The gift of a baby boy

Sarah: Yesterday my 11-year old son learnt that sometimes apparently healthy babies go to bed….and never wake up.

Karl Waddell’s baby boy River died on the 7th of November 2011 at the age of 128 days. We met Karl at the Henley Classic running event, where he was manning the River’s Gift (Stamp Out SIDS) stall to raise funds for research aimed at Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

It was only the freakishly cold winds that lead us to chat. To avoid enduring the 5km jog with bare arms, my son pointed out that Karl was selling lightweight tops with those cool hook-your-thumb-in-option long sleeves. We had a look, Karl told us about River and it seemed a very good idea to buy the shirt.

Apart from the fact that Karl was a lovely bloke, and in addition to the notion that he was making something positive from his loss, I was impressed to read of the way that funds were being directed through the charity. Taken from their marketing material:

Rivers Gift’s primary objective is to fund world leading SIDS Research and make a formidable contribution to the discovery of a cure for this heartbreaking loss of life.

With the help of our sponsors, our primary goal is to raise a minimum of $250,000 per year and in April 2014 we launched River’s International SIDS collaboration between Harvard University – Boston, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health – Melbourne and The University of Adelaide.

The existence of a direct relationship between this kind of fundraising and specific research institutions is a good thing in my opinion. You can read more details of the goals of the fundraising program here.

Thanks for telling us about your baby boy, Karl.

My GPS is ripping me off

Sarah: Today’s Google doodle is of 18th century mathematician and philosopher Maria Gaetana Agnesi.

Quite a coincidence really, as this morning I’ve had maths on my mind.

“No, please no! Not maths!”

I hear some of you scream (through the magic of the internet).

But wait…wait! I shall explain.

I’m recovering from an ankle injury, and so went for a gentle run this morning and included 10 ‘grandstands’ in my workout. Grandstands are quite simply trips up and down a staircase for the purpose of getting one’s heart-rate elevated and adding a bit of extra challenge for the big muscles in the back of the legs (ie arse and hamstrings). Luckily there is a beautiful old grandstand adjacent to an oval in my suburb, and so off I went.

Because I like to keep track of my progress, I use an App called Runkeeper to record my runs. It uses the GPS in my phone to monitor where I go, and reports on time and pace as well.

This all works swimmingly when I run on a flat surface.

However I was less than happy to see that when I started heading upstairs for the grandstands, I was being ripped off. The distance I was travelling per grandstand was not appearing in my running record. And it’s because of maths.

Here’s where I need to refer to my diagram shown above. Imagine these are the stairs I use to exercise; I have overlaid a triangle to make my point.

True for all triangles, there are 3 sides and 3 angles. In this particular example, it is a right angled triangle (shown at bottom right). Now, if you recall your high school maths you’ll know that the side of the triangle opposite the right angle (known as the hypotenuse) is the longest side of the triangle – shown here as a yellow line. This is the distance I travel when I go up and down the stairs.

But Runkeeper – or more specifically my GPS – can’t see the hypotenuse. Because the satellite floating above Earth that monitors the position of my phone is looking straight down, it can only see the bottom side of the triangle, the red line. Which is shorter than the hypotenuse! Which is why I am being ripped off in my records!

Could someone who cares about my self-esteem and bragging rights please rectify that?

(image thanks to Eric Sanchez on flickr)

 

Body crisis

Sarah: I was crazy enough to think that I could be a runner without looking after the rest of my body.

Yeah, I can run long distances.

Yeah, I’m fit.

Yeah, I don’t have time to swim or do sit-ups.

A couple of months ago, a niggling achilles tendon sent me to the physiotherapist. I visited a most excellent woman about my age, also a runner (and a very good one at that), and a renowned expert on core and pelvic strength (the kind that gets messed with in pregnancy and childbirth).

Not surprisingly, she told me my right achilles was inflamed. That made sense. Also, my quadriceps muscles (those ones at the front of your leg) were strong and well-developed from my running.

Hell, yeah, I’m a runner.

But pretty much the rest of my body was screwed. Abdominal strength, terrible. Butt muscles, pathetic. Hamstrings, tight and inflexible.

Dammit.

Also, my shoes were wrong and I needed moulded shoe inserts to support my insteps.

Great.

So now with the advice of the physiotherapist as well as a podiatrist, I’ve modified my fitness program. In full earnest, I’m applying Kirsti’s approach:

“Repetition rapidly reinforces specific neural pathways.”

Everything I do needs to pull in and reinforce the use of specific muscles and their associated nerve pathways.

Swimming, with deliberate and conscious use of rear leg and abdominal muscles.

Gym classes with squats, lunges and abdominal strength exercises in front of a mirror to provide visual feedback on alignment.

