Runner's World Extr@

for Friday, February 18, 2000

==== In this issue ====

The martinis you want, the calories you need, going bonkers for Marine Corps, USATF Nationals, beginning runners and Gwyn Coogan.  

==== News ====

Web servers bogged down and crashed under the traffic load. Frustrated users tried dozens of times to complete their transactions. Thousands more jammed phone lines, most getting nothing but busy signals. A broker's office during a market correction? A ticket office for opening night of a Beatles reunion tour? No, this was the first two days applications for the 2000 Marine Corps Marathon were available online, proving once and for all that the rising popularity of marathons in the U.S. has, in some cases, reached the level of frenzy. MCM expects to fill its available spots by the time you read this, probably the fastest a marathon without entry restrictions has ever filled. 

• Marine Corps Marathon swamped by entries < http://www.runnersworld.com/dailynew/archives/2000/February/000217.html > 

Almost at the opposite side of the running culture, USATF selected runners for thirty-six places on its team for the World Cross-country Championships at the Winter Nationals last weekend in Greensboro, NC. Rain and chilly winds kept away most of the spectators and many less-determined runners, but Deena Drossin and Adam Goucher scored impressive doubles on the soggy course, taking both short-course (4-K) and long-course (8-K for women, 12-K for men) titles. Drossin dominated both women's races for the second year; Goucher defended his short-course title and defeated training partner Alan Culpepper to win his first long-course event. 

• Drossin wins double titles, and so does Goucher <http://www.runnersworld.com/dailynew/archives/2000/February/000214.html> 
• USATF Nationals: Talking with the top finishers < http://www.runnersworld.com/dailynew/archives/2000/February/000215.html >  

======= Training Tip ======

Repetitions, or reps, refer to longer speed workouts (800 meters to two miles) run at slower than race pace, with a long rest in between. Repetitions are early season workouts. Unlike intervals, repetitions can be run on or off the track, as long as you measure the distance accurately. - from Ken Sparks and Dave Kuehls, The Runners Book of Training Secrets, page 32. You can buy this book:  http://rodalepress7.cam-colo.bbnplanet.com:8080/Unity/UrlView/7/10/50/2/4141   

======== Health and Fitness ========

License to swill: Canadian researchers with perhaps a little too much time on their hands recently noticed that the movie action hero James Bond both lived an age-defying life and ordered his martinis "shaken, but not stirred." It must be the martinis, they concluded. To test the theory, the researchers made a bunch of martinis. They shook some vigorously for a minute. They stirred others in an electric mixer. Then they tested them all for antioxidant capacity. Sure enough, the shaken martinis came out on top, though the researchers couldn't begin to speculate why. For more information on this zany study, check out the British Medical Journal vol. 319 Dec. 1999 pp. 1600 to 1602. 

The calories you need: To find out how many calories you should eat each day to maintain your weight, use the following formula from Nancy Clark, R.D., author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. * 

1. Multiply your weight in pounds by 10. 
2. Divide your weight in half and add that to your answer from step 1. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, your math would look like: 140 x 10 = 1400 + 700 = 2100. 
3. Add 100 calories for each mile you normally run a day. 
4. To lose weight, subtract 20 percent, or about 500 calories.  

======== In our forums ========

Today's beginning runners have plenty of questions. And when you need help, it's comforting to know that there's a place to go for answers. Share your thoughts, concerns and questions in our Beginners Forums and let Runner's World editors provide you with advice and encouragement. < http://proxicom.rodalestore.com:8080/servlet/AppServer?t=login/login_rw >   

======== Interview ========

Gwyn Coogan, a 1992 Olympian at 10,000 meters and a fourth-place finisher at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, will run the Marathon Trials again on February 26. Coogan won the 1998 Houston Marathon in 2:33:37 and the 1995 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:32:50. She is now an assistant professor at Hood College in Maryland. Coogan, 34, is married to 1996 Olympic marathoner Mark Coogan and is the mother of two daughters. Runner’s World spoke with Coogan: < http://www.runnersworld.com/dailynew/archives/2000/February/000217.html#chat >   

====== Coming this weekend =======

Sunday, Motorola Austin Marathon: Our Runner's World team of marathon pacers will be there in the Texas capital. A relay half-marathon and other events are part of the activities. Web site: < http://www.motorolamarathon.com >. 

Sunday, Olympiad Memorial Marathon: Commemorates the third modern Olympic Games held in St. Louis in 1904.

 Saturday, Myrtle Beach Marathon: A scenic tour of one of coastal South Carolina's most attractive cities. Web site: < http://www.coastal.edu/mbmarathon >. 

Saturday, Outback Steakhouse Distance Classic 12-K: One of the few top races at the distance of 12-K, several national age-group records were set at this Orlando, Florida race in 1999.   

======= Editor's Advice =======

Rather than wearing the same shoes every day, alternate between two different models. You’ll respond slightly differently to each one, which will ease the stress on your feet and body. -Bob Wischnia, RW deputy editor  

====== Words to think about ======

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about. - PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian  

====== Television Schedule  ======