At Issue: Running Wild

ideas come into your mind and go out a lot of times I'm doing things with involved with with teaching where I get ideas about how how to take care of a test or how to present a topic or things of this type but I find it difficult to set my mind and say I'm going to think about this the whole time I run it's more the kind of a thing that I maybe have that idea and it comes in my mind and maybe it'll come in my mind four or five more times during that hour so I'm running but usually I can't just say I'm going to think about this the whole time because something about running tends to kind of take your mind makes you mind kind of relax too much to stay real tight on some subject good evening and welcome to at issue I'm Twila young and I'm Johnny Harris the Boston Marathon the granddaddy of long distance races in this country was run today for themes appropriate to spend a little time talking about running in general and why it's gaining so rapidly in popularity as a form of recreation and exercise later this month the Drake marathon will be run and following that we'll bring you an in-depth report on it we'll follow a few of the participants through their training program and through the actual race all that in three weeks but for now we'd like to talk about running in general why runners run what they get out of it what effect it has on them and their families and on those of us who don't run runners are sprouting everywhere and the casual observer it might seem that anyone any age could run we ask that of Dixie graves a biochemist a runner and editor of a newsletter for a running club based in Ames you consider jogging is something that is for everyone absolutely I think that's one of the big advantages is that that people of all both sexes and all ages can can do it and very low-cost and you know without any degree of organization or scheduling and they can they can enjoy it but they can get so they can enjoy it pretty quickly yeah I definitely think it's for everyone but we just in our club we have people of all ages and degrees of health you know we have people that that had serious heart attacks and took up running it at advanced ages and now routinely run you know six or eight miles a day and really enjoy it you're totally free and unconstrained you can do things at your own pace in your own time in your own style but you have this tremendous feeling of physical and intellectual freedom that you don't get anywhere else especially in a fairly complex society or fairly complex job where you have telephones and wallets and credit cards and driver's licenses and car keys and and schedules to worry about when you get out on the road with your shorts and your shoes on you have this this tremendous unfettered feeling that that you just can't get in most of their activities you don't have to worry about someone else coming to use the car or you don't have to worry about losing your balls you don't have to worry about how much it's costing you and you get tremendous release of you know these type of mental and physical constraints that most other sports and most other activities have and I think that's what people find that to be very uplifting the reasons people get started I suppose are larger in number maybe they just want to try it or they want to feel some need to improve themselves physically or or maybe they just pressured into it by their friends but I think the reason people keep it up is that they start reaping these benefit runners are an enthusiastic lot and those who stick with it those who get over the first rough spots say there's nothing like it listen for instance to Ken kopetsky a mathematics professor who's been running for 10 years what's the first word that comes to your mind you must say what's so terrific about running I guess I guess no I I guess don't worry everything maybe is the word kind of man there's just lots of aspects I like I like the social aspects I like the fact of being physical conditions I like the fact I am outside I like the people I associate with her in the running I like the fact that's carried over my other parts of my life my diet and the fact that less alcohol as I don't have much as alcohol or smoking anymore and then what does I think I think the word everything that condoms were those things that you were you indulged in prior to to running not to a great extent but bed more than I do now now those things if you're running at this they just you realize that your body is kind of finely tuned and those things don't have a place and so most of the runners I know just don't indulge in those things very Hitler's now after hearing that it's easy and that anyone can do it and it doesn't cost much we're going to tell you that there are several things you need to think about before you run some precautions you ought to take and that you'll have to buy some expensive shoes instead of trying to save money and get a general-purpose shoe that you can use for playing tennis and other things and wearing in the yard you should get a shoe that's made just for running a disadvantage of that is it's not good for anything else a lot of people take it up and start off at bad equipment and then get discouraged because they start murdering their feet two or three years ago that was a big problem was hard to get good running shoes but it's no longer hard there are plenty of places in every town now that have really good shoes what the one most important thing that you can gossip I would need to know before I start running oh that's kind of a hard question right now I think I tend to say start off with a good pair of shoes that's probably the most important things they have it have a good pair of shoes because feed problems caused most of the problems that you have if you've got good shoes with cushion and good arch this will solve a lot of the physical problems you might have otherwise some sore legs too too sore back to a various other defects that seem to be a couple of things that most people agree with one is that you probably if you're over say 30 you probably ought to get a physical exam just to make sure you don't have some hidden problem that you didn't know about or that your and make sure your heart is is in good