Runner's World - Inside May 2014

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weight-loss special may 2014

Australia & New zealand edition

Lose

10 KILOS

how to be

}Eat Smarter }Get Energised }Burn Fat Fast!

EPIC! Go longer and get stronger

PLUS Hearty, Healthy Low-Cal Meals

BEGINNERS

Your Fast-Track To Better Running P32

MID-RUN STOMACH WOES?

Simple Cures

get more from a massage

HEALTHY HIPS 5 Simple Exercises Supercharge Your Immunity P65

+

THE NEW RULES OF RECOVERY

When to Push, ISSN 1440-5229 When to Take It Easy 04

incl. GST AUS $8.95 incl. GST NZ $9.70 PP 349181 / 00853

ISSN 1440-5229

04 9 771440 522018

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inside

55 Weight-Loss Special GUTS TO GLORY Six obese folks lost major weight by taking charge of their eating habits and embracing running. Here’s their advice for living a leaner, happier life.

PLUS Runner-chefs serve up – surprise! – solid weight-loss tips.

By Lisa Marshall

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65 Supercharge Your Immunity Why we runners could be more susceptible to illness.

By Charlie Norton

71 The Knee: A User’s Guide How to sidestep the most common runners’ injuries.

By Annie Rice

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74 RUNNING HAITI On this devastated Caribbean island, a few dedicated runners race on.

As told to Amy Bracken

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79 HOW TO BE EPIC More busy runners are pushing themselves in endurance races. Maybe it’s time you signed up!

By Dimity McDowell

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AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND’S NUMBER ONE RUNNING MAGAZINE

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REGULARS

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> CONNECT WITH US

runnersworldmag Follow The Coach Tim Crosbie

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Follow The Sports Dietitian Amy Giannotti 50

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Follow The Physio Kate Senini

I’m A Runner Carrie Bickmore, 33, TV presenter, The Project; So You Think You Can Dance

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Fitness News The best warm-up for a faster finish.

Training Trail workouts for newbies, road racers and the injury-prone.

PLUS The right way to recover. (34) Fuel Five healthy salads that offer loads of flavour.

PLUS 13 top heart-healthy foods. (42) Mind & Body What new research says massages can – and can’t – do.

PLUS Best ways to ditch the stich! (48) The Body Shop Five simple exercises to help you fend off injury and run faster.

columns

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Watch shoe and gear reviews, workouts, nutrition tips and training advice.

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departments Gear From the smartest watches and apps, check out the new crop of running hardware.

Races & Places A runner discovers the best of herself at the Endeavour Foundation Relay Run.

By Libby Sargent

WEIGHT-LOSS SPECIAL

on our cover

For enhanced content and more, download the iPad edition of the May issue in the iTunes Newsstand.

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52 Road Scholar A father’s reflection on a decade of good fun and fast times.

By Rod McLure

Video

iPAD

Rave Run Editor’s Letter Running Inbox Human Race After the tragic death of her sister, a young runner finds solace in running.

PLUS The Intersection (14) Ask Miles (16) Back Story: Ollie Whistler (16) What It Takes To… (18)

personal best

runnersworldmag

runnersworldaus

6 8 10 13

39 MAY 2014

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND EDITION

LOSE

10 KILOS

HOW TO BE

}Eat Smarter }Get Energised }Burn Fat Fast!

EPIC! GO LONGER AND GET STRONGER

PLUS Hearty, Healthy Low-Cal Meals

BEGINNERS

Your Fast-Track To Better Running P32

MID-RUN STOMACH WOES?

SIMPLE CURES

GET MORE FROM A MASSAGE

HEALTHY HIPS 5 Simple Exercises Supercharge Your Immunity P65

+

THE NEW RULES OF RECOVERY

When to Push, ISSN 1440-5229 When to Take It Easy 04

incl. GST AUS $8.95 incl. GST NZ $9.70 PP 349181 / 00853

ISSN 1440-5229

04 9 771440 522018

runnersworldmag.com.au 9 771440 522018

may 2014 Volume 16 Number 11 Photographed exclusively for RUNNER’S WORLD

RW Digital WE’RE ALWAYS RUNNING AT RUNNERSWORLDMAG.COM.AU

rave run Photography by Scott Manthey runners Participants in the 4 Deserts Atacama Crossing (7 days, 250km)

The Location Atacama Desert, South America ➔ THE EXPERIENCE Occupying 105,000 square kilometres west of South America’s Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert is said to be the driest place in the world.

In the time it took the earth to swing around the sun four times, some parts of the Atacama received no rainfall at all. Yet this arid plateau sets the stage for a footrace that lasts for seven days, over 250km, and participants are expected to carry everything they need on their backs.

