Constantina Tomescu of Romania had won the Gold medal!
She broke away from the lead pack at 20 Km and never looked back.
Gold - Constantina Tomescu 2:26:44
Silver - Catherine Ndereba 2:27:06
Bronze - Zhou Chunxiu 2:27:07
Paula Radcliffe seemed to be injured and finishing 23rd in 2:32:38.
Live update (Official Beijing Olympic Site - At 5 km intervals) : Here
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Countdown to Beijing Olympic Women Marathon!
Countdown to the Beijing Olympic Women Marathon : 1 Day 9 Hrs
The event will begin at 0730 (GMT +8 hrs), held at Beijing National Stadium.
More coverage on Women marathon can be found here (MarathonGuide.com).
"He who is lost in his passion is not as lost as he who lost his passion" - Mr Andre Chiang, Taiwan-born French trained chef now at Jaan restaurant.
The event will begin at 0730 (GMT +8 hrs), held at Beijing National Stadium.
More coverage on Women marathon can be found here (MarathonGuide.com).
"He who is lost in his passion is not as lost as he who lost his passion" - Mr Andre Chiang, Taiwan-born French trained chef now at Jaan restaurant.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
World records in Olympic swimming - Technology or Pure Strength
Was wondering why were there so many swimming new world records set in the Beijing Olympic? It seen so easy to break the previous world records by the swimmers in the Olympic. Here is one of the articles from The New York Times which discussed about technology used in the pool.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES ;
August 12, 2008
As Swimming Records Fall, Technology Muddies the Water
By JERÉ LONGMAN and GINA KOLATA
Correction Appended
BEIJING — He swam so improbably fast, making up so much ground in a foaming, desperate attempt to reach the wall first in the 4x100-meter relay, that Jason Lezak not only won a gold medal for the United States on Monday, but he also helped to shatter the world record by nearly four seconds.
That race alone would have provided an astonishing day of swimming at the Summer Olympics, but it was the third world record of the morning and the seventh in three days of competition. An eighth record was set later Monday, matching the total number broken at the 2004 Athens Games.
Two world records were set Tuesday — Michael Phelps in the 200-meter freestyle, and his American teammate Aaron Peirsol in the 100 backstroke — making it likely that the total will eventually surpass the 14 established at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Not only are world marks tumbling, but some are being lowered by staggering margins.
Advances in training techniques, pool design and swimsuit technology have contributed to the increases in speed for swimmers, who also enjoy financial incentives that allow them to remain in the sport longer than they would have two decades ago, when the Olympics were restricted to amateurs. If Phelps breaks the record of seven swimming gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he will receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo, the swimsuit manufacturer.
“When you pulverize the world record by more than three seconds, that is remarkable and is only happening very seldom when four superstars are at the peak of their performance,” Orjan Madsen, the German Olympic swimming coach, said of the 4x100 relay record of 3 minutes 8.24 seconds.
At the same time, some swimming officials are questioning whether the multitude of records devalues each one and whether human performance is being unduly aided by technology.
And, as with other Olympic sports, there can never be any certainty that performance-enhancing drugs are not involved. As history has shown with the disgraced track star Marion Jones and revelations about swimmers from the former East Germany, passing a drug test is no guarantee that banned substances are not being used.
“When technology is used in a sport, it is important to be in control of the way it is being developed and where it might lead us,” Claude Fauquet, the technical director of the French swimming federation, said in reference to swimsuit technology.
Fauquet has called for more debate about the use of Speedo’s LZR Racer, the latest advance in the full-body suit craze popularized in the last eight years. The Racer has been worn in the setting of about four dozen world records since its introduction in February. The corsetlike suit is made by ultrasonic welding instead of stitching, can require a half-hour to put on and shoehorns the body into a more streamlined position.
Critics suspect that the suit aids buoyancy in the water, in violation of performance-enhancing rules set by the international swimming federation, known as FINA. Alberto Castagnetti, the Italian national swim coach whose team wears a rival brand, has equated the Racer with “technological doping.” Some say the suit can boost performance as much as 2 percent; that can mean the difference between a gold medalist and an also-ran.
“I think sports have to keep up with technology,” said Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who set a world record Monday while wearing the Racer in a preliminary round of the women’s 100-meter backstroke. “It’s a great suit. For me, putting the suit on, mentally, it’s time to go fast.”
