Breaking Barriers Blog

I am living proof of the anti-aging benefits of running.  After running for over 30 years and completing 14 marathons to date, I am in the best shape of my life.  This is evidenced by my personal record in the marathon last May at the age of 57.  My time of 3:53:23 qualified me to run the Boston Marathon for the second time in my life (qualifying for the first time at the age of 54).

I can also say that I am the happiest I’ve ever been—more at peace.  I always relied on running to carry me through the various challenges of my life.  Yes, life always looked better after a run.  Due to a long-term study by the Stanford University Medical Center, there is now evidence to support my over-the-top long-term marathon habit.  Maybe I’m not so crazy after all…

This study followed 500 runners, all 50 years and older, over 20 years and produced some very interesting and enlightening results.  Long-term running produces numerous benefits as we age.

Runners enjoy a longer life and quality of life.  Nineteen years into the study, 15% of the runners had died compared to 35% of non-runners.  In addition, runners lived 16 years longer without the incidence of disability as compared to non-runners.  Even better news was uncovered for runners who ran into their 80’s.  Their incidence of cancer, neurological disease and other infections decreased even further.

Running improves neurogenesis in the brain.  Running creates new neurons and encourages connections between brain cells enhancing overall brain function as we age.  This wards off Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Running reduces stress and increases well-being.  It is well known that running releases endorphins and serotonin, but it also increases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that affects the reward and motivation areas of the brain.  While stress kills brain cells, running improves brain performance and enhances well-being and encourages an active life-style as we age.

Runners are healthier.  Running decreases the risk of death by 50% as compared to non-runners by improving the heart and immune system, lowering resting blood pressure.  Running increases blood flow which reduces hardening of brain arteries and encourages the body’s production of anti-bodies and lymphocytes or T-cells that fight off cancer and infections.

So what is the best workout program to stay young?  According to John Ratey, M.D., start well-before your senior years and do some form of aerobic activity six days a week for 45 minutes to an hour.  This should include two sessions a week for strength training with weights and 2 sessions a week of balance and flexibility exercises like yoga, dance or martial arts.  Dr. Ratey recommends running the most since it benefits the heart, the immune system, increases brain neurogenesis and emotional well-being.

If you are a senior and aren’t accustomed to exercise, Dr. Ratey recommends seeing a doctor first.  Walking is a good low intensity aerobic activity to start until you are ready to increase the intensity.  The benefits are great even when starting an exercise routine later in life.

When I am not training for a marathon, my weekly work-out routine includes four days of running five to seven miles (including one speed workout), one long run of 10 to 11 miles, two days of weight training (including one circuit-training workout) and one day of yoga.  The weight training is key in keeping my bones strong and maintaining upper body strength and the yoga is key in maintaining what little flexibility I have and will allow me to run for many years to come.

So there you have it.  The evidence is quite clear—exercise.  Even if it isn’t running, do something aerobic and improve the length and quality of your life.  Life is a wonderful gift—get out there and enjoy it!

Powered by Bookmarkify™

There is a song written and recorded by Joni Mitchell in 1970 and later covered by one of my favorite bands, Counting Crows, in 2002.  “Big Yellow Taxi” is about not knowing what you got till it’s gone.  Isn’t it true that it’s sometimes hard to appreciate some things in our lives until they disappear.  That is true for so many things like love, money, position and, of course, running.

I just took a trip to my hometown, Augusta, Kansas, near Wichita to see a very good friend get married.  I grew up there and didn’t leave until I got married and my new husband swept me away to California in 1984.  I never imagined I would leave Kansas.  It was my home and my family and friends lived there.

I started running in Kansas back in 1980 when I went to work for Pizza Hut, Inc.  Pizza Hut was a progressive company and was the first company in Wichita to put a full gym and locker rooms in the corporate office.  The fitness director, Gary, was an avid runner and I was easily recruited into the running group at Pizza Hut.  I didn’t realize it at the time but those runners were hard core.

