Why We Started Loop-the-Lake New Year's Eve Run

Yesterday, I ran 9 miles around White Rock Lake in Dallas.  I had a few friends tag along and we had fun discussions and great laughter.  Much of our time, believe it or not, was centered around talking about running and food and general ideas on health.  We spent some amount of time talking about how we raise our children.  We acknowledged our imperfections, but expressed our dreams of our children being healthier and being able to contribute greatly to society.  Although I didn't spend a great deal of time explaining what was going on in my head, I was remembering why I started the Loop-the-Lake Foundation.  

Lately, I have done a lot of reading and searching the web about the link between nutrition and obesity.  I was amazed by what I found.  I learned virtually every diet "we" go on ultimately fails us after some length of time.  At the same time I learned nutrition is just as important as exercise to make and keep the body lean and healthy.  I don't think the nutrition element is emphasized as much as it should be.  I also found out about the typical american diet for children.  I was shocked and saddened to learn the real facts.  For example, most kids now think macaroni and cheese or a cheese pizza is considered a vegetable.  

Many children get more than 50% of their diet from fast food restaurants.  What was more incredible was learning that many kids below a certain income level have little access to fresh produce.  Apples, oranges, celery, these are items very remote in a kids diet today.  I was raised in the 70s and 80s in a big northern city.  I was one of the few over weight kids in the neighborhood.  My nickname of "ten ton" was almost a badge of honor when it was time to pick a football team.  When we were choosing teams for tag, that was altogether a different story.  Still we had more access to fruits and vegetables.  Fast food was simply a special treat rather than a regular diet.  

Now, instead of one in ten children who are overweight or obese, we have one in four or one in three.  Children are developing type II diabetes before they reach their 18th birthday.  When I was a child, I knew no one with type II diabetes.  I did have a good friend who suffered from type I.  Unfortunately, he did not see his 11th birthday.  Even then, as a young boy, I had a rudimentary understanding of the disease he suffered from.  Frankly, we never thought type II diabetes could even happen to children.  That was reserved for the "old folks", using my childhood vernacular. 

But today, one third of the children born after 2000 will develop this disease.  Black and Latino children will suffer worse at an alarming 50%.  These numbers are so surreal that I had to check them several times.  The path we're on is leading to this type of destruction.  What will we do when we need young men and women to participate in the Olympics?  What will happen to our work force?  What will become of our military?  The numbers are far reaching.  The combination of poor quality food, lack of exercise and low availability of healthy food choices has our nation in a perilous state.  

For some time I thought there was little I could do.  But I know the little I can do can go a long way.  When I learned about Marathon Kids their agenda touched my heart.  Yes, they are a marathon program to please us fanatical runners.  Their participants run one mile a week for 26 weeks culminating with a Spring celebration for the final mile.  This a tactic for teaching the importance of movement and regular exercise.  But they know it is not enough.  Marathon Kids also teaches kids about nutrition and even plants gardens in schools to teach children how to grow their own healthy foods.  It seems to be a complete package.  The parents I run with who have children in the program sing its praises.  Every story makes me smile.

Better yet, Marathon Kids offers the program free to the children and every $10 raised allows another kid to participate.  So, over the last three years Beth Crider and I have set a goal to raise $10,000 so that 1,000 local Dallas children could be added to the program.  We've come close every year, but have not yet made the mark.  We need the help of our local Dallas runners.  

Our annual Run Around White Rock Lake is on December 31st at 7 AM.  We host the run on this day regardless to what day of the week it lands.  We've invited the runners we know and each year the run has expanded.  I believe this year we can reach that mark.  Those who donate $30 will receive a cool Loop-the-Lake souvenir and their name in a drawing for more prizes.  Donations of $50 will pay for 5 children and $100 will pay for 10 children.  You get the point.  I'm asking that we all give what we can.  We'll accept any amount anyone is willing and able to give.  

One important element to Beth and I is that we keep the run fun and simple.  We do not require a donation for our runners to join us on December 31st.  We really want to see your smiling faces, rain, cold or shine ready for the final loop of the year.  Just come out and hang with us, enjoy some coffee, get a snack and meet some like minded (probably crazy because we love running so much) people.

If you plan to attend and you want to donate, please click here for our online donation page and sign up early.  We take donations on the day of the event, but it makes for a long line and could delay our start.  

Thanks for all your support over the years.  We can't wait to see you!

UPDATE:

Donations Received To Date:  $1,632

Percentage of Goal Met:  16%

15 Days left to reach our goal!

Got Rid of Plantar Fasciitis Forever?

The worst injury I've ever experienced has now been gone for nearly a year.  My running life has changed so much since then.  I used to over compensate my stride, limp every morning or after sitting for long periods and I had just general discomfort while running.

That time has passed and now I've learned a lot about how to treat and maybe prevent plantar fasciitis.  Read on if you're interested in learning how I kicked the itis out of my plantar fascia... 

Great iPhone Running Apps

So, theHardRunner is heading to Corning, NY for my 14th marathon.  Before I go I wanted to offer a bit of reading material that may even prove useful.  I thought it would be nice to share my favorite iPhone apps for runners.  Enjoy!

