Page 7 - HealthBeat

GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Upon his return to Little Rock, Rhodes visited his doctor, who put him on a strict diet and exercise regime. The doctor recom- mended a low-carb diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. As for exercise, Rhodes said he was exercising five times a week. He mostly walked in the beginning and gradual- ly added light jogging and running. Experts strongly recommend a visit with a doctor be- fore beginning any training program to check for any unknown medical conditions and to help establish a safe and effective plan. Pre- venting injuries is also another reason to check with a doctor and progress slowly.
“The biggest issue that everybody faces if they start up later in life is that they have to give the body time to adapt to running,” said Gary Taylor, owner of Go Running, a running-supply store in Little Rock. “Even though it’s a very natural thing, if you hav- en’t run any distance in a long time, the body has to have time to adapt. Most injuries and things that sideline people are things that just result in doing too much too soon.”
The next step is to establish a routine that you can stick to and is manageable, Taylor said. Establish which days and what times you are going to run, and stick to the sched- ule while slowly building toward a running goal. If you want to run a certain distance, build up distance gradually.
“If you want to run Tuesday morning, Thursday morning and Sunday morning, let’s say, that time is sacred to you, and you’ll always run at those times, and that’s your dedicated time to run,” he said. “That just makes it a lot easier as you start to build up distance; then you’re not fighting being tired and doing more distances, as well as trying to fit it in with your schedule.”
Dr. Christopher Pittman of Baptist Health Family Clinic West in Little Rock said anoth- er important thing when beginning an ex- ercise plan is to listen to and be mindful of what your body is telling you.
“When you are younger and you exercise, you may have some discomfort, and youth can kind of win out, and you’ll do OK,” he said. “As you age, if you try to push through the pain, you may end up actually hurting something.”
Another issue that Pittman sees frequent- ly is patients who formerly exercised who are starting up again and hurting themselves try- ing to get back too quickly to the level they were previously.
“If you do that, you’re bound to hurt some- thing,” he said. “The tendons and ligaments, they have to be gradually introduced to exer- cise again, or you will cause an injury.”
Pittman said the most obvious sign that something is wrong is pain, but some other signs can be swelling and weakness. He also
After deciding to make a life change in October 2012, Sonny Rhodes has now run four half marathons and even completed the 2014 Little Rock Marathon, despite the cold, rainy conditions.
said if you have any chest pain or shortness of breath, you should stop exercising imme- diately and seek medical attention.
Some of the health benefits to exercise, Pittman said, are decreasing the chance of heart attack and stroke, decreasing bad cho- lesterol while raising good cholesterol, and lowering blood pressure. Pittman also said that exercise can make a person more en- ergetic and can even benefit those who are suffering from low energy.
“We have people all the time who come in and say, ‘Well, I’m just too tired to exercise,’” he said. “Those are the people that should exercise, because they’ll feel a lot better.
“It will also help you live longer, and those years that you will live longer will be healthi- er, more productive years.”
GOING THE DISTANCE
Following his doctor’s advice, Rhodes built up to running about 3 miles a day that fall, and in the spring, he joined the Little Rock Marathon Training Program, which has helped thousands of athletes with their jour- ney to finish the race. It’s a free program that is led by coaches Hobbit and Tom Singleton and provides a safe program for beginners and experienced runners alike.
The marathon training program gives participants a weekly guide to build up to the day of the marathon. During the week, runners typically run between 3 and 6 miles three to four times, and on Saturdays, there will be a longer run. This longer run builds to a 20-mile run three weeks before the actual marathon. During the week, Rhodes usually
WHEN YOU FINISH ONE OF THESE LONG RUNS, IT’S KIND OF A GREAT AFFIRMATION. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN JUST DO ANYTHING.”
SONNY RHODES, MARATHON RUNNER
runs alone, but on weekends, he often runs with a the group at various locations around the city, such as the the River Trail, Two Rivers Park, the Riverdale area and other locations. In 2013, Rhodes competed in the Arkansas Senior Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the 10K run.
“I had never, realistically, thought about running 14, 16, 18 miles to train for [the mara- thon],” he said. “By being associated with this group, I realized I was capable of doing it.”
Rhodes said that since starting his running program, he has seen significant changes in his health. In addition to losing 40 pounds, he has reduced his blood-pressure medica- tion by half and hopes to eventually be off it completely. He has also said he’s had a lot more energy. A few months after starting his running program, Rhodes began doing some light weightlifting at the Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center in North Little Rock. Rhodes
said running is a whole-body experience, so it’s important to have the upper body in shape to avoid injuries. He also said that at the age of 62, he feels very blessed that he has been able to exercise the way he does without any significant health issues or injuries.
Another benefit Rhodes said he gets out of running is that it gives him time to think. As an associate professor of journalism at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a frequent contributor to local newspapers, Rhodes said he will often think of a column or article he is working on and will come up with a new way to approach the work while on a run.
In March, Rhodes completed the Little Rock Marathon, despite poor weather and dropping temperatures. He said it was a gru- eling run, but the pride of finishing a long race is a great reward.
“I guess the hardest part was trying to per- severe and get one foot in front of the other there toward the end, because by that time, I was soaked and cold and tired,” he said. “When you finish one of these long runs, it’s kind of a great affirmation. You feel like you can just do anything.”
Rhodes is currently training for the Jacob Wells 3 Bridges Marathon in Little Rock, to be held Dec. 27. This race starts at the Two Rivers Park bridge in west Little Rock and heads east, crossing the Big Dam Bridge and the Clinton Presidential Park bridge, where racers will turn around and head back to the Two Rivers Park bridge to finish the last six miles of the race in Two Rivers Park.
“I’m definitely excited for it,” he said.
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