Sunday, November 20, 2011

My love affair with walnuts

My first memory of walnuts was when my best friend’s mother offered me homemade chocolate chip and walnut cookies. It was love at first bite. Thank you Mrs. Price.

It’s harvest time in our local walnut orchards and I couldn’t be happier. Leaves are turning yellow and brown and walnuts are falling all over the ground.

Walnut orchard on Peachy Cyn Rd. after being shaken up. 
This weekend I took a drive in the rolling hills along Peachy Canyon Road and watched the harvest in progress.

A walnut still partially in its green fruit shell.
A large tractor with a 15-foot-long arm reaches out to the trunk of the tree and gives it a violent shake. In an instant, leaves and nuts fall to the ground.  The tractor moves from tree to tree much faster than you would expect. Crews move in and handpick the harvest off the ground.

Some of the nuts are covered with the green fruit they grew in, but most of them are already dried.

The walnuts are sacked in burlap and sold at the nearby winery, Chateau Margene. They produce walnut oil and other snacks with the Limerock Orchards label. 

It is one of many small, family-operated orchards around Paso Robles, Calif.

Our family is lucky to live in the heart of the production of wonderful food. All around us farmers grow organic fruits and vegetables, raise grass-fed beef, lamb and poultry and create world-class wines.

It’s easy to be a localvore and live, and thrive, on the foods grown within 100 miles of our house. 

Walnuts are one of nature’s perfect foods. A handful contains about 190 calories with 18g of healthy fats, 4g carbohydrates, and 4g proteins. Here are some benefits of eating them:

• Walnuts are high in Omega-3 fatty acids and natural vitamin E

• Walnuts increase your body’s ability to use fat stores.*

• Walnuts have the highest antioxidants content of any nut. Most of the beneficial phenols are in the skin, so don’t take it off.

• Walnuts are protective against cardiovascular problems and diabetes.


Walnuts fit nicely into my paleo lifestyle. I try to choose foods that were available to our ancestors 20,000 years ago before the agricultural revolution. That means I eat lots of vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts and just a little dairy.  It’s helped me lose 80 lbs and take on new challenges I never imagined.

A recent study has determined that only 5.5% of all adults consume tree nuts of any kind. If you’re not eating them already, join us!
Sacks of walnuts for sale at Chateau Margene.



Friday, September 23, 2011

How running saved my life

I’m really enjoying the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. His book is about a Native American tribe, the Tarahumara, who are probably the world's best endurance runners. For them it’s a way of life.

The book makes a larger argument that all of us are born to run, because that is how we evolved.

I was born least likely to run. I was the fat kid in gym class who walked laps around the field, when the coach wasn’t looking, instead of running them.  Even then, I remember getting winded; having side pain; and blaming it on the SoCal smog.

Eighteen months ago, I couldn’t run a mile to save my life. I probably hadn’t run more than a block… ever. I was 280 lbs. and sitting around waiting for a heart attack. It was time for a change.

As it turns out, running saved my life.

How I got started running
My 2nd 5k race in October 2010.
It began when I joined a committee planning the Paso Robles Harvest Marathon & 5k. I picked the 5k as my first fitness goal. I had three months to get ready.

The thought of running 3.1 miles is no big deal for most people. For me, it was like climbing Mount Everest.

I knew I would have to start slowly, but I didn’t know where to begin. I looked for beginner running plans and did some research. The plan I used is reprinted below.

It calls for 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week. I started with five minutes of walking, then three minutes of jogging, then repeat. I jogged as slowly as I could. I took it easy. I listened to my body.

You can start even more slowly, if you need to. How about 5 minutes of jogging and 30 seconds of running. Work up from that, by adding a bit every couple of days.

It’s a mind game

I began to realize that running is more mental than physical. Before you can start or make progress, you have to convince yourself you can do it.

Your mind plays tricks on you. It tries to convince you to stop, slow down or fail. It’s a safety mechanism. Your mind and body basically say, “nothing is chasing us, so why should we be running.” It’s like a little devil sitting on your shoulder and whispering in your ear, “take a break, you deserve it.”

