In the previous post, I had listed and described my top 5 endurance sport training errors. It only took a few minutes to realize that there are easily a “second five” errors that are begging to be included. How could I deny them the opportunity of fame?

In my experience clinically and as a coach, I am convinced that these 10 factors either increase the risk of injury or prevent the athlete from attaining his/her performance goals. Address these factors, and you can effectively optimize your workouts while removing the vast majority of limiters in your endurance sport training.

So without further adieu, here are five more endurance sport training errors to consider, followed by the complete top 10 list.

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Here's an assignment similar to what I would have received in a high school History class:

Compare and contrast the following, with special relevance to foreign policy in the United States.

- The reminder by former President Bush (in his last national address) that we haven't had a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in the seven years post-9/11 ... and ...

- President Obama signing-off on the official closure of Guantanamo Bay within the next year.

Let's start with the first item. Simple question: how many attacks had we had on U.S. soil PRIOR to 9/11? The largest one in recent times was by a home-grown American in Oklahoma City ... but I think we'd be hard-pressed to find many entries on this list in the first place. So, let's all thank former President Bush for his attention to Homeland Security (otherwise known as civilians detained for indeterminate durations ... and wiretapping). We survived seven years ... much like we'd done before 9/11.

[Note 1/24/09: specifc statistics have been brought to my attention - see below. Please note the underlying "big picture" concept related to this]

This was all part of what was termed the "Bush Doctrine" .

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I have spent many years as a physiotherapist fixing injured athletes, especially runners and triathletes, and have heard many a tale of running injury woe. On further analysis, most of these tales of injury have a common theme.

When you review the sports sciences research on running injuries, you find that there is just one factor, the common theme, that correlates directly with the onset of these problems.

Is it “biomechanical mal-alignment”, with issues such as leg length discrepancies or excessive foot pronation? No.

Is it any specific type of running shoe (or lack thereof)? No.

The one factor that correlates directly with the onset of running injuries is, imagine this, training.

“Training error” is common in most endurance sports. Sad as that may be, there is a beauty in knowing this. Why? Because training can be readily adjusted and optimized. Adjust the training plan – and minimize the risk of injury. And better yet, optimize your performance in the meantime. Now that is a “win-win” if ever there was one.

Here are the top 5 errors that I have found in the training plans of endurance sport athletes.

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The United States is currently faced with an antiquated, gatekeeper-driven approach to health care that best exemplifies defensive behaviors, territorial debates and turf battles more so than “patient-centered care”. While lobbyists throw millions of dollars at legislators in order to protect the sacred turf of gatekeepers, the patient suffers.

There are many lessons in patient-centered health that can be learned from the global village. The rest of the world has quietly moved forward and embraced direct access to physical therapy as an effective means of enhancing patient-centered care and in increasing access to appropriate care. They have done so with great success. You don’t have to go any further than our neighbor to the north to find one of the world leaders in direct access to physical therapy.

Let’s examine what the international perspectives on direct access to physical therapy, what can be learned from these cumulative international experiences, and what the limiters are in this country.

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