I always love a good infographic with good data elements on a topic I care about.
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The Transtheoretical Model And Setting Goals
September 12, 2012 
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There’s a good article in Time (9/17/12) called “Goal Power” by Dr. Oz. I found it interesting on a few fronts.
“Getting people to make meaningful changes in their lives is much more complicated than explaining to them what to eat for dinner, how often to exercise and which kinds of tests they should get from their doctors. The psychology of health is every bit as complex as the biology, and to create seismic shifts in behavior, we have to probe the subconscious.”
1. The topic of goals and objectives and their importance relative to healthcare behavior change is a repeating theme.
- A month ago, I was at a presentation by Dr. Victor Strecher who founded HealthMedia. He was talking about the importance of getting people to articulate their goals or objectives for changing. (E.g., I want to become healthy to see my daughter get married.)
- I had a pharmacy client who was looking into this as part of an adherence program a few years ago.
2. The topic of behavior change and behavioral economics has been a very popular theme with Nudge and many other publications and programs over the past few years.
3. Obesity, which is part of the focus of his article, is widely becoming recognized as the greatest public healthcare challenge of the 21st century. And, it is a very complex issue tied to sleep, stress, social network, and many other factors.
4. He introduces the transtheoretical model (also known as the Prochastka model or the Stages of Change), which is widely known in the academic and health areas, into the public domain which surprised me.
(Here’s the abstract from what one widely quoted paper on this.)
The transtheoretical model posits that health behavior change involves progress through six stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. Ten processes of change have been identified for producing progress along with decisional balance, self-efficacy, and temptations. Basic research has generated a rule of thumb for at-risk populations: 40% in precontemplation, 40% in contemplation, and 20% in preparation. Across 12 health behaviors, consistent patterns have been found between the pros and cons of changing and the stages of change. Applied research has demonstrated dramatic improvements in recruitment, retention, and progress using stage-matched interventions and proactive recruitment procedures. The most promising outcomes to data have been found with computer-based individualized and interactive interventions. The most promising enhancement to the computer-based programs are personalized counselors. One of the most striking results to date for stage-matched programs is the similarity between participants reactively recruited who reached us for help and those proactively recruited who we reached out to help. If results with stage-matched interventions continue to be replicated, health promotion programs will be able to produce unprecedented impacts on entire at-risk populations.
5. He references two of the big studies that looked at social pressure an its influence on health. Something that peer-to-peer healthcare and social network tools can create for us by developing support communities and “buddies” to support our change.
- 2012 study in the journal Obesity about weight loss.
- 2008 study in the NEJM about smoking
6. He references Dr. Nicholas Chrisakis who co-authored the book Connected which is being manifest in the company called Activate Networks.
Overall, for those of us that work in the healthcare field, these are all critical topics that we constantly talk about. It’s nice to see it brought to the “popular press”.
Correlation Between Exercise and Academic Results – Infographic
September 1, 2012 0 Comments
Infographic from OnlineCollegeCourses.com
Infographic on Running
August 1, 2012 0 Comments
It’s been a few years now since my last marathon. There’s just not enough time to put in the right training these days. That being said, I’m finally getting back into running after taking some time off. With that in mind, I thought this infographic was good. It also reminded me to go back to my older post about running basics.
Compiled By: InsuranceQuotes.org
Do You Push Your 10 Year Old To Be An Olympian?
June 18, 2012 0 Comments
When I was watching the movie The Tooth Fairy last week, it really got me thinking about how some people push their kids so hard into sports at such an early age. I heard one 10 year old parents talk about their kid being in the next Olympics (when their not even the best at their sport that I know).
