<p>Ow on the yoga pose!</p>
<p>I went for an honest to goodness 1.5 mile jog today as the last piece of the president’s fitness test. The 1 mile walk with heart rate said I was in the 60th percentile for my age, so did the run. It was pretty hilly, I might do better if I try this on the track, though I might die of boredom. If you want to know what 60th percentile is - it’s pretty slow - a little over 17 minutes.</p>
<p>Your time would be a lot faster on the track- with no hills. You could stand 1 1/2 miles on the track. Just 6 laps!</p>
<p>Yeah- on the yoga pose. They caution you NOT to go back if you have knee pain, but I think I pushed it a little too far. Some people flop right back. Not me.</p>
<p>That yoga pose looks dangerous. It would be a total knee killer for me. Knees are not something I would want to mess up, judging by what DH had to go through and still not getting 100%.</p>
<p>This is for laughs (I guess the 4th place finisher was not amused):</p>
<p>[Runner</a> disqualified for taking bus during marathon | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2016475741_apathmarathontakingthebus.html]Runner”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2016475741_apathmarathontakingthebus.html)</p>
<p>I recently started two medications and have found that my energy is much improved and I’m running fairly effortlessly two or three miles per day and also lifting weights several times a week. The two medications are a very low dose birth control for endometriosis pain symptoms and an over-the-counter heavy duty allergy medication, not an antihistamine but some other class that I can’t remember or pronounce. Anyway I feel hugely more energetic. Maybe it’s fall weather although it’s still pretty warm here. I really think these medications have helped me shake off some issues that were putting a real drag on my energy.</p>
<p>So my point is that sometimes just pushing yourself to exercise when you honestly don’t feel like it isn’t the answer and getting to an underlying health issue is what is needed.</p>
<p>I prefer to stay away from medications unless absolutely necessary. Our society is too quick to jump at a medication “fix” without fully knowing future effects or side effects.</p>
<p>An example is this week’s news that men who took Vit E have increased risk of prostate cancer.</p>
<p>If I didn’t exercise every time I didn’t feel like it, I would still be on the couch!</p>
<p>Whatever works for you, though.</p>
<p>Sewhappy, both of my sons have been severely affected by pollen at certain times of the year. They can’t function well without medication. I’m so glad that you identified the problems that were sapping your energy.</p>
<p>Sewhappy:</p>
<p>It’s probably a bit of a chicken and egg situation. It’s easier to exercise when you feel healthy and energetic. You feel healthier and more energetic when you exercise. Both sides of the coin reinforce the equation.</p>
<p>Double ow on that yoga pose. My knees hurt just looking at it. I don’t think my ankles/feet would be much happier. </p>
<p>Walked down to the spice shop this afternoon, and the guy ahead of me had an ancient copy of Bob Anderson’s stretching book, which I haven’t seen in …forever. Bob used to run stretching sessions at my college around lunchtime in the Women’s Gym. Lights off, and this calm voice would move us through about thirty minutes of stretches. Somehow you just felt better and moved better for the rest of the day. I need to see if I can find something like that to do at home a couple of times a week.</p>
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<p>You do realize that supplements are not medications in that claims for their efficacy are not regulated by the FDA? The whole world of herbal supplements and vitamins is basically the Wild West of healthcare. My MIL is blind from macular degeneration, most likely from taking Ginko Biloba to ward off cognitive decline back in her 60s.</p>
<p>People take vitamins thinking they are safer than “drugs” when prescription and over the counter medicines have been rigorously studied and are monitored for adverse events into perpetuity. </p>
<p>I stopped with multivitamins several years ago when the Nurse’s Study started to show shorter life expectancy among women who took them.</p>
<p>I take two supplements: fish oil and psyllium husk fiber.</p>
<p>There seems to be very broad agreement that these don’t do any harm and may do some good. The fish oil increases good HDL cholesterol. The fiber is almost universally recommended to lower the risk of colon cancer and potentially to smooth the metabolism of carbohydrates. There are some docs, like Michael Eades, who suggest that the benefits of fiber are oversold, but even he doesn’t suggest any downside.</p>
<p>I don’t take a multi-vitamin. I eat pretty much nothing but whole foods, so I suspect that I’m getting plenty of vitamins, although I don’t know.</p>
<p>I tend to be pretty skeptical of supplements and medications. I approach it from the standpoint of needing to be sold on real benefits substantially greater than real side effects. For example, I doubt that you could sell me on the net plus of taking Lipitor.</p>
<p>I do think that there is some merit in getting adequate, if not generous, protein. If I struggled to get enough in my diet, I wouldn’t be adverse to a protein supplement/shake. Getting enough protein, in my diet, doesn’t seem to be a major challenge!</p>
<p>Even though I belong to the “dark side” and technically should be promoting anything that my industry rolls out, I’m not a fan of pills as solutions to many health issues. That said, there are some instances when a person’s condition cannot be cured by any amount of lifestyle change. Allergy, unfortunately, is one of these conditions. If it weren’t for Claritin, DH would not be riding his bike in the spring. I’m glad that you are getting your issues under control, sewhappy.</p>
<p>As far as supplements go, especially vitamins, I think many of these should be regulated, but I do not see this happening (too much pressure from the cosmetics and supplement industries, FDA having too much on their hands, etc.). The main danger, as I see it, is people tend to take the supplements in much, much higher doses than needed (or safe). Many do not think twice about washing down their daily multivitamin with vitamin fortified water.</p>
<p>As far as Ginkgo causing AMD, there are some ongoing studies that hint at Ginkgo being beneficial for vision improvement in galucoma and possibly AMD (the dry form).
