Blog: Feature Stories

Last week, my 10-year-old son mused out loud, “I wish there was a Girls on the Run for boys!” He knew his sister had done the popular club in 4th grade, and he wanted his turn.

Back in the late 1990’s, Girls on the Run coach Ashley Armistead thought the same thing. With a degree in Nursing, and another in Health and Sport Science, experience as a GOTR coach, and two little boys of her own, she set out to create a program that met boys’ needs — and not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

“We want our children to live to their full potential,” says Armistead. “Any avenue to their total wellness will help them self-actualize and live to their full potential.”

She challenged the notion that “boys will be boys.”

Armistead says working as a Sport Science major at Wake Forest opened her eyes to the role mental and emotional health play in overall physical wellness. She witnessed the “Boy Code” that boys try to live up to — limiting their emotions in order to “act” like boys. She read about Boy Code in Dr. William Pollack’s book Real Boys, and knew she had to do something. In it, Pollack states that boys are only allowed to lead half of their emotional lives, even though boys and girls possess roughly the same amount of testosterone until about age 10, and research has shown infant boys show more emotion than infant girls.

“I was worried about messages they get (to turn emotions inward), that can turn into violence, substance abuse, even suicide,” says Armistead. “I wanted an activity where they could get positive feedback and live as a whole person.”

Armistead set to work, holding a town hall meeting with parents, coaches, educators, and businessmen and women. Nearly ten years later, she launched Let Me Run, which seeks to give boys positive affirmations about their own strength and to redefine success to include empathy, teamwork, and supporting others. These skills are developed through activities for cardiovascular fitness and total body strength.

“The more that we can spread the message in the community that nurture is more powerful than nature,” says Armistead, “the more we can teach people about the development of boys, and not put them in a box and live to the stereotype. They are fully human and should get a chance to live their potential.”

Running and teamwork activities provide the framework to teach important lessons. Besides being a great social outlet, running prevents or decreases chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Regular exercise increases learning rates, focus, and memory, which help academic performance. It also increases dopamine — which can help decrease depression, fights, addiction, and other negative behaviors.

It was important to Armistead to reach these boys at an early age, because “gender intensification” happens in middle school, as many of us remember. Let Me Run focuses on boys in elementary and middle school for that reason.

The idea caught on quickly. In just ten years, Let Me Run has increased its footprint to 56 regional offices across the country. Even though the pandemic put a pause on school programs, leaders have used the time to reframe the curriculum for the times we live in. New components will teach boys to process trauma (such as deaths, illnesses, and isolation from COVID-19), as well as teach equity and equality overa ll genders and races.

“Testosterone is not bad if channeled correctly,” asserts Armistead. “It can be nurtured to the right outlet.”

Let Me Run will release its new training modules for coaches over the summer, and put its reframed curriculum and parent guide to work in the fall. Summer camps will allow Let Me Run to reintroduce the program to boys before school begins in the fall. Armistead says she’s grateful for how the program has achieved its goals and continues to set new ones.

“It gives boys a shot to consider who their best selves are, and what it means to be healthy on the inside and out.”

Keep up with Let Me Run, register, or explore volunteer opportunities at https://charlotte.letmerun.org/

We love to run. We have training plans, schedules, and blocks marked off on our calendars just for the “me” time on the open road (or trail or greenway). But then life happens — a big project, a sore ankle, a sick child, or — if you’ve been there — giving birth or having surgery. Suddenly, you’re out for days or weeks.

So how long is too long before we have to worry about losing the condition we’re in?

The answer is akin to asking, “How fast can I run in 5 years?” or “How far can I ride when I’m 52?” It depends — on a lot.

“There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all for this — we are all a study of one,” says Lisa Landrum, creator of runCLTrun and head coach and owner of ForwardMotionXC. “A lot of factors come into play, like how long you’ve been running prior to the break, or how much you’ve been training and at what intensity.”

Research backs that up, agrees Dr. Karan Shukla, a physician at Novant Health Randolph Family and Sports Medicine.

“It depends on the baseline level of functioning,” says Dr. Shukla. “It’s different for a high-level athlete or basic athlete, or non-athlete.”

A study of adolescent athletes who have been training for a year (I know, we’re past that, but it’s still good data) could go as long as three weeks without losing muscle mass and aerobic capacity.

On the other hand, beginners lost their fitness a lot more quickly. Researchers put sedentary individuals on a bicycle training program for two months, which increased their aerobic capacity, then took them off for another two months. The subjects regressed to pre-fitness levels.

And a study of active seniors in a residential home found 12 weeks off caused them to lose their fitness levels, but they could regain quickly after they returned to activity. Sedentary seniors who started a fitness program and then took 12 weeks off lost their fitness more quickly and had a longer road to regaining it, says Dr. Shukla.

Okay, we know most of us fall somewhere in between. When should we worry?