More sophisticated pool design has also helped to dissipate wave action. The pool in Beijing is three meters deep, compared with two meters for many racing pools. The added depth is designed to lessen resistance.
For major international competitions, like the Olympics, the pool is 10 lanes wide, instead of 8. The two empty outside lanes serve as buffers, keeping the waves from ricocheting, dispersing them instead to a gutter system that is flush with the surface of the water. The plastic buoys that serve as lane dividers are designed to direct water downward instead of outward. The nonskid starting blocks are meant to facilitate a propulsive takeoff, similar to track and field, which can shave valuable ticks off the clock.
“If I had to design a pool, this is what it would look like,” said Brendan Hansen of the United States, who was fourth here in the 100-meter breaststroke after winning three medals in Athens.
Still, no one can say what is accounting for all of the records, said Anton Kajlich, whose firm, AntiWave, contributed equipment to the Olympic pool.
“Everybody will claim a different thing,” Kajlich said. “The old-timers believe it is really the swimmer and the coach.”
Rebecca Adlington of Britain, who won gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, said every swimmer expected to lower his or her times during the intensity of an Olympic year. After swimming the second leg of the victorious American relay team, Garrett Weber-Gale said adrenaline and determination were bigger factors than technology.
“It has more to do with the four of us than the pool,” he said. “I think the pool is fantastic. But I think we had an awesome race and we were pushed by the French and the Australians. I think we all just came together.”
As swimming becomes more popular, it attracts better athletes, who often stay in the sport for more than one Olympics and have access to increasingly sophisticated sports science. Swimmers who once concentrated mostly on endurance now spend up to 50 percent of their training on refining the technical aspects of kicking, pulling, breathing and body position, said Genadijus Sokolovas, director of sports science for USA Swimming.
American swimmers here are accompanied by four sports-science experts. Each race is videotaped. Immediately after a race, each swimmer has an ear pricked to test for lactic-acid levels. After a warm-down swim, video analysis is made available to monitor stroke counts, distance per stroke, split times, and the biomechanics of takeoffs and turns.
The nature of swimming allows athletes to perform in more events than, say, track, providing more opportunities for stars to set world records. Sprinters in swimming tend to train much longer distances than sprinters in track, gaining superior aerobic capacity. They also perform in a horizontal position, which allows easier circulation of oxygen and nutrients through the blood, and they do not pound their muscles, tendons and ligaments, thus gaining quicker recovery.
The suits they wear will probably become even more sophisticated, perhaps to facilitate muscle contraction and improve kicking power, said Sokolovas, the sports-science director.
“I wish I could compare results from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s to the current results to know exactly how they are improving because of the suits, technology and training,” he said. “You probably can’t stop technology from coming into any sport. If athletes want to swim faster, technology will always be there. I don’t see it as bad. It’s good for the popularity of swimming. It gets more people interested in sport. And what is the goal of sport? A healthier nation.”
Karen Crouse contributed reporting.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 14, 2008
An article on Tuesday about the factors driving record-breaking swimming performances at the Beijing Olympics, including those by Michael Phelps, omitted a passage in some editions at the continuation. It should have read, “If Phelps breaks the record of seven swimming gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he will receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo, the swimsuit manufacturer.”
From THE NEW YORK TIMES ;
August 12, 2008
As Swimming Records Fall, Technology Muddies the Water
By JERÉ LONGMAN and GINA KOLATA
Correction Appended
BEIJING — He swam so improbably fast, making up so much ground in a foaming, desperate attempt to reach the wall first in the 4x100-meter relay, that Jason Lezak not only won a gold medal for the United States on Monday, but he also helped to shatter the world record by nearly four seconds.
That race alone would have provided an astonishing day of swimming at the Summer Olympics, but it was the third world record of the morning and the seventh in three days of competition. An eighth record was set later Monday, matching the total number broken at the 2004 Athens Games.
Two world records were set Tuesday — Michael Phelps in the 200-meter freestyle, and his American teammate Aaron Peirsol in the 100 backstroke — making it likely that the total will eventually surpass the 14 established at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Not only are world marks tumbling, but some are being lowered by staggering margins.
