Episode 4-427 – Shoshana and Adam – Veggies Saved my Life!

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-427 – Shoshana and Adam – Veggies Saved my Life!  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4427.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello and welcome to episode 4-427 of the RunRunLive Podcast.   Here we are at the center of a pandemic!  Most days I’d be sitting in my home office writing, but with the apocalypse in full swing I figure my time would be better spent … umm… sitting in my home office writing? I suppose I should make an effort to paint the context for you because we may need to look back on this episode, listen and think.     So, my future listeners, it is the day before the ides of March 2020.  We are in the grips of the corona virus.  This week they cancelled all major sports seasons, and postponed the Boston Marathon, for the first time in 124 years, until the fall.   Americans are all working from home as most businesses have closed.  There has been a run on toilet paper and bottled water for some reason.   Does it affect me?  I suppose we’ll see.  I started working for a big company a couple months ago and that is looking like a fairly prescient move.  I was down in Dallas two weeks ago after we last spoke.  I was at a conference in Atlanta this week.  I was supposed to be out in Grand Rapids at a client next week but that got canceled.  I can work virtually, so it’s not a game ender.  After we last spoke, I entered into the hard part of my training for Boston.  This week was going to be a monster, with a big miles and three killer workouts.  But, after they rescheduled the marathon I’m backing off and switching back to base-building.  Today we speak with Adam and Shoshana Chaim about how a vegan diet saved Adam’s life.  I know we’ve covered this topic before, but I had a request to specifically explore how to manage a vegan diet while competing at a high level.  In section one I’m going to talk about sleep and the impact of not getting enough or getting too much. In section two, just because it felt right, I wrote an apocalypse story for you.  I love the apocalypse genre.  I don’t know why. It seems like the ultimate escapism, I guess. Before my racing plans got changed I woke up to a fairly sever tempo workout in Atlanta Tuesday morning.   Again, with Boston 4 weeks away (at the time) this was the final push.  Coach gave me an 8 X 7 tempo work out.  So, warm up, run 7 minutes hard, 2 minute recover, repeat 8 times.  Ironically at my current pace and fitness that’s almost perfectly a mile repeat. I knew I was going to be in Atlanta.  Unless you find a track, it is hard to find a good place to do mile repeats in Atlanta.  I was staying north of the city in Roswell because all the hotels were sold out down in the city where the conference was.    I am fairly familiar with this workout, and have run it in Atlanta before and I have a strategy.   While the roads around Atlanta are a nightmare for running on, the parking lots are good, especially early in the morning.  I zoomed in on Google maps around the hotel and found some beautiful giant parking lots less than a mile away.  It turns out, without knowing this, I had positioned myself across the street from the new Atlanta Braves stadium.  I rolled out of bed early and ran over to where I knew the parking lot was.  It was raining but a warm 50ish degrees. The sun wasn’t up.  I had to cross the highway but this was ok because around the stadium the sidewalks and walkways are designed for stadium traffic and are 15 foot wide.  On the Google maps the parking lot looked flat, but in reality it was a bit of a saddle shape.  If I stuck to the outside it was about a 1/4 mile on each side with the center being the high spot in the saddle and maybe 50 feet of drop to the edges.  I hit the old lap button and got to it.  Holding a pretty good pace up and down the inclines getting to practice my form.  It was a struggle in the rain, in my jetlag, in the dark up and down the long lanes. I pushed hard and worked my form and settled into the aching discomfort of tempo. That’s how you do it. This parking lot, as it turns out, was the marshalling area for the local construction worker crews.  As I ground out my repeats they loaded and unloaded into pickups and vans and trailers with their orange vests and hard hats.  I didn’t pay them much attention, but it was a nice distraction from my suffering.  If we crossed paths I’d nod as I pushed by.  I wonder what they were thinking of this old guy pushing up and down the parking lot in the early morning rain.  I got to thinking about how those are the types of workouts that make you strong.  Those are the types of workouts that separate the normal from the exceptional.  I used the Google maps to find a trail head close to the hotel and followed it down to the Chattahoochee River the next day.   Legs were tired but I was grateful to find the river trail.  I know you all have worries today.  This is your opportunity to practice leadership.  Us old ones have been through this before.  The sun has always risen the day after one of these crises.  The world has yet to come to an end.  The things you have that matter, you still have, no one can take those from you.  This is your opportunity to lead with a positivity that looks calmly to the future, that brings hope, that inspires.  Be that leader today.  People are watching you.  Be the calming presence.  Be the positive spark.  Be the hope that they are looking for. On with the show!   About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Sleep - Voices of reason – the conversation Shoshana and Adam Chaim Welcome! I’m Shoshana Chaim and, when I was pregnant with my second child, my husband developed a rare tumor on his kidney. Not long after, my son showed signs of severe eczema and I experienced PTSD that left me missing quality time with my kids for way too long. After deciding that medication and surgery to temporarily solve these problems wasn’t an option, I found plant-based living and completely overhauled our lifestyle one day at a time. Now, as a Family Health and Wellness Coach, I work one-on-one with busy parents and families to alleviate the stress in life that’s caused by poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle, and chronic illness. With an emphasis on plant-based nutrition and action steps that are customized to each family’s needs, I’m on a mission to heal people from the inside out, so that they can finally stop solely surviving and start thriving again. The Full Story When I met my husband, we were young gym rats thinking we ate healthy enough. But when I found out I was four weeks pregnant with my second child and that my husband, Adam, had a rare tumor on his kidney, everything changed. We were told that the chances of him dying before the age of 40 were quite high. After doctor visit upon doctor visit, the only solution we were given was to prepare for surgery and genetic testing.  