72 Million have High Blood Pressure

The lead story in the Chicago Tribune today is about the number of people in this country with high blood pressure. The focus of the article was monitoring devices and checking your blood pressure at home. I've got one of those things and check my pressure sporadically. It's usually pretty good but that's not because I'm blessed with tremendous genes. Rather it's because I work at it pretty steady. When the medical professionals started talking to me about medication, I started thinking alternative. Apparently, rather than give people the choice of getting up off their ass or taking pills for the rest of their lives, best medical practice is to write a prescription. So here's something I wrote two years ago after completing the Little Rock Marathon. Granted 26.2 miles might be a little overkill just to treat borderline hypertension but if a little bit's good, a whole lot has to be better. Right?


Shop Teacher Bob Does the Marathon

Training Advice From a Man Who’s Done it Once

What prompts a 55 year old man to attempt a marathon? Good question. To find the answer, maybe a little background information might be in order.

I’ve been running off and on for about thirty years. My first competitive or should I say organized run was a 10-1/2 miler. It was 1976 and my hometown was celebrating America’s Bicentennial with fireworks, hotdogs and a road run. I was doing a little sparring at the time and my boxing coach thought it would be a good idea for us to run it. The conversation went something like:

“We should run that race they’re planning.”

“Why.”

“Because I said so”.

“OK, Coach.”

And that’s how I became a runner.

I ran the same race two years later along with a bunch of others, mostly 5 to 7 miles in length. I was never fast – most were run at about an 8:00 flat pace. After a couple of years I decided to try a marathon. I mean let’s face it. You can’t really call yourself a runner if you never ran a marathon, right?

A buddy of mine gave me a copy of a training program he had used, I read up on the subject a little, found a race, and started training. Things were going nicely. My long runs were up around 14 or 15 miles and then I got tangled up in some brush along the side of the road during a late night run. I ended up with a stress fracture in my foot and had to put the marathon plan on hold for a while.

Fast-forward about 15 years. I started coaching a couple of amateur boxers myself. I had put on two or three pounds every winter but had stayed pretty active. I worked the heavy and speed bags, skipped a little rope and as long as we had ice, played a little hockey in the winter. I started running again, training with my boxers and entering a couple of road runs per year just to keep me honest.

For 2005, a buddy I run with came up with the idea we should run one race every month for the whole year. I gave it about a minute’s thought and agreed, as long as we ran a ½ marathon along the way. I ended up running 11 events last year including two ½ marathons and race-walked two more events. My buddy put in 15 for the year. My best 5K time was a 23:45. Not fast, but I had lost 25 pounds and for a guy carrying a newly minted AARP card, I was feeling pretty good.

After running the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon, I was now an international runner, had a good mileage base and was facing the approach of winter here in the Midwest. What’s a boy to do? You work hard all year so you can hibernate in front of the TV and eat chips? Heck no. You run a marathon. I picked Little Rock.

How do you go about picking the marathon that’s right for you? Make it an event. In my case, I’m really impressed with what Governor Huckabee has done to get himself and the State of Arkansas in shape, the Clinton Presidential Library is there, it’s 600 miles away and it has the world’s largest finisher’s medal. It was a no-brainer.

I took a couple of weeks off and then started the Hal Higdon Marathon program for beginners. I had used his program to train for the half and it worked well, so why not? Besides, I had actually competed against him in one of the 10-1/2 milers way back when. Well, maybe not really competed. He won and I crossed the same finish line as he did.

Starting an 18-week program for a March marathon in the Midwest can be challenging. We get cold, we get snow, we get rain, we pretty much get it all from 20 below to 60 above. Having lived here all my life, I knew what I was getting into. I should also tell you that I think treadmills are for sissies. If you are training for an event to be run on a rubberized track, in a climate-controlled environment with no cars, dogs, roadkill, or potholes, then by all means run on a treadmill. Ten years ago the temps in early February were about 20 below. If that had been this winter my fanny would have been in my buddies basement running in place on the endless rubberband with the rest of the sissies. I got lucky – something like 43 days of above average temperature in a row this winter. Besides, you won’t inspire too many people to take up running if they can’t see you run. The people in the gym are already convinced. If all of us took to the streets, the streets would become more runner friendly as well.

Along with the treadmills are for sissies axiom, I’ll throw in the no batteries required corollary. Running requires good shoes and non-chafing clothes. That’s all. If it’s your first marathon you’re training for, leave the GPS, heart rate monitor, watch, and MP3 player at home. If you’re struggling to make your weekly long run, either you’re running too fast or your mileage base isn’t what it should be. You don’t need a gadget to tell you that. Find a comfortable pace and run it. You’re training for distance not speed. Regardless of your finishing time it will be your PR. Next time go for speed. In the interest of safety and motivation I do strongly suggest a running buddy. Mine couldn’t commit to the training time a marathon requires, so most of my runs were solos. I’m pretty much a lone wolf type of personality but after running with the same guy for the last couple of years, I missed the witty repartee.

Here’s a couple more pearls of wisdom I’ve picked up over the years:

A big race should be a big event. Pick a race that requires some travel. Cash in a couple of sick days and head out. You’ve been running for over a year and trained specifically for 18 weeks for the marathon. Enjoy the circus.

Tell all of your friends your plan. If everyone knows what you’re training for they’ll offer plenty of support and your pride won’t let you quit.

Get advice. Seek out those who have done a marathon. Custom tailor any training tips they may offer to fit you and your particular fitness level and expectations. More important than the training tips are the stories they’ll tell you about running a marathon. Talking shop is always a good motivator.

Get happy. You’re going to be tired and you’re going to have to make sacrifices. You’re friends and loved ones will be happy to support you as long as you’re happy and excited about the prospect of running a marathon. Your training should not be a marathon for them.

Stay flexible. Flexible means stretching, deep muscle massage or whatever it takes to keep the muscles loose. Flexible also applies to the mental game. I shifted a 12 mile run from Saturday to Monday because it was zero outside. Two days later it was a balmy 14 degrees and it was no problem. Things are going to come up. If your mileage base is good, you can afford to skip a couple of days and it won’t hurt you any.


So, how did it go? The three weeks between the last big training run and the marathon seemed like an eternity. I was starting to seriously question old Hal’s wisdom. All that resting was sure to lead to a loss in fitness. I was also starting to become extremely paranoid about something coming along to muck up the works. My wife came down with a vile sort of 24-hour stomach flu two days before we were to leave. Every kid I came in contact with at school seemed to be sneezing or coughing, as well. I was sure I would never make it to Little Rock without some type of problem.

Apparently good clean living does pay off. The drive down was lovely. Little Rock was warm and sunny on Saturday for our day of sightseeing. Race day was about 50 degrees and clear when the gun went off. Later in the day it warmed up a little but was overcast. Perfect conditions for running long distances. The course was extremely hilly, at least by midwestern standards, but not enough to stop 5000 people from competing in one of the various events offered that day.

My target time was 4:45 and my chip time was 4:44:22. About as close as a guy can get. The only real problem was the big hill near the finish. That baby’s just plain wrong. I walked up that one and an overpass at mile 18 and took some additional breaks along the way late in the race but felt pretty good most of the way. The race was well run, the course was policed well and the people of Little Rock were very supportive. It was the first time I had ever been in a race where my name was on my bib number. It was nice hearing people call my name and cheering me on. My wife was waiting for me at the finish with dry clothes and a hug. I got my world’s largest finisher’s medal – that sucker is big – and was treated like a hero when I got back to work a couple of days later. It was perfect.
Now I can call myself a runner.