Advances in training techniques, pool design and swimsuit technology have contributed to the increases in speed for swimmers, who also enjoy financial incentives that allow them to remain in the sport longer than they would have two decades ago, when the Olympics were restricted to amateurs. If Phelps breaks the record of seven swimming gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he will receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo, the swimsuit manufacturer.
“When you pulverize the world record by more than three seconds, that is remarkable and is only happening very seldom when four superstars are at the peak of their performance,” Orjan Madsen, the German Olympic swimming coach, said of the 4x100 relay record of 3 minutes 8.24 seconds.
At the same time, some swimming officials are questioning whether the multitude of records devalues each one and whether human performance is being unduly aided by technology.
And, as with other Olympic sports, there can never be any certainty that performance-enhancing drugs are not involved. As history has shown with the disgraced track star Marion Jones and revelations about swimmers from the former East Germany, passing a drug test is no guarantee that banned substances are not being used.
“When technology is used in a sport, it is important to be in control of the way it is being developed and where it might lead us,” Claude Fauquet, the technical director of the French swimming federation, said in reference to swimsuit technology.
Fauquet has called for more debate about the use of Speedo’s LZR Racer, the latest advance in the full-body suit craze popularized in the last eight years. The Racer has been worn in the setting of about four dozen world records since its introduction in February. The corsetlike suit is made by ultrasonic welding instead of stitching, can require a half-hour to put on and shoehorns the body into a more streamlined position.
Critics suspect that the suit aids buoyancy in the water, in violation of performance-enhancing rules set by the international swimming federation, known as FINA. Alberto Castagnetti, the Italian national swim coach whose team wears a rival brand, has equated the Racer with “technological doping.” Some say the suit can boost performance as much as 2 percent; that can mean the difference between a gold medalist and an also-ran.
“I think sports have to keep up with technology,” said Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who set a world record Monday while wearing the Racer in a preliminary round of the women’s 100-meter backstroke. “It’s a great suit. For me, putting the suit on, mentally, it’s time to go fast.”
More sophisticated pool design has also helped to dissipate wave action. The pool in Beijing is three meters deep, compared with two meters for many racing pools. The added depth is designed to lessen resistance.
For major international competitions, like the Olympics, the pool is 10 lanes wide, instead of 8. The two empty outside lanes serve as buffers, keeping the waves from ricocheting, dispersing them instead to a gutter system that is flush with the surface of the water. The plastic buoys that serve as lane dividers are designed to direct water downward instead of outward. The nonskid starting blocks are meant to facilitate a propulsive takeoff, similar to track and field, which can shave valuable ticks off the clock.
“If I had to design a pool, this is what it would look like,” said Brendan Hansen of the United States, who was fourth here in the 100-meter breaststroke after winning three medals in Athens.
Still, no one can say what is accounting for all of the records, said Anton Kajlich, whose firm, AntiWave, contributed equipment to the Olympic pool.
“Everybody will claim a different thing,” Kajlich said. “The old-timers believe it is really the swimmer and the coach.”
Rebecca Adlington of Britain, who won gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, said every swimmer expected to lower his or her times during the intensity of an Olympic year. After swimming the second leg of the victorious American relay team, Garrett Weber-Gale said adrenaline and determination were bigger factors than technology.
“It has more to do with the four of us than the pool,” he said. “I think the pool is fantastic. But I think we had an awesome race and we were pushed by the French and the Australians. I think we all just came together.”
As swimming becomes more popular, it attracts better athletes, who often stay in the sport for more than one Olympics and have access to increasingly sophisticated sports science. Swimmers who once concentrated mostly on endurance now spend up to 50 percent of their training on refining the technical aspects of kicking, pulling, breathing and body position, said Genadijus Sokolovas, director of sports science for USA Swimming.
American swimmers here are accompanied by four sports-science experts. Each race is videotaped. Immediately after a race, each swimmer has an ear pricked to test for lactic-acid levels. After a warm-down swim, video analysis is made available to monitor stroke counts, distance per stroke, split times, and the biomechanics of takeoffs and turns.
The nature of swimming allows athletes to perform in more events than, say, track, providing more opportunities for stars to set world records. Sprinters in swimming tend to train much longer distances than sprinters in track, gaining superior aerobic capacity. They also perform in a horizontal position, which allows easier circulation of oxygen and nutrients through the blood, and they do not pound their muscles, tendons and ligaments, thus gaining quicker recovery.
