A Slideshow from my Marathon

Happy it's Over

While I thought I would be a marathoner by the end of the day Saturday, I became an ultra-marathoner. An ultra-marathoner is anyone who runs over 26.2 miles.

Before I get to that story, let's start at the beginning.

I signed up for a trail marathon. Meaning 26.2 miles all on trails, a.k.a. dirt.

It rained 3 days straight before the marathon, so my dirt trail turned to a mud trail. Did I mention there was red clay all over the trail as well?

When you run a trail marathon, you are at the mercy of the directions. Usual given by volunteers at tricky turn and orange tape throughout the course. Well, let's just say there were not enough volunteers.

Myself and a group of runners missed a turn and did about 2 extra miles. To add insult to injury were the conditions.

The mud and past your ankle puddles were tough, they even forced one to walk when you didn't want to. The true challenge was the red clay, and there was a lot of it. When you hit a batch of red clay, your only choice was to walk. When you got out of the slop, your shoes were coated and weighed about 10 lbs each. As well, they had a glossy coating on the bottom that made you feel like you were walking on fresh ice in snow boots.

Not the easiest way to run.

So once you made it through a rough patch, you couldn't just start running, you had to try and stomp your shoes clean, run for a short stretch and come up to another mud patch.

Many people fell including myself. One man even separated his shoulder. Many quite. I didn't.

By the end my legs were tired and cramping to the point they would not bend. My heart and mind were still strong and I excited about a strong finish up until my last step.

My parents came in with my grandmother from Michigan to support me and Laura was with my in spirit every step of the way and my biggest support at every water stop and at the finish.

I did the marathon for a challenge. It was a challenge. I knew my greatest assest is that I was strong mentally going into it. That allowed me to finish the marathon.

While it was nothing like I expected, it was absolutely perfect.

I got my challenge and I succeeded. I finished the ASC Trail Marathon and anticipate more to come.

Drug Free America

Nancy Reagan started the "Just Say No" campaign back in the 80's. I still remember the green logo and all the buttons.

Supposedly this campaign was designed to limit drug use, but frankly, we take more drugs in this country than ever before. Actually, more than anyone else in the world.

A new study just came out showing that U.S. children take 3 times the antidepressants of the children in Germany and the Netherlands.

Do our kids really have that much more to be depressed about than German or Dutch children?

Let's get back to the "Just Say No" campaign.

If we want our kids to just say no, then we need to not indoctrinate them that there is a pill for every problem from birth.

That is what we do when we see a behaviorial issue and put them on Ritalin. That is what we do when we have a sniffle and give them cough medicine. An earache and give them antibiotics. A tummy ache and give them the pink stuff.

The list goes on and on. We are teaching our children that if they have a problem, there is a drug to fix it.

So when they have problems in high school and someone offers them marijuana or worse to "fix it", what do we expect them to do?

We have spent years teaching them there is a drug for every problem. Why is this one any different?

Nancy Reagan was right, "Just Say No".

Get Buff, Be Healthy

Okay, it is not quite that simple, but it is not far off either.

By now we have all heard that it is important to do resistance training to keep our muscles from deteriorating with age.

The first thing to go are our fast-twitch muscles which supply our quick movements. Hence, why we see a few older folks moving so slow.

The next to go are our slow-twitch fibers which control major movements like our legs. Another reason why we see older folks shuffle around, use walkers, etc.

A new study reinforces what we have heard for years: If you don't use it, you lose it.

As folks slow down with age, they don't necessarily challenge themselves as they used to when they were younger. While we are all not Jack LaLanne, it is important to do some resistance training to slow the effects of aging.

You don't need to join a gym. Start doing basic exercises with soup cans. Carry weights and swing your arms on a walk. Do pushups against the wall.

To slow the effects of aging on your muscles, it does not take much, but it does take something.

Get up and get moving!

Honoring a Modern Miracle

Many of us want to live to old age. How old is old though?

In the U.S., the average life expectancy is now 69.3 years, ranking us 29 in the world.

Japan leads the way in life-expectancy at 75 years and Tomoji Tanabe definitely helps the average. On September 18, he celebrated his 113 birthday.

Yes, you read that right, the oldest man in the world is 113 and active!

We will always jump to the question, what is his secret? When you ask him, he will tell you his secret is simple, he eats natural stuff, mostly vegetables and avoids alcohol.

Not necessarily a ground-breaking diet analzying calories, good carbs, bad carbs, being in The Zone, etc., but effective.

All he does is watch what he eats, stays active and keeps a positive attitude.

None of that should be a secret to you. We all know that is how we have better health, but why don't we do it. That is the real question?

I will let you answer that yourself and discuss it more at a later time.

Did you also know that his birthday, September 18, 1895 is Chiropractic's birthday?

Yep, D.D. Palmer performed the first adjustment that day on a man named Harvey Lillard who had been deaf 17 years at that point. After his adjustment, Mr. Lillard got his hearing back!

An awesome story that shows you the power of the body to heal itself when the intereference is removed.

Happy Birthday Tomoji Tanabe and Chiropractic

"Cell Phones Will Kill More People Than Smoking or Asbestos"

That scary quote came directly from renowned neurosurgeon, Vini Khuarna.

He recently reviewed over 100 studies on cell phones and found some scary statistics for our cell phone happy culture.

Now I know what you might be thinking, "I have heard studies from the cell phone companies saying there is nothing to worry about."

