (Not) Be Crazy

The ancient Greeks got a couple things right—they may not have nailed the economic thing, but they were certainly foretelling when it came to matters of health and wellness. Eating cultured milk was believed to aid with digestion and benefit … Continue reading →

The Gods Must (Not) be Crazy

The ancient Greeks got a couple things right. They may not have nailed the economic thing, but they were certainly foretelling when it came to matters of health and wellness. Eating cultured milk was believed to aid with digestion and … Continue reading →

Running A Sale

I recently learned about a running event that was having a hard time getting people to register, so they turned to Groupon to see what would happen. What would be your guess? Amazingly, with the Groupon, the race filled almost … Continue reading →

Minneapolis Rules (at least this month)

Who's the fittest City of them all?

In the US it looks like, drumroll please. . . . . Minneapolis wins!

According to a MapMyFITNESS survey of the fitness activities of 1.7 million active community members in over 2,500 cities nationwide, Minneapolis came out on top of the large cities Fittest of the Fit Index rankings.

Giving all the credit to Minneapolis, however, isn't fair to Cambridge, MA or Cumming, GA who won top honors as the fittest of the Mid Cities and Small Cities, respectively.

If you live outside the US not to fret. The international version of the Fittest of the Fit Index will be out next month.

Any predictions on who will come out on top?

Sydney? Rio de Janeiro? Cape Town? Vancouver? London? Reykjavik?

Cast your vote below for who will be the fittest cities in the world.

Then do your own city a favor and get out there and exercise!

A sweaty Dean Karnazes

Jocks vs. Jockettes

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus? Whatever. We're both pretty much from the same planet as far as I can tell.

That said, we do have our differences, and these go for our running preferences as well. Killer Infographics recently put together an interesting "infographic" highlighting these divergences.

Women tend to run fewer training miles and prefer shorter distance races. They also tend to spend more money on running apparel and footwear.  Those things might be expected, but did you think more men would start running for weight reasons than women?

When it comes to education, more women runners are college educated than their male counterparts. Perhaps that's why they tend to run fewer miles and shorter distances.

If you analyze race time equalization, however, women actually get more competitive as distances increase. It's not uncommon in an ultra marathon for a woman or two to be in the front pack. Males getting "chicked" is quite commonplace, in fact.

Of course, more striking than our differences are our similarities.  Principally, a shared passion for putting one foot in front of the other at an accelerated rate. Let's continue to celebrate our similarities rather that focusing on our differences.

I'll try not to forget this next time I'm chicked.

Run on,

Dean

Cross Training – Part 3 of 3

Some final thoughts on cross training revolve around incorporating other sports in your overall conditioning program. If these sports involve something you enjoy the likelihood of doing them regularly will be higher.

Here are some of my favorites:

Surfing – If you don't live near the coast, but have access to a body of water, try Stand Up Padding or kayaking.

Rock Climbing – Terrific for building strength and flexibility. Try a climbing gym for a more controlled environment.

Mountain Biking – Road biking works, too, but personally I prefer the trails.

Yoga – both Bikram (hot yoga) and Power yoga are more strenuous forms and provide a good combination of both strength building and flexibility.

ElliptiGO – I can't say enough about the benefits of this device. When seven qualifiers for the Olympic trials in the marathon train on one (Josh Cox, Adam Goucher, Stephanie Rothstein, Susan Loker, Jaymee Marty, Jessica Minty and Karen Barlow) the proofs in the results these athletes are getting.

I hope this provides some fuel for thought on complementary sports to help improve your running, and hopefully have some fun in the process. If any of you have outside sports that you've incorporated into your overall fitness regime, please do share in the Reply box below.

Train on,

Dean

Cross Training – Part 2 of 3

Being an advocate of all-around body strength as a way to run stronger, prevent injury, and generally be healthier overall, having sufficient upper body and core conditioning are essential.

It is not necessary to join a gym to achieve adequate results as bodyweight conditioning alone can provide significant improvements in strength. In fact, an office-based bodyweight workout program is an efficient and productive way to realize such gains (the office-based routine was previously discussed in Part 1 of this story).

A couple of helpful tools to assist you would include a sit-up mat and a pull-up bar. A pull-up bar can either be installed in your office or you can use a convenient doorway system like the P90X.

Your routine will consist of a circuit between sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups. Strive to complete three to six of these complete cycles each workday.

Push-ups:

20 standard push-ups, followed immediately by 10 triangle push-ups, followed immediately by 10 spread eagle push-ups, followed immediately by 10 standing pushups.