The suits they wear will probably become even more sophisticated, perhaps to facilitate muscle contraction and improve kicking power, said Sokolovas, the sports-science director.
“I wish I could compare results from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s to the current results to know exactly how they are improving because of the suits, technology and training,” he said. “You probably can’t stop technology from coming into any sport. If athletes want to swim faster, technology will always be there. I don’t see it as bad. It’s good for the popularity of swimming. It gets more people interested in sport. And what is the goal of sport? A healthier nation.”
Karen Crouse contributed reporting.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 14, 2008
An article on Tuesday about the factors driving record-breaking swimming performances at the Beijing Olympics, including those by Michael Phelps, omitted a passage in some editions at the continuation. It should have read, “If Phelps breaks the record of seven swimming gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he will receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo, the swimsuit manufacturer.”
Apparently, the Speedo LZR RACER suit reduce the swimmers' racing times by 1.9 to 2.2 percent. Hopefully some sport apparel makers can invent a running tight or suit that will reduce runners' fatigue level and improve running timings tremendously.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Countdown to Beijing Olympic Marathon!
Countdown to the Beijing Olympic Marathon
Men : 11 Days
Women : 4 Days
Latest news :
Noguchi won't defend her marathon title
The defending champion had been ruled out of the competition due to a thigh injury. My forecast result for the women marathon is still valid as i had predicted that the both the Men and Women defending champions will be out of the contender for top 3. From my previous post:
Here are my forecast results :
Men
1 Martin Lel, Kenya
2 Samuel Wanjiru, Kenya
3 Ryan Hall, US
Women
1 Gete Wami, Ethiopia
2 Chen Rong, China
3 Paula Radcliffe, GBR
Men : 11 Days
Women : 4 Days
Latest news :
Noguchi won't defend her marathon title
The defending champion had been ruled out of the competition due to a thigh injury. My forecast result for the women marathon is still valid as i had predicted that the both the Men and Women defending champions will be out of the contender for top 3. From my previous post:
Here are my forecast results :
Men
1 Martin Lel, Kenya
2 Samuel Wanjiru, Kenya
3 Ryan Hall, US
Women
1 Gete Wami, Ethiopia
2 Chen Rong, China
3 Paula Radcliffe, GBR
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
What is Over Training?
Is my sudden increase in running intensity that contributed to my knee injury/strain? I am clueless in finding the cause of my knee injury/strain. Maybe it was due to the intervals training that i had just implemented in my running program for the Singapore marathon. Or am i over training? This boiled down to the understanding of over training.
Below are some of the abstracts of a seminar which i had attended long time ago:
Are You Over-Training?
By Dr Low Wye Mun
Do you love your sport? Are you working just as hard as you can to improve your performance? Hours of dedicated effort according to a carefully constructed training programme ... and yet, feeling as If things are just not quite right? Feeling a little lethargic, more tired than usual, and just needing much more effort to get going?
Well, you could have reached the point when your body is telling you that the effort you are putting in has out-stripped your resources. In a word, you may be over-training. In order to ensure that you stay in the bes1 physical and mental shape for your sports, read on and find out the what, why and how of this discouraging condition.
What is OVER-TRAINING ?
• As an athlete, you train in a way that shifts your body's daily physical state beyond its normal everyday level of functioning. Carefully regulated and controlled, such intensive demands made of your heart, lungs, muscles and joints become the training stimulus that allow you to reach towards improved performance.
• Occasionally, the amount of training you do (as measured by frequency, intensity and duration) may go beyond the body's ability to adapt to the stresses imposed. You may thus "over-reach." This may form part of your training and competition cycle, and provided that you have proper recovery from these episodes of over-reaching, your performance development will continue without much problems.
• For example, you may be taking part in the regular local cycling races as well as in regional races. If these races are outside of your normal pattern (e.g. your first ever 4-day tour race event), you physiologically reach further than ever before. If there is no let-up in training Of competition preparation after that event, your body does not have the chance to adapt and recover, and you risk entering into the zone of relative physical and mental overload called "over-training". This is one situation when more is better does not hold.
How do I know if have over-trained?
