TheAthletesLawyer

I like Zambonis. I like the name. I like the way they drive. I like the fact that they are slow, odd-looking and apparently safe. I’ve never seen a fight break at a Hockey game out because of the Zamboni. However, even these benign ice machines can cause injury.

According to The Canadian Paramedic Web a Zamboni’s blades can cause accidental injury to ice rink employees. In an article entitled, “Zamboni injury leaves B.C. victim steaming” it was reported that a driver lost two fingertips to a Zamboni last week. The ice rink worker was cleaning ice out of a Zamboni when his fingers got caught in the blade. I have tried cases where an employee’s fingers were caught in a lawnmower, but never heard of a Zamboni blade injury before.

A fire department crew quickly arrived and bandaged him. However, Read the rest of this entry »

Our friends at Potomac River Running (shown here at the Richmond Race Expo with TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau) have announced the 2009 Loudoun Racing Series line up.

- Sunday, 3/15 @ 9:00 AM: The Capital Running Company St. Patrick’s Day 8K in downtown DC.

- Saturday, 3/21: The Suntrust National Marathon and Half Marathon at RFK Stadium.

- Saturday, 3/28 @ 8:30 AM: The 15th Annual Van Metre 5-Mile Run for Children’s Hospital in the Broadlands. Packet Pickup and In-Person Registration available at the =PR= ASHBURNStore on Thursday, 3/26 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM.

- Sunday, 4/19 @ 8:30 AM: The LAWS ½ Marathon & 5K in Leesburg. Packet Pickup and In- person Registration available Friday, 4/17 at the =PR= RESTON Store from 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM and Saturday, 4/18 at the =PR= ASHBURN Store from 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM).

- Sunday, 4/26 @ 8:00 AM: The Ashburn Village 10K, 5K, and 1-Mile Fun Run in Ashburn.

- Sunday, 4/26 @ 9:00 AM: Strides for Success 5K & 1K Fun Run/Walk in Fairfax.

Get details about all of these events

A young bike rider was severely injured when his front tire came off his bicycle when the quick release hub came undone. The cyclist may have a “product liability claim” against the manufacturer, seller and/or supplier. Product liability cases are a sub-set of negligence cases. There are special rules for product injury cases. For example, in the bicycle quick release hub crash, the injured biker would have to prove that he had not modified the components after he purchased them, as that would destroy his ability to prove “causation.”

The defense lawyers for the bicycle component makers may attempt to allege product misuse, alteration or improper installation in order to avoid liability for the injured athlete’s serious and permanent injuries. If you or someone you know has been injured to a defective bicycle, bike component or other sports product, contact the ABRAMS LANDAU team (703-796-9555 or Frontdesk@LandauLawShop.com) at once. There are strict time limits for these types of sports product claims in every state, so act now.

First of all, my knees are fine. Secondly, I do not run every day, and when I do, if it’s not a race and not in the pool (see 2/22/09 post on deep water running), I do so on grass, trail, turf, sand or other soft surface. Thirdly, I try to maintain a healthy diet, with supplements for strong bones, joints and connective tissues. Lastly, there is now medical evidence that running does not cause arthritis. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published a study on Long Distance Running and Knee Osteoarthritis. The investigators conclusion ?

“Long-distance running among healthy older individuals was not associated with accelerated radiographic OsteoArthritis.”

‘Nuf said.

People have been telling me for years that I run too much, that exercising nearly every day is not good for me. And some of these naysayers are loving family members. My beloved Grandma Beatrice Abrams once said, “Running again, why ? You might sweat. Besides, you ran yesterday.” In response I would try to explain to her that it made me feel better, physically and emotionally, and that regular aerobic exercise had a cumulative salubrious effect. Now there is additional evidence supporting her grandson.

According to a Stanford Medical School new release Regular running slows the effects of aging. This is the conclusion of a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found. “The study has a very pro-exercise message,” said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study’s senior author. “If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise.” These findings appear in the 8/11/08 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a bi-monthly peer-reviewed medical journal.

Ever one to look for multi-tasking opportunities, I had the chance to watch the Virginia Tech Mens Tennis team take on Brown while stretching after the Blacksburg Classic 10 miler. The Hokies Tennis Center is a wonderful venue for watching ACC tennis matches. It is also a lot warmer and better for stretching after competing in a winter road race ! There were 6 matches going on simultaneously and the Tech team managed to sweep the matches over their Ivy League opponents. I hope to see them play at VCU when I am in Richmond April 24th for the USAT National Duathlon Championship Festival.

