September 1, 1986
Fitness
HAVING FUN RUNNING BECOMES HIS BUSINESS
The first time I saw Joe Oakes, one Sunday morning in 1977, he stood in a parking lot at Foothill College and Los Altos Hills looking at the watch on his left wrist and holding his right hand in the air.
He had recently turned 40 and had decided—with the help of his physician—that weight above 200 pounds, plus an active business life and a passive physical life did not bode well for the future.
Joe’s hand was up because he was about to signal the start of the weekly Fun-Run. Joe was below 200 pounds, but still soft around the middle. After he signaled the start, he handed the stopwatch to someone else and took off.
In those days he wasn’t fast, but he was very enthusiastic. At any Bay Area race, you were likely to run into Joe Oakes.
The good things in sport kindled a fire in Joe. He entered more races, put in more and more miles, entered longer races, put on races himself. His interest in endurance sports expanded; his interest in business waned.
During the past decade, he has done the Ironman Triathlon six times, has done Western States in well under 24 hours, organized the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, and has triathloned his way across the country with his son and two other stalwarts.
In one Ironman outing, he competed with three broken ribs, a broken wrist, and other broken bits and pieces, compliments to a careless driver who ran into him while he was training on his bike less than two weeks before the race.
It was at that point Joe decided his priorities were a little off center.
Instead of always looking for difficult events, and training with a demonic passion, he would have fun while he trained, relying on his extensive physical background, and some 50 miles of weekly running to sustain him. From that base he’d be capable of running a marathon reasonably well whenever the urge struck him.
He also made another major change. On January 1, he sold his interest in his business and decided to “semi-retire” so that he could travel and enjoy life.
In the wake of that decision, he has traveled to the Soviet Union with Americans who have set up a cooperative peace venture with a group of Russians. The nine Americans visited the Soviet Union and spent time living with their hosts. Now the Americans will host eight Russians in the U.S., hoping to open new lines of communication and understanding.
Subsequent to the U.S.S.R. visit, Oakes went to the island of Nanisivik, 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, for the Midnight Sun Marathon, and out-and-back double-marathon over landscape that makes the moon look hospitable. Joe’s time of 9:45 for the 52.4-mile ordeal is not a work record, but it was accomplished under adverse conditions and on 50 miles a week training.
Joe is now planning a climbing trip to the Himalayas. His long-term project, however, is an around-the-world triathlon by a joint American-Soviet team. The respective governments are not making the task any easier. “What I’d like to see in the dangerous Bering Strait,” Oakes said, “is a U.S. Coast Guard cutter and a Soviet cutter providing support for our efforts. It may be a pipe dream, but we’re working on it.”
Meanwhile, on Sundays when he’s home in Los Altos, he competes in the Fun-Runs. “Running a double-marathon above the Arctic Circle is an experience,” Oakes said. “But I really get off burning a half-mile at ole Foothill College.”
September 8, 1986
Fitness
A NEW MEDIUM FOR THE OLD PHILOSOPHER
During the height of the running madness, when running was the “in” thing to do (as opposed to a thing to do for its own sake), George Sheehan, a cardiologist from Red Bank, N.J., grew to fame first as the medical editor of Runner’s World magazine and ultimately as the “guru” of running.
Since I’ve never felt comfortable calling people by names I don’t understand myself, I’ve more often thought of him as the “old philosopher” or running, rather than the “guru.” George doesn’t mind being called old. In fact, he glories in aging because as he ages he rocks the boat when it comes to preconceived notions about what an old person “is supposed to be.”
One of my favorite Sheehan columns came after he almost broke three hours in the Marine Corps Marathon. He had been complaining about Boston’s qualifying standards before the marathon, and then praised them afterwards for providing the motivation for an old man to go faster than he ever thought possible.
Sheehan does a wonderful job of lifting quotes from the great philosophers, mixing them together in a formula only he is privy to, and spewing them forth in columns, books, lectures—and now audio tapes that make it possible to take George with you on auto trips.
Although the 47-minute tape isn’t packaged especially well (it doesn’t even have a clear plastic protective box to hold it), it does contain vintage George Sheehan.
