Denver Rock n' Roll Half Marathon

Denver Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon

October 17th marked the inaugural year for the Denver Rock n' Roll Marathon and half-marathon. Not only was it the first year for the Denver marathon to be added to the long list of Rock n' Roll races found all across the country, but it marked Lyric's first half-marathon. Lyric began her training with me in April of this year with the intention of lifestyle change. Since we started training in April Lyric has competed in a number of 5K's and 10K's and added her first Half-marathon. With improvement every step along the way. On October 17th Lyric finished her first half-marathon on the streets of Denver in record fashion. Running 13.1 miles in 2:37:29.

Nice Job Lyric!

The best part is that Lyric was not the only member of my team to complete her first half-marathon. I have mentioned in the past my Tuesday and Thursday morning group, and in that group I had two ladies who finished their first ever half marathon. Denise Corliss and Heather Artt both participated in and finished their first half marathon. Cori Lopez and Heidi Lukowski also competed in the Half Marathon adding yet another half to their growing lists.

From Lt: Heather, Denise, Cori and Heidi post Rock n' Roll! Nice job ladies!

My wife and I also ran the Rock n' Roll and I am proud to say that we both set PR's at the race. Kristin and Beth ran the half in sub two hours finishing in 1:56 four mins less than their anticipated goal of 2 hours! I finished in 1:29:15 placing me in the top 20 in my age group. All in all I would say this was a successful race and a fun one to say the least. Looking forward to many more!

Eat Food

Seems like a simple concept right? Well unfortunately the definition of "food" has changed drastically in the last twenty years. The things that our great grandparents purchased in the grocery store (when they didn't grow it themselves) is very different from most shopping carts today.

While processing and refining has greatly expanded our food supply it has also complicated the selection of "healthy" foods. So, in an effort to help you decipher those confusing food labels found on all products I found an insightful article. The recommendations are ones to try and live by, but understand they maybe difficult because the will alter your selection of "healthy" foods. Happy reading!

1. Eat food. Seems simple enough right? Depends on what you classify as food. Try this instead don’t eat anything that your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. More than likely this will eliminate several foodlike items in your local supermarket (go-gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?).
2. Avoid foods that make health claims these foods tend to be heavily processed and the claims are often dubious at best. Think about this the American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement. Oh yeah and margarine which was developed as superior to butter still gives people heart attacks.
3. Can’t pronounce it perhaps you shouldn’t eat it. If ingredients are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, contain high fructose corn syrup or have more than five ingredients these should be avoided if possible. None of these are particularly harmful in themselves, but instead indicate that these foods maybe highly processed.
4. Get out of the supermarket! Become a member of a CSA (community supported agriculture) or attend your local farmers market. Guaranteed you won’t find high fructose corn syrup or unpronounceable ingredients there. Maybe you’ll get the opportunity to meet the farmer that raised and picked your produce for the week. Think about this the average produce travels more than 1500 miles to reach your supermarket how fresh can that really be?
5. Pay more, eat less. Americans, on average, spend less than 10 percent on food down from 24 percent in 1947 and drastically less than citizens in any other nation. Not everyone will be able to spend more, but the majority of us can and should. Supporting the farmers who are using reduced pesticides is not only good for our health, but is good for the environment and the communities where that produce is grown. Organic growers incur a substantial cost to switch from conventional production to organic and the only way they recover that cost is through us purchasing their products.

Pollan, Michael (2007). Unhappy Meals. The New York Times, January 28,2007. 1-16.