harriet douglas

Running is one of the most heavily participated sports and recreational activities in the world. However, from a young age we are told to go out on the streets and run until we are tired. This may be alright for a while but further on down the road you will be likely to sustain an overuse injury that takes away your passion for running.

In order to make running a lifetime activity you need to be aware of some of the contributing factors that lead to common running injuries. Once you acknowledge these injury causing factors then you can develop the right plan for you. This applies to both the recreational runner as well as the competitive runner.

To ensure that you gain the most out of your training sessions while also reducing the risk of sustaining an injury be sure to take note of the following mistakes made by many athletes and coaches.

Excessive hill running that can often lead to excessive demands placed on the calf muscles (possible shin splints). Shin splints are an absolute nightmare for a runner. This type of injury can put you out of running for months.

Excessive down hill running can lead to increased stress on the quadriceps muscle. Most athletes say that running down hill is easier, however, it is just as tough on your body as running up hill.

Running in one direction all the time (if doing track work or running around the tennis court, football field etc.) can cause excessive pronation on the inside leg. Once again this can be easily fixed by alternating directions in which you run.

Running on unforgiving surfaces such as street running (high impact). Asphalt is not an appropriate running surface. This is one of the major causes of knee and hip injuries for runners. Roads are made for cars and not for runners! If you must run on asphalt then add in some runs on a grass surface.

Lack of variety in your training sessions can lead to overuse injuries as well as mental boredom. Select different workouts each week. Do you always run the same route in the same direction each time? If so vary where you run, the distance you run as well as the intensity of the run.

Running on an uneven surface such as a grass field. Often athletes try to avoid the hard surface of the streets so they decide to run on uneven fields which can lead to injuries of the feet. I love running on ovals as they are more friendly on my body but I choose not to run on a football ground as I know that the surface is likely to be uneven and full of holes. Most recreational parks are better.

Increasing training volume too quickly (allow for individual progression). This is a tough one for highly driven individuals who thrive on pushing themselves. Have a plan and follow it. Even if you feel that you can push yourself and run that extra mile hold back!

Increasing the pace or speed at which you run too quickly (can be achieved slowly through Fartlek training). Try to stick to your plan and run at a similar speed before you get into your next phase. As we improve we often want to run faster. Increasing both the speed and distance of your run at the same time can lead to injury.

It is important to wear the proper footwear when you run. Encourage your athletes to change from their normal sports shoes (eg. tennis shoes, basketball shoes) to running shoes prior to starting their run. Wearing tennis or basketball shoes while running long distances will lead to injuries. They don’t provide the required support for the feet.

Recognize that each individual will have their own pace and level of endurance so set individual goals for each athlete. When running in a group at a set pace, that pace may be comfortable for some runners, but too fast for others. Divide your athletes into two even groups. This is often a big flaw for many coaches of sports teams. We have all been guilty for doing this in the past but you must allow for individual abilities of athletes.

Running long distances in extreme weather conditions such as freezing temperatures, hot and humid conditions or even when there has been a high pollution alert level given by the weather bureau. My tennis coach in college would often make our tennis team run at 7:00 am in the morning in the middle of a winter in North Carolina. As you could imagine we would often suffer from bronchitis and other common respiratory ailments. Unfortunately mine developed into pneumonia so make sure that the environmental conditions are appropriate for running.

Be smart when you run and your body will thank you for it!

David Horne is a former professional tennis player who has created several online sports web sites including Global Sports Zone which is the Ultimate Sports Directory for all sports fans! You can also visit the global web site for Tennis Coaching at Global Sports Coaching

There have been a lot of concept phones that never make it to the shops, you read about their amazing features and new, futuristic designs and then after all of the excitement, you never hear about them again.

The Modu phone however is different. With its unique design and ability to transform into numerous alternative gadgets, this phone is actually due out later on in the year.

As well as these abilities, the phone has also been hailed as the lightest of all of the mobile phones by the Guinness Book of Records as its weight stands at 40.1g.

This phone basically acts as a SIM card by being able to fit into various other electrical devices. The benefit is that these devices then don’t cost as much as they would do if you were to buy the standalone product.

When first looking at the phone, you will notice that it doesn’t have a standard keypad; however, it will still make calls by using the directional buttons to scroll through contacts that are stored on the SIM card in the device.

