Should I Wear A Body Vest When Running?

My heart goes out to the family of Christopher Lane, the 22 year old Australian who was gunned down by three teenagers in Oklahoma. Chris was out on a run. Probably in his zone. Enjoying a breeze on his face, feeling the exhilaration of pulsing blood pumping from head to toe, daydreaming of races to come, or life after college or perhaps a romantic interlude. Then BAM! He felt a searing tear into his back. His system went into shock within seconds. His legs continued to propel him forward. His brain desperately tried to identify where and what was the painful interruption to his run. … And it was over. A young life full of promise and potential. Gone.

Why? Because three kids were bored. And they had a gun. Oh … and they decided to kill somebody.

This wasn’t the first shooting of someone out for a run. It won’t be the last. In May 2012 Harry Stone, a Raytown, Mo. runner was shot and killed while jogging. Harry was my age.  In April 2011, Luis Fernando Duran, 33, was shot while jogging in his Amarillo, TX neighborhood.

So what do we make of this?

Last week, as I was running down my street, a neighbor was backing out of her driveway. She noticed me moving behind her. (I was on the other side of the street and out of her way before her back tires hit the street). BUT, she took this opportunity to flip me the bird and yell at me for being in her way.  

In the last 20 years I have been traveling on foot through neighborhoods, country lanes, city alleys and boulevards, parks, university campuses and distant villages. I have had

• Soft drink cups pitched my way,
• Gum spit at me,
• Trash thrown at me,
• Curses yelled and middle fingers flipped my direction,
• And two cars and one semi-trailer truck intentionally run me off the road.

On all of these occasions, I have been on a sidewalk or running on the shoulder. On each of these occasions, the persons offended by my running were in moving vehicles. I obviously was no threat to them. I interpret the above encounters to be senseless acts of stupidity.

It seems that in the last few years, such acts have been increasing. Are we becoming so intolerant of others? Must we keep moving to the extremes so that gunning someone down in the street is an option to boredom?

So, should I invest in a police vest? Must runners now not only dodge pop cups and gum, but also bullets? Should we fear anyone headed our way? Wear rearview mirrors as a part of headgear? Stick to an indoor running track? Quit? … in fear of a close encounter? From kids who are bored?

No. I will keep running. On the sidewalks. In the streets. In the parks. Through the neighborhoods. And I will not be buying a vest anytime soon. 

Oops! Life Happens ...

Running with the grandkids!

While training for a Disney World marathon scheduled for last November (2012) I came face to hip with the terror every runner fears. In August 2012, I was running on the sidewalk along a local street in front of our hospital. A woman using a cell phone while driving clipped me as I scurried out of her path. She was entering the street from the hospital driveway. Although the light was red, she did not slow down. She did not look to see what was in front of her as she turned right onto the street. She did not stop as I slapped her fender and twirled to avoid going down. I do not think she saw me or knew that she had hit me with her red pickup truck. My right leg was sore for a couple of days, but there were only slight bruises and it did not occur to me that it might further contribute to the back pain that is a part of getting older. I did not file a complaint with the police department (what was there to report?)

The next weekend, I was experiencing increasing pain and could not effectively drive my car. I checked in to the Center Point Medical Center seeking relief. They prescribed Oxicodone and allowed me to return home. Now, I have suffered from multi-level disk degeneration of the spine for over a decade (arthropathy, hypertrophy, disc bulges, protrusions, disc hernial extrusions; bilateral sacroiliac, arthrosis, spondylosis—stuff of life!)

The next few months I lived through my own private hell. And, yes, I could not run! Yikes!

During the weeks following my brush with the pick-up, my pain grew increasingly worse. I could not sleep at night without constantly tossing and turning, trying to relieve the pain. I could not drive the car. I could not sit. I could not stand without constantly moving. I could not work, because the pain kept intruding on my ability to sit down, to concentrate, and to carry on a decent conversation with folks. I could not play with my grandchildren without crying through the pain. I did not want to be with other people. I was embarrassed. I was anxious. I was ashamed. I felt useless.

