Many questions come to mind concerning running and runners and public health. Here are a few. 1. Why do runners live an estimated 2 to 2.5 years longer than non-runners? 2. Why are runners rarely overweight? 3. Among runners do they have the same incidence of the following problems compared to non-runners that so far the causes of which are basically unknown? Muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amelanotic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease? 4. Why do women runners have so much less breast cancer than non-runners? 5. Why do runners have so much stronger bones than non-runners? 6. Why do runners have less atherosclerosis and therefore fewer strokes and coronary and cardiac artery disease? 7. Why do runners have more HDL (good ) cholesterol than non-runners? 8. Why do runners have lower blood pressure than non-runners? 9. Do running women have fewer children who develop Autism than non-running women? 10. Why do runners have better immune systems than non-runners? 11. Does running enhance the production of endomorphnis, serotonin, androgens, estrogens such as oxytocin, ghrlein, and the enzyme troponin and many others? 12. Is there an advantage of the profound sleep that comes to those who exercise as with running and with no insomnia?
Come Jog With Me
By George D. WhitneyiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 George D. Whitney, DVM
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4620-7300-9Contents
Dedication...............................................................................iiiLetter to President Obama................................................................vLetter to Michelle Obama.................................................................viiPreface..................................................................................ixAcknowledgements.........................................................................xiiLap 1 ~ The Revelation...................................................................1Lap 2 ~ Get Set and Go for It............................................................5Lap 3 ~ An Inspiration?..................................................................7Lap 4 ~ Why Humans Run...................................................................9Lap 5 ~ An Insurance Policy..............................................................10Lap 6 ~ The Initiation...................................................................13Lap 7 ~ Eureka...........................................................................16Lap 8 ~ Second Race......................................................................17Lap 9 ~ The Shoes and What's in 'Em......................................................18Lap 10 ~ When Your Breath Comes in Short Pants...........................................22Lap 11 ~ A Stitch in Time................................................................23Lap 12 ~ You May Shrink..................................................................25Lap 13 ~ Never Trust a Naked Runner......................................................27Lap 14 ~ Doin' What Comes Naturally......................................................29Lap 15 ~ To Top It Off...................................................................30Lap 16 ~ Stopwatch Love and Hate Device..................................................31Lap 17 ~ Go to College...................................................................32Lap 18 ~ Use Tact ,Fathead...............................................................35Lap 19 ~ Run Like You Stole Something....................................................36Lap 20 ~ Who Are You?....................................................................38Lap 21 ~ To Push Your Car Over...........................................................40Lap 22 ~ Walk and Run....................................................................41Lap 23 ~ An Idea Who's Time Has Come.....................................................43Lap 24 ~ Grandma Running?................................................................44Lap 25 ~ Publications....................................................................45Lap 26 ~ The Fair Sex....................................................................47Lap 27 ~ Workouts and Persistence........................................................49Lap 28 ~ Can Runners Smile?..............................................................52Lap 29 ~ A Mystique......................................................................54Lap 30 ~ Cramps..........................................................................55Lap 31 ~ Rails to Trails.................................................................58Lap 32 ~ Pick It Up a Little.............................................................59Lap 33 ~ The Reggie Lewis Stadium........................................................61Lap 34 ~ A Running Partner?..............................................................63Lap 35 ~ A Family Sport..................................................................64Lap 36 ~ About Exercise..................................................................65Lap 37 ~ Use It or Lose It...............................................................69Lap 38 ~ Running Thoughts................................................................71Lap 39 ~ Singing in the Rain.............................................................73Lap 40 ~ To Jog or Run...................................................................75Lap 41 ~ Guinea Pigs.....................................................................76Lap 42 ~ Hill Running....................................................................77Lap 43 ~ Cut and Run Bursts..............................................................79Lap 44 ~ Research Anyone?................................................................80Lap 45 ~ Sexology........................................................................83Lap 46 ~ Inherited Health................................................................84Lap 47 ~ Wolf Ancestor...................................................................86Lap 48 ~ More Enlightenment..............................................................88Lap 49 ~ A Downfall?.....................................................................90Lap 50 ~ Who Are All These People?.......................................................92Lap 51 ~ Late Bloomer....................................................................95Lap 52 ~ Race Names......................................................................97Lap 53 ~ What Trophies?..................................................................98Lap 54 ~ Fountain of Youth?..............................................................100Lap 55 ~ Take a Trip with Me.............................................................101Lap 56 ~ What's Going On?................................................................104Lap 57 ~ Don't Give Up the