Cycling classes with focus on using core strength, and pushing and pulling the pedal around its circuit.

Mate, I’m concentrating on exercise more that I ever have. It’s exhausting!

But the theory goes that if I think and recruit specific muscles into activation on a repetitive basis, soon they’ll be used automatically for all my activities.

And that means better fitness and form, all over.

[image thanks to here].

Day 317. Run to paradise

Speaking of running…this guy is running from Sydney to Surfers all in the name of neuroscience.

Mic is a programmer at Neuroscience Research Australia (aka NeuRA), a Sydney-based institute focused on brain and nervous system research. Funnily enough, my lovely sister completed her PhD in the place (working with Jane Butler) just a few years ago.

In Mic’s words:

As a many of my close friends know I’ve been planning a run from Sydney to Surfer’s Paradise.

A couple of weeks ago I was given the green light from NeuRA to complete my run as a fundraising event. The event will be raising funds and awareness for the incredible research into Alzheimer’s Disease undertaken at NeuRA.

On Sunday the 23rd of June I will start my journey from Sydney setting off from the entrance to NeuRA and finishing two weeks later in Surfer’s Paradise.

The final leg of my run will be the Gold Coast Airport Marathon bringing the total distance of my epic run to just over 900 km!

Mic is on the move! If you’re keen, you can donate to support NeuRA Alzheimer’s research, or track his progress here.

[image thanks to WordRidden on flickr]

Day 316. Running for life

Before I started  running, this is what I thought runners looked like.

Alone. Driven. Focussed. Fearless. Silent. Tall. Scrawny.

Then a girl I knew – someone who had none of the characteristics on this list – signed up to train for a marathon, and by jingos she did it.

I could do that!

I thought.

So I joined a running group.

I still haven’t cracked a marathon – life is too full of other things to commit to such a task at the moment – but I’ve become a runner.

And running is really not at all what I thought it would be.

Sure, I’m often alone when I do it, and I am driven to an extent. But I’m not fearless, and I’m definitely not tall. I’m leaner than I was when I began, but certainly not what you’d call scrawny. Indeed, I’ve met people of all shapes and sizes, of all ages and with varying motivations in my weekly running get-togethers.

One of the best things about running in a group is that you learn to run at a manageable chatting pace. Once you start heading out for longer than about 15kms in one hit (i.e. running for more than about 1.5 hours at time), being able to chat and distract yourself is a very valuable thing.

This past weekend I participated in a 5 km fun run with my nine year old son. Although he’s a good footballer and cricketer, he is not a particularly athletic kid. My goal was to encourage him to run the whole distance, enjoy the scenery and have a chat with his Mum along the way. I expected we’d end up walking some of the course.

But he made it the whole way running! It was a complete joy for me. And he got a real kick out of sprinting past his Mum over the finish line.

Running is a great skill for life. We’ll be doing plenty more runs together in the future.

[image thanks to familymwr on flickr]

Day 293. Walking and running

Walking is very good for you.

Running is very good for you, and facilitates weight loss.

Too much running may damage your cardiovascular system.

Three very broad statements I’ve extracted from my reading today.

I’ll explain a little.

Gretchen Reynolds over at New York Times wrote a piece this past week summarising recent studies of walking versus running in terms of health benefits.

Her two main conclusions are as follows:

• Running beats walking in terms of losing weight – possibly via an effect on appetite control;
• In walkers and runners matched according to energy expenditure, walkers had more benefit to cardiovascular health.

Moving to the more extreme end of exercise, Kevin Helliker at the Wall Street Journal recently addressed the impact of endurance running on health.

Kevin writes of a slight shift in evidence relating to hard-core running, the kind you’d do to prepare for an Iron-Man competition:

“That extra six years of longevity running has been shown to confer? That benefit may disappear beyond 30 miles of running a week, suggest recent research.”

“The improved blood pressure, cholesterol levels and robust cardiac health that exercise has been proven to bestow? Among extreme exercisers, those blessings may be offset partially by an increased vulnerability to atrial fibrillation and coronary-artery plaque, suggest other recent studies.”

This weekend I’m going to walk and run a few kilometres. Not an excessive amount, an enjoyable amount.

[image thanks to sophiea on flickr]

Day 287. Half marathon

Today I ran my first half marathon!

In the early hours of this morning we drove through the mist to the Barossa Valley, where I ran 21.1 kms through vineyards and the township of Tanunda.

I think you’ll forgive me if I have the day off.

Day 247. Running

I became a convert to running about three years ago.

I love it for many reasons. It makes me feel free, it keeps me strong, it allows me to eat more guilt-free cheese and dessert than I probably should, and it gives me a strong sense of camaraderie through participating in a running group.