• The over-trained body responds with disturbances of several functions of the body including those of the nervous system, hormones and the immune system. While no two people will respond in exactly the same way, there is a general appearance of signs that things are not well. These can cause the active sports person to become quite depressed that their hard work is not resulting in improving performance.
• The trick to managing what can be a confusing and defeating period in your sports career is to recognize the signs that say you have over-trained. You may not have all of these signs, but if your exercise and sports performance is dropping. and you have some of the other symptoms listed, you may indeed have over-trained.
Signs and Symptoms of Over Training
Poor or decreased performance
Below are some of the abstracts of a seminar which i had attended long time ago:
Are You Over-Training?
By Dr Low Wye Mun
Do you love your sport? Are you working just as hard as you can to improve your performance? Hours of dedicated effort according to a carefully constructed training programme ... and yet, feeling as If things are just not quite right? Feeling a little lethargic, more tired than usual, and just needing much more effort to get going?
Well, you could have reached the point when your body is telling you that the effort you are putting in has out-stripped your resources. In a word, you may be over-training. In order to ensure that you stay in the bes1 physical and mental shape for your sports, read on and find out the what, why and how of this discouraging condition.
What is OVER-TRAINING ?
• As an athlete, you train in a way that shifts your body's daily physical state beyond its normal everyday level of functioning. Carefully regulated and controlled, such intensive demands made of your heart, lungs, muscles and joints become the training stimulus that allow you to reach towards improved performance.
• Occasionally, the amount of training you do (as measured by frequency, intensity and duration) may go beyond the body's ability to adapt to the stresses imposed. You may thus "over-reach." This may form part of your training and competition cycle, and provided that you have proper recovery from these episodes of over-reaching, your performance development will continue without much problems.
• For example, you may be taking part in the regular local cycling races as well as in regional races. If these races are outside of your normal pattern (e.g. your first ever 4-day tour race event), you physiologically reach further than ever before. If there is no let-up in training Of competition preparation after that event, your body does not have the chance to adapt and recover, and you risk entering into the zone of relative physical and mental overload called "over-training". This is one situation when more is better does not hold.
How do I know if have over-trained?
• The over-trained body responds with disturbances of several functions of the body including those of the nervous system, hormones and the immune system. While no two people will respond in exactly the same way, there is a general appearance of signs that things are not well. These can cause the active sports person to become quite depressed that their hard work is not resulting in improving performance.
• The trick to managing what can be a confusing and defeating period in your sports career is to recognize the signs that say you have over-trained. You may not have all of these signs, but if your exercise and sports performance is dropping. and you have some of the other symptoms listed, you may indeed have over-trained.
Signs and Symptoms of Over Training
Poor or decreased performance
- Loss of muscular strength
- Decline in endurance
- Drop in exercise capacity
- Decreased co-ordination
- Increased muscle fatigue
- Muscle soreness at lower levels of exercise, and persisting after exercise
- Raised heart rate (pulse) at rest and during exercise
- Loss of interest and drive to exercise
- Feelings of staleness & lethargy
- Loss of appetite & body weight loss
- Sleep disturbances
- Increased minor illnesses (e.g. sore throat, coughs, colds, allergic reactions)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Let's Begin Marathon Training!
Around 17 weeks to the Singapore marathon. I still remember that there were a series of marathon training articles published in the Straits Time paper on every Sunday, 15 weeks before the Singapore Marathon 2007. I managed to get hold some of the articles and decided to share among my readers. Hopefully, the Straits Times will publish such articles again with the countdown to the Singapore Marathon 2008!
15 weeks before Marathon
Click the image for viewing the article.
‘If you want to win something, run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.’ - EMIL ZATOPEK.
The late Czech runner was the 1952 Helsinki Olympics triple-gold medallist in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon
15 weeks before MarathonClick the image for viewing the article.
‘If you want to win something, run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.’ - EMIL ZATOPEK.
The late Czech runner was the 1952 Helsinki Olympics triple-gold medallist in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Straits Times 090808 Get Hard-core
Missed the PI run series 2 this morning as i am nursing my knee injury. Had not been running for the past few days due to swelling in my knee. Nevertheless, the morning weather was almost perfect for a run as the skies were covered by clouds and the air was cooling.
