Update from Eric #2

As some of you may or may not know a good friend of Ashley and I is out exploring the world until Sept or so. As I receive emails from him I will post them on here because they are very interesting. Enjoy.
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Sawatdee krap!

Thailand-where the pace of life here is unhurried, people are kind hearted and the food is spicy! Traveling around this country has been such a pleasant experience. If you've never been, getting around Thailand is about as easy as it gets and with the exception of Bangkok, no one gives you any hassel. Beaches, climbing, delicious "thai style" ice tea and coffee, $5 massages, amazing cuisine, snorkeling, trekking...what is not to like. I will really miss this place.

I did a fairly decent job of taking in a bit of the country over the last thirty days, which is the allowance period for an on arrival tourist visa. From Kolkata (India) I flew into Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and after a short layover landed in Krabi (Thailand), a small city located along the Andaman Coast. I spent a few relaxing days there decompressing from India and rejoicing that I was back in a clean, calm and green environment. Thereafter, I spent a few days each on the islands of Ko Phi-Phi, Ko Lanta and Railay. The islands here are really nice, but you have to choose wisely which ones to visit. Some can be pretty touristy and have a "spring break" feel, while others can be remote and very quiet. Regardless, there is something for everyone along the Andaman. And just when you think your far away from home as you sit in a chair sipping a beer in a bar out in the island forest that you had to hike a mile to reach with a headlamp on, a reggae version of John Denver's "Country Roads" comes out of the speakers and you are reminded again of just how flat the world has become.

But, as it turned out, the weather was not on my side. After some wonderful days on Phi-Phi the rain came and hung around for days. And it really stinks to be on an island when it's raining, there's no movie theater and your book is not very enticing. I don't recommend Orwell for the beach. With that I headed back to Krabi and worked my way up to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I really liked this city and actually spent a week there before heading north again and spending a couple days in the quaint mountain town of Pai, where I was happy again to rent a small motorcycle and cruise around the countryside saying hi to the local elephants.

I've spent the last couple days in Bangkok. Things have mellowed out here and it's back to business as usual. When you inquire with the locals you get the sense that these cyclical party demonstrations are par for the course and neither party represents the masses. While tourism is or will take a hit as a result of the recent violence it's hard to notice as it seems pretty busy here, which is a good thing.

I've loaded a good bit of pics on Facebook. I'll try to add more over the coming weeks. I took a lot.

Indonesia is up next. I leave tomorrow and will land in Bali, the "Island of the Gods". I am really excited. Get to go back to the beach, hike some volcanoes and check out the orangutans. If I like it as much as I think, I may just have to come back or extend the visa.

I hope everyone is watching World Cup. Go USA!!! It is literally on every TV here. I love it.

Cheers!
Eric

Talking Tonka

Been playing around on the new PC and signed up for YouTube for the 1st time. I had to share one of my favorite videos that my wife took of our boy. Enjoy.

BMI Bullcrap!

I just had to put this out there as a rant. I was playing around a little on the BMI calculator on the CDC website, you can find it by clicking here. This is what it said for me.

Height: 6 feet, 0.5 inches
Weight: 177 pounds

Your BMI is 23.7, indicating your weight is in the Normal category for adults of your height.For your height, a normal weight range would be from 138 to 186 pounds.

Maintaining a healthy weight may reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with overweight and obesity.

There is a 50 pound range for me!!!! If I got down to 138lbs I would be in the hospital. What a bunch of BULLCRAP! How did yours turn out?

Wedding!!!

Here are a lot of the photos from the wedding a few weeks ago in the Garden of the Gods down in the Springs. I just added a bunch that we just got yesterday.

If you click on the photo from my blog (not the Facebook feed) then it should take you straight to the album on-line.

Ryan Hall Rematch

After getting passed by Ryan Hall on Saturday morning during my 20 mile trail run on the Mesa Trail, I decided that it was game on. I took him in the Bolder Boulder and taught him a lesson not to mess with the real runners, trail runners! That will send him back to California with his tail between his legs.

Dash-n-Dine #6

Well last night's race just sucked. My time was respectable at 20:13 but once again I failed to break the 20 min mark that I set as a goal. What is funny is that I still ended up 16th in the series overall standings out of 100 people with only running 2 of the 6 races I paid for. If I wouldn't have gotten hurt and done all 6 races I would have been in the top 10 and I bet I would have broke my 20 minutes that I was shooting for. Oh well that is life.

