Los Angeles Sports & Fitness - January/February 2016

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

Olympic Marathon Trials Preview The LA Marathon, Then & Now Searching for Elite Athletic Talent

On the Run with FOX 11 anchor

Marla Tellez FIND YOUR NEXT RACE AT

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12 MARATHON TRIALS The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will be contested here in LA on Feb. 13. We have the lowdown on what and where to watch.

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Nutrition Edge:

Is it faster to ascend steep hills by walking or running?

It’s another new year and many are focused on cleaning up their nutrition. Have you considered a plantbased plan? Here are 7 steps to start.

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Free Play: What does it take to excel at sports?

Brian McCormick says youth athletes need to learn movement prior to sports-specific skills.

Intelligent Fitness: Kate Havens says spending extra time strengthening and lengthening your hamstrings will improve your training.

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Marla Tellez:

The Wright Stuff:

You’ve seen Marla Tellez on the early morning news on FOX 11. Did you know she’s passionate about running?

This year, more than ever, the LA Marathon is in the national spotlight.

Chris Wright reflects on the journey of the city’s signature race.

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Researchers Discover Optimal Range of Slopes for Extreme Uphill Running Running uphill on steep inclines is never easy, but researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered a range of slope angles that would allow an athlete to ascend a mountain most quickly.

“For either running or walking, slopes between 20 and 35 degrees require nearly the same amount of energy to climb the hill at the same vertical velocity,” said Rodger Kram, an associate professor at Colorado and senior author of the study.

The study, which was recently published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, is believed to be the first to examine the metabolic costs of human running and walking on such steep inclines.

The research focused on the challenges posed by vertical kilometer (VK) races, which have grown in popularity in recent years in mountainous regions of the U.S. and Europe.

Athletes run or walk up steep slopes ranging between 10 degrees and 30 degrees in order to ascend 1,000 meters over a distance of less than 5 kilometers.

The world record for a VK course is 29 minutes, 42 seconds and was set in Fully, Switzerland on a course with an average slope of 31 degrees. By comparison, elite runners can finish a 10K race on flat ground in less than 30 minutes.

The extreme slopes of VK courses inspired Kram and his colleagues to design a specialized treadmill that can reach inclines of up to 45 degrees. Standard treadmills only reach a maximum incline of around 9 degrees, he said, while a typical black diamond ski run slopes about 25 degrees.

“We wondered if there was an optimal incline for beating the VK world record,” said Kram. “If you were running up just a one degree incline, you’d have to run over 70 miles per hour to beat that record, which is impossible. And if the slope were 90 degrees, you’d need a rope and rock climbing equipment, which isn’t feasible either. We figured there was a perfect angle somewhere in between.”

Instead, the researchers found that there was actually an optimal range of slope angles, a “Goldilocks plateau” of between 20 and 35 degrees where the degree of incline doesn’t really matter and the same rate of ascent requires the same rate of energy expenditure,” Kram said.

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Publisher Danny Greenberg Kram summarized the findings via an analogy: “Imagine that you are standing in Colorado at a trailhead where the base elevation is 9,000 feet. Your friend challenges you to race to the summit of the mountain, which tops out at 12,280 feet, i.e. 1,000 meters of elevation gain. There are several different trails that go to the summit. They are all pretty steep and some are extremely steep. One trail averages 10 degrees incline and the sign says it is 3.6 miles long. A second trail averages 30 degrees, but is only 1.25 miles long. A third trail averages 40 degrees, but only 1 mile long. To get to the summit the fastest, which trail should you choose and should you walk or run?

“Based on our research, we now know that choosing the second trail (30 degrees) and walking as fast as you can within your aerobic capacity is the fastest way to go,” he said.

The study focused on a vertical rate of ascent of just over 1 foot per second, a pace that the high-level athletes could sustain aerobically during the testing. At that speed, walking used about nine percent less energy than running. So, sub-elite athletes can ascend on very steep uphills faster by walking rather than running.

The study examined 15 competitive mountain runners as they ran and walked on the treadmill at seven different angles ranging from 9 to 39 degrees. The treadmill speed was set so that the vertical rate of ascent was the same. Thus, the treadmill speeds were slower on the steeper angles. The athletes were unable to balance at angles above 40 degrees, suggesting a natural limit on the feasible slope for a VK competition.

“Very few people walk or run up such steep slopes, but by going to extremes, we broaden our horizons and investigate the limits to human performance,” said Kram.

As for amateur runners who aren’t planning to try a VK race anytime soon? These findings indicate that you can still get a good aerobic workout simply by walking up very steep inclines, Kram said.

January/February 2016

Columnists Kate Havens, Brian McCormick, Chris Wright Design Richele Collins Advertising Director Brook Gardner

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FREE PLAY Raising Active Kids

By Brian McCormick, CSCS, PES, Ph.D.

Searching for Elite Athletic Talent During a recent U14 girls soccer game, I watched the younger brothers play threeon-three tackle football between the field and the next field. The pickup tackle football game was more interesting. The parents were invested in the soccer game, and they never bothered the boys who ranged from 8 to 12 years old. There were no parents shouting directions or intervening when there was an argument or an injury. The boys figured it out on their own.