Competing in the on-road championship race Sunday, I am hoping for better weather than last year, where the rain and wind caused several bike crashes and injuries. One of my friends wiped out on a downhill hair-pin turn on wet pavement, and it took the police quite a while to get to her. While her bicycle crash did not result in permanent injury or disability, her race was over. This spin coach and multisport athlete knew how to fall, and was wearing her helmut, so debilitating head injury and fractures from the fall were avoided. However, I saw other injured athletes walking their bicycles back to the transition area and the sports medicine tent. Hopefully this year the weather will cooperate and all the athletes will finish without bike crashes or injuries.

Practicing what he preaches, Triathlon Trial lawyer Doug Landau hops in the pool and runs in the deep water.  The Athletes Lawyer is shown here at the Fairfax County Parks Providence Community Center Pool before a recent successful trial.  This helps move byproducts of intense bouts of exercise out of sore muscles without impact or danger of additional sports injury.  Furthermore, because the water temperature is lower than 98.6 F, the cooling effect also helps reduce inflammation and swelling.  Lastly, the hydrostatic pressure also aids in recovery and retards swelling.

The Herndon Reston area sports injury lawyer was prescribed a full flotation vest by his foot surgeon after breaking his ankle while playing tennis.  Dr. Arnold Landsman, whom Landau had met through a Mount Vernon Sports Medicine Clinic, was foresighted enough to realize that in order to speed up Landau’s recovery and preserve his endurance, a means of non-impact, aerobic training would be optimal for both physical and mental fitness.  If you have sustained a fracture to a weight-bearing structure like an ankle, foot, leg, hip, lower back or pelvis, ask your doctor if water running, hydrotherapy or light aquatic exercise would be helpful in your recovery.

The Blacksburg Classic is an annual event sponsored by Virginia Tech and local businesses that is comprised of a 5 km and a 10 mile road race.  Run Around Sports running store helps produce races that start at the local elementary school.  Both races pass through downtown Blacksburg, the library and residential area.  The 10-miler then takes runners out and back on the Huckleberry Trail.  While Triathlon Trial lawyer Doug Landau had competed successfully at the 5 km distance, bringing home an age group prize, he ran in the 10 miler this year with his eldest daughter.  Rebecca Landau is a 5th year student in the top-ranked Virginia Tech School of Architecture who somehow is managing to balance her thesis work with endurance training.  Miss Landau is training for the Shamrock Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach next month.  She finished the 10-miler in style, even though it was her longest race ever !  Great job and good luck with 13.1 miles in March !  Shown here is proud dad and daughter after finishing the Blacksburg Classic 10 miler.

What’s up with all the bottles ? Why does Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau go to races, spin classes and the Herndon High School track with a cooler bag full of water bottles ? Is there some super secret potion inside ?

For an intense workout or race, the herndon Reston area injury and disability lawyer does indeed pack water, as well as an electrolyte rich solution to drink during exercise to prevent cramping, dehydration and “bonking.” However, as important are the bottles prepared in advance for the post-workout recovery. Landau has found that his muscle soreness is reduced and his recovery is hastened by having a sports drink with protein within 20 minutes of finishing his race or workout. There is an excellent article by highly regarded nutritionist Nancy Clark in the October, 2008 issue of the Running Journal, “Protein and Runners” which talks about the science of this “recovery window.”

Clark writes in another piece on “underperforming athletes“:

Recovering with both carbs + protein

Recovery foods should offer a foundation of carbs with protein as the accompaniment. A reasonable target is Read the rest of this entry »

Just when I start thinking that I am getting too old to be running in long distance road races, I think of Israeli Marathoner Ayele Seteng. Mr. Seteng, who finished 20th in the Athens marathon in 2004, 19th in the 2007 World Championship in Osaka, Japan, has a personal best in the marathon of 2:14.21, which he ran in Venice in 2003 when he was my age !

This year in Beijing, he had been injured during the race, but insisted he must finish it. That was true grit. Haile is still the oldest runner ever to finish a world-class marathon. At 52, all his hopes for the future were dependent on Beijing. Mr. Seteng ran a 2:30:07 in Beijing’s heat and pollution. (To see this brave runner after he completed the 26.2 mile event, go to uk.eurosport.
Haile is an Jew who was rescued from Ethiopia in 1991, as part of Israel’s massive re-patriation effort called Operation Solomon. Airlifted by the Israeli government, Haile found freedom and settled near Tel Aviv. All people, proven Jewish, have “the right to return” to their ancient homeland, and Israel has tried to keep her word, bringing tens of thousands of people “home”. The Jewish state began bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the early 1980s. Most of the world is unaware of the fact that tens of thousands of Ethiopians are living in Israel. Read the rest of this entry »