You have to fight the battle head on. I use visualization. I imagine my body is the perfect specimen of fitness; and that I am running effortlessly down a beach. I imagine I am flying like an eagle. I imagine being a hero to my children. I imagine that I am becoming “running.” Ok, maybe that is too deep.

You need to have a constant positive conversation with yourself, affirming your ability and desire to succeed. Repeat a mantra in your head over and over so you can beat the mental game.

Like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – You’re right.”
Running is social! Bay to Breakers 2011 with friends.
Success!
The plan worked. I could run now! I now could burn a ridiculous number of calories. I didn’t experience any pain. I was ahead of schedule, so I found another 5k to do first. Here are the races I completed over the last year:

1. Heritage Oaks Fun Run 5K - 9/26/10
2. Paso Robles Harvest Marathon 5k - 10/25/10
3. Castle to Coast 8.2 miles - 1/15/11
4. Cal Poly’s March Triathlon Series, Lake Lopez -3/27/11
5. Wine Country 5k - 4/10/111
6. Wildflower Mountain Bike Triathlon - 4/30/11
7. Morro Bay Rock to Cayucos Pier-10k - 5/7/11
8. Bay to Breakers – 12k -5/15/11
9. Kennedy Club 10k - 5/21/11
10. 178-Mile Reno to Tahoe Odyssey, team relay - 6/5/11
11. SLO Triathlon - 7/24/11
12. Goleta Olympic Triathlon - 7/31/11

I’ve worked my way up to 10 miles and I will be running my first half-marathon in October 2011.

Thanks to running, triathlons and a new way of eating, my health stats improved tremendously: 
• Weight is down to 210 lbs.
• Blood pressure is down to 120/80
• Cholesterol is down to 172, (LDL 74, HDL 85)
• Triglycerides are down to 64
• Resting heart rate is 52 beats per minute
• Body fat is under 20%
• Waist is down to 34”

Remember to take it slowly

Everyone knows someone who says, “I tried, but I just can’t run.” Usually what happened is they woke up one morning and decided to run. They walked out the front door and gave it their all for a half hour and then boom. They suffered an injury. It hurt so bad they never tried again.

If you try that, expect the same. If you want to succeed, follow a plan and start slowly. Work your way up to three miles.
My first Olympic Triathlon: At the finish, 2:50. 


You were born to run

Born To Run is a convincing book. It explains how our bodies evolved over millions of years to be endurance runners.

Before our ancient hominid ancestors could make bows and arrows, they caught large wild game with persistence hunting. Basically, they spent a day running down their prey until it collapsed. It turns out we are better equipped for endurance than most other animals. Even though other animals are better sprinters, we can outlast many in the long run.

I still don’t consider myself “a runner.” But, I do run – about once a week. Two or three times would probably be better. Running every day might be great for some people, but I find more recovery time wonderful for injury prevention. Plus, I have more fun riding my bike, swimming, weightlifting, and playing racquetball.

This weekend is the one-year anniversary of my first 5k-race. This time around I’ll be doing the 10k. Wish me luck!


Week 1
Monday – Rest.
Tuesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 3 minutes. Keep the pace nice and easy. If you feel you cannot run for 3 minutes then take some short (10 – 15 seconds ) walking breaks in your 3-minute jogging interval.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 2 minutes.
Thursday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 3 minutes.
Friday - Rest. If you feel like cross training, go ahead. If you do cross train, keep the intensity level very easy. You want to let your body recover on these rest days.
Saturday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 4 minutes.
Sunday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 4 minutes.

Week 2
Monday - Rest 
Tuesday - Walk for 30 minutes. You eliminate the running portion for this workout because you have made a lot of increases in the last two weeks. This will give your body a little more rest this week. You will be making increases a bit faster after this workout.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 5 minutes. You are now jogging as much as you are walking. Remember to keep the pace fairly comfortable.
Thursday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 4 minutes. You back off a bit today to recover from yesterday’s harder workout.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - Today you will start to decrease the distance of your walking intervals. Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 4 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Sunday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 4 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.