The phone will come with two sleeves and there will be 10 sleeves or jackets available for you to buy separately if and when you want to. The useful thing about this phone is that you can turn it into any unit that you’ll need at a particular time. For example, if you are going on a business trip and you could do with a large screen and a Qwerty keyboard, all you will need to do is slip the Modu into a jacket with those features.

Of course the question has to be asked: will the jacket devices be high end models or will they be a poor substitute for the standalone product?

When this question was put to Modu they hinted that they had a number of large manufacturers in a variety of industries, such as cameras, that were interested in having their products allow Modu integration.

With pay as you go mobile phones being extremely popular, another concern with this phone is will it be available on pay as you go or will it be under a contract deal? If it was only to be available on a contract deal then this could have a serious impact on how successful the phone would be.

If the Modu could one day slot into a Dell laptop or a Canon camera, then this mobile phone could potentially be a very exciting product but with no deals such as these being in place at the moment, we’ll all just have to wait and see if the Modu can be added to the ever-growing list of mobile phones that we just can’t do without.

The Modu is hailed as the lightest of all mobile phones in the Guinness Book of Records.

With pay as you go mobile phones being very popular, will the Modu be available as one?

We’ll have to wait and see whether or not the Modu will be added to the list of mobile phones that we just can’t do without.

Everyone wants to own a feature packed, high-end mobile phone these days. But the truth is that a large number of people cannot afford to buy a high end mobile phones as they are very expensive. Retailers have come up with innovative ideas to sell these costly devices to masses. One can easily own a high end mobile phone under attractive deals these days. In fact, a large number of people these days are the proud owners of such phones.

One has to sign a contract with the mobile network service provider for a fixed period of 12 or 18 months to own a contract mobile phone. Moreover, one has to pay a fixed monthly fee to the mobile network service provider during the period her or his contract is effective. In return, the mobile network service provider offers several benefits to the users like free talk time, free text messages and subsidised call rates during the period the contract is effective. The user’s choicest handset is also offered to her or him by the retailers as part of the contract.

A Pay As You Go Phones works completely differently. One need not sign a contract with the network service provider or pay monthly rentals to acquire this phone. Instead, one has to buy a phone card from the market for the purpose. One is also required to buy his or her own handset. Such handsets can easily be acquired from retailers like Amazon UK and Target in the UK. When once buys a handset, signing up with the network service provider is easy.

One has to call the network service provider for signing up. Service provider’s representative will ask for the serial number of the handset and then will assign it a cell number. In this way, user’s Pay As You Go Phone account gets activated. The talk time is deducted from the user’s available balance in the phone card. If the balance reaches zero before the expiry of 90 days, one has to buy another phone card to add more credit to her or his account. That is why it is called a Pay As You Go Phone.

The Pay As You Go Mobile is popular among teenagers, as most of them cannot buy an expensive handset. The phone is also suited to those adults who use their mobile phone minimally and cannot justify the high costs of a standard cell phone deal.

Alden Jerry is an expert writer. Visit to know more about pay as you go phones at best contract mobile phone deals

Computer certifications are a great way for a person who doesn’t want to spend the extra time and money to get a college degree but wants to gain education and a resume builder. Certifications show that you know this specific subject well instead of just general knowledge. This may be a good for you if you want to learn more but don’t want to go back to spend 4 years in college.

Microsoft the software leader has a hole series of certifications that are in high demand. There is a good chance to get a job with these certifications. Weather it be Microsoft Windows Systems Engineer, Microsoft Windows Networking Professional or Microsoft Windows Professional Engineer. Almost every organization that has a computer will have a Microsoft product so there will be demand for Microsoft support for some time to come.

Other Certifications are Cisco and Oracle certifications. They are the biggest providers of Network and Database solutions. There is a high demand for these postions and are very high paying. With no sign of the internet slowing down these will positions have a good future.

How will you study for your certification exam? Everybody learns different but you can use flash cards and try to memorize what content that the test will have. For most repetition of the material will be the best way to ensure that you can pass the exam. Most exams have books written for the purpose of passing the exam. There are also places that offer practice test. Many you will have to pay for, but they allow you to see how you will stack up against the real test.

Another option it so enroll into CBT or WBT. These are computer or web based training. These are good because all of your training can be done from your computer. They make the class room available to all locations. This also allows for you to work at your own pace. If you don’t like the idea of just studying out of a book CBT/WBT traing may be for you.

Thomas Milas works as an IT professional at a major Hospital. Learn more about Certifications on my blog, IT certifications http://itcertificationtests.blogspot.com/