The boys moved much better than the older girls, which may be expected in some respects. The girls, based on their ages, may have been nearing their peak height velocity (PHV), or their major growth spurt.

Coordination changes for boys and girls when they enter puberty and grow. Players have been shown to incur more traumatic injuries during the year of PHV than the prior year, and more overuse injuries in the year after PHV. Beyond PHV and changes in coordination due to age, puberty, gender and height, the boys engaged in free, child-initiated play, whereas the girls played a structured, formal game. The boys played without parental interference, whereas the parents and coaches yelled at the girls throughout the game to the point that more than one girl left the field in tears. The girls were skilled at the specific soccer skills: They used both feet, they dribbled the ball, they passed well, they understood when to play the ball back to the keeper, and they played decent soccer. Their understanding and skill level exceeded anything that my teams demonstrated when I played soccer, but we moved so much better.

In the tackle football game, the children played within a confined space. The boys constantly attempted to evade each other, planting, cutting and spinning to avoid a tackle. The movements challenged the boys and were learned implicitly, as nobody

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instructed them on proper cutting technique. They simply tried to get away from the other team, and used a variety of different movements to achieve this goal. The movements included contact with the opposition as they tried to break tackles or spin through the grasp of an opponent. They learned to adjust their balance to stay on their feet through contact.

When I attended a college basketball game last season, the halftime entertainment was two youth basketball teams. The fans thought the players were adorable, as the children, ages 5 to 7, ran up and down the court, fell down, tripped on their own feet chasing after the ball, and generally amused the audience with their uncanny ability to look cute while completely sucking at basketball. This is not meant to disparage the children; they played with a women’s basketball, which was too big, and on 10-foot baskets, which were too high. In 10 minutes, one basket was scored.

While the audience delighted in their lack of skills and awareness, I wondered whether these children benefited from this participation in a formal youth league.

Prior to the game, one coach told me about his team winning earlier in the day by 40 points. What is the purpose of these leagues?

Over the last decade, there has been a rush to start children in competitive sports as early as possible. Many believe that the early start in a single sport gives the children an advantage as they develop. Some blame the research of K. Anders Ericsson, who introduced the 10,000-hour rule that was popularized by journalists such as Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Coyle and others.

Ericsson’s research into expert performance in disciplines such as chess and violin suggested that 10,000 hours was needed to reach an expert level. Based on this research, and its generalizing to all disci-

January/February 2016

plines, parents pushed children into sports at earlier ages. Numerous year-round sports leagues and teams have cited the 10,000hour rule as a reason for year-round sports participation, and coaches sell their teams by telling parents that their child will not have a chance to make a high school team if he has not started year-round competitive sports by 8 years old.

The problem with early specialization is the specialization. As Rene Wormhoudt from the Netherlands Football Federation said, “Children become good movers; good movers become good athletes; and good athletes become specialists.” When a child specializes in one sport, she attempts to reverse this order: She becomes a specialist first and attempts to develop athleticism and movement skills later. When I start with varsity and college athletes, I often have to teach them how to skip. They have specialized skills, but they lack movement skills.

They are not athletic. Consequently, childhood injury rates have increased.

At the soccer game, the boys playing a pickup football game moved better than the older girls playing a competitive match. Few

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people notice the difference. Parents in the crowd discussed older sisters, and their litany of injuries, including one 15-year-old returning from her second ACL reconstruction, but nobody associated these injuries with their poor movement skills. The players looked like good soccer players, which means that they must be athletic. Injuries are just a part of the game.

The impediment to advancing at most young ages, I believe, is athleticism/movement, not sport-specific skills. A proper development program for this age group would have the entire group participating in a different sport every day/practice. To me, it’s not about the sport-specific skill development; it’s about the movement skills, motor skills, motor control and coordination. The more variable the experiences, the better, in my opinion. I would prefer the 10-year-old with no basketball or soccer experience who has great kinesthetic awareness, core strength, body control, coordination, etc. from wrestling, jiu-jitsu, gymnastics and other similar activities than one who has played only basketball. Plenty of studies have shown that it takes far less than 10,000 hours to become elite, and those who are elite at 14 are only 25 percent or less likely to be elite at 18. Therefore, how does starting at age 7 versus 8 versus 9 versus 10 matter that much?

The only way it matters is if people are making decisions about who continues and who gets cut at 9 or 10 years old. However, that is a terrible way to determine the elites. To determine the future elites at 9 years old, you would be better off (1) looking at their parents and picking based on height and (2) giving them puzzles or another task and evaluating their mindset and grit. A child with good genes and the right mindset is far more likely to develop into an elite athlete in the future than the player who is viewed as the

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best 9-year-old because he or she has accumulated the most hours of practice to that point.

I coached a U9 AAU team that made it to the quarterfinals at the AAU Nationals. Only one player from that team played college basketball, and he was known as a soccer player at 9 years old, not a basketball player. Similarly, I assisted a U11 girls AAU team that did well at AAU Nationals, and its best player eventually played college soccer, and the one player who earned an NCAA Division 1 basketball scholarship was the seventh person on the team at 11 years old and softball was considered her better sport. The players who specialized in basketball by 9 or 11 years old never reached an elite level, whereas the multi-sport athletes eventually played in college.