Here’s some examples of what I’ve seen which seem wrong:
- A 6-year old that is home schooled so he has more time for private lessons in his sport
- A kid who is only rewarded if she sets 3 records this summer
- A kid who is paid to beat certain people at her sport
- A kid who is punished by extra practice if she doesn’t perform perfectly
- Multiple kids playing on 2 or 3 different teams simulateously in the same sport
- Kids training 4-5 hours per day / 6 days a week at age 9
I see more and more parents (of kids under 11) video tapping their performances and then breaking down their play after they perform with them. The focus is always on the negative. As I heard one kid say, “be my parent not my coach”. I think that’s important. Parents can’t project their expectations of paying for college and fame on their kids at such an early age.
This leads to self-esteem issues. It leads to burnout. It leads to over training. And, it can lead to false expectations that manifest themselves in poor sportsmanship.
For example, I know one kid that my kid has to compete with came up to her and said “why are competing on this team…I can’t win if you compete”. Never mind the team spirit. This kid wants the personal recognition even in a category that she doesn’t compete in year-round, but she thinks she should be a star in whatever she does. This is what leads kids to cheat and be bullies.
Here’s a few other articles on this topic:
- Modern Mom – Should We Push Children Into Sports?
- Youth Fitness – Pushing Kids Too Hard
Here’s a quote from an interview with David Ellis a sports nutritionist about specializing too early:
Early bloomers typically have an advantage on these AAA teams, and while they dominate the domestic stage with their early maturity and specialization, they are not as competitive on the international stage once other competitors have matured. In fact there is evidence that the athlete who didn’t specialize early and was a little later in maturation might end up being the better athlete! Why you ask?
That multi-sport athlete kept on developing motor skills and competitive vision that might have been more challenging in totality than the narrowed focus of the specialized athlete. These multi-sport athletes are hungry to compete as they approach their prime, and because many were late bloomers, they had to be smarter players to make up for their lack of size and strength. So when their bodies do catch up maturation-wise, they often times have a sharper set of skills, and the net result is an athlete who has the tools and the motivation to compete at an elite level versus the burn out early specialized athlete who often seems to have peaked too early and below their net potential.
Eating Chocolate = Lower BMI!
April 3, 2012 0 Comments
Here’s a study that all of us with a sweet tooth should love…
In Time (4/9/12), they say:
Eating chocolate five or more times a week on a regular basis can translate to a one point drop in BMI on average, compared with those that don’t eat it.
It sounds too good to be true, but apparently chocolate can help the body absorb fewer calories from fat.
(My question is why don’t I hear these messages from my health plan.)
And, for those of you that like salty snacks instead, the same page in Time talks about the fact that popcorn has more polyphenols by weight than fruits and vegetables. (Polyphenols can neutralize cancer causing free radicals.)
Employee Wellness Matters
March 2, 2012 0 Comments
If you look at the infographic below, it paints a sad picture of how work impacts our healthcare. At the same time, we have lots of discussion about the benefits (or lack of) for disease management and wellness programs.
I think its critical for employers to play a role in helping engage and educate their employees about health and wellness. I think this interview with MemorialCare Health System paints a good picture of why and how to approach this.
A University of Michigan study revealed health costs for a high-risk worker is three times that of a low-risk employee. American Institute of Preventive Medicine reports 87.5 percent of health claim costs are due to lifestyle. Companies implementing wellness activities save from $3.48 to $5.42 for every dollar spent and reduce absences 30 percent.
Created by: Online University
Infographic: Student Health
February 18, 2012 0 Comments
We all know that college is often not the healthiest time period for many people between all-nighters, dorm food, caffeine, and alcohol. I find the correlation between health and grades interesting and got the original source for it to support the infographic that I’m sharing below.
Mouthguards For Non-Contact Sports
January 9, 2012 0 Comments
I wore a mouthguard when I played lacrosse, but I’m not sure I could see myself putting in a mouthguard for running or playing tennis or golf. Under Armour is pushing a series of mouthguards for any sport now (see brochure). But, from a purely academic perspective, it’s interesting.
The material says that:
- It improves airflow.
- It reduces stress.
- It improves strength.
- It reduces lactic build-up.
- It improves response time.
- It reduces cortisol production.