Ship..........................................................106Lap 58 ~ Prejudice.......................................................................107Lap 59 ~ About Speed.....................................................................109Lap 60 ~ Diet and Other Trivia...........................................................110Lap 61 ~ More Diet.......................................................................112Lap 62 ~ Outhouses and Salt..............................................................114Lap 63 ~ A Marathon? Forget It...........................................................116Lap 64 ~ Proof of the Puddin'............................................................117Lap 65 ~ Running With Pain?..............................................................119Lap 66 ~ Running Publicity...............................................................120Lap 67 ~ Special Track Meets.............................................................121Lap 68 ~ New England 65+ Runners Club....................................................122Lap 69 ~ Level the Playing Field.........................................................123Lap 70 ~ Hitting on Her..................................................................124Lap 71 ~ Do Runners Live Longer?.........................................................125Lap 72 ~ Cherry Picking the Research.....................................................126Lap 73 ~ The Invisible Runner............................................................128Lap 74 ~ Labor Day.......................................................................130Lap 75 ~ Why Runners Retire..............................................................133Lap 76 ~ Come Dream with Me..............................................................135Lap 77 ~ More Ponderings.................................................................137Lap 78 ~ Time to Quit....................................................................139Lap 79 ~ A New Beginning?................................................................140Lap 80 ~ The Down Side...................................................................141Lap 81 ~ Strange as It Seems.............................................................143Lap 82 ~ A Personal Letter to You........................................................146Appendix 1 ~ Physician's Consultation....................................................148Appendix 2 ~ A Summary of the Program....................................................149Appendix 3 ~ Lap Art in Your Running World to Mark Up Running Shirts.....................151Appendix 4 ~ Dying Socks.................................................................153Appendix 5 ~ Prejudice Letter............................................................154Appendix 6 ~ Running Shirt Slogans Used So Far by George Whitney.........................155Appendix 7 ~ Substitute with Running.....................................................162Appendix 8 ~ All American USATF Times....................................................164Appendix 9 ~ Contacts....................................................................165Appendix 10 ~ Poetry.....................................................................168Good Life................................................................................168Others Try...............................................................................169Do Unto Others as They Would Be Done Unto................................................170The Sun is Rising........................................................................171When Wealth is Health....................................................................173
Chapter One
Lap 1 ~ The Revelation In the "Solace for All Retirement Home" a group of senior residents have gathered in a lounge. It's a pleasant sunny room with old folks talking about the weather and the television is on with a couple watching. Two women are playing Scrabble, two others are knitting, others are sitting. One of the men winks at a woman across the room and she winks back. Shortly the two stand up and walk to a hallway. Someone comments, "I wonder where they're going?" The couple walks briskly to and up the staircase. Shortly they come down the stairs with bright colored running shorts on, different colored socks, running shoes and "T" shirts, one with "CALL 911" on it and the other, "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE." They jog out of the doorway and down the walk to the road and are seen jogging out of sight. When the man winked to his friend he was signaling, "Come Jog with Me" and her return wink said, "Let's go!"
I want you to know that most (65 year olds and up) are capable of getting in shape to be able to run for the fun of it as well as for the good of it. This is my plea for you to do the same. It is because of the wonderful change in my life that I want you to know you also can enjoy the fun of running as I have. As a very young man I had enjoyed a little jogging and running but from high school days on I was not inclined to run or even to scamper very much. However at age 80 I jogged 100 yards or so to our mailbox and nearly collapsed. It was a rude awakening and as I walked slowly home I wondered if my heart was failing. It was obvious that something was very wrong with me. Son, Chuck, was a high school track coach at the Ellsworth, Maine, High School and I contacted him for a program to attempt to "get in shape." The following is an uncomplicated "how I did it" and how you can do it and enjoy the fun with the effort.
You dedicate an hour a day, 3 times a week to "getting in shape." Perhaps Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 AM. In the beginning you do not use up the entire hour until you are able.
Your first walk must not be too tiring. Simple? It's as simple as that BUT you must dedicate yourself to 3 times a week. It depends on you to discover how long it takes you to be able to walk for an hour. When you accomplish that hour's walk you have reached an important point in your adventure because it is at that point that the next "step" can be taken. You may say, "I can walk for an hour right now." Fine, you are ready for the first stride of a jog right now.
As you walk you decide to jog if even for only 6 to 10 paces and return to your walk. You are the only one who knows when you tire from the few jogging paces so you make your own decision. Increase the jogging time in your walk until you are alternating jogging with as many paces as you are walking. It may be quite suddenly that you feel an unexpected pleasure with no ill effects in those few first paces of jogging. Furthermore every time you find you can increase the jogging it becomes more and more satisfying. Soon you will return from your hour's walking and jogging feeling so elated about your improvement that you will be overjoyed. This process must be a gradual one until you can jog for that hour even if your jogging is slow. This may take a year. Eureka, you are a runner.