The problem, of course, is that coaches do not want to lose athletes to another sport because they need the talent or they need the income additional participants bring. Sports work in their own silos and attempt to retain their athletes by any means possible, which generally means more and more activities, which turns into more and more competition, which means less and less learning, and more specialization.

Unfortunately, specialization leads to more injuries, poorer movement skills and reduced opportunities for continued competitive participation beyond high school. As the popular saying goes, you can be elite as a child, or elite as an adult, but not both. << —Brian McCormick, Ph.D., is the founder of the Youth Basketball Coaching Association (learntocoachbasketball.com) and the Playmakers Basketball Development League (playmakersleague.com).

January/February 2016

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2016

OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS

It’s worth remembering the trials of those who paved the way; we remember the past as we celebrate the present and look forward to the future.

Photo by Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

The women's start at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston.

By Chris Wright “Get the hell out of my race!” the man screamed as he attacked the woman. “And give me those numbers!”

The year was 1967, and the race was the Boston Marathon. Race Director Jock Semple resorting to mid-course physical assault in an attempt to eject Kathrine Switzer may be the most vividly remembered example of the outrageous sexism that pervaded the sport at that time—but it is far from the only one. At the New York Marathon in 1972, the five female entrants were informed that they were not allowed to start with the rest of the field, and had to begin ten minutes earlier. When ‘their’ gun went off, they sat down and held up protest signs. They started with the men—but organizers added those ten minutes to their times. The Equal Rights Amendment cleared the Senate that year, and Title IX went into effect in 1972 also—but the prevailing zeitgeist is accurately conveyed by a question put to racewinner Nina Kuscsik by journalist Philip Nobile of the New York Post.

“Long-distance running isn’t the most womanly thing a woman can do,” Nobile observed. “All that sweating and grunting, so why do you do it?”

Kuscsik was having none of it: “Just the way you phrase the question shows your attitude. Who says it is not the most feminine thing a woman can do and who says sweating or grunting isn't feminine? I have yet to meet a female runner who grunts. Although a lot of men do. Running is neither masculine nor feminine. It’s just healthy.”

Courtesy LA Marathon

MEB KEFLEZIGHI 12

It wasn’t just angry race directors and chauvinist journalists, though. It wasn’t even just men. The Amateur Athletic Union managed the sport in the U.S. in that era, and Nell Jackson, Ph.D., the woman who headed its Women’s Track and Field Committee, made pronouncements such as “I wouldn't give permission to run a marathon. It’s not in the interest of the national program. I’m very concerned about the effects of these distances on females.”

Doctors muttered darkly about the effects on the female body of the marathon; some suggested that women’s ovaries might fall out if they attempted it.

And so, let nobody miss the significance of Los Angeles being the venue for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. It is difficult enough for me to square away the fact that I was already out of high school when the first women’s Olympic marathon took place. It is a measure of how far we have come that those born in the mid ‘80s and later simply cannot imagine the Olympic Games without one. New Zealand granted women the right to vote in 1893—but it was almost a century later, right here in Los Angeles in 1984, that women first took their rightful place at the start of an Olympic marathon.

So, there is significance and real pride for our city in its selection as the venue for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. And, as pointed out by LA Marathon CEO Tracey Russell, they also offer the city a wonderful opportunity to showcase its attributes. The effort to bring the 2024 Olympic Games themselves back to Los Angeles, 40 years after the iconic Joan Benoit Samuelson won that historic inau-

Courtesy USATF

JARED WARD January/February 2016

Courtesy USATF

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2016

gural women’s race, is gearing up—and the city can expect an electric atmosphere for a weekend that sees the trials taking place on a Saturday, and the LA Marathon on the Sunday…which just happens to be Valentine’s Day! Unlike the new Stadium to the Sea marathon route, the trials will be run on a flat criterium-style course downtown. The race will start and finish at LA Live, and after an initial two-mile section through the downtown area, will consist of four six-mile loops, heading south down Figueroa Street, past the University of Southern California, around Exposition Park and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, before heading back up Figueroa to LA Live. This layout promises to be very spectator-friendly, with up to eight sightings of the evolving race possible from a number of vantage points. I vividly remember watching the 2008 trials on a similar course when I was in Massachusetts to run my first Boston Marathon the following day. It was truly inspiring to watch Deena Kastor, down by a significant margin with ten miles to go, calmly up the ante and surgically click off a series of devastating miles to reel in and pass the valiant Magdalena Lewy. Being able to see strategies play out when watching a marathon live is as wonderful as it is rare.

Remarkably, eight years later and at 42 years of age, Kastor remains very much in the mix. She won those 2008 trials along the Charles River in 2:29—but just a few months ago, delivered Date: Saturday, February 13 a scintillating 2:27 in Chicago. That gives her Time: 10 a.m. the fourth-fastest qualifyStart/Finish: LA Live ing time in the women’s Course: An initial two-mile field, after the dynamic Flanagan (2:21, section through Downtown, Shalane at the 2014 running of then four six-mile loops, the Berlin Marathon I wrote about in our previsouth on Figueroa Street, ous issue), Desiree Linden past USC, around Exposi(née Davila, with her 2:23 tion Park and the Coliseum, in Boston) and Amy Hastbefore heading back up ings Cragg (who, like Kastor, notched up a 2:27 Figueroa to LA Live. in Chicago).

