Wellness and obesity
In 1994, youngest son and daughter had just begun running on a local track team. I have always been a
parent that liked to be involved with my children’s activities. The sport of running would prove to be one
of my biggest challenges and one of the most rewarding from a physical and wellness standpoint I have
ever had. I wanted my children to be healthy and I wanted them to be involved in something wholesome
that would keep them from wanting to get into mischief.
At this time, I had just broken an all time waistline record; I had passed the 50 inch line. I am only 5 foot
7 ½ inches tall. As you can see, I was a bit short for my weight. I wanted to help as a parent so I
volunteered to help the coach in whatever he needed me to do. Every parent that was involved in this
team must have either been starving themselves or ran every waking moment of every day. I became
concerned that my weight may become a point of embarrassment to my children. Not to mention that
my wellness and quality of life was slipping away the older I was got.
Although they did not say that my weight and involvement in the running club was embarrassing, I didn’t
want to take the chance. I decided that I would begin walking a half mile a day. A half mile walk may not
seem like a long distance for you, but for someone in my condition, it felt like a marathon.
After my first day walking, my legs were sore everywhere. But, I had been listening to the running coach
and knew that soreness was part of the package. In the eleven years I have been running, working out,
and training, I have learned a lot about the physiology of exercise and running. It is my hope here to help
you to train and exercise so you too can have a better quality of life. It is my personal opinion that
running and walking is one of the best ways to do that. However, before you engage in any physical
activities, make sure you check with your doctor or health care professional so he or she can
evaluate your ability to exercise. For the two plus years I trained for the Boston Marathon, I consulted
a medical doctor who specialized in the cardiovascular system, exercise and other challenges I had. He
did blood work and had me do a treadmill test to make sure I was fit enough to do the kind exercise I
had elected to do. He also did a treadmill test a couple weeks before I actually ran the Boston
Marathon. I found out just how skilled my trainer was at that point. At 49 years old, my Medical Doctor
said that my heart and cardiovascular system was in the best shape of anyone that he had tested except
for one other marathon runner who was about 30 years old. My resting heart rate at that time was about
43 bpm.
For the next couple of months I went through various stages of soreness, progress, and some failures.
After about my third week when my mind was telling me that this was not going to work, I began actually
walking faster. I started out walking my half mile in about eight or nine minutes. I dropped a whole
minute after my first couple of weeksk of workouts. That small victory made me feel pretty good inside.
As I continued, I began to add some distance to my half mile.
TIP The rule of thumb for increasing your running distance is never increase your weekly workout by
more than ten percent. In my case, I was walking a half mile or 800 meters per day. I walked five days a
week to start. That would be 5 X 800 meters or 4,000 meters, which is two and one half miles. Ten
percent of 4,000 meters is 400 meters or a quarter mile.
I learned, just as many of the beginning athletes, that if I increase my workout too fast, I was going to
start having physical outcomes I didn’t like. One of the major problems that develops is shin splints.
Another problem is joint pain; others may experience tears in ligaments and tendons in extreme cases.
As my running distance increased and my time per half mile dropped, I noticed that some days I was
very sore after my walk and other days it felt like I was pulling a train as I walked. I decided that I might
want to ask the coach if he could help me along even though I wasn’t on the team. His response was,
“this was a family sport” and he wrote workout programs for most all the parents. He told me the first
thing I needed to do was to get my own heart monitor like the one I purchased for the kids as part of their
required equipment.
TIP Heart monitors; there are many brands of heart monitors out there I am told, I have stuck with
the Polar Heart Monitor. It has serviced me well and I would never train without one. They sell from $50
to several hundred. The inexpensive heart monitor will work find until or if you decide you want to do
some more serious training. For those who are exercising for wellness, the inexpensive monitor will do
just fine.
What does an EKG heart monitor do? The most obvious thing it does, is it shows and records your
heart rate. It will also give you a report of average heart rate over your workout time. One of my favorite
features is that these monitors also let you set a range so that you can keep a certain heart rate all
though your workout. Oh, one other small advantage to these watches, it will also give you the time of
day.
What are the training benefits of a heart monitor?: I asked the coach the same question a million other
athletes must ask every trainer they ever have, why do you want me to do something. I didn’t expect the
logical insightful response I got from this young running coach. He said just like the most highly trained
athletes in the world, I can not tell when I am over training my body. I told him right off I wasn’t over
training. He was polite and firm and asked what I was doing with the elastic bandage on my knee. You
mean my sore knees were from over training? He said absolutely!
I learned that even though I was only walking about three quarters of a mile per day, I was over training. I
thought if my pace is that of a snail and my walking distance isn’t enough to get me around the block,
how could I be over training. Coach’s response was encouraging. He said I am out here working, I am
making an effort; I am open to being taught and that is half the battle. He said if I will follow his schedule
he was writing for me, I would improve more than I could have ever dreamed possible.