From experience I learned that although progress becomes obvious and fun you may have the tendency to overdo. So I have found the word, "TIE" is a good one to remember and it stands for "Take It Easy." For me, I was so elated in my progress at about 6 months of the program that I did not TIE and became too stiff after an hour's effort. Still, by the time a year was up I was able to jog, if only in one place, for an hour. That was another special time in my adventure. I discovered I could jog for an hour three times a week and was proud of myself. As I passed my 81st birthday, I wondered about scheduled organized races I had heard about.
For a little added incentive to get started, try to contact a running club or store or even one runner in your area and ask for a volunteer to join you and friends who want to try to put the advice in this book to work. Running stores will either send one of their employees or another runner who will gladly join you for a few early attempts to get started. With each of those contacts, you will be introduced to the strange enthusiasm of the established runner who will enjoy your experience him or herself.
Somewhere along the line of embracing the thought of jogging you should ask your doctor's permission to try running. In passing your physical exam you may have accomplished an extra plus. Among your test results there may be a couple of tests showing that, although normal, you are low normal. If, in the future you have to go for another exam for a problem, your low normal findings on record then will be considered normal for you and not misleading a diagnosis.
Don't let minor problems dissuade you from at least trying my program and don't let minor injuries occurring along the way discourage you either.
There is more and more evidence that for painful knees and other joints, running may be the answer by stimulating healing of problems but in the last analysis let you and your doctor make that decision as to running. I do have anatomical problems. But I have absolutely no pains anywhere at this time.
Chapter Two
Lap 2 ~ Get Set and Go for It Next comes a period of well-meaning friends and jealous onlookers trying to discourage you, but hopefully you are dedicated to at least trying your hand, or I should say feet, at actually running. In my case it was for several months of slow jogging for an hour that were not only easy but enjoyable and my heart had held up.
If you have decided to attempt to break the shackles that keep you from utilizing your physical potential, the above is one proven way to do it. If so, you may consider the next step that I call your insurance policy explained in Lap 5.
Many friends had mentioned that running would ruin my knees. At one point I decided that was a prophetic observation. About two months into the early jogging, my 80-year-old left knee became painful resulting in a limp while walking. I contacted my Coach who told me to keep on the schedule but make the workouts much lighter. In a few weeks my left knee was less painful but the right knee was painful. In several more weeks both knees were normal. Since, after over 5,000 miles of running in training and racing, I have had no discomfort in either knee.
The internet became more active as the Coach's advice in the communications was frequent. I suspect at this point Coach Chuck thought, "I think the old man may be serious." Indeed I had become more serious.
If you do join the action even for a trial period and even if it's only to get into some kind of shape, you should consider keeping a log. As you walk and then jog a little, keep the log in mind and after every session enter what you might want to refer to later on. I keep track of the distance during each episode and sometimes the time too. Weather and temperature may be of interest. In preparation of turning a page of the log book, I note the total miles recorded and carry it forward to the next page. In my case, for example, as I said, since I started to keep track in 1999, I have logged over 5,000 miles. They do add up. How far is it across our land?
When you reach the racing stage the results are published promptly after every race on the computer and they include a list of the runners, your position among the finishers, your time and the speed per mile. For some races I wish my record was not recorded. I am told the editors of Running Times Magazine will send you a free log book if requested.
Chapter Three
Lap 3 ~ An Inspiration? Having come this far in the reading if not in the actual activity and being of average intelligence or better, you may consider dipping a toe in the water to test the temperature. Just give jogging a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Look in the back of a closet for a pair of old sneakers and put them on and with appropriate other clothing go out by yourself, because at your age you don't want to look foolish to your friends unless the cause is great enough. Try my formula. If you do it, in a short while you won't give a damn what others think because you will feel so great you may consider continuing as I have done and then you may be elated enough to write a book. Your grandchildren will delight in telling their friends, "My Grandfather (or mother) runs for a hobby."
The reason for the above is because that is the way I felt when I began. I felt the same at my first race and also embarrassed. In order to make light of my racing effort, I printed some slogans on the backs of a few shirts. One coach suggested, "OXYGEN IS OVERRATED" and the other, "RUNNING FROM THE UNDERTAKER." Many runners were distracted over my incompetence as a runner by the humor of the slogans. I now have a collection of over 100 shirts with my homemade, mostly plagiarized slogans that have added many smiles that would otherwise not have been present on earth.
The object of this book is to get men and women off their butts and out improving themselves. If you are a senior citizen, whatever age that may be, and start running I will guarantee at races there will be those who will look you in the eye and say, "You are an inspiration."
I predict that the time is fast approaching when your physician will tell you, man or woman, the time has come for you to take medication to control heart and blood vessel problems and then he or she will say, "Of course there is an alternative and that is to take up running as therapy." Better to do it before you need pills as a therapy.