It just makes me think that you’ll create this casual athlete with:
- A mouthguard.
- Nose strips to improve breathing.
- Dark compression socks pulled up to the knee (perhaps with no bottom to allow for barefoot running).
- Compression arm sleeves.
- Heart rate monitor with GPS.
- Googles to protect the eyes.
- Magnetic band for strength and balance.
You get my point. All of these things offer either some type of protection and some improvement in results, but it can go too far (IMHO). Although on the flipside, the competitor inside me is anxious to try them out.
Why We Need Recess At Work
January 8, 2012 0 Comments
More exercise = higher GPAs
More activities = better grades especially in math, English, and reading
Exercise = greater productivity and less sick days
Physical activity = increased blood flow to the brain fueling memory, attention, and creativity
Physical activity = hormones that improve mood and suppress stress
Any more information needed?
I was reading an article about research into why recess is important for kids in school. I couldn’t agree more, but it got me wondering about the need for running clubs and other fitness breaks within the corporate work day. I’m pretty sure working through lunch and eating at your desk doesn’t help. On the flipside, I’m not sure if fuzzball tables and other “dotcom” activities meet the activity level.
Food for thought…and of course this doesn’t account for potential hard dollar savings associated with better health and lower healthcare costs.
Infographic: New Year’s Resolutions
January 1, 2012 0 Comments
I’m not a big New Year’s Eve fan. I much rather start the new year refreshed and beginning to think about my goals for the next year. While I used to do a very rigorous 1, 3, 5, and 10-year plan every New Year’s Day, I’ve been a little slack lately. I’m going to try to be better this week and at least get some 1 and 5-year personal and professional goals captured.
With that being said, I liked this infographic from visual.ly. It’s relevant if you think in terms of prescription adherence.
Rent Your Workout Clothes
November 3, 2011 0 Comments
I’ve been waiting for a while for someone to invent a “bag” or something that I can put my used exercise clothes in while I’m traveling. Sometimes after a few days on the road, these can be a stinky addition to my suitcase. There must be some bag with a chemical in them that would dry them out and absorb the smell.
But, in the interim, I was intrigued to see that Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is offering their guest workout apparel and shoes. What a great opportunity for Adidas and whoever else they partner with to let consumers test drive their clothes and shoes. You pay a small fee to use them (unless your a top frequent travel with them) and you can buy them after that if you want.
EveryBodyWalk.org Infographic
September 30, 2011 0 Comments
Some of you have probably seen some of the efforts by Kaiser to encourage walking. Here’s an infographic that they put out as part of their EverybodyWalk efforts.
TV Can Kill You
August 18, 2011 0 Comments
A recent JAMA meta-analysis leads to some interesting data. Not surprisingly, watching more TV increases your probability of chronic conditions. This should remind you of some of the Blue Zones work about how to live longer.
The correlation between sedentary activities like watching TV and health risks has long been known, but according to the JAMA study, more than two hours a day of TV increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease by a troubling 20 percent and 15 percent respectively. More than three hours a day raises the risk of premature death for all other conditions by 13 percent. “Beyond altering energy expenditure by displacing time spent on physical activities, TV viewing is associated with unhealthy eating (e.g., higher intake of fried foods, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages and lower intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) in both children and adults,” write authors Frank Hu and Anders Grøntved, who studied all relevant medical literature from 1970 to March 2011.
New Running Challenge Coming To St. Louis – RunRuckus
August 11, 2011 1 Comment
For those of you that like running challenges but are tired of the treadmill or your typical neighborhood run, this might be just the challenge. This is part of the new extreme sports trend, but on a manageable scale for people like you and I. A good friend of mine is working with the company that is sponsoring Run Ruckus in St. Louis and several other places (Columbus, Boston, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and more in 2012).
While I’ll admit that I’m a little nervous since my training has been slack here, a good race is always a motivator to step it up. And, 4 miles in obstacles should be interesting. Want to join me? I may have a 2 free passes to the first people that reach out to join me. Let me know.