shape although medical profession is still learning about running as a and still learning about exercise it's probably good to get a good you know first checkup I imagine you have some known health problem that you might have been investigated but on the other hand I think most doctors tend to be too cautious on these kinds of things I think lots of doctors tend to say because you've got this don't do it and so many times I've talked to runners who their doctors have told him you probably shouldn't be running with this thing you have and people have not only continue to run but they had solved that problem anytime spiders running so normally I would say just about anybody who wants couldn't Claudette oh right average is about eight miles a day and she says there are several things the beginning runner needs to keep in mind depending on your age a lot of specialists recommend that before you start running you check with your physician to make sure that there are no problems in your you know starting a running program so I'd say check with your doctor first sometimes I think that people who want to who are going into running you know for the purpose of losing weight I think they may be sort of deceived you lose weight by not by eating less food eating more of the right kinds of foods and less junk food as they call it so I think sometimes it's better for people to first get on a weight reduction program and then try and add an exercise program to that I'd say a good word is is gradual sometimes when I first started I started running nine laps in Stadium which is three quarter mile and would die immediately after finish midnight left so it's a matter of you know taking it depending on how you feel and someday it'll just happen that you can you can add two or three miles on to your distance you know it sort of comes in in spurts you know you you'll get to one level and stay there for a while and you can move on to something else and I'd also I also say that it's important to to realize that you know your distance is relative to someone else's that is relative to someone else's so you know people who run long distance you know like I'm impressed with people who can go out and run a marathon you know 26.2 miles or whatever it is I'm really impressed with those people but I don't think that's where I am right now and I think it's a matter of people being in tune to what they think they're capable of it given time but you know be prepared to to advance you know in their distance and speed okay I've got my shoes am i running short what what do I have to keep in mind next to me before and I've had a physical with what's the next thing that one must come I think it's really important to develop to develop a regular routine and learn to run on those days when you don't feel like running and to get yourself over that initial period where you learn to differentiate between pain and injury is my colleagues say and you learn to recognize your own you look you get to know your body I think to do that you have to develop a fairly regular program it helps enormously if you can find other people to do it with it or at the same level you are maybe just a little bit ahead of you and I think that's important to start a regular program and run on those days that you don't feel much like doing it because you you'll get rewards for that in the long run so you're ready to run with a promise of rewards what are those rewards why in other words do runners run we'll talk about that and we'll take a look at the social side of running at some of the rewards that retailers are reaping from the running rage all that when we return the leisurewear departments in clothing stores across the country have made their contributions to the popularity of running by giving us the jogging look if clothes make the man maybe shorts make the jogger because of the vast selection in the jogging look a runner could coordinated jogging set for each day of the week and should the day be exceptionally warm and our jogger decides to swim rather than take to the jogging track the jogging style swimsuit might make her feel right at home you may not be surprised to find that our typical everyday jogger is not biting into this new fashion craze those runners you see on the street every afternoon are more likely to be wearing old gym shorts and a faded t-shirt getup like these color-coordinated satin running outfits would probably show up at the local disco instead of some sweaty gym but the fashion-conscious have seen to it that these coordinated tops and jackets come in every flavor imaginable now if the selection in this newfangled style remains plentiful one could safely guess that by summer most everyone but the joggers themselves will be sporting the jogging look for all a fad and fun though it is a fact that a lot of people who start to run quit after a few days or weeks most quit because running caused some problem in their lives a physical problem a time problem or something else that makes running seem to be at odds with the rest of their lives what's the toughest thing you had to face when you first started running the toughest problem you had to overcome I guess I'd answer that the making time to run to take some of the other things out of my life that I used to kind of do for example like taking taking time out the Atlanta down eat lunch regularly now I usually take a little carry lunch to school need to be on my desk so I read my mail and so on but if you're going to run for an hour so a day then you got to kind of give up some other things I'm going to leave out some TV or something other things that you could put order done otherwise then a common problem people face when they when they're wanting to schedule a good time to run is sort of sacrificing those other things that you usually do I think so I think a lot of the beginners I see who say who say to me geez I'd like to run and they run a day or two a week and then miss for several times it's that they really haven't yet got it into there they haven't got to the point where they've got it into their schedule and they know they're gonna run when I get up in the morning like I do when I get up in the morning I know sometime that day I'm going to run and it's