Chapter Four
Lap 4 ~ Why Humans Run Not being satisfied with the variety of answers to the questions, "Why do so many humans run?" and "Why doesn't everybody run?" I hereby propose an answer. Just as our ancestors developed the ability with the anatomy to be able to run for distances so I conclude we inherited a subconscious desire to run. The question immediately arises, "Why, then don't all people run?" The answer to that involves the tendency to avoid work and our subconscious tells us that running is not only work but hard work. We are told at an early age that we should do everything and anything to get out of work. The electric toothbrush is an example. We are inundated with technology to get out of work that overrides the subconscious for many but not for the 30 million of us who do run at least once a week. Much technology is welcome and useful.
Many of our customs discourage exercise such as high heels and clothing in vogue which discourages it. The suggestion, "That seems like work to me." Seems to be an indelible statement in our language. So in effect the reason runners hesitate before answering that question may be because they don't actually know why. However, the reasons for continuing to feel better and to keep in shape and a dozen others are the convenient and common answers.
For many runners the thought of stopping their running is to accept a black ticket on the train of life.
Chapter Five
Lap 5 ~ An Insurance Policy Years ago my elders gave me the impression that I should leave this world better than I have found it. Surely that is why I am in a position to write this book. It has to be because others left this world better than they found it. To get down to the actual reason for this effort, it is to sell you a free insurance policy. Yes, I mean to verbally "sell." I mean to sell an idea with the expectations that you will buy. Even if you are one of so many mature men and women who when asked if they ever considered running for the fun of it have answered something like this, "Run? That is without a doubt the last thing I would ever have even thought about." If you are in that category, you are one I will try to sell my free policy to. If you are in the following categories I want to sell you insurance too. It would ruin my knees or it's too much like work or my husband (wife) wouldn't let me or I'm afraid of dogs chasing me or no time and on and on come the excuses.
If you are interested in the provisions of the free insurance policy how would the following provisions seem to you?
1. Rarely insomnia
2. Loss of weight
3. Feeling of euphoria
4. Becoming happier
5. Becoming healthier
6. Having more comfortable feet
7. Loss of stiffness in joints
8. Easier climbing stairs
9. Easier to get along with
10. Fewer cerebral accidents (strokes)
11. Less coronary artery disease
12. Less atherosclerosis
13. Few have Alzheimer's Disease
14. You will have bragging rights for your children, grandchildren and perhaps even for your great-grandchildren
15. Stronger bones
16. Later onset of diabetes by years
17. Few pills to take
I should hasten to note all the above may not relate to you and also that there are many other and perhaps minor pluses such as living an average of two or more years longer than non-runners. If you do accept my policy it means you have gained wisdom that may have taken 65 years to acquire. In my case it took me 80 years to appreciate that wisdom.
In offering my insurance policy I can point out an overweight elderly woman who is having trouble walking and I can say that with my policy, embraced and adopted a few years previously she would be walking with ease today. The chances are that she would weigh less, and human physicians report regularly that women who run have better bone density than others. Pages could be filled with examples such as runners rarely die of strokes, runners have lower blood pressure and more good cholesterol than non-runners and so on.
Woven into my prescription and insurance policy is the story of my adventure. For you to benefit as I have, you must start as I repeatedly mention with the dedication of three times a week of walking and jogging until you are able to jog for the exercise period
Don't let anyone convince you that you cannot at least try to join the action. A quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes I have used on my stationery is, "... a man ... should share the action and passion of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived." An approximate quote and can be adjusted for women.
Chapter Six
Lap 6 ~ The Initiation The next logical step for me was to find a real race to try out my newly developed skill. Marty Shaivonne, a race director, responded to my phone call with the location, date and a time of a race and he encouraged me to try and said, "I'll be waiting for you at the end if it takes you a week." That was the kind of comforting reply I needed. Marty was and remains a good and supporting friend. He began the recognition of older age groups in our area from, "Over 60" up to recently, "Over 90." At this point I am looking for an "Over 95" age group in a few years.
for the first race I was well advised to arrive an hour early for parking near the headquarters where there were many runners both male and female of all ages warming up. I asked one with a number pinned on his chest and was conducted to the registration desks where you pay a registration donation if you have not preregistered and get your bib which is your number for the race to pin on your front. There is usually a bag of goodies such as a sample of toothpaste, deodorant, a safety razor and notices of upcoming races, a souvenir running shirt and for me there were many, "Good Lucks."
There were introductions and with each I was told not to start too fast. With all the activity of many interested in my being a new old runner there was not time to warm up. As the starting time approached the runners started like a river to wend its way to the starting line on the road. It was a 5k race and that is 5 kilometers or 3.1 miles. At that point the director delivered a short sermon that I couldn't hear with my hearing problem. Starting at the back of the horde of runners the gun went off and everyone began jogging in place until I found myself jogging with those at the back of the pack.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Come Jog With Meby George D. Whitney Copyright © 2011 by George D. Whitney, DVM. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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