From the desk of Dr. Mark Cucuzzella…
This week I share the amazing story of my Indiana friend Phillip Brenneman. Phillip and I share things frequently over Facebook and email and his story is one that will change your life if you are facing similar challenges. Read on and you will understand the nothing comes easy, but if you believe you…
In West Virginia and around the nation opiate addiction and the effects on lives and families is a catastrophe and no answer is in sight. People have asked me if I have ever met anyone who has come off opiates successfully without substituting another opiate or drug. In over twenty years of medicine the list…
Monday I ran my 22nd Boston Marathon and as a 49yo veteran of this 120 year old event the goal now is fun, sharing the experience with colleagues and friends, and advance the science of how we have evolved to run. Every year there are new special “Boston Edition” shoes from every manufacturer. So this…
** FREE SHOWING OF FILM 5:30 AT SHEPHERDSTOWN OPERA HOUSE PRIOR TO TALK ** This Monday 7pm March 28 at Two Rivers Treads we will teach you how to “Run on Fat” and meet the stars of the recent movie – “Cereal Killers 2- Run on Fat”. Over the last few years in this column…
Diseases caused by poor eating habits destroy lives and cost the nation trillions in health care. Our current Dietary Guidelines and food policies clearly aren’t working. Just this week the CDC announced obesity is on the rise despite the fact that more adults are exercising. Huh? We though that more exercise would reverse this…
In my opinion and those of others who treat patients the new 2015 Dietary Guidelines for America (DGA) will not stall the Diabetes Epidemic and we continue Full Steam to the Full Catastrophe. But there are more runners now than ever before and exercise was going to fix all this stuff? You may not pay much…
10 Simple Things for 2016 Happy New Year from the Natural Running Center. We hope you have achieved a goal and learned something new about how your mind and body works in 2015. Here are 10 simple and safe things to try in 2016 with the goal not to be more “fit” in the terms…
Why were nearly 100 citizens including the wives of two NFL Hall of Famers gathered at Sam Michael’s Rec Center on a weeknight in October? Over 150 showed up at meeting #2 in November where we shared a low carb dinner at the Clarion. My friend Melanie Miller was igniting the social media world and…
We are deeply saddened at the recent passing of our friend and co-founder of the Natural Running Center Bill Katovsky. Yes, life can be short when you cannot get good help. Together with Minimalist Shoe aficionado and hi tech wizard Nicholas Pang we created the Natural Running Center site and FB pages http://naturalrunningcenter.com/ https://www.facebook.com/naturalrunningcenter Our…
Dear Medical Colleagues, The current version of the Dietary Guidelines for America now being proposed is being challenged in Congress. There is still much room for improvement to be consistent with the evidence and clinical experience. This is a call to action sparked by Nina Teicholz’s recent British Medical Journal Article “The scientific report guiding…
It’s with great honor to alert NRC readers that Two Rivers Treads has been selected as a top 100 small business by the Small Business Revolution (SBR), which is a year-long documentary project that showcases the stories of 100 small businesses across the country. Powered by the Deluxe Corporation of Minnesota, SBR tells 12 mini-documentaries…
Bernadine Somers and Morgan Academy will be the first school of our region in West Virginia, maybe even the entire East Coast, to experiment with stand-up desks for kids. Most adults and children spend their days engaged in a damaging and unhealthful activity: sitting. Parking ourselves in chairs for long periods results in a chronic…
One of the most inspiring scientists and self-experimenting athletes is my good friend, Japanese running guru Dr. Hiro Tanaka. I had the privilege of first meeting Dr. Tanaka, a Professor at Fukuoka University, Japan, at the Boston Marathon in 2011 after giving a talk on minimal running and the benefits of “easy.” Dr. Tanaka showed…
Take The JFK/Freedom’s Run Challenge And Help Recharge The Change That JFK Envisioned For Our Country 70 Runners have completed the JFK/FR Challenge in 2015 and 2016. Are you up for the challenge this year? Challenge Shirt Logo Design for Completers In the late 1950’s a warning sounded. Almost 58 percent of American children were unable…
What is special about running? Why not just walk, cycle, swim, do some elliptical or maybe the “Gazelle”, or just squat repeated times through the day? My cousin Meaghan Cusack explained it all when she spoke to a group of physicians at a recent Healthy Running conference in Chicago. Meaghan is a self-addicted 5K runner…
A week ago I received an email from a colleague in running retail, Eric Johnson, who is the general manager at Ultramax Sports, a “Top 50 Best Running Store in America.” Eric is really smart and gets it. He wrote, “This is by far the best video on prescribing running shoes I’ve run across.” This…
I recently spent time at the San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The ground floor of injury prevention for military members is Basic Military Training. For the US Air Force this is San Antonio-Lackland. Preventable injuries during physical praining in all the Armed Services costs millions of dollars a year in lost duty time…
Teaching courses on healthy running is one of the greatest pleasures of work as an educator. I learn so much from the participants as we share experiences and variations on simple training principles that work to keep us healthy. The thing I like best is when after we tell a story, we do an exercise…
In preparation for my return to the JFK 50-mile run this weekend, I’d like to share my race report from the 2008 run. This top photo was taken at mile 48 and made the front page of the Hagerstown Herald Mail in Maryland. It captures the spirit of ultra running. I wanted to relive this…
After enjoying another Marine Corps Marathon (47th place in 2:49 age 48) curiosity led to digging into past races that stretch back several decades. So into the archives I plunged to see how many MCMs (I thought it was 22) and what the times were. So I contacted my friend and Marine Corps Marathon historian…
As you enter the week prior to the Marine Corps Marathon, or any marathon, here are a few visualizations to help you set your plan. Running your best 10K is mostly about fitness. Running your best marathon is part art, science, guts, and faith in what you can do. I’ve had the privilege of running …
Sharing the journey of friend and fellow Race Director Dave McGillivray. Dave directs the “Big Boy” races, including the Boston Marathon. His message of fitness vs. health is a must-read for all. From his extraordinary run across the U.S. to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1978 to serving as technical director…
School has started. It’s a time when parents are buying their children new shoes for gym class, cross-country and everyday wear. Given what we know about childhood development and the elements of natural running gait movements, here are a few things to consider before you start shopping for shoes. — Ultra-thin soles allow proper proprioception,…
Here in our small town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia you will find truly amazing people with their own amazing personal stories. So please enjoy this fun and inspiring interview with Two Rivers Treads’ leading ladies, Diana Gorham and Sheri Fiolek, who finished the Burning River 100 miler in Ohio on August 3. If anyone tells…
Two bold, young documentary filmmakers, Dana Richardson and Sarah Zentz, left their home in Big Sur, California, and traveled to the depths of Copper Canyon in Mexico in search of the “seeds of health.” They lived among the Tarahumara who suffer almost none of the modern illnesses of Westernized Society. The Tarahumara are famous for…