Myths, half-truths, and facts about the treadmill

When the wind is brisk or the sun is scorching, runners are faced with choosing between braving the elements or playing it safe on the treadmill. But the treadmill has a reputation for being boring and negatively affecting a runner’s overall performance.

Freshman Anna Burkey began college career with a goal to run 300 miles this academic year. Every weekday morning, Burkey laces her running shoes and goes to the Perry Center.

“I started out hating running, and now I’ve grown to love running. I’m already at 280 miles,” Burkey said. “I tried to make a goal that would be really challenging, but I didn’t want it to be too unreasonable.”

Although Burkey ran the trails around Bourbonnais when the weather was warmer, for the past few months she’s been stuck on the treadmill.

Fitness writer for About.com, Christine Luff, writes that a few treadmill mistakes are improper running form, running the same pace for the entirety, and running the entire workout on a steep incline.

Junior Wesley Sproul is a marathon runner. He runs most of his winter runs on a treadmill, but rarely steps on the machine during the summer. “It’s more of a winter, stay in the rhythm of running thing,” he said.

Sproul’s biggest aversion to running on a treadmill is the way it forces him to change his stride. He shortens his strides on the treadmill because he is afraid of kicking the front of the machine or falling off the back. “It doesn’t feel natural. It feels restricted,” he said.

Dr. Casey Kerrigan, physiatrist researching the biomechanics of treadmill walking and running with the National Institutes of Health, found the idea that the treadmill belt propels you forward, creating less work for the runner, and the treadmill belt pulling your leg through, resulting in a passive extension of the hip are myths.

Even though your stride may change when running on a treadmill, the relative movement of your muscles remains the same and they are being conditioned the same way, Kerrigan said.

Runners also have a habit of running on a one-percent-incline on a treadmill to mimic an outdoor run. According to Kerrigan, this strategy is not helpful unless you are running at a speed of 7.5 mph or more. She wrote on her blog, OESH, that if you are running at a pace faster than your usual outdoor pace, think of it as a “needed winter confidence booster.”

Sproul practices this technique by varying the speed of the treadmill giving it a more realistic feel because it allows you to speed up and slow down the way you would naturally do if you were running outside.

Burkey said, “I like to run outside just to relieve stress or enjoy the day, but when I run on the treadmill I go for speed because it makes you go a certain pace.”

Lady Penguins place third in regionals

Olivet Nazarene University’s Lady Penguin ultimate Frisbee team placed third out of five teams in the 2014 regional tournament April 11 and 12.

Beginning last year with eight experienced senior Frisbee players, senior Victoria Dean, co-captain of the Lady Penguins, said that this year has been a learning experience since the seniors were replaced with freshman.

Junior Michelle Dykstra, co-captain with Dean, said she hopes to continue to learn to work together as a team unit. “I’ve seen individual improvement, which is awesome,” Dykstra said. “It’s been really hard with the weather to practice. Having more time to learn together [would help us improve as a team].”

This year, the Lady Penguins are taking it one step at a time. Completing their second year as an organized team, they competed against Knox, Valpraiso, North Park, and Kalamazoo.

The Lady Penguins began their Saturday playing Knox. Ryan Murray, 2010 graduate from Olivet, doubling as coach and mascot for the Lady Penguins, was dressed in a long sleeved tiger t-shirt and mismatching knee-high socks. He ran the length of the field, following the direction of the Frisbee, as he coached and cheered on the team. The Lady Penguins lost to Knox five to eight.

Next, Valpraiso versed the Lady Penguins. During the game, freshman Alynn Franklin ran towards the Frisbee as it flew towards the end zone. Taking a leap, she reached out and grasped the Frisbee tightly, pulling it to her chest. Out of relief and disbelief, she giggled with joy.

“It was my first [touchdown]. I didn’t play sports growing up,” Franklin said.

The Lady Penguins lost four to thirteen. Keeping up their spirits, they gathered together at the end of their game and shouted, “Good game, Valpo.” After a few moments of silence, the other team waddled over to the Lady Penguins, huddled around them, and said, “Good game, Lady Penguins.”

North Park was third to play the Lady Penguins. During the game, freshman Esther Paek and freshman Alyssa Pifer collaborated to scored a point. According to Pifer, Peak caught the disk and immediately made eye contact with her. Paek proceeded to throw the disk just when Pifer was able run past North Park.

The Lady Penguins beat North Park 12 to 11. Dykstra said, “When we finally got that, it was a shift in momentum and we were able to play the game.”

Kalamazoo was last to play the Lady Penguins on Saturday. The Lady Penguins won 11 to six.

Sunday’s games were played against Knox and Kalamazoo. The Lady Penguins lost to Knox 11 to five, but beat Kalamazoo 10 to six in their last game.

Freshman Brooke Smith said, “Our communication was loads better. We switched our offense.” Referencing the Lady Penguins first tournament of the year on Mar. 29 and 30 in Chicago, Smith said, “I think everyone got a lot more confident from Chicago to here.”

High schools give students opportunity to be healthier

Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School (BBCHS) and Kankakee High School are implementing new health food guidelines announced by the Obama administration on Feb. 25.

These health food rules ban the promotion of sugary drinks and junk food from scoreboards and vending machines in schools, which are part of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, according to Daily News America.

“The idea here is simple – our classrooms should be healthy places where kids aren’t bombarded with ads for junk food,” Obama told the Associated Press. “When parents are working hard to teach their kids healthy habits at home, their work shouldn’t be undone by unhealthy messages at school.”

A memorandum sent out to School Nutrition Association Members and Supporters said this new rule, informally becoming known as the “Scoreboard Rule,” is phasing out marketing of any type of food that does not comply with Smart Snacks, nutrition standards offering healthier food options to students during the school day.