Week 3
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. You will make another decrease in your walking interval today. Walk for 3 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 4 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Thursday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 3 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Decrease your walking interval to 2 minutes. Walk for 2 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Sunday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 2 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.

Week 4
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Decrease your walking interval to 1 minute. Walk for 1 minute and jog for 5 minutes. If at any time you feel you are struggling, back off to the prior week or to a point at which you feel more comfortable. Remember, however, that you must push yourself a bit to make improvements.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 2 minutes and jog for 5 minutes.
Thursday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 1 minute and jog for 5 minutes.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Today, you will decrease your walking interval to 30 seconds. Walk for 30 seconds and jog for 5 minutes.
Sunday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 30 seconds and jog for 5 minutes.

Week 5
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Today you are going to try something different. Go to a school track or a trail in your area that you have measured. Warm up with vigorous walking for 10 minutes and then jog 2 x 1 mile repeats. Jog one mile and then walk for 5 minutes. The jog another mile. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 30 seconds and jog for 5 minutes.
Thursday - You will extend the distance of your workout today. After a 10-minute warm up, jog for 1.25 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking. You can run almost anywhere - through your neighborhood; in a park; on a school track; or on a treadmill.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - Warm up for 10 minutes. Jog 2 x 1 mile repeats. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Sunday - You will extend your workout again today. Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Jog for 1.5 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.

Week 6
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Jog 2 x 1 mile repeats. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Wednesday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 30 seconds and jog for 5 minutes.
Thursday - Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Jog for 1.75 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - You will do your longest run today. Warm up with 10 minutes of walking. Jog for 2 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Sunday - Extend you run again today if you are feeling up to it. Warm up for 10 minutes. Jog for 2.25 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking. If you are feeling fatigued from yesterdays run, just run 1 mile today.

You have done it! You should now be able to jog comfortably for 2 miles. What you do now is up to you. You can just maintain your new level of fitness by continuing your daily workouts or you can move up to the next level and train to complete a 5K race.



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Treating Patients by Doing Nothing


The Medicine of Nothing

A Simple Solution to Disease

Dr. Alan Goldhamer discusses fasting with Aron Choi of Bastyr University. He says, “The power in the medicine is the diet, sleep, exercise. Everything else is, as they say, the feathers on the rattle, rather than the principles upon which we are getting people well.”



Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Where's the beef?


Do you know where your beef comes from?

Paso Robles rancher Coco Collelmo.
I do. Last week I met rancher Coco Collelmo. She raises a small herd of grass-fed New Zealand Angus seven miles up Adelaide Road from our house in Paso Robles.

Coco’s father started the business in 1959. In 2001, Coco met David Foss of New Zealand who brought a new breed of Angus to the ranch. They share a philosophy of cattle ranching based on sustainable farming and healthy food. They work with the land’s own resources, using superior cattle, managing stock humanely, feeding only fresh grasses, and never using antibiotics or hormones.

These animals evolved over tens of thousands of years to feed on grasslands, not to be fattened up with corn and food by-products, like you find most places. We humans evolved to hunt and eat animals raised on the plains, not feedlots.

I decided to look for more local, healthy alternatives for our family and to cut back on what the industrial food complex is selling us.

A bull at Fair Oaks Ranch
So, last week I drove up a narrow dirt road to Coco’s Fair Oaks Ranch to pick up our quarter-share of steer. Her ranch is one of many community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in town.

After the steer was cut and trimmed the yield was about 400 lbs., not counting the lard, organs, etc. Our share was 1/3 steaks, 1/3 roasts, 1/3 ground beef. It cost us $8 per pound.

This was our second year and we doubled the order. Last year the supply lasted a few months. We should make it farther this year. Surprisingly, the 100 pounds of beef only uses about 4 cubic feet of space and fits well in our regular freezer in the fridge.