Among those favorites, it’s hard not to root for Linden. Not knowing who she was, I sat across a table from her at a party after last year’s St. George 70.3; I had raced, she was there to support her husband. She was charming and self-effacing and unless my coach had quietly let me know who she was, I would have had no clue that this was the woman who took second in Boston in 2011, losing the victory by an agonizing two seconds in a sprint down Boylston Street. No flash in the pan, she took it to the East Africans again this past year, leading the pack into a fierce headwind for 20 miles and remaining strong for a fourth place finish, again as first American. “2:25 is the new 2:30,” she says. “I don’t feel like I lived up to the title of ‘Olympian’ in 2012; I want to reset and do it better in Rio.” Not just the women who will offer up exciting racing, either. Well over 150 men have met the qualifying standard (2:19 for a marathon, or 1:05 for a half), along with more than 200 women (for whom the standards are 2:45 and 1:15, respectively). Among those, one would be hard pressed not to regard Dathan Ritzenhein as a favorite. A three-time Olympian already at shorter distances who sometimes faces criticism over why he doesn’t remain at the 5,000 and 10,000 distances, ‘Ritz’ says that there is just something about the marathon.

OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS

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“That’s what you think about,” he observes, “When you think about the Olympics.” He’s had his fare share of injuries and setbacks in the recent past, and is unequivocal: “Thinking about being on the marathon team for Rio is what has kept me going the last three years; that’s where my passion now is.” With a 2:07 personal best, one would have to be brave or foolish to bet against Ritz.

Of course, reigning U.S. Trials champion Meb Keflezighi is right there, too. A 2:08 best is nothing to sneeze at, particularly when he’s demonstrated—both at the last trials, and with his win in Boston in 2014, that even though a decade has passed since his historic silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, that even at 40, he remains a world-class talent and competitor.

One of the most interesting dark horses, however, may be Jared Ward. Best known to Angelenos for securing the current U.S. Marathon Championship right here at the 2015 LA Marathon with a 2:12 that earned him third place overall, he cuts a figure both modest and intriguing. A graduate of Brigham Young who spent two

January/February 2016

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years as a missionary abroad, his demeanor reflects the cheerfulness and gratitude that one sees in so many Mormons. “I feel anyone could have succeeded if given the royal flush of coaches, family, facilities and support I’ve been handed,” he smiles. Well, no, actually: I (and 99.999% of the world’s population) would have had to pick parents rather better endowed in terms of athletic genetics to run marathons in under three hours, let alone under 2:15. He’s not serious, of course: holding a master’s degree in statistics, he delivered his thesis on how marathon pacing strategies affect overall times and is only too well aware that he comes from the deep end of the gene pool.

Ward may not have quite the absurd reservoirs of natural talent of that other great (and also very religious) American marathoner Ryan Hall—but he seems just a shade more centered, just a little less combustible. Keep an eye on this one; he says he’ll be happy that the best team has been chosen, whoever’s on it—but it’s not hard to imagine the top three including Jared Ward.

And that, of course, is how it works. No Kenyan-style selection, with administrators picking a national team based on who they feel is best placed to perform well at the Games, irrespective of form over the past year or two. While that kind of benign dictatorship clearly has its up sides (particularly for the marathon, where some question the wisdom of a full-blown race effort six months before the Olympics), it has problems, too. By contrast, the U.S. system is a simple meritocracy.

The top three women and the top three men across that line at LA Live on February 13 are going to Rio. It’s as simple—and as brutal—as that.

Photo by Kevin Morris

DEENA KASTOR 14

'A' STANDARD QUALIFIERS FOR THE U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS IN MARATHON WOMEN (2:37:00 or faster marathon from August 1, 2013 to January 17, 2016) Shalane Flanagan Desiree Linden Amy Hastings Cragg Deena Kastor Serena Burla Laura Thweatt Annie Bersagel Kellyn Taylor Lauren Kleppin Rebecca Wade Sara Hall Adriana Nelson Clara Santucci Lindsay Scherf Melissa White Sarah Crouch Kristen Zaitz

2:21:14 2:23:54 2:27:03 2:27:47 2:28:01 2:28:23 2:28:29 2:28:40 2:28:48 2:30:41 2:31:14 2:31:15 2:31:39 2:32:19 2:32:37 2:32:44 2:32:48

Wendy Thomas Lindsay Flanagan Esther Erb Maegan Krifchin Marci Gage Laura Portis Heather Lieberg Renee Baillie Jodie Robertson Brianne Nelson Lauren Jimison Hilary Dionne Sarah Cummings Michelle Lilienthal Dot McMahan Blake Russell Ariana Hilborn Kara Lubieniecki Caitlin Comfort Susanna Sullivan Addie Bracy

2:32:49 2:33:12 2:33:15 2:33:30 2:33:33 2:33:42 2:34:09 2:34:17 2:34:22 2:34:24 2:34:38 2:34:45 2:34:47 2:34:49 2:34:49 2:34:57 2:35:21 2:35:25 2:35:29 2:35:37 2:35:55

Laurie Knowles Obsie Birru Paige Siemers

2:36:29 2:36:53 2:36:56

2:12:55 2:12:56 2:13:16 2:13:26 2:13:30 2:13:32 2:13:34 2:13:45 2:13:53 2:14:30 2:14:40 2:14:40 2:14:40 2:14:49

USA Track & Field pays for travel to the Trials for 'A' standard qualifiers.