Kim Abrassart, Food Service Director at BBCHS, is finding ways to provide students with healthier snack options with the help of Smart Snacks and the “Scoreboard Rule.”

“I think it’s good,” Abrassart said. “I think a lot of times students pick up bad behaviors early in their life.” Abrassart said that although such things such as sugar and salt isn’t bad in and of itself, when consumed often and in large quantities it could lead to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. “You’ll pay for it later on,” she said.

Director of Food Service at Kankakee High School, Cathy Breeck, said removing the advertisement of unnecessary items such as sugary sports drinks is good because advertisements have created a lot of the problems that have to be dealt with today.

“If people didn’t see advertisements all the time they wouldn’t be tempted. Advertisement is what encourages us to eat and do and be things that we really don’t need,” Breeck said. “If it’s not on every billboard you see it’s not going to be in the face of people. School shouldn’t be a place where we’re doing that.”

BBCHS does not supply their vending machines with candy, gum, or soda, according to Abrassart. She said they also changed the vending machines in BBCHS to have just water brands advertised on them, not Pepsi, Coke or sugary sports drinks.

“We now serve fresh fruit everyday. I got rid of Hostess. It wasn’t very popular at the time, but I could see the handwriting on the wall, where this was going, and I knew if I could take things away and add things slowly it would be better,” Abrassart said.

Team World Vision discusses mission

“You can do these races to change the lives of those kids in Haiti,” founder of Team World Vision, Michael Chitwood said at the Chicago Marathon Leaders Conference on Mar. 29.

Marathon runners gathered together in Chicago to listen to motivational speakers like Anthony Halpin and Wendy Ploegstra, who ran the Comrades Marathon, and Steve Spear, who ran from Los Angeles to New York last summer. Leaders for Team World Vision also discussed with how to encourage their teams to stay strong and connect other runners.

Rusty Funk, Team World Vision coordinator, opened the eight-hour conference explaining that World Vision’s role as the leading provider of clean water in the developing world.

Chitwood spoke next. He explained how running for wells can change lives by providing access to safe water in places like Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, and Rwanda.

“Team World Vision is for everybody from every walk of life,” Chitwood said to the group that will lead a team of runners through training and raising funds for the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12.

The mission of Team World Vision is to give people the opportunity of life changing experience, a physical, spiritual, and community experience, and radically change the lives of children on the other side of the planet, Chitwood said.

People then broke up into small groups to discuss the importance of team captains for Team World Vision, the characteristics of a good team captain, and to come up with a mission statement.

“Keeping people focused on the goal, the purpose, the reason,” said Ryan Criss, team captain of Missio Dei Church in Chicago. “I think it’s difficult in the midst of the training. It gets discouraging and tiring, but if you have someone to remind you why we’re running, why we’re doing this, it sort of reenergizes people.”

Wesley Sproul, leader of Olivet’s team, said to his group discussion that it’s important for team captains to inspire unity, create a welcoming environment, and have a heart of service.

At the end of the conference, leaders received an iron-on “C” for their World Vision jerseys. The “C” stands for captain, Funk said. “It’s about being vulnerable to the people you are leading.” 

He said the “C” also opens up communication between leaders and team members by saying, “You can ask me questions. I’m here for you.”

Later that afternoon, leaders were encouraged to discuss fundraising goals and opportunities. Marathon runner Stephen Rexroth said, “Running didn’t bother me. Fund raising terrified me. But you’re not begging people to give you money, you’re inviting them to join your mission.”

A lot of people go from running nothing to running a marathon, which is an amazing experience, but add raising $5,000 and “it’s something like you’ve never felt before,” Haplin said. “Let your life be changed because of the fundraising,” he said.

Spear, keynote speaker, then described the seemingly impossible obstacles he overcame during his 3,081 miles across the country.

The most discouraging week was in Illinois last July. Having gotten over the flu the week before and trying to make up for lost time, Spear ran the equivalent of seven marathons in seven days with a heat index of more than 115 degrees.

“We serve a God who makes the invisible visible,” Spear said. “It’s not really how many miles we run or the speed in which we cover them, but it’s the fact that we move, and we keep moving one faithful step in front of the other.”

Congressional report pushes for e-cigarette review

Electronic cigarettes are being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration for regulation, AP reports.

According to a Congressional report released Monday, concerns about e-cigarettes such as the flavors of the cigarettes and the marketing that could appeal to young people are driving the push for restrictions and warnings. The report highlights e-cigarettes' lack of age restrictions and no uniform warning labels.

"I can't understand why the FDA is taking this long. It is clear that the longer they wait, the more young people will be addicted," Staff of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said.

An investigation into the practices of nine e-cigarette makers launched by the congressional delegation in September looked at the companies for information on their marketing practices, steps taken to restrict sales to minors, types of warning labels, and claims of health benefits or reduced exposure to potentially harmful substances.

According to Durbin, the agency needs to accept responsibility for their product before standsrds for sales and marketing can be established.

Read the full story here: "Congressional report presses for e-cigarette rules"

Story Ideas for April 15

1. There was a home frisbee tournament on Saturday. I don't know if this counts for sports, but my roommate said the Lady Penguins did pretty well. I was able to see a few of the games. This would be interesting to write because there is so much different lingo in ultimate frisbee.

2. Again, I'm not sure if this would count (and I can't remember if there has already been a story on it), but swim team members are working towards swimming long distance to raise money for World Vision instead of running in the Chicago half/full marathon.

Story Ideas for April 10

1. New inhaled insulin. Would diabetic students use it? What do they think of it? How does it work? Not FDA approved yet...

2. The do's and dont's of fasting. Whether it's for "spiritual" reasons or to shed a few pounds, what effects does fasting have on our bodies? Are there students who fast on a regular basis? What is their reasoning?