The New York Times has a short portrait of Dr. Eric Heiden. Dr. Heiden was the first athlete to win 5 gold medals in an Olympics. Eric is a fine sports orthopedist and he is still an inspiration to athletes and skaters around the world. He trained under Dr. James Andrews, another excellent sports medicine doc. Dr. Heiden’s patients have said he is straight forward, honest, and humble. The Times didn’t paint him entirely that way, but the story is still an interesting read. His performance in 1980 was riveting. Even if you had no interest in skating, you’d turn it on to watch him in those Olympics. And yes, 1980 was also the year of the miracle U.S. hockey team. (And 1980 was also the year of an unfortunate summer Olympics boycott in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.)

Way back then technology was so bad you’d actually have to watch the Olympics live instead of taped, cut, and canned the way we can now. But, wouldn’t it be nice to have an option to see the next Olympics live? The upcoming Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada this February. Vancouver is a fine venue with beautiful surroundings and friendly people. I was lucky enough to attend two meetings there. My last visit to Vancover was a few years ago as a participant with the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Sports Science. I’d be happy to visit Vancouver again. But, I’ll be watching the Olympics next year by satellite.

Dean Karnazes has just completed an amazing 48 hour effort to break a world record of distance covered on a treadmill. While the concept of running for 48 hours on a treadmill is even stranger than a 48 hour run none-the-less it is an achievement to survive a run of that duration. Dean covered over 211 miles on his effort or more than a 100 mile run on each of back to back days.

While Dean’s effort was to break a world record, which he did not do, it was none-the-less quite an event to watch at all hours for those 2 days. Many people came up and wished him well during the run. For someone who is used to running in the dark by himself, that must be quite a change. If Dean still does have the urge to accomplish a world record feat, there are some things that may never have been attempted in the sphere treadmill ultra-running. There are records perhaps unofficial for running marathons while juggling, carrying a waiters tray, and running in a Kermit the frog costume. Perhaps 48 hours of tossing beanbags might be something Dean would want to try. Then again, Dean may not want to mount the treadmill again for a long time. 

Most world records are not all they are cracked up to be. Dean is still a winner. And it was more fun to have Dean in the background than Lockergnome, and quieter too!. Notes on Dean’s thoughts on World Record dreams are on his blog. 

HGH is considered by some to be the most abused drug in baseball. HGH can not be detected by a urine test. Some forms of testosterone may also be hard to detect. Using HGH and small amounts of testosterone is one way to cheat, break the rules, set a bad example, contribute to youth abuse of drugs (with resulting deleterious health effects), and to enhance performance.

Reports are that recovery is enhanced, muscle bulk is increased, lean body mass is increased, more energy is noted – all of which lead to better work outs and in the short time improved performance without a substance detectable in standard urine tests. In adults the use of HGH can also lead to Acromegaly or overgrowth of bone. Blood tests are available which detect HGH and synthetic analogues. These might be in use in baseball by next year, but don’t hold your breath.

As far as pituitary tumors go, one of the most common is a pituitary adenoma. Bromocriptine is used to help block the over production of hormones including Growth Hormone or in some cases Prolactin.

One should not take pride in saying that some doctor gave a prescription to you as a professional athlete and it is then a valid drug for you to take. And emphasizing you could have taken more but you exercised restraint. The institution from where it was prescribed and dispensed is under investigation. There have been no medical exemptions issued for HGH use by professional baseball team members. But everyone should remember this has not been a one player or 10 player or 50 player problem. It has been considered pervasive and needs an effort to be ended.

I don’t suggest looking at poor studies or studies limited to 70-80 year old men and draw conclusions from that as to whether or not it is effective in 25-45 year old ball players. That is not a valid comparison and the studies were not set up to test what is under discussion.