In the meantime, take a look and consider signing up.
Eight Studies To Share With Your Soccer Mom Friends
July 10, 2011 1 Comment
I was at a swim meet yesterday and started talking about recovery drinks after working out. I then went on to share a few studies with people. I can’t promise that this make you “cool”, but you can get a few interesting discussions out of these.
- The best recovery drink is chocolate milk.
- Use sports drinks as appropriate, but don’t make them a common drink for your kids.
- Stretching is over-rated and in some cases not productive.
- Just because your kid’s at practice for 2 hours doesn’t mean he exercised for 2 hours (although this doesn’t seem to be true for swimming).
- Exercise games are good; let your kid’s play them for exercise.
- Make sure your kid gets enough sleep. Sleep effects both health and decision making capabilities (another article comparing alcohol and lack of sleep).
- Cross-training and playing multiple sports may avoid injury at an early age.
- Cheerleading is the most dangerous sport for girls, and basketball creates more injuries than any other sport.
Exercise To Increase Your Hippocampus
July 2, 2011 0 Comments
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reported that they observed a roughly 2% increase in hippocampus volume for people between the ages of 55-80 who walked for 40 minutes three times a week for a year.
Why do you care? The hippocampus is the brain region critical to long-term memory.
Another point from the study – those who did aerobic exercise also had higher levels of proteins to help build new neurons.
More research is starting to suggest that exercise earlier in life could act as a protective barrier against disease and brain atrophy later in life. It’s in your brain’s best interest to start the exercise habit early. [Kirk Erickson, coauthor of the paper and professor at the University of Pittsburgh – from Experience Life magazine]
10,000 Steps, 5 miles, 30 minutes of Exercise, Diet…
June 3, 2011 1 Comment
First off, whoever framed this idea of 10,000 steps per day was a genius. It’s a much simpler metric to tell people. Since I run (on my good days) a few miles, I had to translate that to miles to understand what I needed to do. 10,000 steps is 5 miles. If companies were going around telling everyone they had to walk (or run) 5 miles a day, they would lose people quickly. [One likely question here is whether running and walking burn the same calories.]
It seems like everyone is pushing 10,000 steps per day right now – Here’s Kaiser’s Program.
Of course, on the flipside, this can be confusing since you have this program. You have the government’s recommendation of 30 minutes of exercise a day (which isn’t 5 miles for most people). You have advertisements for supplements. You have workout commercials. You have diet information. What works?
(In searching for 10,000 steps information, I found this Dr. Oz video which I’ll share on weight loss tips.)
As an interesting side note, I was wearing my pedometer the other day talking with a physician. He asked what it was. When I told him it was a pedometer, he asked why I wore it. I talked to him about measuring my steps to get to 10,000 a day. He’d never heard of the concept.
The Cost Of Being Fat
May 29, 2011 0 Comments
With over 60% of Americans overweight or obese, this is a real issue for us as a nation. You see more and more focus on it on TV, in our schools, and in the overall healthcare system. So, what are the costs of being overweight:
- You spend more on health care (article…data as reported in Money June 2011)
- BMI 25 = $1,938 in annual medical expenditures
- BMI 30 = $2,086
- BMI 35 = $2,963
- BMI 40 = $5,510
- BMI 45 = $13,327
- The amount of employers that charge people with health issues more for their health care is going up from 7% in 2011 to a projected 33% in 2012 (Towers Watson / National Business Group on Health).
- Overweight people earn 1-6% less and 26% say they were passed over for promotion due to their weight
- Overweight people die younger and spend more on other goods (e.g., gas). (similar article)
I could go on about linking depression and obesity and to talk about genetics, but I think you get the point. While it’s not easy (from personal experience), it’s an important topic for us all to continue to focus on. For us to fix healthcare in the US, we have to think outside the system itself.