Well I surpassed any dream I have ever had for myself athletically. In April of 1996, I had dropped my
weight from 267 pounds to 163 pounds and successfully ran the Boston Marathon. One other thing,
Coach accompanied me to Boston where he also ran one of the most competitive marathons there is.
The Boston Marathon was my second marathon I had ever run. The Boston Marathon requires each
athlete to run a qualifying run the year before they run the Boston Marathon. I ran that twenty-six plus
miles around 9:46 per mile average.
A lot of people will tell me they can‘t do what I did because of some circumstance they are in. I do
understand that some people have a lot to overcome to do something so foreign as a daily workout. I
was no different, I had my challenge too. I had been legally blind since my 13th birthday. I had to run my
qualifying run in Tulsa in December of 1995 and the Boston Marathon with running guides.
I want to take a minute here to thank and let all who read this know how much the running community in
Tulsa and around the country have meant to me. Without them and the support of my wife and children, I
would have never even begun on this journey nor would I have stuck with it. Oh, by the way, I have also
learned that the human body is a wonderfully created living tabernacle of energy that houses our human
spirits. And has the amazing ability to heal and restore itself if we give it what it needs and carves. One
of those requirements for wellness is exercise. It does not have to be running or walking but, those are
two good ones and the same principles apply to any aerobic exercise.
The first long term goal that anyone who wants to improve their health and wellness is to engage in 30
minutes of aerobic exercise. You may have to start slow, and/or divide out your workout, but, aerobic
exercise, according to all I have read, can assist the body in healing almost any ailment. To see the
chart for aerobic points, CLICK HERE
Like me, you may be facing a challenge loosing weight. I have learned that if I have a plan and I have
support, I can do some amazing things with my life. Loosing weight is not easy, but, with
encouragement, proper nutrition, and support the task of weight loss can be a reality in your life as well.
There are road blocks that make it hard if you are unaware of them. Email us and give us your contact
information. We will be happy to get back with you so we can share our experiences that might help you
as well. There are no fees for any materials we might send you for workout tips or our experiences in
weight loss.
Please put "weight loss" or "Workout tips" in the subject life when requesting information
Send contact info to:
info@stewardshipgroup.net
In 1994, youngest son and daughter had just begun running on a local track team. I have always been a
parent that liked to be involved with my children’s activities. The sport of running would prove to be one
of my biggest challenges and one of the most rewarding from a physical and wellness standpoint I have
ever had. I wanted my children to be healthy and I wanted them to be involved in something wholesome
that would keep them from wanting to get into mischief.
At this time, I had just broken an all time waistline record; I had passed the 50 inch line. I am only 5 foot
7 ½ inches tall. As you can see, I was a bit short for my weight. I wanted to help as a parent so I
volunteered to help the coach in whatever he needed me to do. Every parent that was involved in this
team must have either been starving themselves or ran every waking moment of every day. I became
concerned that my weight may become a point of embarrassment to my children. Not to mention that
my wellness and quality of life was slipping away the older I was got.
Although they did not say that my weight and involvement in the running club was embarrassing, I didn’t
want to take the chance. I decided that I would begin walking a half mile a day. A half mile walk may not
seem like a long distance for you, but for someone in my condition, it felt like a marathon.
After my first day walking, my legs were sore everywhere. But, I had been listening to the running coach
and knew that soreness was part of the package. In the eleven years I have been running, working out,
and training, I have learned a lot about the physiology of exercise and running. It is my hope here to help
you to train and exercise so you too can have a better quality of life. It is my personal opinion that
running and walking is one of the best ways to do that. However, before you engage in any physical
activities, make sure you check with your doctor or health care professional so he or she can
evaluate your ability to exercise. For the two plus years I trained for the Boston Marathon, I consulted
a medical doctor who specialized in the cardiovascular system, exercise and other challenges I had. He
did blood work and had me do a treadmill test to make sure I was fit enough to do the kind exercise I
had elected to do. He also did a treadmill test a couple weeks before I actually ran the Boston
Marathon. I found out just how skilled my trainer was at that point. At 49 years old, my Medical Doctor
said that my heart and cardiovascular system was in the best shape of anyone that he had tested except
for one other marathon runner who was about 30 years old. My resting heart rate at that time was about
43 bpm.
For the next couple of months I went through various stages of soreness, progress, and some failures.
After about my third week when my mind was telling me that this was not going to work, I began actually
walking faster. I started out walking my half mile in about eight or nine minutes. I dropped a whole
minute after my first couple of weeksk of workouts. That small victory made me feel pretty good inside.
