In the spirit of this holiday season, please give.

Hopefully you all read Anne's great holiday nutrition article, posted on Sunday. Thanks to Anne for another great article!

Speaking of nutrition, as we enter this festive season, please remember that there are a lot of people, who won't be able to find something to eat on a daily basis, much less indulge in a great holiday meal like the rest of us. Particularly during these very difficult economic times, people in NYC are in greater need than ever.

Please participate in the Third Annual New York Flyers' Food Drive Fundraiser to benefit the Food Bank for New York City. You can find all the details on the Flyers' website, right here, or donate directly through our Food Bank fundraising page, located here.

It's a very important cause.  Look into your heart, and please give. - Blogmaster

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The Holiday’s Are Coming….Try Not To Be a Mesuganah!

Anne H.

First, congratulations to all fall marathoners, ultra-marathoners, triathletes, swimmer, cyclists and anyone who has completed any event this year. We have a few weeks before we close out 2010, and it is a perfect time to celebrate not only the wonderful holidays that are upon us but our achievements as well.

Now, who rewards themselves with their favorite food?! (I see all of those hands raised). I was just speaking with some friends Saturday while watching the Knickerbocker 60K, about how I buy a box of chocolate-covered Entenmann donuts whenever I run a marathon (ssshh...don’t tell anyone). But, I don’t do this unless I run a marathon. I am not worthy otherwise. I eat one a day, and savor them for a few days. Moderation...yum. Time to run another marathon, I think.

Mmmm... donuts!

With that being said, I would assume that there are a few others who may self-reward with food, and with the holidays coming, we don’t want to become a mesuganah (Yiddish slang for a kind, but crazy person) and overdo it since the ho-ho-holidays are happily jam packed with delicious, delectable, (although probably highly caloric) foods. Everything in moderation...enjoy yourself, just don’t overexert yourself at the holiday party at the office. If you can’t reach the last cocktail shrimp on the table, then it’s not meant to be. If you are at a holiday party and the same server approaches you five times with the same crab cake, then pass on the offering. Wait for the next server to stop by with something new. Variety is the spice of life right? Receive a box of Godiva chocolates from your colleague? Enjoy a few each day, and try your best not to down the entire box in one or two sittings. That is hard not to do, I know. (I really do know). Oh, one last thing about becoming mesuganah during the holidays. If you don’t really like the food at the party, don’t eat it.keep close to the fresh veggies and dip, which should do you no wrong.

Reach for healthy treats at the holiday party.

Even a tuna burger can make a great holiday meal!

The holidays are also a time when we want to let ourselves go, eat what we want, because, it’s FUN and actually feels good. I won’t disagree with that! Last night I was hankering for a burger (rare), but my healthy choice was a tuna burger, salad on the side (instead of fries). It was delicious. Wasabi, ginger, soy, just perfect. The funny thing was that the waitress did not hear me say “salad on the side” so the fries came anyway, so I had to taste a few to make sure they were fried just right.

Yay, chili!

Other healthy choices during the winter or holiday season is chili, however you like it. Beef, turkey, veggie, tofu chili, there are many different ways to enjoy a healthy and hearty chili. You will feel satisfied from a small bowl of chili and a salad, one slice of multigrain bread. Check out this link for a large variety of chili recipes!

Always keep grains in your diet.

Before I go, I wanted to send out a friendly reminder for y’all to remember to continue to incorporate healthy grains into your nutrition plan. You will continue to run throughout the winter months, and your body will continue to ask for proper carbs. Brown Rice, Quinoa, Kasha, etc. are nice choices. You can add pecans or dried cranberries which can make it very tasty. (CVS is now selling dried cranberries, go figure).

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all! - Anne H.

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Massage for Runners

Dave K.

The massage research verdict is in at last! Unfortunately, the verdict is that it appears that there's no definitive research showing that massage either benefits or doesn't benefit runners.

That said, many runners (including me) feel that massage is helpful for recovery, injury prevention, and possibly even makes us speedier runners.

For those who feel likewise, here's some information and resources.

Why Massage?

According to Running Times magazine, massage may help to remove lactic acid and other by-products of running. Further, massage may result in decreased muscle tension and greater flexibility, translating into stronger, more injury-resilient muscles on race day. Massage also can break down scar tissue, and otherwise accelerate processes that would otherwise occur slowly in the body, if at all.

Flyer Janis E. views massage as a necessity, not a luxury, although she says her husband hasn't quite bought into the notion yet. Maybe she shouldn't come home with such a big smile on her face after her massage?

Deena Kastor

I've heard that elite marathoner Deenna Kastor likes getting massages so much that she married a massage therapist. Seriously, her husband treats her to daily massages, stretching her out on the massage table pre-run, and then massaging her post-run.


Active Release Technique (ART)

In addition to traditional "sports massage," there are variations such as ART, which is a patented and specialized manual therapy technique practiced by some sports chiropractors and massage therapists. It involves applying pressure around a tight area while moving the affected muscle through its range of motion, and when done by a sports chiropractor also involves advanced diagnosis and often running form analysis. For information on ART, visit www.activerelease.com.

Do it Solo

For those of us who don't have the budget to get massaged as frequently as we might like, we can self-massage. Our muscles. I use both The Stick and a foam roller.

Click here for a Runners World's article on Foam Rolling for Runners, and here for their series of videos.

Also, if you save back issues of Runner's World, there's an article in the January 2010 issue called Release 2.0 that highlights Facilitated Active Stretch Therapy (FAST). The article will walk (well, massage) you through self-massage Active Release Therapy techniques for shoulders, achilles tendon, hamstrings, IT Band, and calves.

