Exercise is a key weapon in the fight against cancer, researchers say.
Marathons cut down to size
April 26, 2008
Health Reporter
FITNESS PROGRAM: Slow Burn (HarperCollins; $20.95)
CREATOR: Stu Mittleman
CREDENTIALS: According to his bio, Mittleman has two Master's degrees in movement and social science. He also set a world record by running 1,620 kilometres in 11 days.
CELEBRITY EDGE: Some consider him to be America's greatest ultra-distance runner. In 2000, he ran from San Diego to New York City – 3,000 miles – in 56 days.
CLAIM: Anyone can learn to run a marathon or discover the joy of long-distance running, claims Mittleman, who believes humans are born to run and that "no other movement is as natural or beneficial as running." Successful endurance runners focus on each moment of running, so movement – not the finish line – becomes the reward. That's why Mittleman challenges people to break down insurmountable goals, such as a marathon, into a series of manageable tasks, and asks would-be marathoners to believe in themselves, go slowly and stick to their plan.
PROGRAM: For Mittleman, endurance running is all about exercising in the fat-burning zone. Fat, he claims, is the greatest source of energy available to the human body and burning fat has a positive impact on the body's biochemistry, improving mood and a person's ability to focus for long periods of time. Slow burners learn how to adjust their target heart rate zones to three speeds: MAP (your mostly aerobic pace), MEP (your most efficient pace) and SEP (your speedy aerobic pace). Mittleman includes programs for three levels of runners.
SIDE NOTES: Having the right pair of running shoes can make or break a potential marathoner. Mittleman says even people who follow an appropriate training regimen and nutritional program can break down when their shoes don't fit. He devotes a 15-page chapter to finding the right shoe. Runners, for example, should fit the shoe to their larger foot and have a thumb's-width distance between their toes and the front of the shoe and they should buy shoes with removable inserts.
CORE NUTRITION COMPONENT: Slow burners should switch their diet from standard North American fare to Mediterranean-influenced food. That includes eating high-quality protein, lots of veggies and more heart-healthy fats, including olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. It also means banishing most processed sugars from their meals.
EXPERT OPINION: Even though Slow Burn is a book about long-distance running, many of its main messages can resonate with people who prefer short runs, jogging and even walking, says Zach Weston, a certified kinesiologist and exercise physiologist who works at Iron Heart Fitness in Waterloo and teaches at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Mittleman stresses that training doesn't always have to be about constantly pushing yourself to go farther, stronger and faster. Rather, there are benefits to training at a moderate intensity, which Weston says is a good message for people who like running but are intimidated by marathons.
"Running is a great exercise," he says. "You can do all kinds of things to make running enjoyable. It's a great way to see the world."
Mittleman's analogies and visualization techniques, such as imagining your breath as a ball in your chest or the world rotating under your feet as you run, work well in practice, Weston says.
He also likes the advice to mentally break down long runs into manageable portions to help people focus on running itself and not the finish line. That's something even people new to fitness can take away from the book: it's all about finding manageable chunks of time to exercise.
Mittleman's descriptions of target heart rates are accurate, if a bit lengthy, Weston says. The dense, 300-page read was one of his only criticisms of the book.
"It seemed like it was a reading from university that had a couple of key points with a lot of filler."
Yet, Weston says he has used some of Mittleman's messages with his clients, primarily Mittleman's descriptions of what it feels like to be in the fat-burning zone, compared to a carbohydrate-burning zone.
"This book is more than simply a technique to improve long-distance running. It's almost a philosophy of using running as a form of meditation, as a way to relax and achieve health benefits at the same time."
EXPERT VERDICT: "There is no harm in this book. It has some good information in it and it's an easy, if lengthy, read. I'd give it 3.5 or 4 stars out of 5."
OUR VERDICT: For those with a marathon in mind, the slow burn method could be the motivation you need to hit the street. But know that you'll have to go the distance to get through this meandering, often long-winded treatise on how to become a long-distance runner.