Over the years so many of you have asked me if I would consider personally coaching you on a weight loss and fitness journey. Because of my demanding schedule, I have repeatedly turned down every personal coaching request. The reason –  in order for me to do it right and to guarantee results, we would be looking at a full time engagement for about one year.

But I have revisited this idea and have given it some serious thought. And I may be ready to take on one coaching client. The operative word here is “maybe.” I am still not 100% sure. But understand that for me personally coaching someone on losing weight and looking better than they ever have in their entire life would not be a part time job. I would want you shadowing me (following me) and doing exactly what I ask of you.

First of all, before we start, I would make sure you are up for the task. That means for one full year you are available to follow me. And if I travel, which I do quite frequently, you may need to travel with me if requested to do so. You would need to be fully committed. So this eliminates most of you right off the bat. Let’s face it, very few people could put their lives on hold just to follow me.

Secondly, our personalities would have to mesh. If I am going to work with someone this closely, I have to like them and feel comfortable with them. I am very easy to get along with but you better prove to me during our interview that you are the kind of person that I would want to be with for a year!

Thirdly, you would have to be able to pay me. And I would have to believe that by paying me my fee would not negatively impact your life. I do not want your money if it would create any hardships in your life. What is my fee? Let me just say I am VERY expensive. Because what I do works. I guarantee it.

Please understand that I am not doing this for the money. I am financially secure. I charge a lot of money to make it worth my while and to weed out the people who are not serious about change. If I am going to take on a one on one client, I want this to be the most serious of engagements.

This program is not for the faint of heart. It is a difficult program where you follow what I say and do for one full year. That is the amount of time I need to change your life long habits.

Can I change you? The answer is YES. But only if you want to change. If interested, please get in touch with me. I am not going to tell you how, you should be able to figure it out!

Peace!

OK, it’s tough, but I will say it. I had to drop out of the Chicago Marathon after 21 miles due to severe cramping. I tried everything I could to keep moving, but in the end I felt that covering the last five miles in the 80 plus degree weather could have been very dangerous to my health.

They put me on a shuttle back to the finish line. On the shuttle I could not sit as the cramping was horrible. I almost vomited on the shuttle. It was a terrible, bumpy ride that seemed to take forever.

When they dropped me at the finish area (Jackson and Lake Shore Drive), I felt so sick, I could not even walk. A medical official saw me and put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me into the medical tent. They took my vitals. Seems as though I lost at least five pounds during the race. That is roughly two liters of water weight. BAD.

There were sick people all over the place. Looked like the MASH unit from TV. They should have given me IV fluids but they said since my BP and pulse were fine, they just wanted me to eat and drink.  The cramps were getting worse. They asked me to lie down on a medical cot. Two massage therapists came over to me and tried to help me. I was in tears from the pain.

This was not a good experience. I had just completed a 48 mile backpacking trip in Grand Canyon and I could not complete the Chicago Marathon.

Race conditions had started at green, but quickly went to yellow and then to red as the temps soared. The sun was so hot, I guess I was not able to keep up. Sorry, but 80 plus degrees is just too hot for me personally to run a marathon. Better to drop out than to end up in a morgue. Thanks for all of your concern, especially friends and readers that were tracking my run. I am feeling better now.

One thing though. I will never give up. I will waddle on well into the future. I simply know to stay away from HOT marathons!

Yes, according to my calendar and watch I have about four days and ten hours before the starting gun sounds at the beginning of the Chicago Marathon. Am I ready? Yes, I am ready to finish! To complete the marathon, one needs a combination of physical and mental readiness. I think my body is ready for the run and as usual I am feeling a little mental so I should be OK!

This is going to be a test because as you know there will only be a two week time span between the time I completed my 48 mile hike in the Grand Canyon and the Chicago Marathon. I am hoping for the best.

The marathon is very emotional. I remember crying at least three times during last years’s run. I am not even sure why. I just did. And I probably will this year.

There is music along the course that relates to the run. Can you guess what song they were playing at the start last year? A prize to the person that guesses it. No fair if you were in the race though!

Waddle on!

As I am still recovering from my 48 mile backpack in Grand Canyon, I was just reminded that exactly a week from today is the Chicago Marathon which I will be running. I did a seven mile run this morning and felt great. Probably lots of strength left in my legs and lungs from the backpack. Anyway, as you know from my previous writings, I am not out to win the marathon; my goal is to finish comfortably. Or fairly comfortably. Or alive. Whatever comes first!