USA Track & Field pays for travel to the Trials for 'A' standard qualifiers.

The 'B' standard qualifying times for women are marathon time of 2:37:01 - 2:45:00 or half marathon time of 1:15:00 or faster in the qualifying window from 8/1/13 - 1/17/16 Total number of qualified women: 226 By marathon: 188 By half marathon: 38 Attained 'A' standard: 41 Attained 'B' standard: 185

MEN (2:15:00 or faster marathon from August 1, 2013 to January 17, 2016) Meb Keflezighi Dathan Ritzenhein Luke Puskedra Jeffrey Eggleston Ryan Vail Bobby Curtis Elkanah Kibet Fernando Cabada Nick Arcinaga Matt Tegenkamp Matthew Llano Josphat Bolt Aaron Braun

Courtesy USATF

SHALANE FLANAGAN

2:08:37 2:09:45 2:10:24 2:10:52 2:10:57 2:11:20 2:11:31 2:11:36 2:11:47 2:12:28 2:12:28 2:12:52 2:12:54

Shadrack Biwott Jared Ward Jacob Riley Ian Burrell Sean Quigley Tyler Pennel Sergio Reyes Gabe Proctor Craig Leon Christo Landry Mike Morgan Scott Smith Tim Young Timothy Ritchie

The 'B' standard qualifying times for men are marathon time of 2:15:01 - 2:19:00 or half marathon time of 1:05:00 or faster in the qualifying window from 8/1/13 - 1/17/16.

Total number of qualified men: 184 By marathon: 86 By half marathon: 98 Attained 'A' standard: 27 Attained 'B' standard: 157

Courtesy USATF

Courtesy USATF

AMY HASTINGS CRAGG

DESIREE LINDEN

January/February 2016

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RUNPACIFIC MAJESTIC

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On the Run with Marla Tellez If you are an early riser and enjoy the morning news on TV, you’ve likely seen Marla Tellez anchoring FOX 11 News starting at 4:30 a.m. It’s been two years since she’s relocated to Los Angeles from the Bay Area where she was a news anchor at the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. She’s an avid runner and self-proclaimed foodie, but when she’s not dining out she loves to cook. We wanted to learn more about her running experiences, so we asked.

Age? 39 What do you do at FOX 11?

I’m the weekday morning news anchor. I’m on the air Monday through Friday 4:30–7 a.m. I also contribute to “Good Day LA” which airs 7-10 a.m. and I provide a newsroom report for the FOX 11 News at 10 a.m.

What time do you wake up?

When do you fit exercise into your day?

My alarm sounds at 2:20 a.m. and I’m in the newsroom by 3:30 a.m. Because of my early alarm clock, I work out AFTER work.

Typically my runs begin in the early afternoon. I also go to the gym a couple times a week.

When did you start running?

I started consistently running when I was 18 years old. The backstory is I played softball, volleyball, basketball my freshman year in high school; just softball and basketball my sophomore year, and only basketball my junior and senior years. I also played sports in

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junior high. So when I decided my playing days were over, which meant no more practices to attend, I thought, “What am I going to do to fulfill my desire to move and my affinity for athletics?” My answer was to run! So I headed out for a run on the country road I grew up on in Sonoma County and the rest is history.

What has surprised you most about running?

The biggest surprise about running to me is it never gets old. Sure, I have my days where I dread my run simply because I’m exhausted, but once I get going, it’s worth every step.

What is the most fun part of running for you?

Running provides a freedom that no other activity does ... and in that freedom is exhilaration, rejuvenation and a greater sense of appreciation of the mind, body and soul. Discovering new roads, neighborhoods and views is the best!

Favorite place to run?

Running with the ocean in view is my favorite ... you can’t beat running along the waterfront in Santa Monica, Venice or Redondo Beach.

What’s the best hidden-gem of running in LA? Running along the greenway of San Vicente Blvd. in West LA is hardly hidden, but it’s a great run to and from the water. And I haven’t done it in a while, but the challenge of Runyon Canyon is inspiring!

Favorite distance?

Eight miles is my favorite distance.

January/February 2016

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Runs in? Runs with?

As far as shoes, I’ve run in all brands: Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Nike of course, but nothing compares to my Asics Kayanos.

I rotate through two pairs at a time. My running clothes are a nice mix of Lucy, they make a great sports bra for us ladies, Lululemon pants are my favorite, and Nike running shorts. Also, I know it’s not a good habit for a runner, as a relaxed jaw is preferred, but I have to have a piece of gum–at least to start my run!