“In a moderately active person, 12 weeks of inactivity is associated with the most measurable decline in physical function,” says Dr. Shukla. “It’s too long.”

For active runners in training, two weeks is about the limit of time off before losing aerobic capacity. Studies back this up: Runners who’ve been training at least 4-6 months don’t lose the capacity for the body to transport and use oxygen during exercise for up to two weeks. After that, levels start dropping.

Landrum sees this “where the rubber meets the road,” so to speak, with runners she works with. “Theoretically and very generally speaking, aerobic capacity starts to decline after a week or two of no running,” she says.

But if you must — we all need time off sometimes — cross-training will get you through it and reduce loss.

“Strength training, cross-training, flexibility, and core exercises,” advises Dr. Shukla. “Your body has muscle memory.” He also acknowledges some illnesses or injuries require longer recoveries. Childbirth or surgery often require 6 weeks of rest. COVID-19, even in mild cases, can sometimes affect long-term health with fatigue or lung capacity. Start slow and build from there, he recommends.

“First, return to health, then add daily activities, then exercise,” he says. Remember that a holistic approach with daily sleep and a proper diet works best. From there, listen to your body as you rebuild your routine. “Engage in light exercise — a brisk-pace walk, then convert to a trot, and follow with a higher-intensity sprint after that. Maybe you’re not running that long run until you feel like you can engage at shorter distances at higher intensity,” he says.

How long will that take? Again, it depends on variables like your age and your pre-inactivity fitness levels.

“For every 2 weeks of inactivity, you should give an extra week to recondition,” says Dr. Shukla. “Give yourself a little time, and give yourself a break. The older you are, the longer it will take.” And give yourself a little grace — think long-term. “The last thing you want to do is recover and re-injure yourself on your first run, or be so sore you can’t run again for another week.”

We get it… we know how hard it is to get up and get going when the year has been so uncertain. And face it, you don’t want to hear us tell you again how running is great exercise. You know that, right?

Well, we’re going to tell you again. Actually, we’re going to have a doctor tell you if you haven’t seen yours lately.

“Lack of exercise can magnify pre-existing conditions,” says Dr. Karan Shukla, a physician at Novant Health Randolph Family and Sports Medicine. Are you ready for the rundown?

“Circulatory changes — the inability to eliminate toxins from our bloodstream — leads to poor control of blood sugar and blood pressure and can cause physical changes in body composition” that lead to worsening health over time. Whew. Let’s unpack this.

Basically, lack of exercise leads to a lot of physical problems that compound themselves as you get more out of shape with each passing year. Regular running — 30 minutes, 3 times a week — can add the activity you need to avoid the downward slide.

Dr. Shukla lays it all out:

1. Running allows the heart to circulate blood, and pump more efficiently
2. Better circulation helps eliminate toxins from the bloodstream and provides nutrients to organs so they can work better
3. Efficient oxygenation helps increase neurotransmitters in the brain — which helps us cope with stress more effectively, improves our moods, and helps us sleep
4. Being well-rested, in a better mood, and better able to handle stress helps us — wait for it — stay more active
5. Running also strengthens our bones and muscles so we’re stronger, won’t get as sore, and are less prone to injury, which — you got it — allows us to run more. Running outdoors also activates your Vitamin D, an important factor in bone health.

All this, and it helps us keep excess weight off, which in turn, keeps us more active, too. Or… the opposite can happen.

“When we’re physically inactive and immobile for a long period, the increase in body fat and mass can also be associated with a decrease in physical performance,” says Dr. Shukla (a nod to the “quarantine 15” some of us have experienced).

Sending that spiral in the right direction is the idea behind national running group Black Girls Run, which has a Charlotte chapter 900 women strong (and we mean STRONG!) Their website cites some strong statistics, too — like African American women are 60% more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white women.

“We gear the group towards African American women because we face the health problems, the obesity, the diabetes, in great numbers,” Wendy Berry, a BGR Ambassador, told the Running Around Charlotte podcast. “But all women are welcome.”

Fellow Ambassador Kotassa Glover had been running with the group for six years when she found out she has Type II Diabetes — a real shock considering her active lifestyle.

“African Americans also have a higher rate of diabetes, and I had no idea I had a family history of diabetes,” she says. “Now our purpose is a little bigger.” The other women in the group are “accountability partners,” says Glover, and keep her consistent. A good diet and consistent running keep her blood sugar in check.

“Pre-diabetes and early diabetes are best managed through modifying diet and engaging in exercise,” Dr. Shukla agrees. Inactivity and weight gain can put you at risk of expanding “body composition,” which Dr. Shukla says “can lead to decreased efficiency for the body to use insulin which leads to higher blood sugar levels.”

Do you need more reasons than that?

Running helps you look great, feel great, and stay healthy — and science proves why. Don’t worry if you can’t go far — walk, trot, and sprint a little in every workout to get the intensity you need to burn those calories and make it work for you. Here’s to your health!