Read the Saturday (090808) Straits Times which "talks" about building up Core muscles for running. Here are the abstracts from the articles "GET HARD-CORE" by Jeanette Wang :
WHEN it comes to running fast, it is what is inside that counts - literally.
While most runners will clock up miles conscientiously to improve their times, they tend to forget the importance of building a strong core.
Yet that is essential because it improves one's running economy and also reduces injury, says former Singapore Athletic Association senior consultant coach Guy Ogden.
In fact, it is a must before embarking on a training programme - not just for running but for any sport, notes the former European Masters 10 km road champion.
Think of it as building a house on a good foundation.
Core muscles are generally buried under other muscles, including those in your abdomen, back and hips.
A runner with weak core strength is physically unstable and runs inefficiently, such as having his upper body moving sideways, says Ogden, also an osteopath.
What's more, he is at greater risk of injury, because the body tries to compensate for these inefficiencies.
Ideally, rather than trying to stabilize these unnecessary movements, all the force a runner produces should go to-wards propelling him forward.
A strong core does the trick.
"Running inefficiently increases the demands on a runner's cardio system. Having a strong core gives you better running economy, so you use less oxygen to run at a given speed," says Ogden, who coached the Vietnam national athletics team in 2001 and 2003.
The best thing about this? You can reap the benefits of core conditioning just by spending 10 minutes on a few exercises before training.
These were developed by Kelvin Giles, who coached track and field athletes in Britain and Australia to the Olympics in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ogden's training group, Athlon Running - who include top Singapore marathoner Vivian Tang and ultra-marathon winner Fabian William - swear by the exercises before their warm-up jogs.
Here, Ogden demonstrates three static exercises : the bridge, the sit-up and the single-leg squat that activate the essential muscle groups needed for running.
By the way, Ogden, 64, who has a personal best of 2h 24min for the marathon, still competes and can knock out 19-minute 5km races with ease.
He is hard-core.Are you?
Single-leg static squat
THERE are two positions for this pose.In the high position, the thigh and calf of your grounded leg should form a nO-degree angle. In the tougher medium position, the angle should be 90 degrees.Your head should be up, chest up, back straight and butt out.Viewed from the front, your ankle, knee and hip should be aligned.Your free leg should be ahead of the body.
Hold each position, once on each leg, for 10 seconds at a time. The goal is to hold the position without any ankle, knee, hip or trunk distortion.Ensure that you give yourself plenty of recovery between, each position attempt.
The Bridge
Supine Bridge
Front Bridge
Side Bridge
THE bridge is the basic building block of core'strength and stability work, says Ogden, It develops horizontal stability a prerequisite before 'one moves on to vertical stability.
Start off holding each pose for 30 sec-onds and build up to two minutes - a target that should take about three to four weeks to reach.
For all poses, your head should be in a neutral position, lower abdomen "drawn in", gluteus activated and shoulder blades retracted ("down and back").
Ensure that your body always forms a straight line. Your hips should not be too high or low and your back should not be rounded.
Begin in the front bridge position, with only forearms and toes touching the ground.
Next is the side bridge. Turn on your left side and support your body only with your left fore-arm and left foot.
Your support arm should be at 90 degrees to the body and your free arm by your side. Repeat on the other side.
The final pose is the supine bridge, where your body is facing up, with only your arms and feet on the ground.
Once you reach the target of two minutes for each exercise, you should take each pose to the next difficulty level, starting again at 30 seconds and building up to the target. Do the poses with straightened arms for a, tougher exercise. Then, lift one leg in the air for added difficulty. Finally, do the poses with your toes resting on an exercise ball instead of the ground for the ultimate challenge.
60-degree static sit-up
SIT with your knees bent and lean back, so that your back makes a 60-degree an¬gle with the ground.Your lower abdomen should be drawn in, shoulder blades drawn down, and arms kept across the chest.Ensure that your back is kept straight, not roun'ded, and your hips are up, rather than slumped.Hold the position for 30 seconds at first, then build up to two minutes.
"Running inefficiently increases the demands on a runner's cardio system. Having a strong core gives you better running economy, so you use less
oxygen to run..."
GUY OGDEN, former European Masters lOkm road champion and former Singapore Athletic Association senior consultant coach
Will be trying out all these exercises before my runs!