The tape, “How to Feel Great 24 Hours a Day” (Listen USA), is keyed to his book of the same name. The title is a sneaky way to secure Sheehan an audience outside the running community, and although he primarily talks in terms of running, his material is applicable to the general category of health/fitness/sports.
If the tape has a major flaw, it is that it sounds as though they stuck Sheehan in a sound studio and had him give one of his lectures into space. At least at the beginning of the tape, until he gets rolling, you can tell George is a mite out of his element. They’d have done better to set a microphone in front of him as any of his many lectures; Sheehan’s unique ability to feed off the audience’s reactions would have enlivened the presentation.
George argues that runners and other aerobic athletes are special people in a world too far removed from the Greek ideal of a balance of mind, body, and spirit. He argues that the revolution of positive health in this country is due in no part to the medical profession, physical education courses, or coaches, but is due instead to a groundswell of human beings taking control of their own lives.
For many years during the height of the running madness, Sheehan performed the function of front man for that portion of the medical community that felt it was perfectly all right—in fact, it might be damned good—for people to go out and run around in their underwear.
With the passing of the years—and the growing body of literature confirming that aerobic exercise is not only harmless but will help increase the quality of life—George’s role has shifted a bit. He’s now the front man for the concept that everyone should become more physical. And he’s the cheerleader for those who have already taken that giant step toward actively pursuing health as revolutionary way of life.September 15, 1986
Fitness
AN ALLERGY AWARENESS IS DESCENDING UPON US
There is an ancient belief that when you sneeze, it is the closest you come to death in life.
The reasoning is that the mechanics of sneezing require that body to shut off certain vital functions—such as breathing—while the sneeze is running its course.
If this ancient belief is true, allergy sufferers will find death boring next to life between April and mid-June and between mid-August and late September.
As a result of the incredible amounts of rain the Bay Area “enjoyed” in the early months of 1986 and the fact that the last rain didn’t arrive until early May, the spring allergy season was a sinus assault of colossal proportions.
The worst period came during late May, when the grasses went through their annual orgy. We are now in the second period of allergy awareness—the ragweed season from late summer through early autumn.
What can you do to keep your fitness intact throughout these attacks from Mother Nature? Stay inside an air-conditioned room and pedal a stationary bike? Make summing your primary activity, traveling to and from the bay or pool inside an air-conditioned car? Give up fitness pursuits when the out-of-doors is the most appealing weatherwise?
There are some rules you can follow that do not provide total immunity—a practical impossibility—from allergic reactions, but which do tend to reduce the bad effects you’ll suffer.
Rule # 1. Since the problem is aggravated by wind, which tends to stir up even more pollen, the best time to work out is in the early morning, when the air is calm and when the dew from the night before is holding much of the pollen on the ground or on the plants. Once the sun dries the dew and the pollen becomes light and airborne, the problem is aggravated in direct proportion to the severity of the wind. (If you have the opportunity, run near the ocean. The prevailing winds blow inland and carry no pollen.)
Rule #2. Upon returning from your workout, take a thorough shower, including washing or rinsing your hair. This gets the residual pollen off, thereby shortening our exposure time to its ill effects.
Rule #3. Never wear the same clothes for two workouts. Always take off your clothes immediately after a workout and put them in a hamper or a plastic bag, trapping the pollen so it can’t infiltrate the entire house. By using a clean set of workout clothes each time, you minimize exposure to pollen already captured on clothing that’s been outside.
Rule #4. Modify your exercising during heavy pollen sessions. Plan in advance to cut back your training to allow your body to compensate for the fact that it is already overworking certain systems in an attempt to cope with the pollen.
Rule #5. When you exercise, consider purchasing and wearing a dust mask. It may look ridiculous and may be a mite uncomfortable, but it will keep the majority of the pollen from invading your body. The disposable masks are available at most hardware stores.
September 22, 1986
Fitness
THE DEBATE OVER GOLF AS A GAME OR SPORT
A great deal of time has been spent over the years in an attempt to differentiate between joggers and runners. But the time wasted in that futile pursuit is nothing compared with the question of where to draw the line between a game and a sport.
For instance, is chess really a sport, or is it merely a game? How about billiards? Or bowling? Or golf?