Grass-fed beef is good
1. Perennial grasses are better for soil.
2. Animals that are grass-fed their entire life are healthier — and their meat is safer for you. 
3. Grass-fed animals produce the right kind of fat.
4. The corn fed to feedlot cattle is fossil-fuel intensive and heavily subsidized. 
5. Perennial pasture reduces flooding and pollution-laden runoff.
6. Grazing animals don't need the large quantities of antibiotics that feedlot cattle do.
7. Perennial pasture is a carbon sink.
8. Modern grazing methods match the efficiencies of industrial-scale grain production.
9. Pastured animals are treated more humanely.
10. Grass-fed is more expensive, so you eat less.

"The meat you buy in the store comes from cattle that have been fed corn, grain, or feed byproducts," Coco says. Cattle that are fed in confinement are routinely fed high carb diets with low doses of antibiotics and added hormones to make them bigger, quicker.

Their diet changes the composition of their fats from being high in omega 3, which is a natural anti-inflammatory, to being high in Omega 6, which does the opposite. 

Factory farms fatten their cattle in crowded feedlots where they sometimes get sick. Then the sick animals are forced into slaughterhouses with electric prods, forklifts and bulldozers. If you think you can stomach it, watch this video, Slaughterhouse Investigation: Cruel and Unhealthy Practices.  I don't really want to eat sick beef.

Commercial ground beef is usually blended parts from dozens of these factory farms. This increases the chance the meat is contaminated with E.Coli or another pathogen. To prevent tainted meat, some factories add ammonia, according to a New York Times article. Mmm… tasty ammonia.

How to cook grass fed beef
Grass fed beef cooks faster. It stays redder in color even when it is medium temperature, so be careful not to overcook it. Because it is low in fat, I like to drizzle a little olive oil on my steaks to keep them from sticking to grill.

Grass-fed shoulder roast. Yum!
With the ground beef I make burgers, tacos, meatloaf, meatballs and meat sauce. I love to add diced onion, garlic and fresh herbs like cilatro, parsley, dill and basil to my burgers. I’ll usually add a raw egg, some olive oil and a dash of hot sauce, too.

The roasts I slow cook in the oven or crock pot with broth and vegetables.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sitting is the new smoking


A GeekDesk like mine.
Sitting might be just as bad for you as smoking, according to several new studies. It doesn’t even matter how much you exercise. "Heavy sitters" have higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and early death. Your chair is killing you.

• More than four hours a day spent sitting in front of a screen doubled the risk of heart disease in middle-age adults, according to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

• In a study of 100,000 men and women, those who sat more than six hours a day were more likely to have died over the course of the 14-year study than those who sat for less than three hours a day.

• People who spent a decade or more doing sedentary work were almost twice as likely to develop lower colon cancer, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology.

When we first moved into our office, one of the cubicles was already set up as a standing desk. I had to lower it back down to accommodate an employee, but now I'm thinking someone was ahead of their time.

It makes sense that we evolved to stand and move around, not sit at a desk. So, a year ago I thought I should give it a try. After all, bank tellers, waiters, factory workers, farmers, nurses and many more stand most of the day. If they can, why can’t I?

I started in October, 2010, and I’m still standing all day, every day. I’ve never felt better.

Burn calories
My daily work desk.
It offers lots of space.
You could be burning an extra 100 calories an hour just by standing at work. If you are as overfed as most of us, this small daily change could make a big difference in your weight loss goals. Check out how many calories you would burn standing - Click here. I personally think it’s closer to 30 calories an hour for me, but it all adds up.

Reduce back pain
Years of sitting and gaining weight had left my lower back in pain way too often. I found the best way to reduce the pain in the short run is go for a walk. The best way to reduce it in the long run is to lose weight and build your lower back muscles. Standing at work, instead of sitting, has built up those muscles and I rarely experience back pain now.

Good posture
I notice it’s easier to maintain good posture more often, since there is a lot less slouching in my life. The standing desk is very ergonomic. It just feels great to be standing up at work. I am more focused and alert.

