[update] SS2 over, student conference next week.

The past week was the last official week of the scholarly selective program for research. Overall, although things were a bit uncoordinated at the start, I have enjoyed research. Separate to the scholarly selective requirements, our research group has submitted some abstracts for the American Heart Association conference, and I hope we can present there and get some publications later on.

I have printed out my poster for the student conference. Right now though I am still working on my journal monograph. This is probably the tedious part of research apart from ethics approvals... but I guess it has to be done. I hope to be able to write a few more to get more publications too; we have done the analysis required to do so, although AHA does have an embargo policy if we do get accepted. We'll see what happens.

Running and jogging tips for beginners

For several years, I had been trying to get into jogging or running as a form of fitness and exercise. However, initially I always kept getting knee injuries when just jogging about 5 km. Now I think I've managed to sort things out on the injury side, and right now I am jogging about 21 km per week.

From http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/15257

Anyway, here's a few things I wish I knew earlier, and some general tips:

• When you run, there's a few things which can limit performance. In my simplified view, I break them down into cardiovascular, muscle conditioning, nutritional, hydration, and injuries
• For the first two, cardiovascular and muscle conditioning, they will probably improve with more training.
• For the hydration, it's important to drink enough if when you run. Heat stroke is very bad!
• If you run longer distances (> about 20 km at a time), electrolyte drink is good to have as a source of sugar (energy), salt and water to replenish losses from sweat. Personally I mix my own. I used to use similar proportions to that found in standard electrolyte drinks for sports, but now for my usual training I cut the sugar in half because I am trying to lose some mass (that is, weight divided by g for those sitting the GAMSAT, or just "weight" for laypeople) and still don't feel like I'm running out of energy too much.

Now for injuries:

• Stop if you have an injury; you don't want it to become more serious and long term
• While technique and footwear probably play a part, in my experience, footwear is very important.
• However, even if you get injuries with your current footwear, it doesn't mean you need to change everything. One of the things I learned from sitting in consultations in GP land is that insoles are very useful too. In fact, when I changed my insoles in two different pairs of shoes that I have used, my injury rate went down substantially. It wasn't even an expensive pair of insoles either; in fact they were this pair: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Men-Gel-Orthotic-Sport-Running-Insoles-Insert-Shoe-Pad-Arch-Support-Heel-Cushion-/141323894352
• So to reiterate, it's the combination of shoe + insole (and probably socks) which is important. If you are getting injured and notice your foot rolling in or out, it's probably good to get different shoes or insoles to correct that specifically to avoid injuries. Otherwise, it might just be cushioning... but probably experiment a bit until you find the right shoe + insole + sock combination (if injuries persist, get some professional advice)

Yes... I really wish that I knew about the insoles earlier! That said, I have ordered some new shoes because I am running longer than I used to. Hopefully they're good.

Finally, you don't need to run too much, or every day. Any jogging is good! In fact, although studies have been variable, this study suggests that 1-2.4 hours per week and 3 times per week or less is associated with the lowest mortality (less than or equal to 1 time per week has the same hazard ratio for mortality as 2-3 times per week) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25660917


Disclaimer: Although in general the benefits of jogging outweigh the risks, I accept no responsibility for any harm which may occur from following any guidance on my blog. If you have recurrent injuries or chest pain etc, or a family history of sudden cardiac death, seek medical advice.