There’s no question about the basic ball sports and little question about the core aerobic sports. The waters get muddied, however, when the endeavor is one that relies more on skill than sweat.
In the matter of golf, there has always been a certain cynicism applied to it by outsiders, because of the use of a mercenary (caddy) to carry and hold the instruments of play (the clubs) and the use of a vehicle (golf cart) for locomotion.
There is an artistic blending of strength, precision, and hand/eye coordination when a good golfer drives a ball several hundred yards, certainly. And any cross-country runner who has tried to sneak onto a golf course for an early morning workout on a bad-weather day will attest to the dedication of certain golfers.
But whether golf is a sport becomes very much like the jogger vs. runner debate: It is often a matter that is up to the golfer.
Much as a good runner during the offseason will unwind with a 10-mile trail run, a golfer who regards his or her game as a sport frequently spends time away from the golf course getting into better condition.
Although there have been many books published on conditioning for most sports, books on golf conditioning are as rare as pin-stripe suits on the seventh green. This void has existed in part because golfers have not traditionally felt it necessary to physically condition themselves to take swings at a little white ball and pursue it in an electric cart.
With the emphasis on getting better performance through better conditioning, however, there has been increasing interest in golf-specific strength and flexibility exercises.
As a result of treating golf injuries (often overuse of muscles and tendons) and studying the biomechanics of physical movements in golf, Dr. Frank W. Jobe and Diane R. Moynes of Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood have put together “30 Exercises for Better Golf,” a well-researched, extremely easy-to-follow approach to stretching, strengthening, and using weight-training equipment to improve one’s gold game—and to lengthen one’s golfing career.
Although there is nothing revolutionary in the book for the regular aerobic exerciser, the sequences of warm-up and flexibility exercises for the golfer are keyed to movements necessary for playing golf well. And since well-toned muscles always improve performance, there are exercises for building strength in muscles that will work toward preventing injury and post-game soreness.
Jobe is co-founder and executive medical director of the National Athletic Health Institute and medical director of the Biomechanics Lab at Centinela Hospital. Moynes is the former director of the Biomechanics Lab.
Those interested only in playing better golf and taking steps to perpetuate involvement in the game can’t go wrong by investing $7.95 to buy Jobe and Moynes’ book. It can be ordered directly from Centinela Hospital Medical Center, 555 E. Hardy St., Inglewood 90307.
September 29, 1986
Fitness
PARTNERS: HELP OR HINDRANCE?
It is difficult to total the number of people who attempted a fitness program and then gave it up because their partners “let them down” and dropped out—as though fitness were impossible without a workout partner.
The question of whether a workout partner is an asset or a liability pretty much depends on you and your fitness goals. A runner who values serenity on a long workout may want to train occasionally with one or more partners who are better runners in order to improve leg speed.
Conversely, a novice runner who has been urged to take up running by co-workers may find it easier to stick with it if he does not work out with those co-workers, because they may be so advanced they tend to discourage him.
A women who hopes to lose some weight and tighten up the muscles by joining an aerobics dance class with a neighbor may come to depend too much upon that neighbor for motivation. It is normal to feel a little out of your element the first time you attend an aerobic dance class, and to therefore turn to your friend for support. But to depend totally on that friend undermines both you individuality and your potential for becoming fit.
A partner can certainly make the time pass faster and can help motivate you to faithfully keep a schedule. A partner can also provide a pleasant opportunity to socialize and train at the same time. And particularly on long, hard workouts, a partner can be invaluable because, if you are at similar fitness levels, you can offer each other strength you would not have alone.
But to become so dependent that you entertain the idea of canceling a workout just because your partner is not available is to undermine the positive things fitness can do to build you up physically and psychologically. And to depend too heavily upon a friend is unfair in that it puts an extra burden upon that person.
Try weaning yourself away by doing a workout alone once a week, if for no other reason than to experience your fitness activity without being fed through someone else. Once you’re tried it once a week, and have become comfortable taking charge of your own fitness involvement, increase the number of times you go it alone to two or three times a week.
There is no need to eliminate all workouts with a friend. But why link your fitness so closely to another person that, if he or she drops out of fitness or moves away, a positive force in your life is lost until you find another partner?