Massage and ART Practitioners

NY Flyer and triathlete, Dr. Marc Bochner, a chiropractor who is licensed in Active Release Technique and has extensive experience using ART and other soft tissue techniques and has helped many Flyers in the past. When I was a fairly brand new runner, he helped me with a calf strain right before my first-ever Half Marathon, which I ran without any flare-up in my calf. He also has an trademarked injury prevention program called "Prepare to Compete", which involves self-treatment techniques and exercises.

Chiropractor Robert DeStafano, who's not a Flyer, is the originator of the FAST approach to self-massage discussed above and he has a practice in NYC.

My favorite haunt for getting fantastic massages is East Side Massage on E. 78th Street. All the therapists are top notch, and my favorite is Kristina. Kristina is a runner, with NYC 2010 her first ever marathon, and so in addition to her exceptional training and skills she has extraordinary insights and understanding of runners' bodies.

There also are Flyers who are licensed massage therapists, including Flyer Coach Joe Y., and Flyer Melanie A. (although she's no longer in the massage business).

Questions

• Are there any other Flyer practitioners out there? Please make yourselves known in the comments section of this Blog post -- we need you!

• Does anyone have additional information or resources to share with us on massage for runners? If yes, please post in your reply.

• Would any massage therapists-in-training like to practice on me for free (hey, it's important to hone your skills!)? Oh well, no harm in asking...

- Dave K.

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New York, New York

Lara K.

Memories and more of the ING New York City Marathon 2010 weekend:

Listening to an inspirational speech by Matt Long at the Flyers' pasta party at Sambuca on Thursday night. And as Mr. President, Glen W., said, it was a blessing in disguise that our original speaker, Olympian Blake Russell had to withdraw from NYC due to injury and therefore would not be speaking at our pasta dinner. You don't have to be an Olympian to captivate a room like Matt did. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house afterwards.

Matt Long inspires.

Great food and company at Sambuca, as usual. Thanks to Nora S. for helping set this up again!

Hitting up the marathon expo on Friday night with Yan P. I couldn't walk 5 feet without running into other Flyers, including but not limited to Ed A., Bob C., Lisa S. I spent more money than I needed to. The expo may have been smaller than previous years, but it's still a candy store for runners.

Gumby, Brian H.

Running in the park on Saturday, soaking up the marathon atmosphere. I brought my camera with me to take some pictures of the mile markers and the finish line. It brought back memories of 2008, the last time I ran the NYCM. I felt like Brian H., running with a camera! Of course, this year was different, and Brian ran the marathon with both a camera and a Gumby costume!

Sunday. Marathon day. I watched the start on TV, then headed uptown to the PowerBar Gel station. Gabi D. did a great job organizing this as usual. She handed me a hot pink shirt to give out Raspberry Cream flavored gels. Is it me, or has hot pink been my color this year?

Keeping runners energetic!

Other Flyers began to show up ready to work, including Angela G., Jamie M., Nicole C., Jocelyn T., Sungwon H., Joe J., Deb M., Heather M., Steve K., Amy M., Dana M., Heidi C. (and kids!), even Jeff T., making an appearance from the left coast. While waiting for the elites to pass by, I tried unsuccessfully to track a couple of my friends that were running. As it turned out, the Athlete Tracker, once again, would be overloaded.

Shalane Flanagan, 2nd place woman.

The headlights. The female elites. Shalane Flanagan in the thick of the lead pack, and as it turned out she would go on to finish second in her debut marathon.

The male elites sped by. Meb Keflezighi and Dathan Ritzenhein were a little off the lead pack. But no Haile Gebrselassie? Thanks to Sungwon having the NYCM iPhone app, we were able to see that Haile had dropped out at mile 16, and as we'd find out later, would announce his retirement from the sport as well. Wow, now that was a shocker!

Sean J. ran a 2:59:58!

Not too long after, the familiar faces of our teammates passed by the PowerBar Gel zone. First Flyer spotted was Canadian Sean J. (who would go on to break 3 hours by the skin of his teeth in his first marathon!), with Denver-ite Todd B. not too far behind. Deanna C. led the Flyer women, followed by Nary L., showing off the effects of training in Kenya. Leslie L. passed though the PowerGel station not once, but twice, simply to hi-five everyone. More and more Flyers passed by, all looking super-strong-I'm afraid to leave anyone out, so let their results speak for themselves.

However, I would be experiencing a part of the course in a way I never had before. When Bo K. passed by mile 18, I ran alongside her, determined to help her break 4 hours. She was hard at work, but we had some fun too, yelling "Hey Duffy!" as we saw Pat D. playing the bagpipes on the new, improved Willis Ave Bridge, singing along to whatever music was being played, mugging for the Brightroom cameras. I did find that part of the course-especially 5th avenue to be super-crowded, moreso than I ever experienced. We entered the park...hmmm that 5th avenue hill didn't feel so bad. Maybe because I didn't run 20+ miles beforehand. I ran with Bo up until the turn onto Central Park South, and told her to GO GET IT! She PR'ed with a 4:01, and I'm positive she would have been under 4 had the course not been so crowded. Felt very good to help out a teammate like that!

I watched the action at the bottom of the park for a while before meeting up with Tiffany B., who was making a rare appearance from CT, and we headed to the post-party at The Parlour. And was it a good time? I'll let the pictures tell that story!

Reason to celebrate!

It was definitely a great weekend. Despite choosing Chicago for my fall marathon this year, I actually didn't feel much sadness at not having run New York. I guess that's because even if you're not running it, you're still part of the party -- the whole city is, really. It's a celebration of all things running!

Congrats again, Flyers! - Lara K.

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