Now it is time for my list of excuses.

1. No real speed work since running 20:10 6 weeks earlier due to cracking my ribs.
2. Mileage has been way down due to the ribs.
3. Took Saturday through Monday off due to the wedding and getting food poisoning. I lost 15 lbs in less than 24 hours. I had put all that water weight back on by Tuesday night but still felt run down.

Well considering my lack of big miles the last 6 weeks my race at Golden Gate 50K (31 miles) on June 5th should be interesting. I think I will be running this as a long easy run targeting to finish around 7 hours. There is no need to burn myself up with Leadville being the goal. I have to keep my eye on the ball as they say.

OK, enough whining. I the next post should be after the Bolder Boulder, hopefully with pictures because I will be just jogging it in a cool costume. Stay tuned.

Here is the link to the results

Dash-n-Dine #6

Series Standings

Books read in 2010 so far.

I set a goal at the beginning of the year when I was unemployed to read at least 12 books in 2010 so I could average at least one a month. I will easily surpass this! My new goal is to read over 20 for the year.

Below is what I have read so far just finishing the last one a few days ago. I need some suggestions for more running books that I can hit up so I can take a break from all the mountaineering books. I think the next book that I will be picking up is "Once a Runner". Let me know if you have any suggestions, I am all ears.

2010 books read

1. Die Trying
2. Born to Run
3. 14er Distasters
4. Forever on the Mountain
5. Montana Mountain Goat
6. Pre
7. Above the Clouds
8. The Beckoning Silence
9. Running with the Buffaloes
10. The Long Walk by Rawicz
11. Fire on the Mountain
12. The Greatest- Haile Gebrselassie
13. Gold Hill and Back
14. Effective Project Management
15. Beyond the Mountain
16. Minus 148

Diet and Exercise to the Extremes

I came across this article in the New York Times and thought I would share with everyone. You can get to the article by clicking here. I have also copied it below if you don't want to follow the link.
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Diet and Exercise to the Extremes
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: May 12, 2010


I went running with Scott Jurek on a clear, chilly morning last month, an easy four-mile loop in Central Park. He ran another few miles with 50 or so adoring fans, then another few by himself, for a total of about 15. After that he showered and came to my house to cook lunch before going for a late-afternoon jog of another 10 miles or so.

Scott Jurek ate cookie dough, canned vegetables and fast food as a youngster, but in college his diet began to improve. Eventually, he dropped dairy and other animal products entirely.

That’s an easy day for Jurek, 36, an accomplished ultramarathoner. But one might say he has been in a slump: he has not won a major race since the 2008 Spartathlon. On the other hand, he set a personal record there, it was his third consecutive victory on the 153-mile course between Athens and Sparta, and he holds the fifth-, sixth- and eighth-fastest times in race history.

If last year was a wash, this year he is fit and psyched for the 24-Hour Run world championship in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, on Thursday and Friday. It is a grueling race to determine how many miles runners can complete on a 1.4-kilometer road loop (about nine-tenths of a mile) in a 24-hour period.

Jurek says he can break the American record, 162 miles, held by Mark Godale. (The world record, 178 miles, and just about every ultramarathoning record from 100 to 1,000 miles, and from 24 hours to 10 days, are, Jurek said, “unassailably” held by Yiannis Kouros of Greece, who no longer competes.)

To win Brive, Jurek said, he must: “Get on it, crank around it, and get it done. It’s all in a day’s work.”

It’s a long day, and one that raises a particular aspect of Jurek’s training that makes him an especially interesting athlete: he is a vegan, consuming no animal products.

There are other professional athletes who do not eat meat: Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, a vegetarian, may be the best known, and Georges Laraque, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens, is also a vegan. But it is difficult for some to comprehend how this lifestyle is compatible with training weeks of 140 miles and more, “easy” runs of 40 miles and interval training that includes uphill three-mile repeats, all culminating in races that are often 100 miles or more, sometimes through deserts or frozen wastelands or up and down mountains.

Jurek certainly looks healthy enough. He is tall, dwarfing most competitive marathoners, not rail thin, with a quick smile and boundless energy. A few hours after our morning run, he showed up at my house and began pulling things out of the refrigerator and pantry with abandon: vegetables, greens, herbs, miso, tofu, olives, shallots, lemons, nut butter and more.