The iPhone 5 - I think it's growing on us.

The iPhone 4 and 4S - Idk, seems a little heavy.

The iPhone - Remember when there was no App Store?

My Thoughts on Hemp, Not to Smoke, but to Eat!

What a cool discovery, hemp seeds.  Yeah, they have been great in my cereal and salads.  Why is this such a big deal?  Well, I've been playing with vegan diets over the last several months and I still hear about how I may be missing out on the much needed "protein" in my diet.  That's started me on a discovery journey.  I've been doing so much research on the whole protein deficiency scare for vegetarians and vegans.  Here's a few things thehardrunner has learned about hemp seeds, other plant foods and the misnomers of a plant central diet.

I now understand the difference between complete protein and incomplete proteins.  Foods with complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids (in proper proportion) our bodies require to form protein.  This is found in most animal meats, but most richly in the animal's organs, like the liver.  Foods with incomplete proteins are lacking the full proportion required in one or more amino acids.  Thus even a veggie that has an incomplete protein possesses some of all the amino acids, but may not have a full amount required for our bodies.  

The good news is that the human body knows how to combine foods and obtain the required amount of each amino to form the protein it needs.  Further, the foods don't need to come all at once.  A combo of beans and rice, for example, can be consumed at once or over two or three meals in your day.  If you have rice at lunch and beans at dinner, you have armed your body to get what it needs to build a protein.

You can indeed get complete proteins from vegetables.  I was reading an article by a woman who claimed she returned to eating meat after she "learned" she wasn't getting complete proteins from a plant only diet.  After a short look on the net, I found out just how wrong she was.  And this person has a published book!  Really?  A short list of plant foods with complete proteins:  quinoa, soybeans, spirulina, chia, and hemp seed.  All these foods are pretty easy for most Americans to buy in a grocery store.  Shucks, I bought my bag of hemp seeds at my local Costco.  And Hemp seed has 10 grams/serving of protein and is also rich in Omega-3 fatty acid.  I've been adding about two tablespoons to my cereal this week and it's been great.  Soy bean was a pleasant surprise to me because I eat them all the time as edamame.  But, soy beans are on my very short list of veggies that I look for organic as often as possible.  Too much to go into the whys in this note, but look for my rant on that later.  Run a quick youtube search on "gmo soy beans" to get a hint.  

All this doesn't mean that I'm a vegan now.  I do, however, enjoy eating like one most of the time.  I still love fish, shrimp and the occasional hamburger as a sort of treat.  I'm just free to go without the meat and know that I'm not missing out on anything essential.  

I've also been humbled a bit by what I've learned.  I once thought those non-meat eating folks were a little weird and were missing out on so much.  Now I'm learning that this land is rich and abundant with plenty of healthy eating options for us, including meat eaters and non-meat eaters.  To each his own, I guess.  

I've lost 30 pounds this year on a mostly non-meat diet, so I'll stick with it for a little while.  Never, never stop running. 

My Thoughts on Hemp, Not to Smoke, but to Eat!

What a cool discovery, hemp seeds.  Yeah, they have been great in my cereal and salads.  Why is this such a big deal?  Well, I've been playing with vegan diets over the last several months and I still hear about how I may be missing out on the much needed "protein" in my diet.  That's started me on a discovery journey.  I've been doing so much research on the whole protein deficiency scare for vegetarians and vegans.  Here's a few things thehardrunner has learned about hemp seeds, other plant foods and the misnomers of a plant central diet.

I now understand the difference between complete protein and incomplete proteins.  Foods with complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids (in proper proportion) our bodies require to form protein.  This is found in most animal meats, but most richly in the animal's organs, like the liver.  Foods with incomplete proteins are lacking the full proportion required in one or more amino acids.  Thus even a veggie that has an incomplete protein possesses some of all the amino acids, but may not have a full amount required for our bodies.  

The good news is that the human body knows how to combine foods and obtain the required amount of each amino to form the protein it needs.  Further, the foods don't need to come all at once.  A combo of beans and rice, for example, can be consumed at once or over two or three meals in your day.  If you have rice at lunch and beans at dinner, you have armed your body to get what it needs to build a protein.

You can indeed get complete proteins from vegetables.  I was reading an article by a woman who claimed she returned to eating meat after she "learned" she wasn't getting complete proteins from a plant only diet.  After a short look on the net, I found out just how wrong she was.  And this person has a published book!  Really?  A short list of plant foods with complete proteins:  quinoa, soybeans, spirulina, chia, and hemp seed.  All these foods are pretty easy for most Americans to buy in a grocery store.  Shucks, I bought my bag of hemp seeds at my local Costco.  And Hemp seed has 10 grams/serving of protein and is also rich in Omega-3 fatty acid.  I've been adding about two tablespoons to my cereal this week and it's been great.  

Soy bean was a pleasant surprise to me because I eat them all the time as edamame.  But, soy beans are on my very short list of veggies that I look for organic as often as possible.  Too much to go into the whys in this note, but look for my rant on that later.  Run a quick youtube search on "gmo soy beans" to get a hint.  