We were told to cross our fingers and I thought I had to prepare for the worst. How was I going to raise one child, never mind two, on my own? How could I lose the love of my life? How was I going to bring a baby into the world and her father not be standing there? What did we do to deserve this? Were we not good enough or nice enough people? I feared the worst, but those fears coming true weren’t an option for our family. Surgery wasn’t an option – there had to be a better, less invasive way that wouldn’t also result in the removal of his kidney. After a ton of research, Adam decided to change his diet. He realized that a plant-based diet allows the body to heal and restore, and found these incredible stories where people have cured cancer and reversed heart disease…all based on the food they were eating. Adam was sold immediately, but I, on the other hand, wasn’t ready. I was a new mom, just learning how to cook and meal plan, and now my husband didn’t want to eat meat or cheese and I didn’t understand why. Because even though we just went through the trauma of Adam’s diagnosis, I still thought it would never happen to me. I thought my kids would never be without me. I figured that if I just did everything else right, then I could still hold on to some of those foods that I loved. But when I experienced PTSD after Adam’s diagnosis, I realized how much a 100% nutrient dense plant-based diet allows me to feel my very best. I saw the full connection between the way I ate and the way I felt. A lot of hard work, support from those I love, and my diet gave me the tools I needed to come of medication and feel the best I’d felt in years. All in all, it took me about six months to jump on board and adopt a fully plant-based diet and lifestyle that worked for me. I was comfortable with my grocery bills (that actually ended up lower!), I knew what and how to supplement the few nutrients I needed, and I knew what kind of meals I should cook for me and my family. In those 6 months, I realized that if we don’t take care of ourselves first, then we can’t take of anyone else later. That life is fragile and family is irreplaceable. I learned that although we cannot prevent every scary thing from happening to our families, we can prevent 80% of chronic diseases by simply changing our diet and lifestyle. After watching this plant-based lifestyle shrink Adam’s tumor, clear our son’s eczema, take a client off insulin, stabilize my PTSD, and do so much more, I’m now on a mission to heal families from the inside out. I want to keep as many children as possible from losing time with a parent due to illness, immobility, or worse. I want to prevent as many parents as possible from having to raise a child alone. And most of all, I want to allow our children to grow up without the same dietary diseases as previous generations. Too much time, money and effort is spent trying to fight off or reverse disease that we could have prevented. If you feel as if this is your last chance…If you’ve done paleo, and weight watchers, and all the diets you can think of…If you realize that we’re not immortal and that our lifestyle affects the people closest to us… Then, welcome. You don’t have to think about leaving your children behind anymore. I know firsthand that the after effects of illness create a ripple effect in your family. Financially, emotionally, physically – the way we eat and live have a greater effect than we can even imagine. Every single thing we put into our mouths has either a positive or negative consequence on not only our health but also the freedom to do what we please, and not only for ourselves but also for everyone who touches our lives. When you live a healthy lifestyle, with an emphasis on plant-based nutrition, your body is given a chance to heal and thrive. Through one-on-one coaching and a plant-based healthy lifestyle, it’s possible to alleviate the stress in life caused by poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle, and chronic illness. With an emphasis on plant-based nutrition and action steps that are customized to each individual’s or family’s needs, I’m on a mission to heal you from the inside out, so that you can finally stop solely surviving and start thriving again. I’d love to invite you to a complimentary 45 minute call to get to know you and hear about where you are in your health journey. On this call, you get clear on what you want to create for your or your family’s health, your life and what’s been holding you back from reaching your goals. And you’ll leave with some actionable next steps too! To take advantage of this offer just click here.    Section two – After the Apocalypse  – Outro Well, my friends, we have stayed calm and leaned on our inherent strength, and nibbled a bit of kale through the end of another RunRunLive Podcast Episode 4-427 done and down.   What now?  Well it’s all a bit up in the air.  Which is ok with me.  My ‘A’ race wasn’t Boston.  My ‘A’ race was and still is the Tunnel Marathon in June.  I think we’ll be through the current headwinds by then.  I’ll drop my training back into base building and strength for a month or so before ramping up for that.  That Grand Canyon run is, unfortunately, probably not going to happen now that Boston is dropped squarely in the same time slot.  We postponed the Groton Road race as well.  It’s really a bit of a relief.  With the new job I was starting to stress out a bit with all that spring-time stuff that happens in this spring-time stuff season.  Now we’ve potentially got the space to catch up on some other things that might have been crowded out otherwise. Ollie the Collie is doing great.  He was getting a bit crazy because my training and travel crowded out his running time.  Now, I can get back to that as well.   He’s still a maniac.  I joked this week that we should have named him Satan.   He’s like a gremlin in the house.  A partial list of things he’s eaten…Socks, shoes, underwear, towels, reading glasses, all the channel changers, print cartridges, hats, gloves,  and napkins.  If you walk around my house, you’ll find socks and shoes perched on the high places – tenuously out of harms way. And he’s a digger.  My yard looks like a scene from the movie ‘Holes’.  He literally sits on my head if I try to watch TV.  His favorite thing is to stick his tongue in your mouth when you’re not looking.  That and having any part of you in his jaws. My current strategy is to survive until he gets a bit older, then try again to train him.  He’ll be an asset in the apocalypse though.  Those of you who have been with me for a few years will know that I was born for the zombie apocalypse.  And here we are!  My time has come! Hope you enjoyed the interview and the story telling today.  Don’t forget to be a leader.  The world needs you.  This is that time when they will say – ‘Remember that time everyone else freaked out and Bob was the rock we could all rely on?”  It’s your moment Bob.  Make us proud.  We’ll see you out there.  (Outro bumper) Track  #5 from Brian Scheff, the Rock Opera by The Nays, A real Corker! “I want to know”, Tunes for the apocalypse my friends.  MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Rachel -> Coach Jeff -> Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.