He displayed knife skills and good culinary judgment, preparing a meal for me and his girlfriend, Jenny Uehisa, a designer for Patagonia (he is sponsored by Brooks Sports). We ate a Greek salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, loads of olives and seaweed; a stir-fry of vegetables with tofu and a miso and cashew sauce; and a mound of quinoa.

Where did he learn to cook this way? And more to the point, how does he survive? After all, I said to him, none of my running buddies, a group of nonelite but defiantly dedicated marathoners who train in Central Park, maintain as rigorous a schedule as his, and many claim to have trouble consuming enough calories even while being omnivorous.

“The whole issue,” he said, “is exactly that: getting enough calories. The first thing to worry about isn’t so much what you eat, but how much you eat. You have to take the time to sit at the table and make sure your calorie count is high enough. And when you’re a vegan, to increase your calories as you increase training you need more food. This isn’t an elimination diet but an inclusion diet.”

Jurek grew up in Proctor, Minn., eating cookie dough, canned vegetables and his share of fast food. When his mother, Lynn, developed multiple sclerosis (she died this spring), he and his siblings began cooking, but the food was, he said, “very Midwest — meat and potatoes.” In college, his diet began to improve, and as he “saw how much disease is lifestyle related,” he began eating “real food, eating the way people have been eating for thousands of years.”

He made the transition to less meat and more fish, then eventually knocked out dairy and other animal products entirely.

“It’s really a mental barrier,” he said, and he obviously has experience overcoming those. He said he needed 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day, “and I get that all from plant sources. It’s not hard, either. I like to eat, and I don’t have to worry about weight management. All I need is a high-carbohydrate diet with enough protein and fat.”

He said he spent a great deal of time shopping, preparing and cooking food — and chewing. He is among the slowest and most deliberate eaters I know, and there is something about his determination at the table that is reminiscent of his determination on the road: he just doesn’t stop.

He focuses on three main meals. Breakfast is key: it might be a 1,000-calorie smoothie, with oil, almonds, bananas, blueberries, salt, vanilla, dried coconut, a few dates and maybe brown rice protein powder. Unless he is doing a long run, which for him is seven hours, or about 50 miles, he eats after his first workout. Lunch and dinner are huge salads, whole grains, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and usually beans of some sort or a tempeh-tofu combination.

“None of this is weird,” he said. “If you go back 300 or 400 years, meat was reserved for special occasions, and those people were working hard. Remember, almost every long-distance runner turns into a vegan while they’re racing, anyway — you can’t digest fat or protein very well.”

Jurek said he hated running when he was in high school, enduring it only to stay in shape for skiing. But when he was 20, a friend persuaded him to try a marathon. He finished in less than three hours, good for second place and astonishing for a novice. By 1999, he ran his first Western States 100. Formally called the Western States Endurance Run, this is an up-and-down course in the Sierra Nevada with a cutoff time of 30 hours. He set the course record in 2004, 15 hours 36 minutes; won the race seven consecutive times; and in 2005, two weeks after finishing, ran and won the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race that begins in Death Valley and ends halfway up Mount Whitney.

Looking back, he wondered, “Where was my mind?”

Which brings us to an obvious question: What is Scott Jurek trying to prove? Of the few thousand Americans who consider themselves ultramarathoners, most would be happy just qualifying for Western States, and most of those would be ecstatic to finish before the cutoff.

Jurek, having proved himself in dozens of off-road races, is focused on the 24-hour record and looking forward to the flat race, “an environment where it’s just me and the clock and the road under my feet.”

After that, he would like to run — and win — the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, an ultramarathon in the Alps at a distance of just over 100 miles; the record is a little more than 20 hours. His best finish was 18th, and he dropped out twice, so it’s a serious challenge.

“I haven’t had a great race there,” he said. “But though I want to win, the running is a vehicle for self-discovery. I’ve been racing for 15 years, but I feel like I’m still at my peak.”

Evidently, it isn’t his diet that’s slowing him down.

Mark Bittman, who is a vegan until 6 p.m. and a runner at various hours, writes The Minimalist column for The Times, and can be found at markbittman.com.

