Why Run by Alicia Coil

Rate x Time = Distance
My Journey Journal
By Alicia Coil

Why Run?

The most often asked question when I say that I’m training to run a marathon is, “why run?” A fair question. After a little thought, I came up with my top 5 reasons to run.

5. Workout Outside!
Spring is here! The weather is nice; why not take advantage of the outdoors? Who wants to be inside a stuffy, crowded gym working out on machines? Outside, James and I enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, choosing different routes and scenery everyday.

4. Long Term Goal
Running 26.2 miles (or 13.1 miles, I haven’t quite decided yet) is a BIG GOAL!  By breaking it into smaller goals, I have a sense of accomplishment at every step. At the gym, you workout by doing endless reps on the machines and mark achievement by adding more boring reps. But running, each week I move closer and closer to the Big Event. And going slowly, I track my progress by every goal reached, no matter how small, knowing I am a little stronger and running a little farther than the week before.

3. Get In Shape
One thing I have always noticed about runners is they have long, lean muscles and bodies. I want to be in better shape, but I don’t want to bulk up. I’m not very tall; 5 feet even, so leaner is better. And in my research, I’ve also noticed that training for a run is so much more than just running. It emphasizes nutrition as fuel for hard working muscles and a greater sense of health in all aspects for overall wellness, which leads me to…

2. Strong Body = Strong Mind
Running is a great way to work out stress and tension in both my body and mind. It allows me uninterrupted time to think, as well as the ability to spend the excess energy of tense muscles. And, this is my own personal opinion and I can’t prove it, but I believe an active, strong, healthy, fit body facilitates an active, strong, sharp, healthy mind. If I can encourage a sharp mind as I get older by becoming more fit and healthy now, and maintaining physical activity throughout the upcoming years, why not? Seems like a no-brainer!

And my Number 1 reason to run…

1. The Stamina to Keep Up with My Daughter!
I am 48 years old and I have a 4 year old daughter and 3 grand children ranging in ages between 1 and 3 years old. They have limitless energy! I have a responsibility to set a good example for these little ones. When I complete a training session, I am exhausted, but feel stronger and energized. At this point of my rookie training, I am incorporating running with brisk walks. Each week, I will run more, farther and longer, building the strength and stamina I need to keep up with these bundles of energy for years to come!

My Journey Training to Run a Marathon by Alicia Coil

Rate x Time = Distance

My Journey Journal

No one has actually said, “YOU’RE CRAZY”. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Everyone’s been extremely supportive. But, I’ve thought it. I’m 48 years old, and I’m training to run a Marathon.

A month ago, I “retired” from a job where I was fairly physically active. Nothing too strenuous; I was walking, climbing ladders, and lifting boxes between 10 and 20 pounds throughout my 8 hour day. Suddenly, my work is 100% in a chair, in front of my computer screen. After one month, I’d noticed a difference. I felt heavier and sluggish. I needed to become more active.

The idea came to me when a good friend sent me a text message after he completed the Los Angeles Marathon. At first, I was first thrilled for his accomplishment. Then I realized, we’re the same age, and he just ran a Marathon! Perfect! I won’t need any special equipment or an expensive gym membership. After all, I already have what I need to run…FEET! I made up my mind right then and there; I would start training the next morning!

I hopped on the internet looking for a marathon in my area about a year from now, and I found it, The Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix, AZ.
January 2011.

This is my Journey Journal.

WEEK ONE

Now, I know a little about human nature, and a lot about myself. That Sunday evening, when I decided to run a marathon, I immediately recruited my oldest son, James, to train with me. I knew if I have someone to train with, I would be accountable to follow this journey through to the finish line. I also knew I needed to set a consistent time of day to run; to make it a routine. Being an early riser, and since I have responsibilities during the day, we agreed on 4 a.m.

Our next decision was the route. The one we chose seemed reasonable, around the block, 4 miles around the perimeter of our neighborhood.

4 a.m. Monday morning was cold and dark. We started down the driveway jogging. I lasted maybe a quarter of a mile before I had to stop. “Let’s just do a brisk walk,” I said, when I was able. So, a brisk walk it was. We also opted for about half of the distance we’d originally planned, jogging the last quarter mile. Forty minutes, and two and a half miles later, we’d completed our first session, exhausted and energized!

That same day, though, I headed back to the internet, this time looking for guidance on how to train for a marathon. Low and behold, I found a site specifically for rookies. I noted that we had been a little too enthusiastic with our first session, and adopted their advice to start slowly, with rest days in between runs. The schedule consists of twenty-six weeks in-training for the Big Event. The remainder of the week, 3 more training days, we walked briskly for 20 minutes each day.

I’ve been back to the internet several times this past week, on several different websites, and I’ve learned that I have a lot to learn: nutrition, vitamins, hydration, and shoes. I know it’s just the beginning, but I feel better. Stronger and healthier because the first step of my year long journey of body and mind, was the first step out my front door!

Next week, James and I incorporate running with the brisk walks!

Exercise, Stress and The Brain

Gretchen Reynolds from the New York Times wrote, several Sunday’s ago, an interesting article about how scientists are looking at how exercise can make the brain more stress-resistant ( http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-yo u-less-anxious/ ). Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable discovery that some of the neurons in rats that exercise respond differently to stress than the neurons of slothful rats.

Scientists have known for some time that exercise stimulates the creation of new brain cells (neurons) but not how, precisely, these neurons might be functionally different from other brain cells. Presented a few months ago at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago( http://www.sfn.org/am2009/ ) the researchers at Princeton University revealed their preliminary results of their remarkable discovery about the brains of rats that exercise.