I was asked many times what my “pain level” was. After several attempts to share happy or sad faces, place it on a continuum of 1-10, describe if it is “better or worse” than the last time, etc. I finally decided to share this way:

Regarding life as I have grown accustomed to living is one in which it feels as if someone has taken a baseball bat and hit me in my lower back. That pain has been constant for the last ten years. It does not go away, but some days it is more pronounced than others. I have managed this with OTC Tylenol. (And during this time, I completed three marathons, twelve half marathons and a number of 5K-10Ks.) Although I constantly hurt, I always felt real pain was reserved for those in trauma.

Last summer, the pain increased in a way that felt like someone drove a screwdriver into my right hip and on the second whack, missed and hit my lower back again, increasing the pain in both areas. Then, it felt like my legs had been “re-wired” with exposed electrical wire and someone hooked me up to a generator, so now in addition to the back and hip pain I experience a pulsating electrical current hitting the nerves, hipbone, kneecap, shin, thigh, and ankle.

After seeing an orthopedic specialist, receiving three epidurals, engaging in physical therapy and establishing a pain management program, I faced the new year wondering if I would ever be useful to anyone. I did not think I would run again. Ever.

I share this humble story not for anyone’s sympathy. Rather, I want to encourage others facing the debilitating, disabling despair, depression, pain and anxiety that life sometimes brings.

My reason to get off the floor and move! Youngest grandson Emerson

I have a new appreciation for anyone who is in physical, mental, emotional pain. We each have our own levels of tolerance. We often do not know what a person is experiencing just to get through the day when, by our judgment, they are too slow in the grocery line, hesitate at the stop light, stand in the back of the room, fidget in their pew, or take too much time counting change.

I do not compare my pain or situation with others. The positive attitude and herculean efforts of one person to overcome life’s challenges takes many forms and may or may not have the same results of another’s efforts. But the will to live is powerful. The desire to embrace life, with whatever obstacles or challenges encountered does affect how one gets through the day.

Prayer is relative. Don’t equate your idea of a favorable outcome with the reality of dealing with life. Prayer does help us cope. Prayers for another are appreciated.

Gratitude always helps in keeping us grounded. I am richly blessed. There is so much real pain in the world … disabling physical conditions that are so challenging; poverty, disease and hunger that takes away life so quickly; violence that erupts (or is constant) into the reality of men and women and children who deserve better; mental demons that kill potential and destroys persons from all cultures. My heart goes out to such persons the world over. I do not deserve the wealth and privilege and comfort that is my life. I am grateful.

Life truly is what we make of it. My story is that I got up from laying on the floor one cold day in January and limped down the street. I cried. I could not make it one block away to the cross street. The next day I did it again. And again. And again.

I am slow. But, I do run (or trot, or jog, or lope—I certainly don’t want to insult real runners). I am back on the trails and streets that I love to wander as I wonder about life. I completed a half marathon in April 2013 and am training for the Kansas City Marathon in October. (Although I had so many interruptions in my training this summer, I may have to settle for the half marathon.)

My new running buddies Hydi, Meta, Nappie, and Gabbie (all meds) allow me to enjoy long runs and “push it” on hill runs. (Does this mean I am “doping” when I enter a race? Would my end of the pack, but finishing ahead of the street sweepers results disqualify me?)

I choose to run. I choose to run without medication. When the pain is just too much, I choose to run with medication. My life is better because I run. Life happens.

4 Ways to Extend Your Long Run

Running Dun Road outside Kumming, China

The September 2013 issue of Runner's World I found this advice:

1. Ease up: Slowing down conserves energy for extra miles.
2. Build gradually: to avoid injury, increase your long run 1 to 1½ miles per week.
3. Fuel the tank: Runs longer than an hour call for mid run carbs (for energy) and electrolytes.
4. Take breaks: this is not cheating! Walking for a minute or two after ten minutes of running shifts the use of your muscles, which increases the distance you can go before feeling tired.