Approximately 20 per cent of competitors run the entire course. “The environment is harsh, hot and dry, and also very high-altitude – often over 3000 metres. Neglect your hydration at all in this environment and you will pay the price very quickly,” says Greg Donovan, race participant from Sydney. “Running through the Valle de la Luna is what I imagine running on Mars would be like, with salt encrusted formations of all shapes and sizes.”

– 4deserts.com

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training

SOFT LANDING: Porous trails are easier on your joints.

Take It Off-Road

Trail-running inspires fun workouts for newbies, road racers, and the injury-prone BY LISA JHUNG

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ITH COOLER TEMPERATURES, and trees beginning to show some orange, autumn is an ideal time to get outside and hit the trails.

And there are as many reasons to go offroad as there are places to run.

“I find that I recover a lot quicker from training on trails than from pounding on the street,” says marathoner Magdalena Boulet, who typically logs 80 per cent of her mileage off-road. “Plus, I get pure enjoyment from being far from traffic and being in nature.”

The good news: you don’t need to scramble up steep rock faces to reap these

benefits. A trail is anything off-road or unpaved, including flat gravel paths and wide dirt roads. Whatever your experience level, there’s a trail that’s right for your run.

YOU ARE A NEW RUNNER LOOK FOR: Wide dirt trails; rail trails.

These types of trails are no more challenging to run on than roads, but they’re protected from traffic and easier on the joints. Their porous nature makes them softer than footpaths and concrete – a boon to new runners who feel achy during or after road runs. Plus, exploring new routes can

bust boredom. “Running becomes an adventure,” says Stephen Walker, Ph.D., a sports psychologist and editor-in-chief of podiumsportsjournal.com.

THE WORKOUT: Head out for 20 to 30 minutes, alternating walking and running.

YOU ARE INJURY-PRONE LOOK FOR: Soft surfaces like grass, dirt or wood chips; technical trails with rocks or roots (if you’re comfortable on them). Because your joints and muscles take less pounding on them, soft surfaces are less likely than roads to cause new injuries or aggravate existing ones, says ultrarunner Jason Koop. And because fast running generates greater impact forces than slow running does, it’s good to try hilly and/or technical routes that force you to slow down. If you can handle trails with rocks, roots and other obstacles, consider runs on them to be preventive training: technical trails

engage different muscles than roads do, which builds balanced strength that may protect you from injury.

THE WORKOUT: Start with a short run of 15 to 20 minutes to make sure no injuries flare up, koop says. Walk up (and down) steep parts to extend your time outside.

YOU ARE A TREADMILL DEVOTEE LOOK FOR: Any trail that’s convenient to your home or workplace, but a mostly flat, non-technical dirt or gravel path is ideal. Treadmill running has its merits, especially for runners with busy schedules. However, the more stressed you are, the more you have to gain from spending time outdoors, away from traffic and close to nature, says Walker. In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people experienced less frustration and more feelings of calm when in urban green spaces, compared with other parts of the city.

THE WORKOUT: Go for time instead of mileage, Koop advises: trails can slow you down, and stressing over your pace defeats the purpose.

YOU ARE A ROAD RACER LOOK FOR: A non-technical surface with some challenging inclines and declines. The nature of trails – uphill,

downhill, varying terrain – forces you to run different paces, which gives you an interval-like workout without having to count your laps or stare at your watch. Plus, the softer surfaces provide relief for road runners at risk of overuse injuries.

THE WORKOUT: Try a fartlek: run uphills at a hard effort and recover on downhills. Or, for a structured workout, adapt one you’d do on the roads: “If you usually do eight threeminute fast repeats during a roadtraining session that’s 45 minutes long, log 24 minutes of the same intensity during a 45-minute trail run,” says Koop.

YOU ARE ALREADY DOING TRAILS LOOK FOR: A trail that you’ve never run before, a point-to-point route that takes you to new parts of a familiar trail, or a trail race in a location that inspires you. If you already spend time on trails, trying out new areas creates a challenge that can invigorate your running, says Koop. Grab a map, tell someone where you’re going, and explore. If you’ve been itching to run a trail that’s too out-of-the-way for a normal run, register to race on it and use it as motivation to hit your local trails at least twice a week.

THE WORKOUT: Choose a route that’s 20 per cent longer than what you’re used to, and build up to it.

Follow the Leader

Advice from the world's best runners

NIKKI CHAPPLE, 33, of Melbourne, Victoria, is the Australian 10,000m champion 1 RUN LONG “The longest run I do in training is a 2.5-hour run, which I only do every three weeks in a build-up to a marathon. It’s approximately the length of time it should take me to run a marathon, so the session helps prepare my legs and mind for what’s to come on race day and gives me the opportunity to practise drinking on the run.”