My training posse has a private Facebook page; here we exchange thoughts on favourite shoes, hats, timing gadgets and other miscellaneous titbits which crop up from day to day.

Just three days ago we were discussing the emotion that running can trigger – when you set your mind on a huge goal, and then get fitter and stronger as you approach it and then finally reach it – it brings strong sentiments to the surface. Some of us cry when we run big distances. And it’s great to know that others feel the same way as you when this happens. Support and unity come from being in a group of runners.

The bombs that exploded towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon today are terrible, violent acts. Yes, I am thinking endlessly of the dead and wounded. I’m terrified this will initiate events of global significance.

But I’m also thinking of the running communities. Communities in Boston, in the rest of America, around the world. This is like a direct attack on them in a way. Its an attack on people who set goals, an attack on families who support them.

This is big for runners.

Whatever else happens in the aftermath of these bombs, today there’s been a shift in the minds of people who run.

Day 210. Salmon

This morning I had one of the best morning runs of my life: 12kms through Innes National Park.

A sunrise, and twelve somewhat bemused kangaroos cheered me on.

“What is she running from?”

I could almost hear them say to each other, as they casually watched me pass by.

My progress was tracked using Runkeeper, an app which also fed me a soundtrack. Amongst various tunes from Midnight Oil, Concrete Blonde and Hunters and Collectors was The Salmon Dance by The Chemical Brothers.

I’m reminded of it again now as we settle down on the couch to watch A River Somewhere.

The lyrics are simply fantastic, and strangely scientific. Check them out:

Hello boys and girls, my name is Fatlip
And this is my friend, Sammy the Salmon.
Today we’re gonna teach you some fun facts about salmon,
and a brand new dance.

Let me introduce to you a brand new dance
I know you’re gonna love it if you give it one chance
It’s not complicated, It’s not too hard
You don’t even have to be a Hip-hop star
See, anyone can do it, all you need is style
Listen up please gang, I’m a show you how
Put ya hands to the side as silly as it seems
And shake your body lika Salmon floating upstream

{Chorus}
I’m floating Upstream
You know how we do it, you how we do it,
again

Sammy the Salmon: All my peeps spend part of their life in fresh water and part of their lives in salt water.

Fatlip: Wow, very interesting

Sammy the Salmon: They change a couple of days after spawning, then we die

{insert another verse – language warning – and chorus}

Sammy the Salmon: Most of our friends find their home waters by sense of smell which is even more keen than that of a dog or a bear

Fatlip: Wow

Sammy the Salmon: My family also rely on ocean currents, tides (uh) the gravitational pull of the moon

Fatlip: The moon? Fish pay attention to the moon? Wow. Who knew?

Sammy the Salmon: Did you know…

Fatlip: What?

Sammy the Salmon: That I can go to Japan and back

Fatlip: You’re kidding. Amazing. Gezz.

Sammy the Salmon: Polluted water can kill both baby salmon that are developing and the adult salmon that are on their way to spawn.

Fatlip: Wow, what a shame. What a shame. Huh.

Wow

Hey, kids, give it up for Sammy the Salmon
and his amazing salmon dance.

Huh, what ya say?
Alright. Who’s hungry?

Make sure you have a listen, and perhaps a little dance.

Please note, the fish featured in the clip are most certainly not salmon. But the rapping puffer fish is worth a look.

[image thanks to USFWS on flickr]

Day 189. Blue-green algae

Today was damned hot in Adelaide: the maximum reached 39 degrees Celcius.

My decision to go for a run along the River Torrens was not a good one, given that (a) the sun was already fierce and temperature high, although only 8am and (b) the water-way was a stinking, stagnant mess.

This shot shows blue-green algae just near the Adelaide Zoo-section of the river.

Blue-green algae is a misnomer: the growing mass is actually comprised of a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria. Although a natural part of the freshwater environment, according to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority,

“If conditions are favourable, they reproduce at very high rates to form ‘blooms’ – explosions in growth that dominate the aquatic environment, forming unpleasant and sometimes toxic scums.”

Blooms arise when non-flowing pools of water collect in sunny, protected areas: this in turn allows a layer of warm, sun-drenched water to sit at the surface and create perfect conditions for the cyanobacteria colonies to multiply. Like plants, the bacteria generate their own source of energy by photosynthesis.

Water containing blue-green blooms is not fit for swimming or consumption due to the toxins produced by the bacteria. Amazingly, today I saw two little water birds paddling about in the scum shown in the image. I hope their health is still good.

Blooms in the River Torrens have been triggered by recent hot weather combined with low rainfall in South Australia: what we need now is a little rain and a drop in temperature to clear it up.

Tommorow’s forecast is minimum 27 degrees, maximum 39 again.