Any running favorites you’d like to share?

I stretch every morning before work and before and after each run.

Also, I’m in love with The Stick! The Stick is the best running investment I’ve made. It works out the kinks wherever need be.

Also, a tennis ball–I roll my hips on a tennis ball to help with tightness.

Go to song on your workout playlist?

I’m a die-hard Rocky fan so “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti.

Favorite race?

My favorite race is the Big Sur Half Marathon because it’s a gorgeous run through Monterey, the coastline of Carmel and Pacific Grove and it has just the right amount of inclines–not too many.

What’s the difference between running in Northern California and Southern California?

The main difference between running here in Southern California and my experience in the Bay Area is the weather and easy access to running along the ocean. It’s warmer here, which makes my runs more enjoyable, and living close to Santa Monica, an ocean view run is always a possibility.

Do you run with others at FOX 11? Have you run with other celebs in LA? I’m planning to run the LA Marathon with a couple of people from FOX 11. Have I run with other celebs? As if I’m one?! Ha. No I have not.

Is there a favorite exercise-focused story you have covered as a reporter?

Covering the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for gymnastics in the summer of 2012 in San Jose was a tremendous opportunity to live and breathe like an Olympic athlete. I interviewed greats such as Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas, filmed their workouts, and covered the trials. Witnessing their unwavering dedication, motivation and extreme focus was refreshing and, as an avid runner, something I can relate to, albeit on an amateur level.

What race are you currently training for?

The LA Marathon which takes place on Valentine’s Day. If that doesn’t show that I love to run, I’m not sure what will, right?

Established 1964

What’s your favorite cross-training workout?

I lift weights, do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and the Santa Monica stairs are a must two times a week!

Best post-workout food in LA? A Vôtre Santé in Brentwood is a great post workout spot because it’s hearty, healthy, yet extremely flavorful. Their kale and quinoa chopped salad is delicious! At home, my homemade salmon, kale salad and cannellini bean mash with rosemary is a perfect mix of protein, carbs and taste!

Most LA runners would be surprised to learn that… I could tell you but you’d have to follow me on Facebook first, @marlatellez Most memorable moment as a runner?

Running across the Golden Gate Bridge during the San Francisco Half Marathon. It was cold, windy, foggy which made the 3-mile stretch difficult, yet it was beautiful and awe inspiring all at once.

Looking at the city by the bay, Angel Island and Alcatraz while battling the conditions is a memory I’ll always cherish. <<

LAS&F — LOS ANGELES SPORTS & FITNESS

January/February 2016

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NUTRITION EDGE A Guide to Healthy Eating

Making the Transition to a Plant-Based Diet

Once you make the decision to remove meat and dairy from your diet, you are well on your way to achieving better health and hopefully dropping a few pounds. But first you have to actually make this drastic change happen—and that can seem very daunting indeed to lifelong carnivores.

Don’t worry, says Dr. Mary Wendt. Going vegan (or near-vegan if you can’t quite commit) is less difficult than you likely imagine.

Below is a step-by-step guide to help you transition to a plantbased diet with as little pain as possible.

Do a 24-hour food recall.

First, get an accurate idea of how much meat you’re currently eating. Instead of keeping a food log (which you’re prone to forget about after meal one), do a 24-hour food recall. Write down everything you ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and drinks for the past 24 hours. For many people, seeing a typical day’s diet in black and white is eye opening.

“Even if you don’t think you eat much meat, consider the World Health Organization’s recommendations,” Dr. Wendt says. “Just 50 grams of processed meat, or a little less than two ounces daily, increases your risks. Bacon or sausage for breakfast, plus a deli sandwich at lunch, might put you well over 50 grams—and that’s not even counting supper.”

Stop thinking of meat as the main event.

Unless you grew up in a vegetarian or vegan household, chances are you were raised to think of meat as the main dish and everything else as sides. Dr. Wendt says it can be helpful to mentally switch these designations.

Get over your fear of carbs, too.

Are you afraid that stepping away from meat will inevitably lead to more carb consumption and then to more body fat? This is a common concern, but Dr. Wendt promises that it’s unfounded.

“There’s much more to a plant-based diet than bread, rice, and pasta,” she points out. “A balanced plate includes fruits, vegetables, fiber, protein and more. And anyway, not all carbs are bad.

You do want to stay away from simple carbohydrates (like those found in white bread and white rice), which are easily broken down by the body and quickly converted to fat—without leaving you satisfied. However, complex carbohydrates (like those found in whole grain products) will fill you up without filling you out.”

Take the transition slowly.

There’s nothing pleasant about quitting your favorite meats cold turkey (pun intended)—and anyway, this strategy is unlikely to be successful in the long run. If you’re currently a committed carnivore, start by eliminating meat from just one meal a day. After a few weeks, you can move on to having meat only once per day—

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and after that, to one or more meatless days each week.

“No matter what kind of dietary change you’re making, the key to lasting success is sustainability,” says Dr. Wendt. “A slow, gradual transition gives your body and palate plenty of time to get used to more plant-based options and keeps you from feeling restricted and dissatisfied.”

