Run DMZ

Sometimes I wonder if we establish New Year's resolutions now because of how hard winter holidays hit. The angst of family gatherings. The aching reminders of those we've loss. The accumulation of gifts in need of a place to go. The scale that doesn't budge (at best) due to the uptick in treats. The end-of-year work assignments weighing on us. The exercise routines uprooted by inclement weather or injury. Even under the best of circumstances, something always feels off right about now.  That's why in 2024, I'm committing to less. Less junk work that dilutes quality. Less negative thoughts. Less mindless scrolling. Less yelling. Less sugar contributing to inflammation. Less carbs that make me crabby. Less caffeine that impacts sleep. Less trips to the store because I'm bored. Less guilt saying "No." Less talking. Less sitting. Less bad TV. Less social media. For me, this has less to do with consumption and more with capacity. I don't want to quant...

A report in today's Time online talks of a study showing yoga can improve mental illnesses, particularly those with mild depression and sleep problems, where another piece in the New York Times shows a link between poor sleep and poor memory. There are a lot of different forms of yoga, and part of its current popularity comes from yoga being marketed now as a fitness regime rather than a different way of life. That distinction helped yoga replace P.E. classes in a local school district's elementary school. It's a controversial decision because some parents saw yoga as a type of spirituality in conflict with their own children's religious values, rather than just another way to stretch, tone and burn calories. But the school board wants to see if it gets more children to be active, and if it really does work on such psychiatric disorders as ADHD, then maybe it's worth it. But those who've stuck with a yoga practice know that if done correctly, there's a...

News outlets announced yesterday that they are changing the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathons finish to Petco Park -- news that is sure to please just about everyone . I worked the final aid station the first year the marathon course changed from the MCRD near the airport to SeaWorld, and it was universally panned. And I'd run the marathon for consecutive years prior. The next year the organizers added the half marathon, which greatly diluted the crowd circling Fiesta Island before the final push. And last year it dwindled even more, with the half marathoners now sounding the horn that SeaWorld sucks as a finish point. (Finishing on the backside of DisneyWorld during its marathon does too, I might add from experience.) But that's not why I'm writing this post. There's a comment from the SDTC coach in the article, saying that seeing the finish line from a couple miles out made those last miles even more difficult. “At 23 miles, all you want to do is f...

As you usher in the new year with an orderly house, fresh mileage calendar, new calorie counter and commitment to save more money, I want you to consider doing something far more challenging this year. I want you to forgive. Forgiveness does not come easy. We all encountered people who hurt us ... boyfriends, parents, bosses, co-workers, best friends. Some are strangers we never see again, but most are people we once held close.  Chronic unforgiveness may make for great television dramas and novels, but in real life it is closely linked to numerous health issues like obesity, substance abuse, depression and anxiety. That’s why it’s important to learn to forgive, not for the people who hurt or offended you but for yourself. I recently attended a mental health conference session on this topic. “Forgiveness is a choice. It’s an act of your own free will,” the speaker told an overcrowded room. “It is an act of emotional release that brings some level of closure and ...

While we were all coming down from our food comas this weekend, researchers were gathered in Chicago to discuss the latest studies on the aging brain. One study that stood out (to me, at least) was one that showed Alzheimer's Disease progresses differently in women and men. I always knew Alzheimer's was more prevalent in women and assumed it was because there are more women and especially more women who live into their 80s and 90s. But it seems the disease actually may attack more gray matter (which you need) in women sooner, while men show signs of cognitive decline from Alzheimer's sooner. That's based on a small sample - a little more than 100 people recently diagnosed with the disease. The other study of note reinforces something that's been discussed repeatedly on this blog: staying active and exercising regularly can stave off non-genetic dementia. This time it is a UCLA study of 876 seniors, average age 78. Those who maintained an active lifestyle - wal...

Sleep - and specifically how to get enough of it - is a frequent subject here at Run DMZ. So when I find a piece that either reinforces or defies the 8-hour conventional cycle, I want to share it. Today's New York Times has such a piece in which the author argues that it may be time to stop thinking we need big blocks of sleep to function properly when shorter bursts of good, quality sleep may do. Robert Stickgold, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, proposes that sleep — including short naps that include deep sleep — offers our brains the chance to decide what new information to keep and what to toss. That could be one reason our dreams are laden with strange plots and characters, a result of the brain’s trying to find connections between what it’s recently learned and what is stored in our long-term memory . Rapid eye movement sleep — so named because researchers who discovered this sleep stage were astonished to see the fluttering eyelids of sleeping subje...

