ESSAY--Sometimes A Run Traps You ... Sometimes It Liberates

"Horizontal beams ... into an October cornfield."

(8-18) Sometimes a run traps you in the moment. Other times, it liberates you, transporting you far away. This is one of those times. 

After a long layoff from injury, the joy of today’s trail run is overwhelming. I feel an anticipation akin to what I used to feel when returning to college in the fall, or visiting my college boyfriend in the summer: excitement mixed with a “hurry-up-and-get-there” impatience.

I look at my watch; I am 5.5 miles into a 10k training run and realize I am going to best my

RESEARCH--Don't Use NSAIDS Frequently Or For Long Term

Avoid excessive NSAID use. 

(8-18) You couldn’t be a lifelong runner without at least occasional muscle aches, joint pains, and lower-back stiffness. All of which bring us directly to the use of NSAIDS--Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs. These include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and diclofenac, among others.

A recent paper in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice found that 70.9 percent of runners used NSAIDS, primarily for its expected anti-inflammatory effect (a reason named by 88 percent of users) and for pain relief (named by 40 percent of respondents).

But should runners use NSAIDS for these and other reasons? Most physicians and sports medicine experts agree that

PROFILE--Anne Audain has been running for 48 years

Anne Audain, left, and Lorraine Moller
at the 1982 Commonwealth Games

Anne Audain’s life is a story of struggles and triumphs. A native of New Zealand she was given up for adoption by her teenage birth mother. After setting numerous records in NZ she came to the USA to race in 1981 and became a USA citizen in 1995. Audain has been inducted in the Running USA Hall of Champions (2008) and the NZ Sports Hall of fame (2009). Her autobiography, Uncommon Heart, was published in 2000.

What month/year were you born and where do you live now? I was born in Auckland, New Zealand, November 1955 so that makes me 62. I now live in Evansville, Indiana, where I taught school.

When did you start running and why? I joined an athletic club at age 14 after having reconstructive surgery for bone deformities from birth on both feet at age 13. I wanted to be like all the other

PROFILE--Hal Lieberman has been running for 60 years

Hal Lieberman

(8-18) Hal Lieberman is 75 (in August, 2018) and started his running career in high school (60 years ago) as a middle distance runner.  As a member of the Manhattan-based Central Park Track Club, Lieberman has won national masters medals, and in 2014 set an indoor world record as a member of a 70+ 4 x 800m relay.  His advice to younger runners who want to be lifetime runners is to: train smart, have a bit of luck on your side, and come to terms with the aging process. He views his running not only as a competitive sport but also as a lifelong hobby.

Started running/years: age 16, 1959, 60 years ago.

Why did you start running? My competitive nature and a bit of talent is what got

PROFILE--Gary Circosta has been running for 43 years

(8-18) Gary Circosta is 71, and has been running for 43 years. Along the way, he has completed

160+ marathons, including a streak of 19 consecutive Bostons at one point. He still works full-time as a dentist, meaning that he must do most of his running in the early morning (4:00 a.m.) He has lived in Massachusetts most of his life. 

When and why did you start running?

I officially began running as a self-standing hobby in 1975. At the time I was in the Air Force as a dentist. I had a lot of

RESEARCH--Don't Be "Skinny Fat." Do Your Strength Training

(8-18) Many longtime runners are justifiably proud of their trim bodies. After all, we live in an "obesity crisis" era, and thousands of studies have proven the health benefits of a low to modest body weight vs. excess weight. Thin is good.

But "skinny fat" isn't. The subject has been getting a lot of coverage in recent days due to a new study in the British Journal of Nutrition. The research project tracked the BMI and WHR (waist-hip ratio) of more than 5000 Irish residents over age 60. The two measures--BMI and WHR--were then associated with various health risks. WHR is, loosely speaking, a measure of "belly fat" or excess visceral fat around the middle, also termed "central adiposity."

The paper concluded that belly fat was

PROFILE--Sylvie Kimche has been running for 40 years

Winning on Fifth Ave.

(8-18) Sylvie Kimche is a member of New York’s Central Park Track Club and is a record breaking-masters runner. Now 71, she looks to her age-graded performance where she consistently places between 84 to 89 percentile (it was in the 90s until 2015 when the age-grading table were adjusted and became much tougher) and still hits above 90 percent in the mile. She cross-trains by hiking and biking throughout Asia, Africa, South America, and Africa. 

Kimche grew up in southeast France and competed in alpine skiing before immigrating to the United States in 1979, becoming a US citizen in 1990. She has competed on the road and track in distances from the 400 meters to the marathon, but dropped the marathon from her resume in 1989 to concentrate on shorter distances. She is a well-respected and fierce competitor but when the race is over she is gracious and loves being social.  She retired in 2007 from her work as a designer for Abercrombie and Fitch. Kimche has been called one of the