Another Reason To Lose Weight – Memory
May 3, 2011 0 Comments
In case you (or me) need another reason to lose weight…A study in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases showed improvements in scores for recall and attention after patients lost weight with bariatric surgery.
Why would body weight have anything to do with brain function? It turns out that obesity works on a number of different metabolic pathways that can affect the way we process information. “Obesity affects a number of physiological mechanisms that can have an adverse effect on the brain,” says [John] Gunstad. “Hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, all of which are consequences of being overweight, are all bad for the brain.” (source)
When Lifestyle Changes Aren’t Enough…
April 23, 2011 2 Comments
A story in the Lifetime Fitness publication focused on the this line which you often hear in pharmaceutical advertisements “When lifestyle changes aren’t enough . . . ” But, obviously, their pitch is that changing your life can and does work with a blend of diet and exercise.
In fact, research shows that basic shifts in nutrition, activity, stress and other lifestyle factors can be more effective than drug protocols in treating inflammatory health conditions — dramatically improving overall health and fitness in the process.
They provide a nice summary of articles in a PDF that I thought were worth sharing. It includes articles on the following suggestions:
- Eliminate processed carbs
- Avoid sugars and alcohol
- Emphasize healthy fats
- Pack in phytonutrients
- Get more food-based fiber
- Aim for a blend of activity — high and low
- Get plenty of rest
- Set boundaries around work
- Meditate regularly
- Manage stress
- Minimize inflammation
Does virtual exercise count towards physical activity?
April 5, 2011 0 Comments
I remember when I first played Wii Boxing and was sweating like I just went for a lite run. It made me believe that there was something about using games to get kids to exercise even if they weren’t playing outside (which is ideal).
A new study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine confirms this. I guess the category is formally called “exergames”, but they looked at several games including (with their Metabolic Equivalent Task value):
- Wii Boxing: 4.2 METs
- Dance Dance Revolution: 5.4 METs
- Cybex Trazer: 5.9 METs
- LightSpace: 6.4 METs
- Xavix: 7.0 METs
- Sportwall: 7.1 METs
Here’s the summary:
[the researchers] found the games “compared favorably with walking on a treadmill at three miles per hour, with four out of the six activities resulting in higher energy expenditure”
Happy Fat Holiday!
March 17, 2011 0 Comments
Not to be a party popper since I love the holidays, and I ate my Corned Beef & Cabbage meal a few days ago (and hope to have another). But, I pulled up a quick recipe to see the calories (700), the calories from fat (470), fat grams, etc. in such a meal (assuming you only eat one serving), and it got me wondering.
If we look at all our holidays – New Years, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Fat Tuesday, Fourth of July, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc., is there any wonder we have food issues? A lot of our favorite memories are tied to holidays which are tied to food. You take those experiences (which typically include some snacks and deserts), and you can eat a few days calories in one day.
Not that it’s bad if you burn off more calories than you take in, but it certainly embeds this food problem right into our culture.
What’s Your Fitness Personality?
March 7, 2011 0 Comments
If you don’t read Experience Life magazine from Lifetime Fitness, I would recommend getting it or following them on Twitter. They put out some very interesting articles on expercise and food.
One that I found interesting was about Fitness Personalities. By using the Myers-Briggs test as a framework, Suzanne Brue developed 8 different categories (I’m a white). Given the difficulty of making exercise a lifetime habit for many of us, this could be a helpful framework for understanding what works, what doesn’t work, and with some rationale for why.
Here’s the quick summary:
- Blues are safety-conscious, and good at creating their own space and concentrating in a gym.
- Golds are traditional, conservative, and like to share their exercise experiences and results with others.
- Greens are nature lovers who enjoy outdoor activities.
- Reds like to live in the moment and compete in team sports.
- Whites prefer to plan, hate to be rushed and are visionary types who enjoy calm spaces.
- Saffrons like to express themselves as individuals and are attracted to spontaneous, engaging activities.
- Purples are routine-oriented and enjoy repetition.
- Silvers like exercise to be disguised as fun.