Join the club
Winston Churchill, Donald Rumsfeld, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, and Thomas Jefferson used stand-up desks.

Standing options
I wasn’t ready to commit to a standing desk when I began. I simply moved my laptop to a three-drawer file cabinet. After a month of standing, I decided to order one. I bought a GeekDesk for around $700. It moves up and down with a motor, but is pretty basic. As far as usefulness, my review of the GeekDesk is a big thumbs up.

Take it easy
I started working on top
of my filing cabinet.
If you’ve been sitting eight to 10 hours at work and then more at home, it’s tough to just start standing all day. I started with two hours and slowly increased the time. By the end of a month, I was standing at work for eight hours. Every hour or so, I take a short walk in or out of the office and sit down occasionally to read an article. I recently added a rubber pad to stand on. Curiously, it is much more comfortable to stand barefoot than with shoes, but that doesn't go over well in the office.

Try it out
Try standing a couple hours a day. I think you will like it. Let me know how it goes.

Read more
Sitting Vs. Smoking - CBS HealthWatch



Monday, July 11, 2011

Adventures in Fasting





Fasting must have been a regular occurrence for our ancient ancestors, yet in America today it is virtually absent. Food is so plentiful that fasting is hardly imaginable.

Yet not long ago, when the winter came and food stocks ran low, our ancestors would make it through on their reserves of body fat. A typical slim and fit man has at least 70 days of reserve calories, most of us probably have months or years.

I started doing some research and was surprised to find there are people who fast regularly for as much as 40 days in a row. That sounds a little extreme, but I think a day or two of fasting on a regular basis would be good for everyone. Let’s review the benefits of fasting:

Longevity
Numerous studies have found that calorie restriction increases lifespan. Whether this is done with a daily low calorie diet, or by intermittent fasting, the results are similar.

One recent study showed that fasting mice survived significantly longer than the full-fed mice, in spite of the fasting group having a heavier body weight than the control group. Mean survival times for fasting and control mice were 64 weeks and 47. That’s a pretty impressive increase. Source.

Another study on the life expectancy of worms found that alternate day fasting had a 40% increase in lifespan, and intermittent fasting (every two days) had a 56% increase in lifespan over the control worms. In contrast, daily calorie restriction only increased lifespan by an average of 13%. Source. 

Confirming these studies on humans will take more time than I have to wait.  But there is some promising research coming in.

For example, people who fast regularly (once a month) have a 58% lower risk of coronary disease compared with those who don’t fast, according to a report presented at the American College of Cardiology conference in New Orleans. Source.

Weight control
Fasting helps maintain weight loss, by reducing your overall energy consumption. Mentally, it proves to yourself that you have the will power to control when, what and how much you eat. This is a tremendous psychological power over your eating that carries on to days you are not fasting.

Contrary to some worries, fasting for a day or two does not lower your metabolism. On the positive side, your body increases production of human growth hormone, which protects your muscle tissues, and helps muscle growth in the days following your fast. Fasting reduces insulin resistance, which aids weight loss.

Self-healing
Fasting is often credited with “flushing toxins from your body” and other claims that I could not find studies to support. It does make sense that your body might spend more time healing itself, when it is not spending so much time on digestion.

A well documented benefit to fasting is autophagy. When you fast, your body goes into a survival mode to secure a ready supply proteins needed for daily cellular functions. Your cells wall off a tiny portion of their cytoplasm and begin to consume everything in it. Damaged portions of the cell are consumed along with healthy portions. When your fast ends, your body rebuilds the consumed portion, making the cell younger and healthier.

Biochemist Ron Mignery wrote a study on how autophagy works called the “Protein Cycling Diet.” He estimates fasting one day a week for 10 years will result in 70% of your cellular material being rejuvenated. Read it here.

Sense of wellbeing
The most surprising effect of fasting for me was the improved sense of wellbeing. My spirits were lifted. My sense of control over my body was enhanced. I wasn't hungry. Overall, I’d say it’s euphoric. That might explain why fasting is an important part of so many religious traditions.