2 STRESS LESS

Choose Your Path courtesy of Athletics Australia

Types of trails ranked from easiest to most challenging RAIL TRAIL A wide, flat, and non-technical dirt or gravel path converted from defunct railroads.

HIKING TRAIL A trail just for foot travel that’s likely hilly and technical.

MULTIUSE TRAIL Any trail that may be used by walkers, runners, cyclists and equestrians. May be hilly or technical. May be single-track (only wide enough for a single user) or double-track (wide enough for two to four people).

FIRE ROAD Dirt roads wide enough for fire-safety access vehicles. May be hilly; won’t be technical.

MOUNTAIN TRAIL Trails with considerable ascent and/or descent.

“When you’re feeling stressed in a race, all kinds of negative thoughts enter your head and don’t help you. I try to block out everything and concentrate on one thing, like completing one segment of a race or catching a runner in front of me. I try to think of running as a form of meditation.

It’s important to work out a way to cope with the stress, so I can perform my best.”

3 INJURY FREE “Running can cause a lot of overuse injuries, so using my muscles in a different way – such as walking or riding my bike – can be helpful for overcoming this. I love yoga, which is great for maintaining my strength, flexibility and relaxation.”

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KATIE FOSTER LOST 54KG

32, STAY-AT-HOME MUM

STARTING WEIGHT: 114KG WEIGHT NOW: 60KG

AIM HIGH Katie Foster dropped 22kg for her wedding in 2003. But after it was over: “I started eating and just couldn’t stop,” she says. Six years later, Foster weighed 114kg. When she tried to teach her son how to ride a bike, she made it halfway down the street before she was gasping for breath. “I had to watch my sister do it for me. I felt like the worst mum in the world.” She started counting kilojoules again, only this time, she added running.

Three times a week she went out, running a little longer each time. Foster signed up for a 5K eight months off, and by race day she was logging 14km long runs. She clocked a 27:16. After losing nearly half her body weight, she had surgery to trim away excess skin. Foster admits her sweet tooth is still intact. “I realised that to maintain my weight loss, I either had to cut out all my sweets – or keep running.”

THE TAKEAWAY â Set daily goals Stay motivated by focussing on daily mini-goals, like sticking to your meal plan or running slightly longer.

“If you run one full minute today and you couldn’t do that yesterday, you are better than yesterday,” says Foster. “That’s empowering.” â Dream big When she signed up for that 5K, Foster couldn’t even run a kilometre yet.

But studies have shown that dieters who aim for something (a race, new running shoes) lose more weight than those who don’t. â Run more You have to walk 50 per cent further and spend twice as long to expend the same amount of energy as you would running. Plus, running boosts your post-run kilojoule burn and production of hungersquelching hormones. â Indulge (a little) Depriving yourself too much can tempt you to binge, says Foster, who avoids baking. She buys a sweet treat at her favourite bakery and saves it for after her long run.

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SPEED SHRED Crank up your workouts to torch kilojoules The faster you move, the more kilojoules you burn per minute.

Plus, bursts of intensity interspersed with rest periods improve the body’s ability to burn abdominal fat and regulate blood sugar.

Find your skill level below, and do the following workouts once a week. Over time, add repeats or pick up the pace.

WALKER OR RUN/WALKER

Walk or run/walk at an easy pace for 10 minutes. Speed up for 10 minutes, to where you can talk only in phrases. Run/walk easy for 10 minutes.

Repeat sequence.

NOVICE RUNNER

Run one minute moderately hard (talking should be uncomfortable).

Walk/jog one minute.

Repeat three times.

INTERMEDIATE RUNNER

Run 400m (once around a track) moderately hard. Jog or walk 200m to 400m. Repeat four to five times.

JENNIFER ROE LOST 46KG

41, FILM PRODUCER

STARTING WEIGHT: 115KG WEIGHT NOW: 69KG

GO PUBLIC In 2010, Jennifer Roe lost 29kg by dieting but hit a plateau at 86.

When she decided to set goals outside of her comfort zone, the non-runner signed up for a half-marathon and began blogging about her training. “I knew nothing about running,” she says. “It was almost like I was telling people I’d decided to go to the moon.” Even with fewer than 10 followers, she felt obligated to keep them up to date, and not let them down. So when she finally ran three minutes without walking, she posted: “I loved it, I felt empowered.” And when she ran her first kilometre, “I cried like I had just run a marathon.”

On good days, her followers’ encouragement fuelled her. On bad days, she’d review her blog to remind herself how far she’d come. Soon, she started following other blogs where she found diet, training and gear advice and – most importantly – a community that defied her stereotype of runners as “sleek gazelles.” Says Roe, “I realised there were a lot of people like me. I didn’t feel so alone.” When she reached her goal weight in January 2011, she had 50 followers to thank – today, she’s got almost 400.

