Healthy Kids Meal Wheel - developed by Chef Ann Cooper and Nutritionist Hailey London, RD.

British Chef, Jamie Oliver, is in the midst of pushing a huge campaign right now, which if successful, will bring about a major overhaul in the American school lunch system. The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution is the name of the campaign, and so far just over half a million people have signed a petition to get rid of overly processed lunch foods, in favor of fresh and flavorful foods with much greater nutritional value.

I just added my name to the petition list and sent a message out to many of my friends advising/requesting them to do the same. Too many kids in America today are obese, mostly because they are bombarded daily with an overwhelming supply of empty-calorie foods; foods that are laden with either sugar or fat, and held together with ingredients that are so unnatural that to correctly prounounce their names  requires a significant amount of tongue-twisting.

While regular activity can help burn the extra calories accumulated from such “junk” foods, it’s often not enough to keep excess fat from showing its ugly bulge. And for kids who are serious about their sports, eating a diet that’s mostly void of essential nutrients will inevitably hinder their performance capabilities. Diet also determines to a large extent a child’s ability to stay focused in the classroom, and ultimately their potential to do well in exams. Taking all of this into account, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to ensure that our kids are fed a healthy diet?

What Jamie Oliver is trying to do to help our kids achieve optimal health is truly commendable, and I hope his efforts to bring about the change he is calling for will come to pass. In the meantime however, until such changes are made, I will continue to support his efforts and tell as many people as possible about his campaign, but also, I will of course continue to send my children to school with a home-made lunch.

For helpful lunchbox tips, check out thelunchbox.org.

Photo from Chelsea’s Light’s Facebook album

In light of recent and unfortunate news events, and the fact that I have two girls who are both avid runners, I feel compelled to remind young female athletes to take certain precautions when exercising outdoors. Some of you may have been following the case of murdered teenager Chelsea King, and if so then you’re aware that she went missing while out running alone in her neighborhood.

When I first read about her disappearance several weeks ago my heart sank, and the longer she remained missing the more my heart ached for her and her family. It wasn’t too much longer before the devastating news broke that she had in fact been abducted and murdered; it was news that I think most people were expecting, but certainly not prepared to accept. And the sad truth is that even though Chelsea’s offender was caught, there is nothing we can do to stop other vile thugs from preying on our young girls.

What we can do though is deter predators by insisting that our girls always run outdoors with at least one other person. If this isn’t possible however, then maybe a different activity needs to be pursued, or maybe running indoors on a treadmill will suffice. I’m guilty myself, of often running outdoors alone, and not just alone, but also during the early hours of the morning when it’s still dark. But I realize now that I’ve gained a sense of complacency that needs to be addressed, as even though I live in what’s believed to be a “safe” area, one can never be too sure what’s lurking around the corner.

I wish more than anything that what happened to Chelsea could be reversed, and that she could be safely returned to her home and family. But what’s done is done, and everyone must move on, taking comfort in the fact that she is now in God’s hands and in a better place. And while we can’t change the past, we can certainly do our best to keep what happened to Chelsea from happening to our own girls.

Girls, find an exercise buddy!

Yesterday was my third attempt to run and conquer the Lord of the Tengan 10k race. Well actually, when I say “conquer,” I just mean that I hoped to finish the 10k in a reasonably fast time, and by “fast,” I mean fast by my standards. My standards equate to a 45 to 48 minute finish; anything faster than 45 minutes is probably unrealistic for me, and anything slower than 48 minutes means I didn’t put in an all-out effort.

The first time I ran the Tengan 10k was two years ago, and after setting out at too fast a pace, I winded myself pretty bad and had to bail out at the 5k mark. That was a pretty humiliating experience, but one I learned from. As I set out last year on my second attempt, I paced myself considerably well, making sure to stay at a steady but challenging pace. My efforts paid off in that race as I finished with a time of 47+minutes, and earned myself a third place trophy in the 30 -39 year old womens’ division.

Last week, as I considered what my race strategy might be for my third attempt at this race, I began to have doubts that I would run a strong race. Just a few weeks ago I was quite ill with some type of virus that left me feeling weak and lethargic for days. Even after I was able to resume my training, I bonked on a couple of runs, and even gave up a couple of training days to do absolutely nothing, something I rarely do. So it wasn’t surprising that I went into yesterday’s race with an expectation to place maybe 2nd or 3rd in my age division, but nothing more.

About 3k into the run I started experiencing severe cramp in the right side of my abnominal muscles, and I made a mental note that if the pain persisted I would pull out at the 5k mark, just like I did when I first ran the Lord of the Tengan 10k. But as I made my way up the hill that marks the end of the first 5k lap, I heard someone yell out that I was the lead female runner. “Me?” As I slowly registered what I had just heard, I put all thoughts of quitting out of my mind and refocused on my pacing and breathing.

I can’t really put into words how painful the last mile or so felt; my lungs were on fire, my abdominal muscles were screaming with pain, and I was exhausted! The mental anguish was equally painful; knowing that the second leading female was literally on my tail was indescribably awful. Everything inside me wanted to stop and concede defeat, and in fact, had I not prayed in that moment for God to pull me up the last hill and down to the finish line, I’m certain I would have given up. But I didn’t. By the grace of God and through sheer determination, I finally beat the Lord of the Tengan!

March 28th 2010 - 10k result: 1st 30 -39 year old female division, AND 1st overall women!