in my mind most of the day that something comes up breaks the usual time I know before today's over I'm going to get it in same way when I'm traveling with my family they know I'm going to run some time that day and as we travel we work it in my plans what I'm going to run what's so bad things I'm going to see before I reach the pole or this is so terrific that I look forward to oh yeah what what kind of things do you experience so honest yeah at the beginning as I say you can go through it you go through I think everybody goes through a discouraging period although it it's not as bad as it sounds yeah you have sore muscles and blisters and you take showers a lot and I think it's probably mentally discouraging as much as it is physically discouraging at the beginning where depending on how fast your your body is getting used to getting back to what it was supposed to be doing it can get discouraging but and you see other people around you all the time that are whizzing by and in aims of course that's a lot of fun because they're there they're males and females old and young and and it's a very leveling experience if you had a high opinion of your own ability as a lot of people do it may be difficult to get over that period but that varies with individuals it's not a big deal a lot of us find out when our shoes get worn out if we're running long distances a lot if our shoes start to get worn out you can develop problems there's an awful lot of being learned about this right now but I'd say the amount learned by podiatrists and and other running type physicians or physician type runners in the last couple of years is really increasing very greatly we have not done much work in the United States on exercise physiology compared to other countries so I think we're still learning about that it seems to be some general agreement building up that that if you do have problems they probably start at your feet and so a lot is being learned about about corrective things to put in people's shoes there are some people who one leg shorter than the other and one foot bigger than the other most of us are kind of asymmetric and it's difficult one of the frustrating things it's difficult to get medical advice for runners runners are particularly are usually on the average healthy and they don't like to clog up the medical healthcare delivery system by going to a doctor and saying you know what's wrong with me after seven miles I get a pain that won't quit you know the doctor is waiting to talk to sick people he's not going to want to spend his time with you so we kind of read magazines and talk to each other and compare notes and things start to build up and we exchange that's one of the things we do in this newsletter we try to exchange information about what other people have learned about about that and a magazine like runner's world developed devotes three or four pages every month the letters from people who have tried something that worked you know based on some on some malady they were having so by and large if you take care of your feet and you don't overextend yourself too much you should be fairly trouble-free it doesn't bother you know people to talk and laugh you know in place of course how many times I'm out there almost in the point of Tears I'm so tired sometimes I really do get tired I think some of the some of the difficult things about running especially outdoors is it's a lot different running up a hill like North Dakota than it is you know running on it on a level surface like the Outdoor Track behind the state gym but you know it just takes a little endurance I think in order to get into the habit you have to set a standard for yourself are you you can say all this month or all this week I'm going to run a certain distance and the toughest thing to do is when your body is saying stop in your head saying oh but I got three more miles to go I've got three more laps to go it's that's the hardest part to push yourself on you know I and for people who who are middle-aged you know that kind of thing and they're not sure I would say you know don't push yourself until you hurt yourself you know but but make sure you got that drive don't give up just because it starts to hurt because it's going to hurt some and it takes a little point a little while until you understand you know the various phases that your body goes through as you're running different kinds of distances but I'd say just you know getting that determination up and then you know and that that involves making sure you have a special time that you're going to go and making that commitment to go and not letting other things get in your way did you have conferences enema oh yeah what at first but like I said I think it's very addictive pretty soon if you know you're sowing a habit of going to the gym and going out running that if you don't go you feel so guilty you know it's like you've done something wrong to yourself and so you know it's really trying to find that time and make sure you be there that's the hottest thing getting a runner to talk about running and why you or anyone ought to run and all the terrific things it will do for you is relatively easy getting them to explain what it is about this thing that keeps them running is a little tougher actually I've always been little ethically inclined but I just a lot of it had to do with the fact I was finding Carter having a hard time finding people to play basketball with and things like that so it uh it was mostly disaffected but something I do on my own why have you kept it up this long alright so in love with it like I think a lot of people will and do when you're asked specifically what is it you like about learning you name things like like hell make how it keeps your body fit and it's sexy your diet and you're not using alcohol and cigarettes and stuff like that good things that you liked about it but it's it begins very beginning you said that you can fallen in love with it but what's the difference between liking some very obvious physical advantages that he gives you what is it about it that makes you fall in love with it I guess that's not very easy to answer if you have an experience that and I guess it's kind of hurt your questions rather hard