Guest Post: Sports Drinks for Kids: A Do or a Don’t?
December 6, 2010 0 Comments
Joy Paley is a guest blogger for An Apple a Day and a writer on online nursing classes for the Guide to Health Education.
Sports drinks have been getting a ton of bad press lately. Google the subject, and you’ll find a myriad of newspaper articles and blog posts “exposing” sports drinks for what they are—water with sugar and a little artificial coloring. But it’s no surprise that sports drinks have sugar in them; that’s something that’s never been hidden. The real question is, will that extra sugar be bad for your kid? Well, as most things, it depends.
Dental Health: One mark against sports drinks like Gatorade is that they can be bad for your teeth, if you drink them often enough. They all are relatively acidic, which can lead to enamel degradation. Juice and soda are acidic too, though, so it’s not like sports drinks are special in that regard.
Performance: The literature review of the effectiveness of sports drinks on preventing dehydration and increasing performance is mixed. In most respects, water and sports drinks perform equally well. After working out however, kids who have had the sports drink have been shown to have a higher body weight—meaning they lost less fluids during their workout. This is one potential benefit of choosing a sports drink over water.
Calories: Sports drinks are generally full of high-fructose corn syrup, providing many sugary calories to whoever drinks them. For example, 20 ounces of Gatorade Performance has 122 calories! That’s less than 20 ounces of soda, but it’s still nothing to sneeze at.
And, many studies have correlated a higher intake of sugary beverages, like soda and sports drinks, to higher body mass index and worse diet in children. It makes sense right? If a kid is drinking soda all the time, they’re consuming more calories, and drinking less of the beverages that are actually beneficial, like milk or 100% juice; greater intake of those beverages correlated to an adequate intake of calcium, vitamin C, vitamin A, and magnesium.
In Moderation: If you look at all the scientific studies I mentioned above, you might want to make a knee jerk reaction and pull that sports drink right out of your kid’s hands. Those studies aren’t about your specific child or family, however, and it’s important to realize how your particular situation could come into play here.
If you live in a house where kids rarely have soda or other sugary drinks, letting them have a Gatorade at sports practice isn’t going to make them obese. If your kid is already guzzling soda at home, then adding a sports drink isn’t going to help—but sports drinks are only one thing that should be on your list of dietary worries.
What you do want to avoid is having your kid think that sports drinks are somehow “healthy,” when the truth is that they’re not. And, you don’t want a situation where your kid drinks sports drinks in place of water, because they think the sports drink will somehow make them feel better. However, as long as the drinks are had in moderation, like being consumed only at a specific activity like sports practice, they aren’t going to make your kid unhealthy.
Other Possible Beverages: I would caution parents to avoid replacing regularly sugared sports drinks with lower-calorie artificially sweetened ones. The trouble with these? In studies, greater intake of diet soda has been linked to higher BMI. Why? People rationalize that they are consuming less calories, so they “make up” for it by eating more.
Instead, try creating your own fruit-infused water. Cut up strawberries, cucumbers, and apple slices, and let them sit overnight in a pitcher of water. The result is delicious and low-calorie. Or, pick up a low-sugar 100% fruit juice from the store.
The Bottom Line: If your kid eats a healthy diet and avoids most sugary beverages, letting them have a Gatorade at their practice or game isn’t going to hurt. Just don’t let sugary sports-drinks replace water in regular day to day activities.
Smaller Homes – Better Health?
November 18, 2010 0 Comments
Apparently, there is a trend toward smaller homes (although I don’t see it out in the burbs). The median home size has dropped from 2,300 square feet in 2007 to 2,100 square feet with more than 1/3 of Americans saying their ideal size is below 2,000 square feet. (stats from article)
This makes me wonder if having less room will encourage people to get out of the house more. Go out in the yard and play. Go out to the gym. Be more social.
Will this encourage more neighborhood interaction? Since we know that social pressures affect our decisions around smoking, eating, and exercise, this would seem like a good thing.