Stretch your culinary muscles.

As you cut back on the amount of meat you eat, you’ll want to add new plant-based recipes to your kitchen repertoire. (Eating more chips, French fries and other meatless junk food won’t do your health many favors in the long run.) Also, variety is important both for nutrition and your new diet’s sustainability.

“Fortunately, finding recipes and learning new cooking techniques has never been easier thanks to sites like Pinterest and Epicurious, plant-based food blogs and YouTube tutorials,” notes Dr. Wendt.

Look for satisfying substitutions.

Instead of telling yourself, I can’t eat that, ask: How can I make it healthier? Your quest to eat less meat (or even go meat-free) won’t feel like a sacrifice if you can find a plant-based way to replicate the flavors and dishes you’ve always loved.

“Before I cut meat out of my diet, I used to love making—and eating—Vietnamese pork bundles,” says Dr. Wendt. “I mourned their loss for four whole years before I had the idea to substitute pinto beans for the pork. Turns out their creamy goodness, and even their coloring, mimics ground pork reasonably well. And bonus: Beans are consistently linked to high productivity and longevity.

“The point is, you don’t have to look for an all-new repertoire of meatless recipes—just get creative when preparing your old favorites,” she continues. “In addition to subbing beans for meat, give meat-replacers like tofu, portobello mushrooms, lentils and eggplant a second (or first) chance.”

Find some friends to share the journey.

It’s a lot easier to make healthy transitions when you’re working toward your goal with friends, old or new. Don’t underestimate the power of support, encouragement, and commiseration.

“If you can’t get your family on board with a reduced-meat or no-meat diet, maybe you can swap plant-based meal plans with a good friend or team up with a coworker,” Dr. Wendt suggests. << Mary R. Wendt, MD, is the author of “Waist Away: How to Joyfully Lose Weight and Supercharge Your Life.” She is an expert on making the transition to plant-based nutrition and has practiced internal medicine for 20 years. To learn more, visit getwaisted.com.

January/February 2016

LAS&F — LOS ANGELES SPORTS & FITNESS

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INTELLIGENT FITNESS Inspired Training

By Kate Havens, Ph.D.

Understanding Your Hamstrings The hamstrings are a powerful group of muscles that don’t get nearly enough attention. These muscles on the back of your thigh are crucial in running, and pulling or straining one can take months to recover. Spending a little extra time strengthening them and lengthening them could give you benefits in your sports. So let’s spend a little time on them now.

The hamstrings may have gotten their name in two ways. One is that in old English, hamm meaning thigh, while string may refer to their characteristic striated straight appearance. The other is that European butchers would hook through these muscles to hang up a pig or other small animal, thereby stringing a ham.

However they got their name, the hamstrings consist of three main muscles. One additional muscle is in the same area, but it does not follow the ‘rules.’ Anatomically, there are three rules that this muscle must follow in order to be considered a true hamstring: 1) They all must originate on your pelvis, specifically on your ischial (sounds like ish-ee-ill) tuberosity. This is actually your sit bone. When you are sitting up straight, you are sitting directly on these bony landmarks. Of course, if you are leaning back, you are more likely to be sitting on your sacrum. Remember, good posture!

2) They all must cross both the hip joint and the knee joint.

Because they originate at the back of the pelvis, they cross and therefore act on the hip. When shortened, the hamstrings cause the hip to extend; that is, they pull your leg behind you. They also attach past the knee joint, crossing it from behind as well, and causing it to flex. That means that they cause your heel to go toward your butt. I’ll return to why these actions are important to running later.

3) They all must be innervated by the same nerve. The sciatic nerve is the giant nerve running down the back of your leg. You may have heard or even experienced sciatica, pain and inflammation of this nerve. The sciatic is actually made up of two nerves, the tibial and common fibular (also called common peroneal) nerves. Of these two, the tibial nerve innervates all of the hamstrings.

Biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus and semimembranosus are the three muscles that follow all of these rules. Biceps femoris, like its name implies, has two heads. However, the short head doesn’t follow any rules—it attaches at the femur (thigh bone) and not the pelvis; it only crosses the knee joint, and it is innervated by the common peroneal. So while it’s still in the same area, it’s not a true hamstring. Semitendinosus sits right on top of semimembranosus on the medial, inner, side of the back of your leg, while biceps femoris runs parallel on the outer part.

When you run, your hamstrings are active for at least half of the time. During the end of the swing phase, when your foot is off the ground but moving toward it, the work of the hamstrings is focused at the knee joint. They are working to decelerate the collision of your foot on the ground, particularly as your lower leg is extending in front of you. During stance, when your foot is on the ground, the hamstrings are acting with your gluteal muscles to extend your hip

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in order to propel your body forward.

Injuries to the hamstrings can result from two main sources, one being their strength. While running uses these muscles extensively, the quadriceps still seem to dominate in terms of strength in runners. Many runners have weaker hamstrings than quadriceps muscles (those that are on the front of your thigh). This creates an imbalance in the legs, which can cause the hamstrings to have to work overtime to compensate. In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that a more balanced quadriceps-to-hamstrings strength ratio is related to better running economy in highly trained runners. So strengthening the hamstrings could help improve metabolic cost during running, thus making every step count more.