I'm long past chasing PRs in running, but for those of you who are still seeking new bars to cross, consider this experiment written about in New York newspapers and summarized well on The Brilliant Blog . Basically, beginning runners were given 10 weeks to train for a half marathon. None knew much about the art, let alone science, of running and so they just did what came naturally. And, guess what, they steadily improved. Their bodies instinctively learned how to economize their movements and improve their endurance and speeds. They did it by listening to their bodies, rather than generic magazine articles telling you how to run a faster 5k. And they remained uninjured even if their gait and foot strikes were not the norm. The results "raise an interesting question in regards to teaching people to run," Isabel Moore, head researcher at the University of Exeter, told The New York Times. “If runners can self-optimize [then] maybe we should teach runners to learn to un...

One of the things I really like about the group I now run with on weekends is they are punctual. We start early, and we start on time. With my other training group, we started an hour later and still people would show up really, really late. These late-comers tended to be younger, though not always. In listening to an NPR report earlier this week, I think maybe now I know at least one reason why these groups are so different. Members of my current running/walking group are all middle-aged; the other group had a lot of 20- and 30-somethings, and they operate on a different circadian rhythm. You see, as we age, our bodies still require the same amount of sleep but not necessarily at the same time. Our circadian rhythm is triggered by a natural fall and rise in body temperature. When we are younger, the core drops later in the evening but doesn't rise until later in the morning -- thus, as teenagers, college students and young adults, we tend to stay up late and sleep in on wee...

We all know that running with someone else can improve our pace, our spirits and our distances. But here's another reason: it really improves your mind. At a workshop last week, a national expert in dementia care urged everyone to engage in healthy lifestyle choices now to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and other types of memory impairment associated with aging, poor exercise, bad diet, stress, poor sleep habits and head injuries. (And even if she didn't mention it, there's now evidence forgetting to brush and floss teeth can contribute to the disease too .) It's also important to not socially isolate yourself since doing so can lead to "cognitive stagnation." That's why I'm recommending everyone occasionally team up with a running partner. When you carry on a conversation while running you engage the brain differently. -You take turns talking, which requires you to think before speaking. -You use decision making to decide together where...

Just read/heard a great ditty on how we perceive our time and how those who perform a selfless act with their free time perceive those minutes or hours differently than those serving only themselves. From the Scientific American podcast : In another experiment one group of subjects were given a period of free time to do whatever they wanted, while another group had to do something for someone else. Those who did something selflessly perceived themselves as having more time than those with no obligations. Those subjects also reported a stronger sense of personal power and effectiveness. Running in some ways is a very selfish act, especially if you have other people relying on you almost every hour of the day. More time is required to run a marathon or train for an Ironman. Perhaps one reason the training seems to be an imposition to some is because of how they perceive those hours.  Think of them in a different context, and perhaps the time will fly by. Well, in theory an...

Imagine you are on a sinking boat, surrounded by sharks. What do you do? Think about that for a minute, then read on. We all spend so much time keeping our bodies healthy, that we sometimes forget the brain needs to work out too. Just as a new routine or class can engage muscles you rarely used, so too do we need to daily work the brain to keep it in fit form. The other week I had the pleasure of sitting in on a presentation* to seniors on brain fitness. I thought I'd share what I learned, so here are some tips to keep you mentally alert into your golden years as they relate to running. 1. Eat a Mediterranean diet . That means plenty of fresh, lightly seasoned vegetables and fruits in their natural form, along with nuts and grains and lean cuts of meat and fish. If you're vegetarian or vegan, there are other ways to get protein, but try to avoid all of the fake food that passes for vegan fare. Kinda defeats the purpose of eating healthfully if you are basically ingest...

A new, though highly limited, study being reported today , suggests those suffering from depression use the Internet differently than others. A Missouri University of Science and Technology study of 216 undergrads showed those displaying signs of depression tended to use file-sharing services, send email and chat online more than the other students. They also tended to frequently switch among applications, perhaps from chat rooms to games to email, which the lead researcher thought might indicate trouble concentrating - a characteristic associated with depression. And speaking of depression, last week a big study showed a link between middle-aged depression and later age dementia. It got a lot of play, because who doesn't seem depressed at some point in life, but clinical depression does alter your brain chemistry and so it makes sense that particularly those who go untreated are at higher risk of Alzheimer's and other brain impairment later in life. What I wanted to sha...

When I first moved to San Diego many years ago I was struck by two superlatives: at the time, at least, it had more gyms and more tanning salons per capita than any other major city in the United States. I would have thought everyone preferred to be outdoors since it's sunny and in the 70s almost yearround. But after reading a New York Times report on how tanning may be addictive, the second stat may finally be explained. It turns out “people who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.” This conclusion comes after doing actual brain tests while people were all aglow. They even tricked some tanning booth clients by blocking UV rays, and their brains (and bodies) instinctively knew the difference and demanded more. Sun damage and particularly skin cancers are a real concern for runners and other outdoor athletes. And I’ve written before about testing sunscreen product...