I often find lots of good stuff in Runner's World. This validates my easy style! So my lessons:
1. It's not hard to slow down when you are already so slow the geese lose interest in you.
2. I religiously increase--you can always walk the extra mile!
3. Planning a QuickTrip on your route helps! Who knew electrolytes were so fab. I gave my three year old grandson Gatorade last week and he was bouncing off the walls until midnight!
4. I've always been a believer in never passing up an opportunity to hit a coffee shop on a long run. It's even more fun if you can plan a route that includes 2 or 3. And, of course, as long as the feet are moving forward, you are still running! … or walking… at least …

A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You | Runner's World & Running Times

A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You | Runner's World & Running Times

The Hunger Season

I stepped out the front door at 6:12 a.m. for my last long run before the WiPro San Francisco Marathon coming up this weekend. The temperature was already 89 degrees Fahrenheit. When I arrived back home just before 9:00 a.m., the temperature had already climbed to 98. I remember several hot summers in the Midwest, including one that nearly closed a Junior High camp I directed. But this one… well, let’s just say the lingering impact is going to be with us for a while.

Drought is a natural disaster that takes a significant toll. It’s effects spread far beyond the region affected. The economic impact can linger for years. The health impact can manifest itself for months. Drought, poverty and hunger are all intertwined in the mosaic of life.

The World Meteorological Organization indicates that some areas are experiencing the driest summer season on record.

The one meal a day for children in rural China

The World Food Program, which will feed most of the needy in the developing world, is projecting the cost to be above $800 million, all of which will need to come from the developed world.

The USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS) reports famine in the East African countries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia affecting more than five million people.

Widespread livestock deaths, culling of young animals to protect breeding animals, reduction of egg and poultry production, distressed migration, increased animal and human disease and high acute malnutrition rates are indicators being applied to what is happening here and abroad. Conditions are likely to get worse in the coming months during the peak hunger season.

Drought is already being given as an explanation for why millions of people across North America, Africa and Asia are hungry and are going to be hungry through the coming winter. The real reason is poverty, aggravated by regional shortages and hurricanes, typhoons and earthquakes which will drive up the price of regional staples… corn, wheat, barley, maze, to what some are predicting will more than triple last year's prices.

Heat-related deaths are being reported through the Midwest. Growing malnutrition has led to scattered reports of disease-related deaths among young children weakened by hunger.

I fully recognize that my feeble attempts to bring attention to such issues by running a race now and again doesn’t really make much difference. But if just one of you reading this laughs with me as I write these posts and waddle across finish lines; if just a few of you choose to support an organization like Outreach International through your generosity, then, together, we do make a difference! If my finishing a race allows one child to eat a meal, sleep in a safe place, get an education… then I will gladly run when it is hotter n hell and thank God I can!

Leaving' on a Jet Plane

Thailand: A Land of Beautiful Promise

As I sit here in the middle of the plane near the rear, with my knees tucked between my ears (yes, I’m in the cheap seats, friends… because, well, I’m cheap), I still feel the thrill of travel. I love going half way around the world or even just down the street to new places—found a gravel path off Hawthorn I had never run before last Tuesday. Great fun! I always learn something! I always meet someone who impacts my life for good. I always eat something that challenges my taste buds! Even in KC, new restaurants keep expanding my horizons—actually my mid-section—and my gastronomical curiosity. But I digress. I am awesomely privileged. Fabulously Blessed. 

Millions of people on our planet will live their entire lives within 25 miles of where they were born. For many, it will be a short life, riddled with disease and suffering and violence. I will meet children over the next 15 days that have survived, escaped and overcome child labor, human trafficking, lack of legal identification, and barriers to opportunities such as education.

Those especially at risk are from minority groups in remote or very poor areas, often along Thailand’s borders with Cambodia, Lao and Myanmar. The legal minimum working age in Thailand is 13. By Thai law, employment of children at night between the hours of ten p.m. and six a.m. is prohibited. Yet, I will be on streets alive with children begging, and selling flowers, and playing flutes, and working in the back of restaurants, and looking pretty.

