Lajes 'Shirt' practices what he preaches -- Fitness

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olufemi Owolabi
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  For some people, preparing for a race sometimes means only staying on the track and running. For a first sergeant here, preparing for his type of run takes a lot more than that; it takes a combination of various training exercises and eating right in order to succeed. 

As if wearing two hats, as the 65th Logistics Readiness and 65th Security Forces Squadrons' shirt, is not enough, Master Sgt. James Richardson is currently preparing to represent the command as the only delegate from Lajes in the upcoming 2009 Air Force Marathon. 

Sergeant Richardson starts his day early, around 4 a.m., not to perform his shirt duties but to begin his training routine for the marathon. According to him, the training, which will take him 18 weeks, will keep him in better shape for the marathon scheduled for Sept. 19 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

"It is all about getting the body conditioned to run that distance," Sergeant Richardson said. 

He said preparing for marathons takes a lot of training. One has to train the muscles in the body to burn carbohydrates. 

According to him when running a 26-mile race, the body has the tendency to burn about 2,600 calories, but it only stores about 1,800 calories. Therefore, a good marathon runner has to learn to eat right and train to control carb burning in order to finish the run. 

The same way sprinters and body builders want proteins in their daily diet; long runners need carbs because their body burns those carbs over distances.
 
"A lot of people can't finish the marathon because they run out of energy," he said. "Their body no longer has the food or energy to give them in order to complete the marathon."
For this reason, his training involves short and long runs six days a week.
A typical week's schedule for him contains cross training on Mondays. 

"During this training, I do anything other than running," he explained. 

During cross training, Sergeant Richardson is bicycling, on the elliptical machines, rowing or doing about 30 minutes of weight training to condition his lower body. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays during his short runs, he incorporates pushups, sit-ups and crunches to work his upper body. 

"In order to run, the back muscles, the Abs and arms are the keys to propelling you through running," he said. "If you don't have good, strong Abs and back muscles, you are not going to succeed in marathons." 

And on others days when he runs, he ensures it is not more than 20 miles. He said researches have shown that running about 20 miles during a training session is enough to condition and establish one's body with the endurance needed for a full marathon. 

Though the "shirt" said he started running as a young kid, this does not preclude him from getting enough training anytime he's getting ready for a race.
 
Since he started running marathons, he has competed at various levels. Currently Sergeant Richardson has three fun-run marathons and the recently concluded half Shamrock Marathon in Norfolk, Va., on his plate as a runner.
 
I like the competitive mode of marathons, he said. 

One of his runs also includes a marathon he did for charity. 

"My brother had cancer, so I ran for a cancer charity society in 2004," he added. 

His best time was over three hours in the Wichita Marathon, but his goal this year is to reduce it to about 2 hours 45 minutes, and if not the first-place winner, be among the first 50 runners. 

The sergeant shared the secret of how he has been running tirelessly over the years and how he intends to achieve his goal. 

"Anytime I am tired, I would look about ten feet in front me and tell myself not give up," he said. "Pushing it through the walls--you'll basically overcome that negative barrier by talking yourself into continuing to run." 

Even a tremendous workload from the logistics readiness and security forces squadrons could not stop the first sergeant from his routine early morning workouts because running has becomes a lifestyle for him. 

Moreover, since fitness is a prerequisite in the Air Force, the "shirt" is leading the path and setting a good example for his unit. 

"I can't tell people to be fit or tell them to do something when I'm not doing it myself," he said. 

For this first sergeant, the Air Force mission comes first, and fitness is also a vital part of what make Airmen accomplish the mission successfully, either being on station or in deployed locations.