Update from Eric

As some of you may or may not know a good friend of Ashley and I is out exploring the world until Sept or so. As I recieve emails from him I will post them on here because they are very interesting. Enjoy.
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Namaste Everyone –

The Himalayan mountains are magnificent!!! I think most of you know this already but I just finished a wonderful 19 day trek through the rural and Khumbu regions of Nepal. Before setting off I was fortunate enough to have a personal guided tour of Kathmandu with my guide Nawang Samden Sherpa. My dear friends Clay and Donna set us up and he was so kind as to let me stay with his wife and family in their home during my stay. Their hospitality was incredible and I miss their company (and endless supply of milk tea) already.

I basically completed what is called the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek. However, most folks typically fly into Lukula and begin their trek out of Namche Bazaar, but given that I’m flexible with time I decided to take an alternative route which started in Jiri. This adds about 6 days, but exposes one to rural Nepal where you can shake the crowds, find people farming rice and wheat in the terraced fields and walk through beautiful rhododendron forests. All in all, we covered about 75-85 miles, hiked nearly 100 hours and by the time we reached base camp we ascended almost 9,000 meters – the full height of Mt. Everest from sea level!

One particular night it got pretty chilly since we were at about 13,000 ft. Noticing I was cold, Nawang’s son Tsheringwangchu said “come sit by the fire”, which ended up being the ceramic oven of our lodge where a woman was cooking our dinners. At first I felt like an intruder but everyone seemed relaxed. Moments later I noticed a little girls head pop up from a bed, so not only was I in the kitchen but also their bedroom. Moments later the husband arrives and feeling uncomfortable I got up to leave, and noticing this the husband touches my shoulder and says “no..no, please sit”. It’s hard for me to describe, but this is what stands out about the people of Nepal for me – very, very kind, genuine, and hospitable.

The mountains are incredible. They are so huge it makes you laugh. And, if you’re like me and enjoy mountains, they can definitely raise some emotions. They certainly did mine. Eight out of ten of the worlds highest mountains are in Nepal and I got to see four ;>.

Also, cruising the streets of Kathmandu on the back of a motorcycle will make you feel pretty alive! It’s a developing city and while very crowded and polluted, it’s an interesting place with a lot of character.

Tomorrow I’m off to India with a stop in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddah. It’s gonna be soooo hot!!!

Thanks to my friends Clay and Donna for setting me up for much success in this first part of my trip.

I’m working on posting pics on FB, but I’ve encountered some technical difficulties which I hope can be repaired by finding a better cyber café.

Hope everyone is doing all well back home. Thanks for all the emails! Keep ‘em coming.

Miss ya'll,
Eric

Dine-n-Dash #1 5K

Well ran my 1st non-snowshoe race of the year last night out at the Boulder Rez and it went a little better than I expected. I really did not know what to expect since my running volume had taken a hit from starting this new job while I am figuring out how to balance it all and the fact that I have only done one track workout about 2 weeks ago. The track workout was nothing intense at all, just some 10X100, 5X200, and 2X400 so I could work my way back into some sort of speed. With that I figured anything under 24 mins would be a good start to this 6 race series.

Got there about 5:50ish and after getting ready, I walked/jogged around Coot Lake with Neal for about 25 mins as a warmup. I wanted to run a little more than I did but I just was not feeling it.

The cowbell went off and I tucked behind two guys who were running side by side so they could do all the work going into the 20-30mph winds that were whipping off the water. I hit the 1st mile in 6:25ish and thought what the hell! With that I felt maybe I have a shot at breaking 20mins which is my goal to do in one of these 6 races. The 2 guys that were breaking the wind for me started to hurt and slow down from the wind so I passed them and I was on my own from there.

After the 180 degree turn around I started eyeballing people in front of me. First was a guy in a long sleeve black shirt that I passed shortly (within quarter mile), about here is when I saw Neal kicking some ass heading toward the turn around. My next target was a local named TK who I meet a few years ago before he got kicked out of the Boulder Trail Runners. He is pretty quick and I have never been able to beat him in a race or keep up with him when our paths cross.

Passed mile 2 in 13:03ish still keeping TK the same distance from me, I just could not close on him. The last 1/2 mile hurt as we went across the last dam straight into the wind. Sucking air big time and having a major side ache I crossed the finish line in 20:06 according to my watch, 20:10 according to the race watch. I finished the same distance from TK as when I started trying to catch him, just could not close it out.