As I continued, I began to add some distance to my half mile.
TIP The rule of thumb for increasing your running distance is never increase your weekly workout by
more than ten percent. In my case, I was walking a half mile or 800 meters per day. I walked five days a
week to start. That would be 5 X 800 meters or 4,000 meters, which is two and one half miles. Ten
percent of 4,000 meters is 400 meters or a quarter mile.
I learned, just as many of the beginning athletes, that if I increase my workout too fast, I was going to
start having physical outcomes I didn’t like. One of the major problems that develops is shin splints.
Another problem is joint pain; others may experience tears in ligaments and tendons in extreme cases.
As my running distance increased and my time per half mile dropped, I noticed that some days I was
very sore after my walk and other days it felt like I was pulling a train as I walked. I decided that I might
want to ask the coach if he could help me along even though I wasn’t on the team. His response was,
“this was a family sport” and he wrote workout programs for most all the parents. He told me the first
thing I needed to do was to get my own heart monitor like the one I purchased for the kids as part of their
required equipment.
TIP Heart monitors; there are many brands of heart monitors out there I am told, I have stuck with
the Polar Heart Monitor. It has serviced me well and I would never train without one. They sell from $50
to several hundred. The inexpensive heart monitor will work find until or if you decide you want to do
some more serious training. For those who are exercising for wellness, the inexpensive monitor will do
just fine.
What does an EKG heart monitor do? The most obvious thing it does, is it shows and records your
heart rate. It will also give you a report of average heart rate over your workout time. One of my favorite
features is that these monitors also let you set a range so that you can keep a certain heart rate all
though your workout. Oh, one other small advantage to these watches, it will also give you the time of
day.
What are the training benefits of a heart monitor?: I asked the coach the same question a million other
athletes must ask every trainer they ever have, why do you want me to do something. I didn’t expect the
logical insightful response I got from this young running coach. He said just like the most highly trained
athletes in the world, I can not tell when I am over training my body. I told him right off I wasn’t over
training. He was polite and firm and asked what I was doing with the elastic bandage on my knee. You
mean my sore knees were from over training? He said absolutely!
I learned that even though I was only walking about three quarters of a mile per day, I was over training. I
thought if my pace is that of a snail and my walking distance isn’t enough to get me around the block,
how could I be over training. Coach’s response was encouraging. He said I am out here working, I am
making an effort; I am open to being taught and that is half the battle. He said if I will follow his schedule
he was writing for me, I would improve more than I could have ever dreamed possible.
Well I surpassed any dream I have ever had for myself athletically. In April of 1996, I had dropped my
weight from 267 pounds to 163 pounds and successfully ran the Boston Marathon. One other thing,
Coach accompanied me to Boston where he also ran one of the most competitive marathons there is.
The Boston Marathon was my second marathon I had ever run. The Boston Marathon requires each
athlete to run a qualifying run the year before they run the Boston Marathon. I ran that twenty-six plus
miles around 9:46 per mile average.
A lot of people will tell me they can‘t do what I did because of some circumstance they are in. I do
understand that some people have a lot to overcome to do something so foreign as a daily workout. I
was no different, I had my challenge too. I had been legally blind since my 13th birthday. I had to run my
qualifying run in Tulsa in December of 1995 and the Boston Marathon with running guides.
I want to take a minute here to thank and let all who read this know how much the running community in
Tulsa and around the country have meant to me. Without them and the support of my wife and children, I
would have never even begun on this journey nor would I have stuck with it. Oh, by the way, I have also
learned that the human body is a wonderfully created living tabernacle of energy that houses our human
spirits. And has the amazing ability to heal and restore itself if we give it what it needs and carves. One
of those requirements for wellness is exercise. It does not have to be running or walking but, those are
two good ones and the same principles apply to any aerobic exercise.
The first long term goal that anyone who wants to improve their health and wellness is to engage in 30
minutes of aerobic exercise. You may have to start slow, and/or divide out your workout, but, aerobic
exercise, according to all I have read, can assist the body in healing almost any ailment. To see the
chart for aerobic points, CLICK HERE
Like me, you may be facing a challenge loosing weight. I have learned that if I have a plan and I have
support, I can do some amazing things with my life. Loosing weight is not easy, but, with
encouragement, proper nutrition, and support the task of weight loss can be a reality in your life as well.
There are road blocks that make it hard if you are unaware of them. Email us and give us your contact
information. We will be happy to get back with you so we can share our experiences that might help you
as well. There are no fees for any materials we might send you for workout tips or our experiences in
weight loss.
Please put "weight loss" or "Workout tips" in the subject life when requesting information
Send contact info to:
info@stewardshipgroup.net
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