Read the Saturday (090808) Straits Times which "talks" about building up Core muscles for running. Here are the abstracts from the articles "GET HARD-CORE" by Jeanette Wang :
WHEN it comes to running fast, it is what is inside that counts - literally.
While most runners will clock up miles conscientiously to improve their times, they tend to forget the importance of building a strong core.
Yet that is essential because it improves one's running economy and also reduces injury, says former Singapore Athletic Association senior consultant coach Guy Ogden.
In fact, it is a must before embarking on a training programme - not just for running but for any sport, notes the former European Masters 10 km road champion.
Think of it as building a house on a good foundation.
Core muscles are generally buried under other muscles, including those in your abdomen, back and hips.
A runner with weak core strength is physically unstable and runs inefficiently, such as having his upper body moving sideways, says Ogden, also an osteopath.
What's more, he is at greater risk of injury, because the body tries to compensate for these inefficiencies.
Ideally, rather than trying to stabilize these unnecessary movements, all the force a runner produces should go to-wards propelling him forward.
A strong core does the trick.
"Running inefficiently increases the demands on a runner's cardio system. Having a strong core gives you better running economy, so you use less oxygen to run at a given speed," says Ogden, who coached the Vietnam national athletics team in 2001 and 2003.
The best thing about this? You can reap the benefits of core conditioning just by spending 10 minutes on a few exercises before training.
These were developed by Kelvin Giles, who coached track and field athletes in Britain and Australia to the Olympics in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ogden's training group, Athlon Running - who include top Singapore marathoner Vivian Tang and ultra-marathon winner Fabian William - swear by the exercises before their warm-up jogs.
Here, Ogden demonstrates three static exercises : the bridge, the sit-up and the single-leg squat that activate the essential muscle groups needed for running.
By the way, Ogden, 64, who has a personal best of 2h 24min for the marathon, still competes and can knock out 19-minute 5km races with ease.
He is hard-core.Are you?
Single-leg static squat
THERE are two positions for this pose.In the high position, the thigh and calf of your grounded leg should form a nO-degree angle. In the tougher medium position, the angle should be 90 degrees.Your head should be up, chest up, back straight and butt out.Viewed from the front, your ankle, knee and hip should be aligned.Your free leg should be ahead of the body.
Hold each position, once on each leg, for 10 seconds at a time. The goal is to hold the position without any ankle, knee, hip or trunk distortion.Ensure that you give yourself plenty of recovery between, each position attempt.
The Bridge
Supine Bridge
Front Bridge
Side BridgeTHE bridge is the basic building block of core'strength and stability work, says Ogden, It develops horizontal stability a prerequisite before 'one moves on to vertical stability.
Start off holding each pose for 30 sec-onds and build up to two minutes - a target that should take about three to four weeks to reach.
For all poses, your head should be in a neutral position, lower abdomen "drawn in", gluteus activated and shoulder blades retracted ("down and back").
Ensure that your body always forms a straight line. Your hips should not be too high or low and your back should not be rounded.
Begin in the front bridge position, with only forearms and toes touching the ground.
Next is the side bridge. Turn on your left side and support your body only with your left fore-arm and left foot.
Your support arm should be at 90 degrees to the body and your free arm by your side. Repeat on the other side.
The final pose is the supine bridge, where your body is facing up, with only your arms and feet on the ground.
Once you reach the target of two minutes for each exercise, you should take each pose to the next difficulty level, starting again at 30 seconds and building up to the target. Do the poses with straightened arms for a, tougher exercise. Then, lift one leg in the air for added difficulty. Finally, do the poses with your toes resting on an exercise ball instead of the ground for the ultimate challenge.
60-degree static sit-up
SIT with your knees bent and lean back, so that your back makes a 60-degree an¬gle with the ground.Your lower abdomen should be drawn in, shoulder blades drawn down, and arms kept across the chest.Ensure that your back is kept straight, not roun'ded, and your hips are up, rather than slumped.Hold the position for 30 seconds at first, then build up to two minutes.
"Running inefficiently increases the demands on a runner's cardio system. Having a strong core gives you better running economy, so you use less
oxygen to run..."
GUY OGDEN, former European Masters lOkm road champion and former Singapore Athletic Association senior consultant coach
Will be trying out all these exercises before my runs!
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