It would be an interesting thing to study at a macro level.
Americans Walk Less Than Others (Surprise!)
October 5, 2010 0 Comments
Really…this can’t be new news. BUT, it is relevant to our obesity epidemic. Here’s a chart based on a new study from the October issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (also in today’s USA Today).
My takeaway…I need to use my pedometer and figure out how much I walk per day. It should be 10,000 or more steps a day to be considered “active”. [2,000 steps is a mile.]
I was surprised to see that women take more than 400 steps per day fewer than men in the US.
Decisions When Running A Race
October 4, 2010 0 Comments
For the first time in a year, I ran a race yesterday. It was a half-marathon. I didn’t train that hard so I didn’t have huge expectations.
But, as I was preparing and running, I thought about all the things that go thru my mind and figured I’d share that.
- When do I buy a new pair of shoes? I’ve had the same style of New Balance for years. But, I make sure I don’t end up running a pair into the ground right before a race and have to switch to a new pair.
- Do I carry a drink or use the race drinks? I prefer to carry a drink and save the time of slowing down during the drink stations.
- Should I walk to drink or run through the drink? I’ve tried both. I like to walk on the full marathon, but run through in all the other races.
- Should I listen to my iPod? Yes for me since that’s how I train.
- Should I run with someone? I’ve tried it a few times. It works well if you have a similar pace and goal. I think it’s important to do training especially long runs with people. My old training group helped me get a lot faster in the past.
- What should I eat the night before? Pasta and carbs.
- Where should I start? I’ve started at the frontline (for a 5K) with my average pace group and with other groups. I think this is somewhat mental. If I start with people that are too fast, I run the risk of trying to keep up and burning out. If you start too fast, you also have people passing you which can be psychologically frustrating. If you start with a slower group, you might have to do more navigating to get to run fast, BUT I do like being able to pass people. It’s a good feeling.
- What types of splits should I do? The debate is whether to start fast, run all your miles at the same rate, or start slow and get faster. I personally like to start slower and keep getting faster.
- Do I wear clothes to shed or start the race cold? I always try to wear shorts (although yesterday was under 40 degrees), and I put Icy Hot on my legs which seems to keep them warm early in the race. I’ve worn a long sleeve shirt to toss away, but yesterday, I wore a light coat the whole time.
- Do I bring gel (or beans) or take what they give you? I always bring my own because you know the flavor you like.
- How much sleep should I get? I try to get two good nights of sleep before I race (7 hours).
- When do I go to the bathroom? Believe it or not, this is important. You’ll wait 20+ minutes in line for a portapotty, but you want to hydrate before the race. I hear that the hard core people just pee down their leg while they run, but I’m just not there. If I really have to go, I stop during the race.
- Do I wear the race shirt? I personally don’t like to wear the race shirt for the race. It feels amateur to me (as if you don’t have any other shirt to wear).
- Where should I put my race number? My friends (who run a lot) told me to put it on the front of your shirt and to put it low so it’s basically just above your waist.
That’s a quick list. I’m sure there’s more. What amazed me was the amount of planning for this. I know I do a lot of planning for presentations (logistics, clothes, sleep, run in the am, etc), but I’m sure that others plan a lot more for their recreation than they do for work.
I’m Fat Because You’re Fat – COAK
September 8, 2010 0 Comments
This caught my attention (although I wish it were a PSA not an advertisement for a gym) because I think it is the right concept.
The Coalition For Angry Kids (COAK) is a website by Anytime Fitness playing upon the Childhood Obesity issue.
We heard that September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and people are saying that 1 in 3 of us are overweight or obese. Well, Mom and Dad, can you help us out here? We need more than reminders and threats. We need good examples. If you want us to play an hour a day, then come out and play with us.
They have some good facts on obesity here.
Obama should spend money on some good PSAs (Public Service Announcements) about health. Like the ones that have been used to address littering, smoking, wearing your seat belts, and using drugs.
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