To strengthen these muscles, flexion of the knee is a common theme. You’ve likely seen the weight machines that allow you to sit and flex your knee against resistance. That’s great, but keep in mind that hip extension exercise for your gluteal muscles will also strengthen the hamstrings, especially if you can keep your knee extended.

Lengthening these muscles is also crucial to preventing injuries.

Having tight hamstrings force these muscles to constantly work in a non-optimal shorter range, which can also cause microtears and eventually strains of the tendon or muscle fibers themselves. To stretch these muscles, it is important again to focus at both joints.

Your hip should be flexed but your knee needs to be straight. This is easily done if you put your foot up on a platform or stair in front of you. You can lean over your leg, and even rotate your foot in and out to stretch the inner and outer hamstrings. Hold these stretches for 30 seconds in order to prevent those dreaded pulled hammies.

Remember that these are important muscles that should not be neglected—they deserve the time and respect! << —Kate Havens is a professor at University of Southern California and a researcher at the USC Human Performance Lab.

January/February 2016

LAS&F — LOS ANGELES SPORTS & FITNESS

THE WRIGHT STUFF Sound Body, Sound Mind

By Chris Wright

The LA Marathon, Then and Now Our city’s signature race has come a very long way Ah, the passage of time.

When writing the preview of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials that appears on page 12, I realized that I have now lived in the City of Angels for an astonishing 23 years. My arrival as a visitor in January of the distant-feeling year of 1993 now feels like something from a parallel universe.

I drove in down Highway 101, and turned south down Highway 405—not knowing back then that expressing freeway names the way the rest of America does gets you funny looks in Southern California.

Here, of course (and only here) it’s the 101 and the 405; I know it now, but I sure didn’t then. I exited at Olympic, and headed over to the office of the friend who had graciously offered to put me up; he worked in the high rises of Century City. Back then, I grinned: the friend, you see, was a lawyer, and because he lived in LA, that made him–ahem–an LA Lawyer. “LA Law” was still a popular show in those halcyon days, and I found that thought very entertaining. While my friend moved back over time to his Midwestern roots, I ended up staying and little did I know that fate had in store for me a long future practicing law in Los Angeles.

One constant, though, between that parallel universe and the one I seem to inhabit now, has been running. I ran in my former life in Africa, I run now, and I ran through the transitional phase when the question of where I would end up living was very much in flux. Best I can recall, the first LA Marathon I ran was in 1994—and the most recent was in 2009. I honestly don’t remember clearly, but I think I ran three others in between. It is some measure of how much the LA Marathon was evolving at the time that no two of my five efforts were run over the same course.

There were starts and finishes downtown, and loop courses that wound through an astonishing divergence—in terms of economic stratification—of neighborhoods. There were starts at Universal Studios and variations in courses to take in a little of East LA. There were moves to dates later in the year that backfired badly in terms of heat, and there were traditional March races that took place in cold rain. There was pressure from churchgoers tired of Sunday traffic to move the race to a Saturday, and there were a couple of changes of ownership. By comparison, the marathons of New York and Boston and Chicago look, over the same two decades, like bastions of stability.

Look how far we’ve come.

The Los Angeles Marathon is now a bona fide player in the big leagues. It attracts significant sponsors, decent if not world-class fields, and has even pioneered the interesting twist of having the male elites start just far enough behind the women to guarantee a competitive—and well-compensated—race between the sexes to the line. The new Stadium to the Sea course, winding as it does from the Dodgers’ home in Chavez Ravine to Santa Monica and taking in many of the city’s iconic landmarks on the way, is appealing enough to make this a genuine destination race. I haven’t run this iteration of the course yet (I’m saving that for when I’m running well again), but by all accounts from those who have, the course is entertaining and tough but fair, with the challenge of the climb to the VA grounds offset by the downhill miles along San Vicente and Ocean to the finish. Point-to-point affairs make for interesting races; that’s part of the bustle of both New York and Boston. It’s just somehow emotionally more satisfying to be able to look at a map and say ‘I ran from there to there,’ than it is to say ‘Well, we started and finished there, and ran in a big circle.’

The new course feels right; I hope it is here to stay.

And what a double coup for this year’s LA Marathon not just to be happening on Valentine’s Day—for the record, I predict many midcourse and finish-line proposals—but also to be on the same weekend as the marathon trials for the team to represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Rio. That course, as I note in the separate preview, is a different and multi-loop affair downtown, geared toward flatness and ease of spectating, but have no doubt: the eyes of the athletic world will be firmly on Los Angeles that weekend. That is a good thing: if the Olympics are indeed to return in 2024, the City of Angels needs all the exposure it can get. What better way to ensure that than the uniquely Southern Californian athletic celebration that is the LA Marathon the day after the trials?

It’s been quite a ride. I’m no longer the person who posted those spectacularly unremarkable performances back in the ‘90s. But then again: the LA Marathon isn’t what it used to be, either.

I like to think that, with the passage of time, we’ve both improved. <<

—You can e-mail Chris with your story at wright@lasandf.com

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