That is a PR for me by over a minute and 45 seconds! Huge! Of course this is the first 5K race I have ran since 2006. I am sure if I would have ran one in 2007 or 2008 I could have easily broken 20 mins. Hopefully it lead to some better times over the next 6 weeks. I want to beat TK just one time during this series and break 20 mins for 3.1 miles.

Mental Health Providers Should Prescribe Exercise More Often for Depression, Anxiety, Research Suggests

Keeping up with the trend this week of coming across articles that are related to exercise this one was sent to me by Neal. You can find the link here.
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ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2010) — Exercise is a magic drug for many people with depression and anxiety disorders, and it should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers, according to researchers who analyzed the results of numerous published studies.

Exercise has been shown to have tremendous benefits for mental health," says Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "The more therapists who are trained in exercise therapy, the better off patients will be."

Smits and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University, based their finding on an analysis of dozens of population-based studies, clinical studies and meta-analytic reviews related to exercise and mental health, including the authors' meta-analysis of exercise interventions for mental health and studies on reducing anxiety sensitivity with exercise. The researchers' review demonstrated the efficacy of exercise programs in reducing depression and anxiety.

The traditional treatments of cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy don't reach everyone who needs them, says Smits, an associate professor of psychology.

"Exercise can fill the gap for people who can't receive traditional therapies because of cost or lack of access, or who don't want to because of the perceived social stigma associated with these treatments," he says. "Exercise also can supplement traditional treatments, helping patients become more focused and engaged."

The researchers presented their findings March 6 in Baltimore at the annual conference of the Anxiety Disorder Association of America. Their workshop was based on their therapist guide "Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Disorders," with accompanying patient workbook (Oxford University Press, September 2009). For links to more information see www.smuresearch.com.

"Individuals who exercise report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, and lower levels of stress and anger," Smits says. "Exercise appears to affect, like an antidepressant, particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain, and it helps patients with depression re-establish positive behaviors. For patients with anxiety disorders, exercise reduces their fears of fear and related bodily sensations such as a racing heart and rapid breathing."

After patients have passed a health assessment, Smits says, they should work up to the public health dose, which is 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity. At a time when 40 percent of Americans are sedentary, he says, mental health care providers can serve as their patients' exercise guides and motivators.

"Rather than emphasize the long-term health benefits of an exercise program -- which can be difficult to sustain -- we urge providers to focus with their patients on the immediate benefits," he says. "After just 25 minutes, your mood improves, you are less stressed, you have more energy -- and you'll be motivated to exercise again tomorrow. A bad mood is no longer a barrier to exercise; it is the very reason to exercise."

Smits says health care providers who prescribe exercise also must give their patients the tools they need to succeed, such as the daily schedules, problem-solving strategies and goal-setting featured in his guide for therapists.

"Therapists can help their patients take specific, achievable steps," he says. "This isn't about working out five times a week for the next year. It's about exercising for 20 or 30 minutes and feeling better today."

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by Southern Methodist University.

Exercise pain is a good thing

I just keep coming across these article the past couple of days that are worth sharing. Here is another one, hope all is well from snowy Boulder Colorado. Here is the link for the article.
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Exercise pain is a good thing
Early exercise discomfort happens to everyone. But fear of those initial sensations can cause people to play it safe.

By Eric Heiden
Tribune Media Services
April 4, 2010

In the world of fitness, practice doesn't just make you perfect, it also makes you more comfortable.

As you first dig into a new fitness regimen, as many people do this time of year, the discomfort of exercise can be, well, uncomfortable. The burning muscles and gasping for breath can feel desperate.

It takes a minute to adjust

Experience at exercise will eventually transform these early trials into feel-good experiences, but at first your systems can't deliver what exercise demands of them. The sensations of breathlessness and burning muscles, for example, correlate with the intensity of your effort. When you're out of shape, numerous receptors all over your body beg your brain to slow down: I can't maintain this. As you beef up each system, however, fewer receptors holler for mercy because your systems are no longer working so close to their maximum capacity. Eventually, the number of receptors screaming at your brain will level off, and more pleasant sensations will be able to rise to a conscious level. The signal that was once an emergency siren will become just a familiar signpost: I've pushed this hard before. I can handle it. It'll be OK.