This week is a very busy week for me at work so I will not get a lot of running in. But I wouldn’t want to anyway as generally the week before a marathon, I like to rest my legs.

I leave Friday morning for Chicago. It’s one of my favorite cities. I’m just praying for good weather. In the meantime, I’m just gettin’ things done this week. Just a lot of stuff I need to take care of. And if I don’t get to take care of stuff, most likely no one will ever care.

What are you doing right now to be healthy? If you have followed my blog and read my book, you already know the two most important things you can do are to exercise and eat smaller portions. The two keys to healthy life! Well, there are more things, but those are two very important ones. Are you doing both of them? If you are, you are doing better than most.

Waddle on!

Yes, I did it! I hiked rim to rim to rim in the Grand Canyon successfully. That is me in the above picture – the tall guy, second from the right. It took six days and five nights backpacking and sleeping outside in campsites along the way. This was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. I will have a link to some really cool pics and videos real soon so stay tuned. In the meantime, what are you doing right now to be healthy?

Leaving today for my six day rim to rim to rim backpack trip in the Grand Canyon. My plane leaves in about four hours for Phoenix. My team and I are ready. Yoko, Larry, Lew and I are leaving from Baltimore. Landi is leaving from Detroit and we will all meet up in Phoenix. From there we will take the three plus hour drive to Grand Canyon Village. This is really exciting. Sure I am a little nervous. We have a lot of hiking ahead of us! The hike begins in a little over 48 hours.

In just over two months from now, I plan to do a six day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. I, along with a team of five other hikers will start at the South Kaibab trailhead on the south rim of the canyon, hike one mile deep into the inner gorge, cross the Colorado River, ascend all the way to the north rim, and then turn around and come all the way back. This is called a rim-to-rim-to-rim hike and it is something that I have wanted to do for years.

In order to complete a hike like this, proper preparation and attention to every detail is mandatory. I will need to carry all of my food, water, and camping supplies, which will amount to wearing a backpack that weighs in the 35-40 pound range. And my body will need to be in tiptop shape to take me up and down steep hills, across a few sheer ledges and over rough terrain in a potentially very hot, dry desert environment.

I am a believer that one can do practically anything in life if you prepare properly. I have done about ten backpacking trips in Grand Canyon and numerous day hikes over many trails. I know the dangers of hiking there and because of my experience I know how to train and prepare to maximize the probability that my team and I will be successful.  And most importantly, I am smart enough to know my limits. I am not Superman!

For quite some time now I have been teaching people how to live their healthiest and happiest lives possible. Proper preparation in life is essential, not just in training for an athletic or endurance event, but also in all aspects of life. If you want to undertake something difficult and challenging, as long as you know what you are getting into and you are prepared, you most likely will be OK. Not knowing exactly where you are going and getting in over your head can have potentially devastating consequences.

Let me give you a great non-athletic, real life business example. This really happened. First a little background information is in order. Some of you may know that I co-founded a business a while ago with my brother Rich. Since we are both dentists by profession, our dream was to help other dentists reach higher levels of success in their practices and their lives. Twenty-one years later, our company The Madow Group is one of the leading educators and practice builders for dentists in the United States!

A few months ago I had something very strange take place. Two of our employees resigned suddenly without notice. It was a total surprise. Shocking. After all, why would two seemingly intelligent men who I considered to be friends of mine leave relatively high paying jobs in an economy such as this? As hard as I tried, I just couldn’t figure it out.

When the dust settled, we found out that our friends had been copying our business ideas for months (while employed by us) with the intent of opening a similar business of their own. At first I was devastated. How could two individuals that I put so much trust in do such a dishonorable thing?  I was incredulous that this could actually happen. Rich and I worked too hard for all of these years to have two of our friends cheat us like this.

Anyway, having thought about this whole situation quite a bit, I always come back to my Grand Canyon training program. And here’s why. As I said earlier, every time I backpack in the Grand Canyon, I know exactly what is ahead of me and I am confident that I will be ready for obstacles. I am experienced.