And that's true. By their studies standards, there is nothing to worry about. The problem is, all their studies were measuring the short-term effects of cell phone use.

A typical brain tumor takes 10 years to develop. So a short-term study will never show a positive result.

So how do these tumors develop and who is most at risk?

There are still some questions on how they develop but the fact is this. Cell phones are sending signals off satelittes to radio towers to our phones and back. They carry with them electro-magnetic radition. A known cancer causing agent.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that handsets (ie. Bluetooth's) turn your head into an antenna and increase the signal therefore increasing the risk of a brain tumore?

I think that might be interesting to know for those Bluetooth junkies reading this.

With cell phones getting popular in the late 80's, early 90's. We are just now seeing the long-term effects. They expect by 2010, we will begin to have hard data on just how more prevelant brain tumors have become.

In the long-run, check out things like the RF Raider on how to reduce your cell phone radiation and limit use of handsets. http://rfraider.com/

In the short-run, use speaker phone as much as possible and keep the phone at least 6 inches away from your head.

As always, click on the headline for a link to the article.

Eat Up... And Live 30 Years Less

Why don't we smoke?

It is probably because of two reasons: #1 we have all been educated that smoking is bad for our health and #2 it is socially unacceptable.

So why are 2/3 of adults overweight and 1/3 children?

We all know it is not healthy to be overweight. Is it because it is much more socially acceptable to be overweight than it is to smoke?

We are so used to seeing overweight people, that overweight is being redefined as normal.

But is it truly unhealthy to be overweight? Is it really worth the effort to get in a shape?

A July 2006 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine says yes.

In a study looking at 100,000 women who were overweight by age 18, they are most likely to die between the ages of 36-56.

The current death rate in the U.S. is just under 70 years. That means if you are overweight at 18, you are going to live 14-34 years less than the average American.

Just because everyone else is not taking care of themself does not make it right.

Losing 30 years off your life, is that enough motivation to take care of yourself?

Are we using the right weapons in the war?

Let me make this clear from the outset, cancer is a very big deal. It has effected my family directly just like it has likely effected yours. Please do not think for a second I am making light of cancer.

Now onto my thoughts.

Cancer is the #2 killer in this country, second only to heart disease. Not a day goes by where you do not hear about a charity like Race for the Cure, the Jimmy V Foundation, Livestrong, etc. raising money for cancer research. Just last week there was a benefit concert on all the major networks with a ton of celebrities involved.

So cancer is a big deal and we are pouring a lot of money into fighting it?

How are we doing? We hear stories about different people "beating" cancer and have people like Lance Armstrong who are the face of cancer survival.

The fact of the matter is this though. Right now, the Journal of Oncology says that 1 in 26 people will get cancer. By 2020, it will be 1 in 19.

Cancer is on the rise.

So the question is, with all this money going to cancer research, why is it on the rise so drastically?

I will tell you right now, I am not arrogant enough to say I know the answer, but there is one statement we need to all be aware of from the American Cancer Society in 2006:

"Poor diet, lack of exercise and unhealthy lifestyle are responsible for 65% of cancer deaths."

That's not me saying that, that is the American Cancer Society. Guys who make all their money from people giving to cancer research.

So does living a healthy lifestyle eliminate all cancers? Not likely.

But should we many use a few of those cancer research dollars in educating about the value of a healthy lifestyle to prevent cancer?

I would say yes.

Are your genes too tight?

FACT: We are made up of DNA.

FACT: Genes make up our DNA.

MISUNDERSTOOD FACT: Genes make up who we are.

It is with this last fact we excuse a whole lot of bad behavior.

Yes, our genese make up who we are. There is one important thing to know though, genes only work when you turn them on.

Let me give you an example.

Scientists have discovered the "alcoholic" gene. So if you have it, are you an alcoholic? What if you never take a drink?

So we can have all sorts of genes, but it doesn't mean it defines who we are. We have to turn the gene on.

Well, in a new study from the University of Maryland, scientist are saying they found a "fat" gene. Good news though, they found the "cure"... EXERCISE!

Pretty amazing discovery isn't it?

There may or may not be a fat gene. The fact of the matter is, if you watch what you eat and exercise, you will never turn on the "fat" gene.

You may say, "but all of my family is large, I have the fat gene."

Answer me this: Did you grow up in the same house as your family? Did you eat the same food? Did you develop the same exercise (or lack there of) habits?

Do you have the fat gene or were you raised with fat habits?

We're #29!!!

Generally speaking, we would say that the U.S. is a pretty healthy place right? We all watch CNN, we have seen other countries. They look they are wrecked with disease. We must be one of the healthiest nations... right?

Wrong. One of the ways to look at the health of a nation is look at life expectancy. In the 2004 World Health Report, the U.S. ranked 29th in life expectancy. That means there are 28 countries with a greater life expectancy than the U.S.

Quick, can you name 28 countries?

We are obviously not the healthiest country in the world. Why is this? We by far and away spend the most money on healthcare, take the most prescription drugs, have the best doctors, why aren't we the healthiest nation?

Well, I guess those things aren't the true gauges of health are they?

What we need to do is step back and look at the culture that these other countries. What are they doing differently?

They are doing some, if not all, of these three things better: they have less stress, they eat better food and they live a more active life-style.

Obesity is through the roof in this country and they are all enhanced by those three things. Not one country above us on this is more obese to than the U.S.

So how do we gain back the 6 years Japan has on us on life expectancy? It is improving the culture of health in this country, not throwing more money at it.