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Another Amazing LifeNut Accomplishment – 91-year-old Sets World Half-Marathon Record

4/7/2013

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Picture
Dr. Kroeger and Mike Fremont
Mike Fremont, after whose life and lifestyle LifeNuts has been
sculpted, set another running record Sunday in the Knoxville half-marathon with a time of 3:03:56. And that came despite warm temperatures – creeping into the low 70s by the afternoon. 
    I don’t know how much longer Mike will continue running these long races but I hope he sticks with it till he passes the magical century mark – only nine short years away. Anyway, I treasure each time I have the chance to be with him at a marathon. On this trip, the time was even longer since we drove together from Cincinnati to Knoxville and had the chance to chat, always an opportunity for me to learn from this fountain of wisdom.
    A lot of people dread old age. I remember reading a blurb by Donald Trump about how he hated getting old. He hated losing the vitality of youth. And, being obese as he is, he probably suffers from obesity-related disease, although his medical team keeps him supplied with the necessary medications. When I posed this question to Mike, he joyfully replied that being old is fantastic! Obviously he invested well enough to provide for a comfortable living, another important facet of being a LifeNut. And his relationships with his wife and children give him satisfaction as does his yearning to help others to become healthy, although many don’t want to listen. Mike is what old age can be like, not like what old age in America is usually like – wheelchairs, nursing homes, dementia. No one wants to be like that. But having a healthy mind and body – as Mike does at 91 –
represents a rosy picture of life, especially if you enjoy having fun with your loved ones.
    We had the chance to be on the speaking program for the Knoxville expo and give our message about longevity and vitality to runners and their families. Hopefully they’ll take it to their city councils and, if they’re wise, their city councils will adopt the LifeNuts program. But time will tell.
    We also explained that one doesn’t need to run marathons to be a LifeNut … but one needs to be physically fit and have a low BMI. Diet and exercise play an important role but stress management is equally powerful. It’s hard to work three jobs to make ends meet and squeeze in six hours of intense
exercise each week. Financial management is a skill, which many lack – even celebrities and well-known athletes.
    Since we’re now in April and, after a long, long winter, spring has finally arrived in Ohio and, with it, golf season has begun. And so, my blog postings will slow down. Maybe only one per month. I will resume weekly postings
in November. Meanwhile, if your city wants to become a LifeNuts community and
you have any questions, please notify me via the contact form on this site. Have
a great summer!


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Having a Bad Day? Cheer Up – It Could be Worse … Much Worse.

4/1/2013

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Picture
WWII German concentration camp
“It is difficult to convey the misery of these women as they dragged
themselves, often shoeless, along frozen roads, one pain-filled step promising but another, one pain-filled day yielding seemingly inevitably but another. The women had no known destination, no end point in sight. Every step required the marshaling of their energies, for they were at best listless, in their emaciated and diseased conditions.     
Every dawn saw them awake to gnawing hunger, swollen and pus-filled feet, limbs that no longer functioned, and open wounds that would not heal. They knew that an entire day’s march stood before them, during which they would be given by their tormentors few opportunities to rest. Perhaps, when evening finally came, they would consume a few morsels of food. They would then end the day in shivering, pain-filled half-sleep, only to awaken to the
repetition of another day’s and night’s cycle of horrors.”
    An American army physician, upon arriving to liberate these captives, described his initial view of them, “My first glance at these individuals was one of extreme shock not ever believing that a human being can be degraded, can be starved, can be so skinny and even live under such circumstances.” This report is from
Hitler’s Willing Executioners, an award-winning book by Daniel
Goldhagen.
    The Helmbrechts concentration camp in northern Germany was founded in the summer of 1944 and housed about 1200 women prisoners – mostly from Poland and Russia – who worked in the German Neumeyer armaments firm. When this camp was threatened by the advancing armies of Russia from the east and the Allied forces from the west, the guards were ordered to begin a “death” march, forcing the women to walk hundreds of miles south. This march began on April 13, 1945. 
     The women, many shoeless and wearing threadbare clothing, marched for miles each day – enduring incessant cruelty from both male and female guards. If they disobeyed orders – such as slowing down or eating scraps of food on the ground – they were beaten to death or shot. Many died on the way.
    By May 6, the day when the Americans liberated the survivors, the women had marched 195 miles to an area near the Czech border. Even after liberation, many died of medical complications after the march ended. These women were Poles, Russians, Jews, and even Germans who objected to Hitler’s policies. They did not die in vain for they give us a way to evaluate our own troubles.
    Yes, we never can avoid stress but we can realize that stress is
relative. And, when compared to the atrocities that these brave women endured,
our struggles are minimal. So the next time someone cuts you off in traffic or a
co-worker does something obnoxious or your teenager explodes, think about these
women marching, shoeless or with only rags to cover their swollen feet, being
clubbed by German guards. Everything is relative.


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    Author

    Dr. Bob Kroeger is the founder of LifeNuts. He's also proud to be a LifeNut.

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