In the experiment, scientists allowed one group of rats to run. Another set of rodents were not allowed to exercise. Then all of the rats swam in cold water, which they don’t like to do. Afterward, the scientists examined the animals’ brains. They found that the stress of the swimming activated neurons in all of the animals’ brains. But the youngest brain cells in the running rats, the cells that the scientists assumed were created by running, were less likely to express the genes. They generally remained quiet. The “cells born from running,” the researchers concluded, appeared to have been “specifically buffered from exposure to a stressful experience.” The rats had created, through running, a brain that seemed biochemically, molecularly, calm.

We all know that exercise is good for us, but we are now discovering how exercise helps us in different ways on a molecular level. Thanks now to improved research techniques and a growing understanding of the biochemistry and genetics, scientists are beginning to find out how exercise remodels the brain, making it more stress-resistant.

The stress-reducing changes wrought by exercise on the brain don’t happen overnight. However, as virtually every researcher agrees. In the University of Colorado experiments, for instance, rats that ran for only three weeks did not show much reduction in stress-induced anxiety, but those that ran for at least six weeks did. “Something happened between three and six weeks.” Says Benjamin Greenwood, Ph.D., a research associate in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado, who helped conduct the experiments( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18300002 ).  “It’s not clear how that translates” into an exercise prescription for humans. We may require more weeks of working out, or maybe less. And no one has yet studied how intense the exercise needs to be. But the lesson is “don’t quit,’ Greenwood says. Keep running, cycling or swimming. You may not feel a magical reduction of stress after your first jog, if you haven’t been exercising. But the molecular, biochemical changes will begin, Greenwood says, and eventually they become, he says, “profound.”

Here at oomphTV we strongly recommend any kind of exercise program to help give you both “oomph” and calmness in your life. Consider this study in the beginning of 2010 and take a look at the 94-year old runner Jack Kirk video for inspiration http://www.oomphtv.com/people-with-oomph-features-short-videos-of-peop le-over-forty-redefining-age/jack-kirk-the-dipsea-demon After reading this blogpost and viewing the video, create your own exercise program and don’t let it be just another New Year’s resolution. Happy New Year and best of luck! Please feel free to comment, we look forward to hearing from you in 2010.

Read more health.

Jack Kirk – The Dipsea Demon

We profile 94-year old Jack Kirk on his 66th consecutive attempt at the seven mile foot race known as the Dipsea.

Jack Kirk – oomphTV.com from oomphTV on Vimeo.

30+ Years of Feel-Good Running

I first came to live in the US from England in 1977. Miraculously I shed almost 50 pounds without even trying! My two young daughters and I arrived a few days before Thanksgiving. Even with its vaguely anti-English overtones, we immediately embraced this unfamiliar holiday, especially the strange but plentiful food. Christmas seemed to follow with hardly a chance to catch our breath (or get hungry) and then New Year. To complete the holiday feasting, my new American wife and I got married in January.

When I weighed myself after all this gluttony, I was truly stunned to discover that my 200+ pounds had been decimated. I was suddenly a svelte 155 pounds, feeling incredibly blessed and scared to death I’d pack those 50 pounds back on in a flash. Looking back now, it was obviously a complete change of lifestyle that did the trick. I had left behind an advertising career fueled by expense account food and drink (lots of the latter) with never a thought for calories or fat and had arrived in Los Angeles with its body-centric culture the first wave of California cuisine now making the transition from restaurant to home kitchens.

Whatever it was, it was working for this grateful new immigrant. I loved having to replace my old ‘fat guy’ clothes with 32″ waist pants and 15″ collar shirts. But I felt guilty that I hadn’t done anything to ‘earn’ this weight loss gift. What could I do to hang on to it? The answer was close to home. Rich, my new 14-year old stepson was something of a track star at his school and he wanted to learn how to play soccer (remember this was 1977). Being English, a lifetime devotee of the beautiful game (although never a decent player) and an obsessive fan of Manchester United . . . I saw an opportunity.

Rich and I spent each late afternoon at a high school track. I taught him Soccer 101 and he got me fit to run. He was a natural. Inside two weeks, he was showing a skill level I’d never had. As for me, I had enthusiasm on my side and the running boom of the late 70s to reassure me I wasn’t the only one. And I’ve been running ever since.

It’s been over 30 years. Rich’s mom and I divorced after 17 years. My girls are both married and living in Bombay, India and Portland, Oregon respectively. I’m happily remarried. My hair is gray and . . . I’m still 155 pounds with a 32″ waist and a 15″ neck. All thanks to running.

You’ve heard all the arguments in favor of running: it’s cheap, portable, you don’t need special equipment or a gym membership, it’s the best cardio bang for the buck, where else can you experience the runner’s high and on and on. All true, but what keeps me running is how good it makes me feel about myself. No matter how many mornings I’ve had to force my weary body out of bed and into the trusty Asics, I have some wonderful everyday justifications.

At 67, I can wear the same size clothes I wore at 36. I have blood chemistry my (younger) doctor envies. My body fat is 12.5%. I have no need for medication (except for occasional allergies). When I run an early morning 10-miler on Mulholland, I feel a sense of age-defying achievement (and a little smug superiority) for at least the rest of the day. If I have a difficult conversation coming up, nothing focuses my thoughts like a run. Best ideas? While running. Best meditation? Best problem-solving? Best way to digest self-help books? On my iPod while running. Best hangover cure? Best mood improver? Best time on my own? Best way to get to know a new city?
After 30+ years, running is still the answer.

« Previous Page