Unfortunately, folks often give up training before this happens because they believe that early discomfort is a signal that they are not cut out for exercise.

Don't give up

The truth is, everyone is cut out for exercise.

Early exercise discomfort is natural and universal — it happens to everyone. But fear of those initial sensations can cause people to play it safe. So they end up choosing activities that come easy to them and avoid new types of fitness training.

Ironically, the areas that challenge you are often the ones you need most to achieve balanced overall fitness, according to exercise performance physician Max Testa. He also points out that these areas hold the potential for the greatest leaps in benefit.

Some scientists now believe that your body signals you to stop exercise well before the point of exhaustion, to keep a little in reserve in case you need to run from that lion in your evolutionary past. But each time you can motivate yourself to push through that point, your body sets the limit a little higher. Continuing to exercise will actually "immunize" you against the discomfort you feel when you first start out.

Elite athletes

Until you reach the competitive level.

At elite levels, all of the athletes competing against one another possess very similar physical abilities. Testa contends that at this level, what determines the winner is who can take the most pain. The ones who can motivate themselves through progressively higher levels of discomfort end up at the top of their sport, says Testa. But, he adds, when they are competing, they are all in pain.

That was definitely true for me. When I was competing, I was nervous before races about how much suffering there was going to be — how much it was going to hurt. These days, things are different. I get to sample a number of sports and experience the various pleasures each has to offer — eventually.

Eric Heiden, M.D., a five-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater, is now an orthopedic surgeon in Utah. He co-wrote "Faster, Better, Stronger: Your Fitness Bible" (HarperCollins) with exercise performance physician Max Testa, M.D., and DeAnne Musolf. Visit http://www.fasterbetterstronger.com.

Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune

The cure of all common health ailments is vitamin D

Get out from in front of your TV's and get OUTSIDE! Here is more on the benefits of just getting outside. You can find the link here.

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The cure of all common health ailments is vitamin D


Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fibromyalgia and depression have one thing in common and it is vitamin D deficiency.

In a book authored by Dr. Michael F. Holick titled THE VITAMIN D SOLUTION: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem, he identifies the causes of vitamin D deficiency, outlines the reasons why it is vital for our health and offers a 3-step program to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D in our bodies.

Dr. Holick, an international expert has studied vitamin D for more than 30 years. From his research, we know every cell in the body carries a receptor for vitamin D and it is not just for the purpose of bone health only.

Increasing vitamin D levels can treat, prevent and reverse a significant number of daily health ailments such as high blood pressure and back pain, reduce symptoms of chronic problems like diabetes and arthritis, and prevent infectious disease like H1N1, and cancer.

Dr Holick also recognizes vitamin D as being able to improve infertility, weight control, memory and mood.

Also know as the "Sunshine Vitamin," vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a hormone that is made in the skin, as a result of exposure to sunlight.

Milk and mushrooms can supply as the necessary vitamin D and Dr Holick advices people to take supplements in order to ensure optimal levels of the crucial vitamin in the body.

THE VITAMIN D SOLUTION provides latest research from all around the world, insightful historical background, a simple strategy for reconstructing and maintaining an optimal level of vitamin D that mixes a sensible amount of sun exposure, supplementation and foods loaded with vitamin D.

Colorado, California Cities Dominate Slimmest Cities List

Like this is a big surprise. I got this article off the WebMD internal site here at work and thought I would share. Not a big fan of the BMI being all that useful for active people but it does give a picture of the general population. Enjoy.
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Colorado, California Cities Dominate Slimmest Cities List
Healthy Habits Abound in Top 10 Least Obese Cities

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical News


March 5, 2010 -- Finally, a top 10 obese list American cities can be proud to be a part of.

A new ranking of America's least obese cities shows that healthy habits make for thinner residents in several Colorado and California cities, which dominate the top 10. Obesity rates in the top 10 least obese cities are an average of 15% lower than rates found in the nation's top 10 obese metropolitan areas and much lower than the national average of 26.5%.

Here are the top 10 least obese metro areas based on their percentage of obese residents.