[Ginkgo:</a> MedlinePlus Supplements](<a href=“http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/333.html]Ginkgo:”>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/333.html)
The main risks for AMD are genetic pre-disposition, smoking, age, eye color, and exposure to sunlight. There are some other factors that also lead to accumulation of drusen and subsequent vision loss. AMD is classified as either “wet” type characterized by uncontrolled growth of blood vessels, or “dry” type (which typically has a later onset), when the photoreceptors in the eye die off from accumulation of the toxic junk generated by oxidative processes and ulraviolet radiation. As the MD who used to lead our research efforts used to say, the best cure for AMD is early prevention, and wearing sunglasses is like wearing sunblock. So, here is my health tip of the day: treat your eyes kindly by wearing sunglasses and remember - your photoreceptors are neurons, and they do not regenerate!</p>
<p>I use a nose spray for my fall allergies. Used to take pills for about 6 weeks in the fall, but the nose stuff seems to handle it here in TN. I always felt weird- just sort of zoned out- even on the none-drowsy stuff.</p>
<p>Got my 3.3 mile run in last night, then did quite a few squats and pushups to keep everything in balance. Checked who’s playing at our favorite watering hole on Friday - ugh, someone I’ve never heard of, could be bad. So the revised plan for the week calls for more running tonight, mall walking tomorrow (instead of dancing), and trail running/biking on the weekend.</p>
<p>Light rain all morning so I waited for it to stop (advantage of not working…). Ran from the house so had lots of hills. 6.3 done. My daughter is running a half this Saturday that I am NOT entered in (and can’t be). It filled up in May or something ridiculous like that. I’m going with her to support her and run her in. It will be fun to go to a race and not have to freak out about it, although I hope she has a good run!</p>
<p>MOfWC, I bet you will still be freaking out, just in a different way. I always freaked out when our girls competed (to distract myself I became the loudest fan in the stands :)). Good luck to your daughter - she is a real runner!</p>
<p>I found a wonderful half/full marathon race - Sonoma to Napa, July 2012. Registration will open in November. :)</p>
<p>^^That sounds like a fun race!</p>
<p>My mil has recovered a bit of her vision by using Avastin off label, and now a new one in that class. Her eye doctor attributes her very severe wet macular degeneration to the Ginko, which she took in large quantities. Her identical twin has no macular degeneration. Both lived in sort of dreary climates, not very sunny. Her eye doctor, quite a good one, says to eat a lot of dark green vegetables to ward of macular degeneration.</p>
<p>Claritin did the trick for me until I moved to NJ. I am enjoying NJ but the air is quite challenging. </p>
<p>The only supplement I consider taking is vitamin D since that research just seems to keep getting stronger. Have stopped wearing sunscreen to get more sun and I know that’s taboo but it just feels right somehow.</p>
<p>3.5 miles in my new Brooks shoes, easy 8:50 pace. My feet felt great. Thanks, MOfWC for alerting me to the release of these shoes. DH says that I should keep them just because they are pretty. They turned out to be functional as well.</p>
<p>Love my new Brooks Ariels! They are great for over-pronators with atrophied foot padding and wide forefeet and narrow heels like me. They are worth the $30 premium over the Addictions. I needed leather walking shoes for walking the track on wet, muddy days, and the super thick Ariel insoles fit the Addiction walkers just fine. (The Ariels don’t come in walkers.)</p>
<p>I decided to use the 5k training program in the Galloway book I bought last year, so today I did some “speed” work. There’s one for a 30 min goal and one for a 25 min goal, and being the unrealistic overachiever that I am, I decided to do the 25 min one, which calls for 5 x 400 meter laps in 1:52 to 1:55 each. </p>
<p>I picked a street nearby that is about a 1/4 mile long and did the first in 1:52 and the second in 1:55, then decided I need a street without a hill in the middle. I walked to a more flat area and ran for 2 min, walk for 1, run for 2, walk for one, but I have no idea what the distance was. For the last run segment I found a nice flat stretch between two intersections, so I ran that in 2:19. I looked it up on google pedometer, and it’s about .27 miles. I’ve never tried speed work before, I have always just run for 5k.</p>