Just the opposite for my two friends that left me to copy what we are doing. You see, there are a few potential “obstacles” that they may not have ever thought about before they made this decision. And more likely than not, they are not prepared for what is ahead.

A seasoned hiker makes it look so easy because he or she has hiked before and knows what to expect. Rich and I make our business look easy because we have been doing it for over twenty years.  We have a large base of doctors that know us and do business with us. I believe we have a pretty good reputation among dentists.

But getting to where we are now did not come easy. It cost us a ton of money and a lot of headaches and sweat over a twenty-one year period. And if we were to try to start this same business today, I am not so sure it would be possible. Times are so very different.

And remember one of the most important points. Rich and I are dentists. We are professionals. We have gone through the pains of dental school and the process of building up practices. We are colleagues to our customers. We are one of them. Contrast that to my two buddies that are attempting to copy. They are not dentists and are total unknowns in the dental profession. One is an ex-home improvement guy and the other is a flooring industry guy. Doesn’t seem to mesh with dentists, does it?  They have NO EXPERIENCE nor do they have the talent to do what we do. But have they taken this into consideration? It appears as though they have not.

Sure, it’s always easy when we start our backpacking trip on the rim. We all feel great at the start. But the long enduring trek through the hot and dry desert is not for the timid.  And getting back to the business example, my two friends have not trained properly for what lies ahead in the canyon. They do not have the proper equipment or supplies. I would never attempt anything like they are doing without knowing what is ahead. Without water, food and energy to get where we need to go, we die.

If I attempted my Grand Canyon hike totally untrained, I would perhaps last a short time until I realized that I could not complete it. Same with business or anything else you may attempt. If you have not prepared properly, your food, water and energy will be depleted. Your legs will be tired. Your back will be sore from carrying the heavy packs. And sooner, rather than later, you will succumb to the hot, dry desert.

Please promise me that before undertaking a tremendous challenge, you will research and train properly. That’s all I ask. I am not telling you not to take risks or challenges in your life. I take them all the time. But I do not want you, my friend, to ever make such a big mistake in life that you cannot recover from like my two buddies have done. Do you promise?

I have run long distances and exercised like crazy and actually gained weight. I have seen marathon runners with pot-bellies. I have figured out after thirty-plus years of a healthy active lifestyle that in order to be thin, you must simply eat healthy and eat less. It may sound simple but it’s the truth. In my estimation, the average American eats from about 50-100% more than they should. Starting today promise yourself fresh, whole foods and smaller portions. I’m telling you, this is what it takes! Do you want to be thin? Then trust me!  Dave

I have been living a healthy lifestyle for way more than thirty years now. I think it’s safe to say that I have become somewhat of an authority of what to do and what NOT to do when it comes to exercise and eating. I have seen it all and done it all. Time is probably the best test to see if something works or not. And after thirty years of working on this, I have time on my side.

As many of you know from reading my book as well as my blog, I am a runner. Not a fast runner, but a runner nonetheless!

I have two road races coming up the next two weekends that I am really excited about. I will be in San Francisco running the Bay to Breakers 12K this coming Sunday (May 16). This is technically a race, although many would refer to it as a seven and a half mile party, complete with naked and costumed runners! Yes, it’s true! I had heard about this race way back in the 70’s but I did not start running it until last year. If you are not a runner, you can walk it as well. Plenty of people do just that! It’s going to be a lot of fun. Actually, most events that involve getting outdoors and moving your body are fun. You just gotta get into it!

Secondly, the following weekend, I will be running in the MD Half Marathon. This is a little of a more serious race, meaning there probably won’t be naked and costumed runners! It’s 13.1 miles long – a great workout.

If you are going to be looking for me at either race, please look towards the back of the pack. I will not be in the first half of the finishers, that’s a guarantee! Because of my speed, many people would not consider me a winner. How wrong they are. When these races are over,  I will consider myself one of the biggest winners in the fields. I am 55 years old now and people still say I look 10-20 years younger than my age. I feel great. I am much thinner than the average person my age. I have never had a serious injury exercising. I smile the entire way. How much more of a winner can one be than that?

I hope you will be able to catch me at either event. Please say hello!

By the way, the MD Half Marathon is being run for a fantastic cause – cancer research. If you would like to know more, or if you would like to make a donation of any size, please feel free to visit my half marathon page by clicking HERE!

Waddle on!