All this doesn't mean that I'm a vegan now.  I do, however, enjoy eating like one most of the time.  I still love fish, shrimp and the occasional hamburger as a sort of treat.  I'm just free to go without the meat and know that I'm not missing out on anything essential.  

I've also been humbled a bit by what I've learned.  I once thought those non-meat eating folks were a little weird and were missing out on so much.  Now I'm learning that this land is rich and abundant with plenty of healthy eating options for us, including meat eaters and non-meat eaters.  To each his own, I guess.  

I've lost 30 pounds this year on a mostly non-meat diet, so I'll stick with it for a little while.  Never, never stop running. 

Brief Story on the Hard Runner's Attempt at Yoga

Today I tried my first ever yoga class.  One of my long time running buddies from church convinced me to give it a try.  Well, I knew I wanted to try yoga for some time.  Practically every runner I know who has tried yoga simply loves it.  I, on the other hand, don't like the idea of doing something that makes me look stupid.  That limits me to a very small number of things I can do.  Yoga is not on that list, of course.  

(Now this is a yoga pose!  What was I doing?)  

But my friend reminded me that I look pretty stupid running too, but I still do that.  Enough said, I decided to give it a try.  Probably not a great idea to try it right after running a 6 mile run at close to tempo pace.  Lately, however, this body has been feeling strong so my confidence was up.  After all, I've recovered this year from plantar fasciitis, problems in both knees (ITB syndrome) and lost 30 extra pounds of useless weight.  Surely I can take on a simple yoga class for a short hour.  Besides, most of our stretches after we run are mock versions of various yoga poses anyway.  How hard could it be?

I tell you what, it was harder than I imagined.  My body simply was not designed to hold some of those poses.  And the yoga instructor, bless her little heart, was about 60.  She could move that body of hers around better than most 30 year olds I know.  Hows that for making me look stupid?

(Couch Yoga, Brilliant!) 

At about 30 minutes into our workout, I was taking on a bit of a sweat.  Great, I thought, this is way more than some simple stretch routine!

After about 40 minutes, I thought, if she puts us in that downward dog one more time… one more time!  Of course, my downward dog had given up and my upward dog had fallen down.  My warrior I, warrior II and warrior III had all taken up arms against each other.  My pigeon was cooked and my triangle, at best was a square.  But I rocked that child pose, yeah!

All in all, it was a beneficial experience and I think I may have found a viable complement to my running.  Yep, I'll try it again next week.

Never, never stop running.

New Post: Prep for a Twenty Mile Run

So, I think I'm ready for a hot, long run tomorrow morning.  Dallas, this summer, has offered up some of the hottest days in history to hit the streets and run.  If you're in Dallas, I don't have to tell you what the weather is going to be like.  I won't waste time positing a pic of the weather app from my iPhone.  A true pet peeve for one of my running buddies, Anthony Logsdon.

But, for the heck of it I took a pic of my running nutrients to post today.  I stopped in at my trusted local running store to stock up on gels, beans and waffles.  

I've noticed over the years of long running that I really hate fueling up during a run.  It really doesn't make sense, but I have the hardest time convincing myself to fuel my body during the thick of the run.  Something happens to my brain at about mile 4 when I'm usually feeling great.  I know I have another 16 miles to go, but I cannot imagine that I'll ever feel bad.  "Surely, I can run forever," I tell myself.  Therefore, I usually just take a quick sip of water and press on.  Around mile 15 I find myself wondering, "how on earth will I ever finish?"  

That was me.  A year ago, even two or three years ago.  This year has been different.  I've been working hard at taking in electrolytes and calories at regular intervals.  I have not perfected it yet, but I know it's important to do.  Since I'm qualified clydesdale, according to most marathon officials, I burn more energy per minute than those shirtless, sub 8 min/mile stallions.  I lose more water, too.  I tested myself before and found that I lose a whopping 9 lbs. on 20+ mile days.  That is an entire gallon of water!  I cannot figure out how to put all that back during the run, but I'm trying to reduce the loss as well.  Don't know if that is truly possible, but I believe extra calories during the run will certainly help.  

Over the last couple of long runs I've done much better at taking in supplements and water.  I can tell the difference in my ability to finish and recover.  

Here's a quick glance at my replenishment plan for tomorrow morning:

1. One Honey Stinger Waffle about one hour before start

2. 1-2 Endurolytes capsules every other water stop

3. One Honey Stinger energy gel at alternating water stops (alternating from the Endurolytes capsules)

4. Jelly Belly Sport Beans - whenever needed to relieve boredom spells

5.  EAS Myoplex Shake (after the run recovery drink)

If I manage to consume this heavy diet of packaged nutrients (still highly unlikely), we're talking over 900 calories.  Let's compare that to the 3100+ cals I'll burn and there's little wonder why these runs are so tough.  But what's not to love?  I get to hang out with a great group of people, laugh a whole lot, and challenge my body and mind.  I'm blessed!  Who cares about the heat?

Never, never stop running.