In many of the slums of Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Chiang Dao, staff members from non-governmental organizations report a large number of children who work on the streets at night, literally have no choice. The adults responsible live a shadow life, sometimes in the shadow of Buddhist Temples and corrupt public officials. Many different Thai governmental and NGO organizations are trying to change that. Sustainable Hope International is one such organization. Their passion is education.

Dinner. Thai Style!

Going beyond sixth grade is itself a personal accomplishment for every child in rural Thailand. The pressure is enormous on a thirteen year old to be a source of income for the family. Sustainable Hope offers children becoming youth, growing into adulthood, the opportunity to stay in school. To go one more year. To graduate from High School and maybe go to a vocational school or university. And every year a young person stays in school, it makes a huge difference in their life—and ultimately in the lives of family members, other relatives, neighbors, and communities. Because educated young people give back. They change living conditions. They bring in income not imagined. They develop critical thinking skills that see solutions to problems not considered before.

I am running in the Hospital Hill Run June 2 in support of the passion, the goodness, the cause of Sustainable Hope International in their quest to provide educational scholarships and grants to children living in the poorest of circumstances. Will you join me? Your contribution to Sustainable Hope can change a life! Pledge today. Join me on the finish line race day (it will take a while—be patient)—we’ll go find a new restaurant to challenge our taste buds. And we will count our blessings together… because if you are reading this, you are already better off than 75% of the world’s population!

The Power of Wet

A Korean Water Clock

On a recent run, I found myself craving water.  Not quite in the pains (or pangs) of dehydration, but rather a desire to drink deeply. Since I was on the Little Trace close to Sonic, I swung by. The kids who work there know me as the old fart that comes huffing and puffing up to the door begging. A tall cup of cold aqua was waiting, along with a smile and a friendly tease from one of the young’uns. They know I like tap water. I tell them we have the best water in the world. It’s true!

Last winter our fair city entered the International Water Olympics and won the bronze medal against a field of 77 waters from all over the place. (If you don’t believe me look it up--http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/Story.aspx?id=2896)

For 130 years Easter Jackson County folks have been blessed with water supplied from 41 wells located at the Courtney Bend Water Treatment Plant. The wells receive water from the Missouri River Alluvial Aquifer. And it is GOOD.

However, much of the world, while having access to water, has to deal with polluted, diseased, dirty water. And children die every day because there is no clean water source. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. 90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are of children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.

Today, I leave for Thailand where I will meet children who have faced such conditions. They come from village in northern Thailand to attend Welfare Schools. Their surroundings are vastly improved. But unless there is additional intervention, most are back in their village by the time they are 15—as street kids—or worse—as sex slaves or forced labor. Sustainable Hope International is trying to change that. Working with School administrators and government programs, the folks at Sustainable Hope are changing lives one child at a time. How? By offering scholarships for continued education. Education that would not be possible without the support of groups like Sustainable Hope.

Instead of returning to a life of poverty and despair, Sustainable Hope gives a young person to the opportunity to dream and grow, and some will even become engineers—to improve the quality of water. In their village and the villages around them.

Korean Light House off Jeju Island

With safe water children become healthy, and strong, and curious. They are free to pursue new opportunities and improve their families’ lives. Kids can earn their education and build the future of their communities.

Huff and Puff

Running… ok, ok, barely walking, up that last hill before completing my nine mile long run outing had me huffing and puffing like the crazy wolf in the children’s story. Yes. I have lost weight. Yes. I am getting my running legs back. Yes. I even work out at the gym (well, when it rains…sometimes) But do you think my time improves (meaning speed). Nope. What the heck is it with getting older and slowing down? Just because 40 is behind me, (ok 50) (…alright, 60) doesn’t mean the body has to go slower, does it? At my present pace the street sweepers will cross the finish line before I do.