We went to get our taxes done this morning and now, of course, I'm consumed with all things financial after getting some very bad news. I like to complain about the expenses associated with running: the not-cheap technology that is suddenly a "must have"; the never-on-sale running shoes; the exorbitant race fees just to earn a technical t-shirt (that serves as free marketing for the organizations you overpaid!); and the visits to health care providers to fix us when we go too far for too long. But apparently running (and many other forms of exercise) may actually keep us from overspending. So while I figure out how to take out a McMansion-sized mortgage and adopt three children before the next tax bill is due, consider listening at your leisure to this Marketplace Money report: Sweating out bad spending habits .

It's gorgeous outside, and I'm fresh off a great run around the lake that ended with lots of hugs from friends, some of whom I haven't seen in years. My grandmother's happy as a clam after going out for breakfast. Even the turtles seem excited by the major tank overhaul currently in progress. And yet, I'm thinking about depression. Specifically, I'm thinking about a piece I read early this morning in Time about whether mourning the death of someone should be reclassified as a mental disorder, therefore treatable with medications. Psychiatry differs from other medical professions in several ways, chief being the brain does not operate like other organs. As such, professionals rely on a dynamic manual that is periodically updated to reflect the general consensus of experts in the field. This is a powerful book. For instance, the spike in austism in the past decade is in part because the manual broadened the definition of the disorder, which allowed a lot more peop...

My friend Tracy was the first to introduce me to an app called MyFitnessPal . It's a free calorie counter, diet and exercise tool to help you lose, maintain or gain weight. Since the start of the year, I've kept a relatively accurate account of how many calories I take in and expend. I say relatively accurate because, like most online calorie counters, the database is primarily self-reported foods and meals with caloric calculations all over the place. A piece of specialty brand sourdough bread, for instance, registers as 110 calories on the package but 300 on MyFitnessPal. And I'm having a hard time believing a couple handfuls of my beloved kumquats cost me as much as a chai tea latte with whole milk. We also tend to cook from scratch at my house, so trying to align our homemade veggie pizza with one in the database produces dubious results. Ditto restaurants. I'm more of a fine dining than fast food consumer, so I have to wing it when I enter those dishes. But MyFitne...

When you are exercising, what do you think of when you don't want to think of what you're doing in the moment? You most likely think of some aspect of your life, past present or future. You play out a story and the role you play in it. Now there's science to suggest that omniscient voice in your head may do more than distract you from physical discomfort. It may help give you a mental health boost. According to a new study's lead researcher, when we cast ourselves as the narrator of our life story, we actually can weather unpleasant events better than when we're convinced we are victims of circumstance with limited options. The experiment involved written expressions, but all words originate in thoughts, right? According to an article on the study, "a big takeaway is for people to realize that they are the main character in their story — but they are also the narrator. That means it’s possible to re-write the episode with a greater sense of agency.” Agency in t...

I subscribe to a daily e-mail called " Now I Know: Learning Something New Every Day ." I wanted to share today's trivia because it relates to this year's theme, Life of the Mind. I think we've all suffered from forgetfulness as we move through tasks on a to-do list. We assume we're 'just getting old' or have too many distractions. But there may be another, far simpler explanation. According to today's missive: In November of 2011, a team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, published a study which suggested that entering and exiting rooms can cause our short term memories to fail us. Their theory: our brains take items in our short term memories and stick them into virtual compartments, with different ideas in different areas -- much like a house or office has different rooms. When we cross through doorways in the physical world, our mental world also passes through what psychology professor and head researcher Ga...

One reason seasoned runners set the reset button in their 40s is because the aging process starts to catch up to us by then. Human bodies actually begin aging at 25, but the evidence typically doesn’t show until 10 to 20 years later when it becomes harder to lose weight, stay firm, stay flexible, retain speed or recover quickly. Now a new study suggests masters runners' brains begin a downward slide too. A widely distributed article in today’s USAToday shows mental decline – memory, reasoning and comprehension – begins at 45 to 49, and not in our 60s as we all have long believed. It may even be earlier, given the age of study participants. Beginning in 1985 and involving 5,200 male and 2,200 female British civil servants between the ages of 45 and 70, researchers periodically tested participants for memory, vocabulary, hearing and vision. Everyone in the group experienced a drop in cognition over the years. Men 45 to 49 saw a nearly 4 percent drop (compared to 10 percent in those ...

I thought long and hard about what to do with this blog after spending yet another year essentially documenting my decline. As we age, our reasons for running change. Our bodies change too. My physical therapist last night told me that the older we get, the more we shift from being uber fit to just trying to stay flexible. It takes some people like me longer to transition, but I'm finally there. "Project Me" is still going strong, and running remains an important part of my grand plan to look and feel better when I turn 50 a few months from now. But I'm also going to return to this blog's roots and devote more posts to research I come across in my current profession. In this case, I'm going to write about the most important organ we engage when we run: the brain. I already do a lot of reading on cognitive science at work as it relates to Alzheimer's and dementia. But this upcoming year, I'm going to share more of what I learn because we could all stand...