What I did
A couple of months ago I started a basic 24-hour fast once a week on Tuesdays. I eat dinner Monday night at 5 p.m. and then fast until dinner Tuesday night at 6 p.m. It almost seems too easy, because I’m only skipping two meals.

I decided to try increasing it to 36 hours. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. Then I did it for 48 hours. Afterward it occurred to me that 48 hours was the longest period I had gone without eating in my life – A weird thought.

I have kept it up, alternating between 24- and 36-hour fasts. I am very happy with results and plan to keep up this experiment.


I look at it like exercise. Just like we benefit from a workout where we put our muscles through a temporary period of stress, so we benefit from fasting. It puts our entire body through a short period of stress that we recover from in an improved state.

Longer fasting
If you’d like to see more on 40-day fasts, check out how Dr. Alan Goldhamer of True North Health is using water fasting to improve the symptoms of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and more. Watch video. 


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Staying up late is increasing your weight

It’s well documented that getting eight hours of sleep per night is critical to good health. Here is an additional study from the research journal Obesity that specifically identifies staying up late as a related problem.

Staying up late at night can lead to an additional 2 pounds a month weight gain, researchers reported Wednesday. The study showed that people who go to bed late eat more food, have worse diets and are more likely to have a higher body mass index.
 Many studies over the last 10 years have pointed to the need for people to sleep when they're supposed to (at night) and to sleep for the needed amount of time -- about eight hours for adults. Keeping a healthy sleep schedule allows the body's circadian rhythms to stay in sync and keeps a range of metabolic and physiological systems running smoothly.

The new study adds to the sleep-weight connection. Northwestern University scientists examined 52 adults on their sleep and dietary patterns. More than half of the participants were normal sleepers -- meaning that the midpoint of sleep occurred at or before 5:30 a.m. Late sleepers (44% of the sample) got less sleep and went to sleep later.
Late sleepers consumed more calories at dinner and after 8 p.m., ate more fast food, drank more high-calorie soft drinks and had lower fruit and vegetable consumption. Overall, late sleepers consumed 248 more calories per day than normal sleepers. The late sleepers tended to eat less in the morning, then steeply increased their caloric intake in the afternoon and evening. It's not clear, however, whether the late sleepers ate more unhealthy foods at night because they preferred them or because they had limited choices of food at later hours.

The study reinforces that age-old wisdom that when you eat is important. "When sleep and eating are not aligned with the body's internal clock, it can lead to changes in appetite and metabolism," the senior author of the study, Dr. Phyllis Zee, said in a news release.

The study was published online in the journal Obesity.


In the context of a paleo lifestyle, it seems obvious that our bodies have evolved over millions of years to have a long period of relatively quiet, dark, rest every night. The sun is down for an average of 12 hours a day. So eight hours of sleep sounds reasonable.

Modern inventions like electricity, television and the internet have given us great reasons to fight the urge to sleep, but to our own detriment.

My advice is to relax. Listen to your body’s instincts. Don’t drink caffeine after lunch. Get to bed by 10 p.m. You will be amazed by the benefits.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The 178-mile Odyssey was a life changing experience









Last weekend I faced the toughest physical challenge of my life to date. I joined an amazing team of runners in the 178-mile Reno-Tahoe Odyssey relay race.

Over the past year, setting fitness goals has been an important part of staying focused on my health, helping me lose 75 lbs. I started with a 5k, then 8-mile coastal race, then two sprint triathlons. But I wasn’t sure I was ready for the Odyssey.

The race turned out to be a life changing experience. I now have a deep, personal understanding that human limitation is an illusion. Pain is an illusion. You can subordinate the body’s desires to the will of your mind.

Maybe it’s just called runner’s high, but I have this new feeling of complete satisfaction and an incredible feeling of gratitude for this world, it's people, my family and myself.






On race day our whole game plan changed. The runs I had planned for were scrapped and re-shuffled. We were two runners short of 12 and two of our 10 had painful calf injuries. Our plan to each run three legs of the race turned into four.