THE TAKEAWAY â Tell the truth When using social media, keep it real. If she quit early on a run or fell off

ä SOCIAL LIGHT

Group weight-loss interventions provide accountability, and it’s easier to find a group with social media, says Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., a researcher who studies tech tools for weight loss. In one study, she found that people who were the most active on Twitter lost the most weight, with every 10 tweets corresponding to an additional 0.5 per cent of weight loss.

She also found that people who track their eating habits with an online app lost more weight. Combining group accountability with tracking can be a potent weight-loss tool. “People think, I want a biscuit,” says TurnerMcGrievy, “but they don’t want to write it down, particularly in a public forum, so they don’t eat it.”

GET CONNECTED Find support for your weight-loss journey in these digital spheres

her diet, Roe’s followers often confessed they’d been there, too, and helped her get back on track.

“The crappy stuff always gets the most response,” says Roe. “People can relate.” â Write often The more you post, the more invested your followers become in your journey, and the more likely they’ll stick with you. Roe blogs twice weekly.

Foster, whose blog boasts 7000 subscribers, posts almost daily. â Make a connection Respond in some way to every comment. It shows respect for your followers, says Foster. Note which of them blog, and follow them. Doing so just might widen your own support network.

SMARTPHONE APPS Track kilojoules, find nutrition information and record workouts with apps like Easy Diet Diary (iPhone only) and MyFitnessPal (iPhones and Android). One study found that those using an app exercised more and ate 2510 fewer kilojoules daily. “Frequency of self-monitoring is related to weightloss success. Apps make self-monitoring easier,” says Turner-McGrievy.

TWITTER If you’re shy about going public, Twitter gives you a voice without requiring your real name or your photo.

Try it as a stepping-stone to something more revealing.

ALL IN ONE APP-WEB INTERFACE Sites like myfitnesspal.com combine self-monitoring (they integrate their apps into the website), social networking and blogging in a single space. Good for socialsharing newbies – they’re one-stop shops and easy to use.

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gear

Running Hardware

From purpose-built headphones to the smartest watches and apps we’ve ever seen, this new crop of running gear has something to surprise and delight just about everyone. Here’s a handpicked selection of our favourites.

BY JEFF DENGATE

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gear

1 MICOACH SMART RUN WATCH 1ADIDAS

adidas.com.au; adidas.co.nz The Smart Run Watch (A$500; NZ$600) is like a mash-up of the Motorola Motoactv and Mio Alpha – it’s an Androidpowered device that measures your pulse through your wrist.

It also features a built-in music player that can be paired with Bluetooth wireless headphones.

Adding songs is as easy as dragging and dropping to a folder on your desktop. Our only complaint: Battery power is drained far too quickly.

2PEAR MOBILE 2

BEASTIE BAR AND STANDS 3RUMBLEROLLER

physiosupplies.com.au RumbleRoller takes foam-rolling to another level. The Beastie Bar (A$95) can be used hand-held or hands-free to target tight muscles.

Simply mount the bar on its stands, or roll on it without stands. We like the handheld option for kneading out trouble spots (an ultimate version of “The Stick”); for example, over your muscles near the shin.

SIE2i SPORT HEADPHONES 4BOSE

bose.com.au; bose.co.nz We had trouble getting the Bose SIE2i Sport Headphones (A$199; NZ$249) back from our weartester. “I did a 16km trail run at 4:41 pace and they didn’t move or bother my ears,” she reported.

Flexible, contoured wing tips keep the fit just right. The cables are intentionally short to keep them from moving around, and a clothing clip secures them even further. Bonus: “With the bright colours, the runners in my suburb think they’re very cool.”

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pearsports.com With the explosion of smartphone apps, Pear moved from a dedicated device to a software-based solution. The iPhone app is free, but requires Pear’s heartrate strap and headphones (US$99.95 plus postage). Training plans from coaches like RW columnist Jenny Hadfield give you audio feedback mid-run. Pear’s earphones feature a button that, with a single tap, reads off your workout metrics so you never need to look at a screen or fiddle with your phone.

RUNNER GPS WATCH 5TOMTOM

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tomtom.com/sports The TomTom Runner (A$199; NZ$249 with heartrate monitor) is dead simple to operate; it has only one button. The watch locates satellites in just seconds if you’ve synced it to your computer in the last three days – satellite data is preloaded so you’re not standing around with your arm raised to the heavens.

Running indoors? An internal accelerometer counts your arm swings (and, thus, your strides) to closely estimate distance.

For greater accuracy, you can easily calibrate the watch during any run by altering its distance to that shown on the treadmill.

After your run, workout data can be uploaded to TomTom’s online platform, powered by the popular MapMyRun.