1. Fort Collins/Loveland, Colo. (16%)
2. Boulder, Colo. (16.6%)
3. Barnstable, Mass. (16.9%)
4. Colorado Springs, Colo. (17.2%)
5. San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles, Calif. (17.6%)
6. Reno/Sparks, N.V. (17.7%)
7. Santa Cruz/Watsonville, Calif. (17.9%)
8. San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, Calif. (19%)
9. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, Calif. (19.2%)
10.Denver/Aurora, Colo.* (19.3%) and Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Conn.* (19.3)
*Tied

The list is based on a nationwide Gallup poll conducted in 187 metro areas in 2009. Researchers calculated the participants' body mass index (BMI) using their self-reported height and weight . A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Healthy Habits the Norm in Skinny Cities

What's the secret to a skinny city? Healthy eating and exercise habits. The survey showed that nine out of the 10 least obese cities rank in the top third of the Gallup-Healthways Healthy Behavior Index. The index measures exercise, eating, and smoking habits.

Researchers found that most residents of the slimmest cities said they ate healthy "yesterday," frequently eat fruits and vegetables , and exercise regularly.

In fact, half or more of the residents in all of the least obese cities report exercising for at least 30 minutes three or more days a week. That's in sharp contrast to the nation's 10 most obese cities, where in all but one less than half of the residents report exercising that much.

Smoking rates were also lower than the national average in all of the least obese metropolitan areas.

Access Builds Healthier Cities

Although individual habits play a large role in keeping obesity rates low, the survey shows community conditions also play a part. Researchers found that residents in nearly all of the nation's least obese cities report above-average access to affordable fruits and vegetables, having a safe place to exercise, having enough money to buy food, and having health insurance.

Those conditions also foster healthier cities. All of the least obese cities have diabetes levels lower than the national average of 11% and heart attack rates below the national average of 4.6%.

Here's a snapshot of how the least obese cities fared in terms of physical health.

National Average
11 % Diabetes
30.6 % High Blood Pressure
27.5 % High Cholesterol
4.6 % Heart Attack

Boulder, CO
5.0 % Diabetes
20.1 % High Blood Pressure
25.8 % High Cholesterol
3.1 % Heart Attack

San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, CA
8.3 % Diabetes
24.7 % High Blood Pressure
24.4 % High Cholesterol
3.3 % Heart Attack

Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, CT
9.3 % Diabetes
29.7 % High Blood Pressure
28.4 % High Cholesterol
3.4 % Heart Attack

Reno/Sparks, NV
8.1 % Diabetes
25.6 % High Blood Pressure
25.1 % High Cholesterol
3.7 % Heart Attack

San Francisco/Oakland/Freemont, CA
8.3 % Diabetes
27.7 % High Blood Pressure
24.8 % High Cholesterol
2.8 % Heart Attack

Santa Cruz/Watsonville, CA
8.5 % Diabetes
25.5 % High Blood Pressure
23.4 % High Cholesterol
2.2 % Heart Attack

Fort Collins/Loveland, CO
7.0 % Diabetes
22.8 % High Blood Pressure
19.7 % High Cholesterol
2.3 % Heart Attack

Barnstable, MA
7.1 % Diabetes
38.1 % High Blood Pressure
28.9 % High Cholesterol
4.4 % Heart Attack

Denver/Aurora, CO
7.5 % Diabetes
26.5 % High Blood Pressure
23.7 % High Cholesterol
3.0 % Heart Attack

Colorado Springs, CO
6.5 % Diabetes
22.9 % High Blood Pressure
21.7 % High Cholesterol
3.4 % Heart Attack

San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles, CA
8.9 % Diabetes
31.4 % High Blood Pressure
25.1 % High Cholesterol
3.9 % Heart Attack


The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being report is based on telephone interviews with more than 353,000 adults 18 and over between Jan. 2, 2009, and Dec. 29, 2009. It has a margin of sampling error of 0.2 percentage points

Dash -n- Dine 5K series

I have been thinking that this year I should do some shorter races to try and improve my speed a little. I think the year that I was was in the best shape I have ever been which was 2007, I did more shorter races.

So with that thought process I signed up for a series of six 5K's that are held out at the Boulder Rez every Tuesday night. My hope is that I will set a 5K PR over the series and get in one of the first 2 waves of the Bolder Boulder. Of course my 5K PR is not that great as you can see on the side of the webpage so I should be able to bring that down a little. I would be great to get it under 20 minutes.

So all you Boulder fast runners you better watch out! I am gunning for you.

Link to the race website: http://www.withoutlimits.com/detail.php?id=dnd#Scene_1