My first leg, No. 5, was 5.8 miles, mostly down hill with a couple uphill grades. It was along the Truckee River at noon from a high dam. It had rolling hills sprinkled with snow and beautiful green meadows. I passed three runners and was passed by no one. I was inspired to move quickly because Jon, our team captain, had just completed the toughest leg of the race, No. 4, over a hill with 8 miles. He finished so strongly I had to hustle. I finished in 53:14.

My second run was very cold, at about 10 p.m., in to the city of South Lake Tahoe. It was 3.8-miles long and the vehicle traffic at night was a little scary. The grade was flat, but my perception was of a slight uphill grade. I had a lot of clothing on and it weighed on me. I felt sluggish. It was great to see signs of civilization: inns, lodges, bars and people on my way to the check point at Bank of the West on South Lake Tahoe Blvd. I ran it in 38:24.

Leg three was a 3.3-mile run from a fire station to Hwy 395, then to a shopping center. I really tried to move on this leg. I knew it was short, but it was also 4 a.m. and I was getting fatigued. At this point, I started thinking I was letting my team down, because most of them were running 5 or 6 mile legs or very steep legs, whereas mine were shorter and/or down hill. I gave it some juice and tried to keep up with faster runners. I did better than I expected and surprised my teammates, who were not quite ready for me. I did it in 29:28.

Originally we were each planning on doing three legs each. Jon and his friend Jeff had trained to make up a few legs just in case. But we had so many to make up, because of missing and injured runners, we all needed to pitch in a little extra. Our plan was to split up the last four legs among those who could take more. Since I had done some pretty easy runs, I knew I was needed.

After Virginia City, Jon took the run up over a peak of 3.7 miles. He said that if he was feeling good, he would keep moving down the hill. I was going to do an additional three miles on from where he stopped.

At the end of the 32nd leg run, I was prepared to run, but expected him to keep going. When I saw him coming, he gave the "slash across the throat" sign and I realized I was on for the next run. I felt the adrenaline rush, took the wristband baton and ran off at a good clip. I felt great.

At this time the team had been up for more than 30 hours. There was grumbling on the bus. It sounded like we were out of energy and low on spirit. I had dark thoughts that we might not be able to finish. I realized that my commitment to take three miles was weak and not even half of the next leg.

I was listening to Pink's Raise Your Glass and F’ing Perfect and reflected on everything I had done in the past year to get in shape. It was a turning point where I could choose to be a man or a mouse. I decided I would do whatever it took to finish the race and I was starting by finishing this leg.

When I saw my team halfway down the hill at the 3-mile mark, I pointed at my chest and then down the hill. I threw down my hoodie. I shouted to the team: "I am going to finish this leg!" I gained speed and kept running. The team cheered me on.

It was an emotional breakthrough for me. I smiled and cried most of the way. I thought of my inspirations. I thought of my training. I thought my team needed me in this moment. I pushed hard.

I used a few thoughts to keep me focused on finishing the race. I thought of Siddhartha learning to overcome the pain and desires of his physical body during his ascetic years.

I thought of my Native American ancestors and imagined channeling them. Their spirits ran through me and energized me.

I thought of Einstein’s quote, “for us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion.” I imagined that I had already run a marathon, an ironman and had completed this Odyssey.

It was much easier than I thought. I was one of three runners on the team to do four complete legs. It was a 6.5-mile run down 1,750 feet of elevation. It was my longest run and the third longest of the 36 legs. I was done in 59.35.

I was prepared to do more, if needed. But our heroic team stepped up and saw us to the finish line. We finished in 29 hours and 32 minutes. Our average speed was 9:57 minute-miles, my average was 9:19.

This is a note I jotted down just after finishing my 19.4 miles: There is nothing more powerful than accepting your own death. I accept it. I am at peace with myself and with my life. I have conquered death. I am not afraid of dying.

I am very proud of my team and myself for completing this relay. I now feel energized to accomplish just about anything and I won’t give up ‘till I collapse.