The Cubs didn’t last past the first 3 games of the baseball playoffs and the Chicago Marathon only lasted 3.5 hours until it was called. Running in the heat is extremely dangerous. There is precedence for closing a race early. The Madison, Wisconsin Marathon in 2006 was closed app0ximately 2 hours early for reasons of temperature. I’m not sure the authorities had any other reasonable choice. One person died, approximately 49 were hospitalized and about 250 people were treated online for presumably primarily heat related illness. Here in Washington, D.C. one person died in the Army 10 Miler. The latest news states that the runner who died in Chicago, Chad Schieber, had Mitral valve prolapse and that was the cause of death. Mild mitral valve prolapse is a fairly common condition and is not usually considered to be a reason to not exercise. Exercise induced mitral valve regurgitation, however, is a reason to not exercise. The condition is thought to occur in 4-7% of the population. Those with Mitral Valve Prolapse usually will need antibiotic prophylaxis for procedures as ordinary as dental tooth cleaning and scaling. If you have this condition, you’ll need to check with your internist or cardiologist on what exercise is safe and suitable for you.

There was advance notice of the ensuing heat. Should there be terms placed in marathon literature detailing under what circumstances the race will be canceled? Should other arrangements have been made? Were all of the runners properly evaluated including those with suspected heat illness with rectal temperatures? What recommendations and guidelines should marathons have for the future? Should the Chicago Marathon be shifted later in October?

The main event of the summer was Alan Webb breaking the 25 year old American record, previously held by Steve Scott. Congratulations to Alan! This made Webb the 8th fastest miler of all time.

Another notable event was Alberto Salazar surviving and doing well since having a heart attack on June 29th. He reportedly is back to running 30 miles a week. Alberto is a 3 time winner of the NYC Marathon. I did get to see his first surprising win there when he beat Bill Rogers, who was a 4 time winner of both that marathon and the Boston Marathon.

Over the past several years the concept of well rounded young athletes playing 3 sports over the course of a year has died. Most want to be specialized in one sport. Whether the sport is soccer, baseball or running, we rarely see the child athlete playing football or soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball or track in the spring.

In fact, school centered sports is no longer the norm. Travel sports rules. Year long focus on one sport is it. This has resulted in more overuse injuries than there should be. It has also resulted in more teens having the “Tommy John” elbow surgery and even for parents to seek it to see if it may make what started as a normal arm, pitch faster. Read Fit Young Pitchers See Elbow Repair as Cure-All in the New York Times for a current journalistic perspective on the surgery aspects of this. The article neglected to mention the year long focus on pitching as the root cause.

…it is becoming more commonplace among teenage pitchers who are injuring their arms through overuse at what surgeons call an alarming rate.

Some parents and young pitchers, hoping for college scholarships or multimillion-dollar professional contracts, misguidedly view the surgery as a performance-enhancement technique instead of a last-resort corrective procedure, said Matt Poe, a speed and strength coach in Nashville.

Often, pitchers who are pushed the hardest and sustain the worst overuse injuries are the most talented, doctors said. In the late 1990s, Dr. Andrews said he performed 5 to 10 Tommy John operations a year on high school pitchers. This year, he said, he may perform 75. Last month, he operated on a 14-year-old.

And for two interesting pages the article goes on.

“I don’t think there’s as deep a talent pool anymore,” Dr. Petty said, because so many kids are coming out of high school with what he called “100,000-mile arms.”

It’s not the talent pool. Pitchers have always been in short supply. High schools have made do with very few pitchers for years. But, not until recently did they only pitch for most all of the year.

The stylish and multi-talented U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice has developed a penchant for Golf. She recently attended the AT&T National Golf Tournament which paid tribute to service members. There was no news as to whether or not she carried an iPhone with her.

While she has not yet been seen chomping on an unlit cigar while traversing a golf course, it is reported that she takes her golf clubs with her often and enjoys playing very much. A sign not seen at the tournament was “Policy Mulligans 4 Condy”.

This news comes via ThinkProgress and Washington Whispers. Official version at DefenseLink Photos .