I know. Patience. Perseverance. Discipline. And race day (June 2) will see me fly! In some ways, that has been the experience this last year of Ken Brookens as he has explored and explained and engaged a wide variety of sources in Thailand to serve at-risk and orphaned children in a responsible and sustainable way.

Students from Chiang Mai, Thailand

Exploring the opportunities (of lack of) for education for youth in Thailand can be quite discouraging. For thousands of at-risk children in rural areas, the opportunity for an education beyond eighth grade is minimal and the opportunity to pursue higher education is practically non-existent. More likely their future is one of human slavery, prostitution, unskilled hard labor, early teen pregnancy, subsistence living, and an early death. The cycle of poverty goes on and on and on… Encouraging youth to learn; providing an incentive to stay in school; offering a scholarship for higher education; all break the cycle of poverty, changes the life of a child forever, ultimately changes the living conditions of the family, and lastly, gives back to the community a leader who influences the whole village for good. Ken has seen this miracle at work in the lives of youth in Thailand and is committed to making it a reality for more.

Explaining his passion and mission to school principals, government officials, community leaders, and business professionals has taken Ken into Ministry offices in Bangkok, welfare schools in Chiang Mai, legal offices and cafes and hotels and stores everywhere in between. All that explaining has made Sustainable Hope International a government recognized NGO in Thailand. All that explaining has generated excitement, commitment, anticipation, and opportunity in Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao, and Khon Kaen. All that explaining has opened doors in Independence and Jackson County.

Sustainable Hope International has engaged the services of professionals and volunteers in churches, service organizations, community groups, and educational circles. Most importantly, Sustainable Hope has engaged the imaginations of children—hundreds of children--and encouraged them to dream and reach and excel.

My early morning running team in Chiang Mai.
It was already 100 degrees and I was the only one in shorts!

And to do all of that, there has been a lot of huffing and puffing. Not to blow houses down, but to build
up hopes and dreams in a sustainable way in the hearts of at-risk children and in the minds of those who work with orphaned children.

I will run the Hospital Hill Half Marathon, huffing and puffing up all seven hills, to raise funds for Sustainable Hope International. Join me. Partner with me by giving to the cause—the power—the miracle  of education in breaking the cycle of poverty in Thailand. Join me in supporting Sustainable Hope International.

Friendship and Causes

Ken Brookens, retired University professor, is someone I have admired for many years. He is a bundle of never-ending energy. Last year we were visiting with each other about our passions in life. I became intensely aware that Ken, who grew up as an "at risk" youth in the foster care system, felt a deep sense of gratitude for the grace and love and compassion of those in his life who had literally offered him life. Adopted by a loving family in his sophomore year of high school, Ken gained new meaning of belonging and connecting. He values love for others through service and the power of education in changing the lives of young people. His heart goes out to youth today who are labeled "at risk". With that simple focus, Ken and his wife Jean have created a 501-c3 not-for-profit corporation to literally change the lives of young people through education. Where? In Thailand, of all places. I asked him, "Why Thailand?"

Ken told me of his long association with Thai college students who attended the University of Missouri at Warrensburg. He shared stories of struggle and poverty, love and hope, and how education became a road out of extreme poverty for so many. Besides that... you have to start somewhere! Of course, Ken's dream is to see Sustainable Hope provide scholarships for "at risk" youth in countries from South America to Africa, Europe to Asia, and right here at home. Ken and Jean have spent their own retirement funds on trying to make a difference in the lives of young people in places like Chiang Mai and Khon Kean and Chiang Dao.

They should not be doing this alone! You and I can help.

So, I am going to run in the Hospital Hill Race on June 2, 2012. Help me help them by sponsoring me. Support their cause by giving a gift of $50.00 or more. http://www.sus-hope.org/get-involved/donate/

For the next two months I will be blogging about the work of Sustainable Hope, introducing you to some of the kids in Thailand, and of course, be accountable for my miserable attempts at having a consistent training schedule. I hope you will join me in this new adventure!