This basically works almost all of the upper body muscle sets, starting with the lower pectorals and finishing with the shoulders.

Beginner: Beginners should attempt 3:1:1:1 and slowly work up to 5:2:2:2, attempting 2 sets per day.

Intermediate: Intermediates should cut the Dean Routine in half, both in the number of reps and the number of sets per day.

Sit-ups:

30 quarter leg-ups, followed by a 15 second break (lactic acid flush), followed immediately by 25 quarter leg-ups, followed immediately by 25 crunches, followed immediately by 20 raised-leg quarter sit-ups.

This essentially recruits most of the muscle sets of the abdomen and lower back, starting with the lower abdominal region and working up.

Beginner: Beginners should attempt 5:15 second break:3:3:2 and slowly work up to 8:15 second break:5:5:3, attempting 2 sets per day.

Intermediate: Intermediates should cut the Dean Routine in half, both in the number of reps and the number of sets per day.

Pull-ups:

Set 1: 15 standard pull-ups. Set 2: 15 bar behind the neck pull-ups. Set 3: 15 chin-ups.

After completing a set of the push-up/sit-up routine, I follow immediately with 15 standard pull-ups. After completing a second set of the push-up/sit-up routine, I follow immediately with 15 bar behind the neck pull-ups. After completing a third set of the push-up/sit-up routine, I follow immediately with 15 chin-ups. I repeat this same 3-variances cycle in sets 4 through 6 of the complete Dean Routine.

Pull-ups are an important element for build lat strength. Adding chin-ups to the mix give the biceps a workout.

Beginner: Beginners should attempt 1-2 of each 3-varienaces and slowly work up to 3-4 of each, attempting 2 sets per day.

Intermediate: Intermediates should try 5-7 of each 3-varienaces, attempting one set of all three each workout day.

This link might provide some further insight into what the pull-up routine looks like: DEAN ROUTINE

Okay, let the cross-training commence!

Dean

Cross Training – Part 1 of 3

Numerous studies have shown the positive effects of cross training on both improving performance and preventing injury. Why, then, do so many runners exclusively run as their single form of exercise?

Running is time-consuming, no doubt. Perhaps you don't have time to cross train? The reality is that if you cross train you may actually need to spend less time running while noticing gains in your performance (and spending less time sidelined by nagging injuries).

So just how do you go about designing a cross training program? Perhaps the single most important element is for you to redefine your very persona. First and foremost, you are a runner and an athlete. Being a runner and athlete is as important to you as anything else in your life. When you define yourself as a runner and athlete others begin to view you in this light as well, which is very reinforcing.

That's good, because they might not find it weird when you implement some of the other suggestions I have below.

Step one: dramatically redesign the way you work. This means removing the one thing in your life that everybody else (wrongly so) relies on daily as a necessity—a chair. That's right; take that chair right out of your workspace, and your life. No more sitting for you during the workweek, or ever if, possible.

Next, have your desk raised to above waist level. Do all of your computer work, your conference calls, your memo taking, note writing and other business functions while standing up…preferably in your socks (yeah, they're really going to think you're weird now). Okay, if not socks, minimalist footwear or Vibram 5 Fingers should do fine. Spend the entire day bouncing up and down on your toes to condition and strengthen those little micro muscles that help support your running.

Companies that specialize in stand-up desks include Geek Desk, Stand-Up Desk Company, Standupdesks.com, and Beyond the Office Door. If you want to ease into stand-up mode without adding more furniture, the Anderlyn Desk is a platform that sits atop a standard desk, creating a stand-up work surface.

Now that your coworkers are convinced you've completely lost it, they shouldn't have a problem with you installing a pull-up bar in your office. While you're on a roll, bring in a foam exercise mat, too. Then, throughout the day—between emails, conference calls and meetings—perpetually cycle through sets of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and single-leg deep knee bends.

Alright, start having that workspace retooled and I'll explain more of what your office cross training régime should look like in the next installment of this three-part series.

Remember, running is life, the rest is just details. Now go!

Cross-trained and cruising,

Dean

It's Never Too Late

Imagine taking up running at the spry young age of 89. At a time when most people have already crossed that final finish line, Fauja Singh was just getting started. Now, more than a decade later, he hasn't stopped.

After setting a number of world records in shorter distances, Mr. Singh brought out his A-game last weekend and smashed the world record as the oldest marathon runner. He's 100.

From the looks of things, he has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. Endurance never sleeps…

Keep going,

Karno