for me to answer yeah I don't know why it is why why I'm dazed I can get up just really looking forward to that running really wanting to go out and run that day and and maybe seeing some of the guys I run with for a while again for a while and then run after getting back from a long hard run just feeling good for having put out the effort I don't know it's hard to explain it it's a kinda digging scale they've heard the word positive diction referred to running and I guess that's the kind of thing it is it's guy I've already become addicted to it the sense and it's kind of hard to explain exactly was I liked it so much what do you think about the popularity right I mean it really coming over fast more people are running an eighth word maybe two years ago you think that's something is going to stay that's a lasting thing colliding a lot of mostly I think a lot of these people will they could go at it correctly will fall in love with and I'll keep on running yeah I imagine the big surge will tend to go back a little bit fall back some but I think a great portion of people will stay with it yes because it's it's got a lot of the advantages the other things don't that's there's their money aspects and the having the facilities and so on being in the right place these things are necessary and I think a lot of lot of things other people give up on other things because of this like tennis the tennis courts get too crowded and pretty soon people give up because of the hassle finding a place to play bit running doesn't have this I think more people will start doing it I think they'll be a will be a big increase and things like people running marathons which will probably peak out and decrease because that's the way a lot of things go hula hoops and frisbees every other thing but I don't know I think there'll be a lot of it's an activity that a lot of people will get into it there'll be problems that result traffic problems that are propping up around the country things like that but I don't know I think it will reach an interesting steady state yes what do you think about the mover Oh everything I feel my bills and my problems I and all just things sometimes you don't think about anything depending on how tired you are you I thinking at all you're just moving okay do you almost forget even how what you're doing you're just running and oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah just an excellent time it's time all by yourself I run with people sometimes but when it's when you by yourself you can just you know let your mind wander and solve some problems while you're out there come up with some new ideas for something so it's you know it's a really good time to have for yourself most of your runs you've got to enjoy you're not computer you're not going to run every day I don't believe now there's times when I go out and really push myself usually about once a week where I go out and really push hard on a run but if you're going to run 80 to 100 miles a week you're going to have to enjoy most of those run there you're going to lose interest pretty soon why do you run such a long distance how come I mean I think it's habit for me and I think one of the good things that you meet a lot of people who are into running the more you're at the gym or wherever you are you find that there are quite a few people who run and especially in this area and I think you sort of get inspired you know when you hear when you think you're doing good to be running two miles and here's somebody else is running for a day and you think well if they can do it I can do it and I don't know I think I think some experts say that you need to run at least 30 minutes a day to make it worth your while so if you can get to the point where you're doing that then I think you're doing all right so yeah you don't really need to run a great distance some people do it because they like it it's fun especially this time of year you can get out and watch the buds on the trees and flowers and everything it's really really nice you first start out you have no idea about the about the I think you unless you've done running in in college and maybe even if you have you have no idea of the really wonderful equipment you have for running running is a very natural human activity and that's what we were designed to do a long long time ago and of course that's what we did when we were kids we never walked anyplace we always ran it's a perfectly natural state and if you are overweight or sedentary or if you have a job that doesn't require much physical activity it takes a while before you begin to realize that and you just got to get yourself through that period and it may require some loss of weight but that's probably bet good for you anyway but and the other thing of course that you begin to realize is that you operate better through a longer period of the day if you get some exercise it's easier to it's easier to solve problems it's easier to be patient it's easier to to still be functioning you know after supper than it is if you've had you've led a pretty inactive day and I think a lot of people find a lot of other benefits you sleep better and after you get through this initial period at least you feel better in the morning and it really changes people's lives do you think you'll ever stop learning baby there's come a day when I certainly hope not the only way I can imagine that I had some injuries so bad that I just couldn't go on but I hope to run till there die there is no way to tell yet whether running will become as permanent fixture in our society as fast-food restaurants and supermarkets or whether it will fade away like the hula hoop but for now the boom is on more and more people are running for more and more reasons on May 8th we'll take an in-depth look at what for many runners is considered a pinnacle the 26-mile marathon so be sure to join us May 8th when at issue we'll take you behind the scenes at the Drake marathon on May 1st at issue we'll take a look at the juvenile justice system in Iowa and next week on Iowa perspectives at this time BIOS will take you to the Stephon state forest for a look at the wild turkey population in Iowa and that's at issue for this evening for Donnie and me good night