Road to Health - #6 V8

The first thing I listed on my Road to Health was how I stopped drinking pop. When that happened I needed to come up with an alternative beverage to drink with meals. Of course, just plain water is a fine alternative, and I often do drink water with meals - especially at restaurants. But, at some point I discovered V8.

Thankfully, unlike some people, I like the flavor of V8, so it has worked out well for me. 

Now, V8's marketing claims that each serving provides two servings of vegetables. Does that mean it's a perfect substitute for eating vegetables? Absolutely not. But, I do believe it is a healthy choice for people who may not be getting as many servings of vegetables in their meals as they should.

V8 is high in sodium. If that's a concern, drink the low sodium version. Another concern with any juiced product is that they're losing the fiber. For me - I drink the high fiber version. And, of course, I recognize it's still not as good as eating vegetables, but it sure beats drinking pop with my lunch.

Here's a link to a video listing 5 reasons V8 is healthy.

Road to Health - #5 Bulging Disc

Back in the early days, two issues nearly nipped my running career in the bud. One, I already talked about: plantar fasciitis. The other was a bulging disc. 

One day, after a very hard sprint, I developed serious pain in my lower back. Looking back, I suspect my mistake was not warming up properly. It was serious pain that ran down my leg. It persisted. 

I finally decided to go to a chiropractor for the first time in my life. I'm thankful that he was able to diagnose the problem as a bulging disc. Unfortunately, he didn't seem sure of what to do about the problem. He did suggest that, perhaps, an incline table might help. But he didn't have any exercises or physical therapy to recommend. I looked up info on incline tables, and it seemed that the jury was still out on them.

I was concerned that this might be the end of my running career and that I may be dealing with serious pain for the rest of my life. Fortunately, when discussing the issue with my friend Dwight, he recommended a book titled "Treat Your Own Back" by Robin McKenzie, a specialist in spinal disorders from New Zealand. 

The book provided me with some exercises I could do for a couple minutes every morning. Very soon I had relief. I still have the bulging disc, but 99% of the time it doesn't bother me. I still do the exercises every day and plan to for the rest of my life. And, thankfully, I am still running.

Road to Health - #4 Motivators

When one first begins running, it's really tough to get up off the couch and put on the miles. And then, if issues come up, like the plantar fasciitis I discussed earlier, the temptation is to just throw in the towel. I discovered early on, I need some external motivator.

The first motivator - the thing that got me started running in the first place - was a 5K race. And then I discovered other races, and as long as I had a race to look forward to, I had that motivation. 

And then I read an article about a couple running every single street of their town. What a great idea! I decided that was something I could do. So I did it. And then, to make it even more interesting, I decided to make it a fund raiser - get other people involved, create a blog, show my current run and mileage on a map every day. And, of course, that's what this blog is all about.

In the early years, I would finish running every street and the 5K season would end in northern Minnesota and I would just stop running for a few months. My new motivation is to achieve a personal best. I run as much as I can in colder weather, before there's snow on the ground, and then switch to a treadmill when it's accessible. 

Then, we started going to Florida for a couple months in the winter, so now I'm able to run pretty much year-round.

Road to Health - #3 Plantar Fasciitis

In my early days of running, I discovered a condition that has ended many running careers and could have easily ended mine: plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is a condition where the bottom of one's foot, and especially the heal, experience such serious pain that it gets difficult to walk.

After some research, I learned what I wish I would've learned when I first started running. There were two things I was doing wrong. First, I was running in cheap shoes. Second, my form was wrong. I was landing on my heel.

My future daughter-in-law helped with the first issue. She recommended Asics shoes. So, I went to a mall in Winnipeg and picked up a pair shoes for over $100 dollars - more than I'd ever paid for shoes. In the end, they were worth every penny.

The second problem wasn't difficult to fix. I just concentrated on not landing on my heels - landing more on the middle of my foot.

These things did not solve the problem over night. The pain lasted several months. I picked up some tips from YouTube. Every night I would take a bottle of bottled water out of the freezer and roll it under my foot. I also did physical therapy - strengthening and stretching exercises. After several months the pain finally subsided and went away completely.

The Road to Health - #2 Running

It was 2008. I was 50 years old... almost 51. Somehow, a strange little idea entered my mind... "I should run the Yellow Rose 5K this year." At this point in time, I couldn't even run a half mile without having to stop. It's crazy that I hung in there. As far as I know, there were no 'couch to 5K' programs at that time. There was no one besides myself challenging me to do this. I just did it. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I hung in there and was gradually able to run a mile, then two miles, and finally, 3 miles. I ran that 5K in 31 minutes, 39 seconds. I had the bug. I don't think I ran anymore 5Ks that year, in fact, I don't think I ran any more, period that year. But it was a start and I was ready to run again the next spring.

Here's an early running picture. I weighed about 20 pounds more then than now.

The Road to Health - #1 Pop

#1 on my list of a million little things on my road to health was cutting pop out of my diet. I can't remember exactly when I did this. I'm pretty sure it was about 25 years ago. Also, I'm not sure what the motivator was. I do remember listening to an episode of Focus on the Family where the guest was talking about how the Standard American Diet has too much sugar. I think it was listening to that program where I first understood how much sugar is in a single can of pop (39 grams, 10 teaspoons!). I'm not sure if that program was the motivator, but there's a good chance it was. 

I used to feel I needed some pop at lunch every day. And I always had some pop in the fridge at home. It's interesting that quitting cold turkey was not that hard.

I am listing this as the first thing on my road to health. I did this years before I started running. This is certainly one of the top ten most important things I've done, if not the most important.

The Road to Health

Why is it, that at the age of 68, I feel that in many ways I'm healthier than I've ever been? I can do more push-ups than I've ever done. I can do more pull-ups than I've ever done. I'm not on any prescription medications. I actually think I'll be able to run a personal best this year. And I'm audacious enough to set a goal of running a 10-minute mile when I'm 90!

Is it 5 steps I've taken? Is it 10 habits I've developed? Or 25 tips I follow? No. It's a million little things that I've added to my life over the last 30 years. 

In the next several weeks, months, and maybe years, I hope to share many of the 'million little things' I've begun and continued to get me to this point. I am so thankful for my health, and I want to get these things written down and perhaps help others on this journey. Stay tuned.