Track season officially started two weeks ago for my daughter’s high school team and after a two year hiatus, it’s been a tough few weeks of training for my daughter. The initial struggle had to do with reacquainting her muscles and joints with the strenuous types of exercise movements that her body has been unaccustomed to performing for some time now. Once she got past the aches and pains that typically follow a hard workout, she then had to face and acknowledge the surprising news that her coaches saw in her an ability to train as a 400m runner.

Chantal has always competed in the 100m and 200m events; short sprints are what she is most comfortable with. To suggest to Chantal that she can run the 400m, and run it fast, is like telling her that she is great at math! Anyone who knows Chantal well enough knows that she is not a great mathematician. And yet her coaches saw something in her that made them believe she might just be good at running the 400m race. It’s funny how the words of a mentor can inspire a person to be much more than what they initially believed; Chantal actually took their words to heart and began training under their guidance in full confidence that there might be some truth to what they were telling her.

The first track meet was held on Saturday March 13th at Petty Stadium on Camp Foster. Up first for Chantal was the 100m event; she finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. Second up was the 400m event, and just as her coaches predicted, she surprised us all by winning her heat. The final event of the day for her was the 200m race and she placed third. The second meet was held this past weekend at Ryukyu Middle School on Kadena Airbase. Chantal not only won her 400m race, but also placed second in both her 100m and 200m heats.

Granted, her wins aren’t going to earn her a college scholarship, and probably not even a place on the Far East tournament team later this year, but a win of any kind is always something to be proud of. And as a parent, I am proud not only of her accomplishments, both big and small, but also of her willingness to take on something she knew would be difficult; that in itself makes her a winner!

“Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the will to move forward in spite of it.”

Several months ago, former US Olympic marathon runner Jeff Galloway, came to Okinawa to present a series of workshops, one of which I was fortunate enough to attend. He talked about many things, including tips on how to pull through those final few marathon miles. One technique he suggested trying is one which utilizes the art of visualization; he explained how he would often set his sights on a runner ahead of him, and then imagine reeling that runner in with a fishing line.  

Of all the techniques he talked about, the fishing line technique sounded like one that could possibly work well for me, and it was this technique that I decided to try at the Nago Half Marathon. I started early on in the race by picking out female runners only, and sure enough, one by one I reeled them in. It was exciting to pass one female runner after another, and pass so many in fact, that by the 11th or 12th mile there were no more female runners ahead of me to reel in. I had to dig hard to finish out the last mile, especially at the pace I had so far managed to sustain, but it was hugely motivating to weave my way towards the finish line with no females in sight (the faster females had left me for dust by this point but still…….). 

All in all, I highly recommend this visualization technique for you runners out there. It worked for me and I’m sure it’ll work for you!

It amazed me to see the driver continue on down the road, without stopping to consider what damage might have been done. As athletes, we are sometimes guilty of doing the same thing. We can become so engrossed in our sport that when our bodies send out faint warning signs that indicate the beginning of an injury, we choose to ignore it and carry on doing what we were doing. 

Like the driver who was still able to drive without a hubcap on his tire, we are still able to train and compete with minor injuries. But continuous neglect eventually leads to more permanent damage, and more than likely a longer than desirable amount of time “off the road.”

The moral of the story: don’t leave those niggling injuries unattended……..

Well, I finally got around to running my second full marathon  and I’m glad I did, as I’ve heard that the general consensus among marathon runners is that those new to the game will either run one, and ONLY one marathon, or they will run their first marathon, catch the bug, and keep on running. I hope I can now say that I officially belong to the club and that I will continue to spend my days running and entering events, even though my second marathon was just as gruelling and gut-wrenching as the first.

So why do I/we do it? I guess I can’t really speak for all, but there is something about running that frees both the mind and body in a way that nothing else does. When I run outdoors in the open air and feel the surges of strength that inevitably come with each gust of wind, or with each hill climb or increase in pace, I feel invigorated and satisfied as I overcome each wave of discomfort. Every run is challenging in some way, but at the same time so very rewarding. It’s difficult to explain but there’s a sense of accomplishment at the completion of every run, and the confidence that results somehow manifests itself in other areas of my life, so much so that my love of running is continuously reaffirmed.

But getting back to the marathon, I didn’t do nearly as well as I had hoped to; I finished in 4 hours and 20-something minutes and crossed the line in a less than desirable state. The last 3 to 5 miles were horrendous; my left hamstring was torn up, I could no longer feel my feet, and I was so nauseous that I’m quite certain I would have quit had it not been for two of my closest friends who finished out the race with me. Had I done a little research prior to the race, I would have realized that the first half of the course is a steady climb, unlike the Arizona course I completed a few years ago which was nice and flat from start to finish. Still, I didn’t feel that great when I finished the Arizona marathon either.

Maybe 26.2 miles is just a ridiculouly long distance, and no matter how hard I train I will always have a major fight on my hands. But that’s just my point really; as difficult and painful as it is, running a marathon will always prove to be a gigantic feat to accomplish. As long as I am always willing to do something that seems incredibly hard however, I think I will always be capable of picking myself up when the odds seem stacked against me.  Looking at it from that perspective, I see running as a sport which not only builds my physical strength, but also character traits such as courage and perseverance, both of which influence my inner strength and make me a better person. I think I’ll keep on running……