I immediately subscribed to Runner’s World magazine so I could keep up on the latest running news.  My life changed considerably for the better because I began to eat to run and many of those bad eating habits started to change because I wanted to be healthier and faster.  Being the competitive overachiever I am, I jumped into running 10k’s and also learned a whole lot about running shoes, shin splints, knee pain, stretching and chiropractors.

Running in Kansas was an adventure because the temperature could change 20 degrees during the day and the winds could change dramatically.  The weather report was just a guide and not to be relied upon too seriously.  The hardest decision of the day was deciding what to wear to go out and run.  A Kansas runner is a tough runner—no doubt about it.

When I announced my move to California, one of my running friends said I could throw away my winter running tights.  While that is not completely true because it can get quite cold running on those early winter mornings, running in California really is a runner’s paradise.  Since moving to California, I have become an even more hard core runner and have now completed 14 marathons and have logged thousands of miles over the years.

But my blood has thinned over the last twenty some years and I complain when I have to run in 55 degree weather and I wear my tights, two shirts (including a long-sleeve), running gloves and a hat.  Brrrrr, it’s cold.  I had long forgotten the drastic weather changes and frigid 10 below wind chill of Kansas.

So when I got off the plane last Thursday to 20 mph winds and the dust that comes with it from lack of rain, my memory was triggered.  I was back home.  Since I have just started my marathon training for Boston next April, I needed to run during my stay and that included a 12 mile long run on Sunday.

I dutifully got out the door late morning the next day on Friday to do seven miles.  It was dry as a bone and windy and in the 70’s.   My parents live right next to a lake and I love to run the loop around it.  I will blame it on jet lag and dehydration from flying but I couldn’t drink enough fluids and I felt like I was running through a brick wall when I was running into the wind.  I needed to keep my mouth closed or risk a mouthful of dirt and thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses to keep the dust from blowing into my eyes during wind gusts.  I stopped at six miles exhausted.  I don’t remember running being so hard.  I didn’t run Saturday due to the wedding but I was determined to run my scheduled twelve miles on Sunday.

Okay, I have to admit I am no longer a tough Kansas runner (a wimp).  After an extended drought in Kansas, rain was forecast and it did indeed rain on my girlfriend’s outside wedding in Abilene on Saturday and it poured during most of my two and a half hour drive back to Augusta.  The rain had not yet reached Augusta but it was surely coming—it was just a matter of time.

I peered out the window on Sunday morning and walked outside to get a feel for the weather.  Yep, it felt humid and there were dark clouds covering the sky and it did look like rain.  I dutifully turned on the local weather channel and checked the internet.  Yes, rain was forecast.  I also noted that the trees were swaying.  More wind.

There was a brand new YMCA, the largest in Kansas, about 10 miles away in Andover.  It looked very nice from the highway and my brother ran there the last time he visited home.  I toyed with the idea of running my long run at the YMCA.  What a choice I had to make.  Do I go out and do my run in Augusta which would include my favorite lake run and risk running in the rain and wind for two hours?  Or, do I go to the very nice YMCA and run twelve miles on the treadmill?

I know most runners would die before running more than an hour on the treadmill, but that is the choice I made.  I can hear my California running friend, Jerry, now as he looks at me with disdain.  “You really ran twelve miles on the treadmill?  Really?”

It wasn’t so bad.  There was no wind or rain and I watched the Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones from beginning to end on the TV on the treadmill.  My timing was perfect.  What a great movie.  But what is really important is that I got my very important long run in and succeeded in sticking to the schedule.  I may be a wimp of sorts, but I’m a determined one.

My girlfriend’s wedding, by the way, turned out to be wonderful despite the rain.  We gathered under a park structure and Jo and Wade exchanged their vows to the pitter patter of rain against the trees and the smell of fresh air.  No one minded the rain, except for the minister who wasn’t quite covered during the ceremony.   But, he was a great sport and performed a beautiful ceremony.

So my Kansas running adventures are over for now.  l will be traveling to North Carolina at the end of the month for a conference—thank goodness it’s during the week and won’t interfere with my long run on Sunday.  My long run goes up to 13 miles.  I am grateful I will be back in California because I now appreciate paradise even more!

Powered by Bookmarkify™