My First Marathon

Hope you do not mind hearing a little about me. In 2002, after The Ohio State Buckeyes won the Nationals, my baby then 17 years old decided that was the university of his dreams. That of course was my nightmare. My baby was going almost 3000 miles away. Why not California State "Anything". Anything but, that far away. But how could I destroy his dreams, I just suffered silently, and helped him prepare for his new journey.

But, I needed something to prepare me for the moment he left and the duration of his studies. That year I decided to train to run a "Marathon". People still ask me " Why not a dog"? They require less time to train, and surely,training them is less painful. I finally said " Okay guys, if I do this for a good cause, would you stop picking on me"? So I decided to select a good cause and my choice was Train To End Stroke an endurance training and fund-raising program, benefiting the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, in which participants train to run or walk a full or half marathon.

I became part of this program shortly before I took my "baby" to The Ohio State University in September 2003. By the way, they gave me a gym bag which says, "I swapped my kid for this bag at Ohio State". Wow, they had no sympathy, they had to rub it in. In the beginning I could not stand to look at it, but then I started to use it to carry my training gear. Well at least I got something for all the extra out of state tuition I was paying for.

I trained constantly, and I finished my first marathon which was the The Los Angeles Marathon in March of 2004. And like they state in the movie Spirit of the Marathon," When You Cross The Finish Line It Will Change Your Life Forever". This event changed my life. It will also change your life.

As for the bag I traded for my kid, it's still kicking after the countless Marathons and Half-Marathons I've completed. It's a little faded to say the least, and I keep telling my son, that he needs to come home, so I can put it away. But, he's not listening. Sometimes I think he's challenging me, or maybe he likes the person I've become after my life changing experience of completing a Marathon.

Is Sneaking Fiber in Your Children's Diet OK?

When my children were young, I could get away with sneaking in some bran in the cream puff dough. After all they loved the homemade cream puffs I whipped up especially during the holidays. They even volunteered my services for any school celebration.

Now that they are older, that trick went the way of Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. I had to confess. They now know that being regular is not hereditary, it was the secret work of mom. It became very obvious when they went out on their own and they started having regularity problems. The answer, mom was not around sneaking in a little bran here and there.

Because I was sneaking it in, and not being honest about the importance of fiber in their diet, they grew up thinking that it was magically in their system. They did not understand why their friends were having problems and they were not.

My advice is for you to educate your children early on the importance of fiber in their diet. This way they start a good habit early in life and keep it for life. Don't make the same mistake I made. My children are now learning how important this is, and although I'm not a believer of the phrase " You can't teach an old dog new tricks", the difficulty they are having including this basic ingredient in their diet is challenging this disbelief.

You can still keep Santa, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy a mystery, but please do not add "The Fiber" in your diet to that list.