What a day!! What a race!! Today was the 32^nd Crescent City Classic – over 20,000 runners and walkers lined up on Decatur to participate in this world class 10K race.  The gun and canon – yes, canon, promptly went off at 8:30 am after the Marine Corps Color Guards and Marine Corps Band finished the National Anthem.

Although at first rain threaten to make an appearance, not a drop came down before, during or after the race…which is good because everyone was enjoying the after the race festivities at City Park. The cloud coverage was welcomed, since you can work up quite a sweat running 6.2 miles.  The mixture of cloud, sun and the low 70s made for a gorgeous day for the race.

The Crescent City Classic attracts world class athletes who come to New Orleans to set world records but to me, the real heroes of the race are the people of all ages, sexes, shapes and sizes that come out to run and walk.  People really do come out in troves to participate…some dressed up, some pushing baby strollers and some pulling coolers filled with beer and jelly shots.

It really is one of the best races in New Orleans.  The course starts off in the Quarter, down to Poydras…around to Rampart and on Esplanade all the way to City Park.  It’s a very scenic route.

At the end of the race many people enjoyed some delicious jambalaya and a ‘few’ folks enjoyed some Abita beer.  Okay…most folks also enjoyed some Abita beer.  I guess they earned it after running 6.2 miles!

Congratulations to everyone who ran and thank you to the Crescent City Fitness Foundation and Times Picayune for putting this event together for the city each year.  You can get your race results here.

Below are the pictures I took. Also, check-out the Times Picayune Slide Shows.

We are joining great cities of the likes of Boston, San Francisco, Toronto, San Diego, Philadelphia and Nashville in holding a HealthCamp in our wonderful city of New Orleans.

HealthCamp is an unconference inspired by the popular BarCamp conferences, which are intended to allow people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees.

The purpose of the HealthCamp is to bring together health, fitness and wellness professionals in the Greater New Orleans area to share knowledge, network, and open dialogues around the challenges, issues, and concerns they face every day.  As well as, brainstorm, explore and discuss solutions, ideas and the latest innovations, policies and technology available.

An unconference means that the attendees are the presenters – this is a user generated conference.  There is no keynote speaker and planned agenda for the day.  However, we are establishing some guidelines and tracks.

HealthCamp NOLA will explore 4 different tracks:

Technology

Sessions in the technology track will vary from discussing improving or extending the efficacy of health care by embracing social networks, open standards, and the latest web and mobile technologies to new breakthroughs and latest technology available or being developed that will change the way health services are provided.

Prevention/Wellness:

Sessions in the prevention and wellness track will focus on discussing and addressing what can be done in our community to educate, assist, motivate and encourage people to take preventive measures to prevent diseases and health problems. What can be done?  What are the biggest factors affecting the members of our community? How can health care and fitness professionals best support and help each other? Etc.

Policy

Sessions in the policy track will focus and vary from discussing federal, State and city policy that impact health and wellness providers.  This could include anything from funding issues and concerns, privatization of local hospitals, and the impact of the Health Care Reform Bills recently signed by President Obama.

Business

Session in the business track is to discuss the state of health and wellness businesses, opportunities and entrepreneurship in the health and wellness industry.  What opportunities exist in New Orleans? What type of businesses already exist – what makes them successful?

This will be an extremely beneficial event to all health, fitness and wellness professionals in the Greater New Orleans area – the energy, opportunities and networking generated from unconferences can’t be compared to anything else you have attended in the past.

Our first priority in bringing this event to New Orleans is finding a location that can support 100-150 attendees.  A space with 4-5 classrooms.  The event will be held on a Saturday.

As soon as we have reserved a location, we will accept sponsorships.  Sponsors are critical to make this a free event for attendees.  The sponsorship will be used to pay for the food for the day, possibly the facility and t-shirts.  NO MONEY is made by the organizers of this event – this event is being organized by volunteers…currently myself and Tung Ly; assisting us is the HealthCamp Organizer Mark Scrimshire.

You can stay abreast of what’s happening by joining our Facebook Group and following us on Twitter.

Spring is almost here and we’re already benefiting from some gorgeous weather – there’s no better time to “Get Active and Get Outdoors!”

One way to do that is by joining the New Orleans Outdoors Meetup Group.  The New Orleans Outdoors Meetup Group is:

“A group for local outdoor enthusiasts of all levels of ability and interests. If you enjoy being out in the wilderness, and appreciate open skies, good food and great company – welcome! Grab a spot around the fire and let’s explore the great outdoors together.”

The group has 642 members and they’ve had 150 meetups so far that varied from camping trips, canoeing trips, bike rides, kayaking, volleyball at Coconut Beach, and climbing excursions. Joining a meetup group is a wonderful way to meet new people who share the same interest(s) has you.

Partaking in outdoor activities with friends, being active, getting some fresh air, and having fun are all great things for your health!!

Telling people they need to quit smoking is pointless.  The questions is: Do you really want to quit smoking? If you can answer “yes” without hesitation, then congratulations – you’re already on your way to being a healthier, happier you with some extra money in your pocket!

I smoked for five years and was nearly at a pack a day. But believe it or not, for me, personally, cold turkey was the way to go. One day, I had my last cigarette and that was it. Not even a “puff.” I’m not going to sugar coat this; the first three weeks were pretty awful. I was very moody and short tempered. To make matters worse…I already deal with an anxiety disorder so when I just up and quit smoking; my panic attacks started happening every day for a couple of weeks. Note: someone without an anxiety disorder does not experience this volume of anxiety. However, I think that these side effects really worked to my advantage in the long run. Every time I’m in a bar and think it would be nice to have a cigarette, I think about how hard it was to quit and how I never ever want to go through that again.

The key to your journey to quit smoking is willpower.  Your willpower to resist and to say no is number one in overcoming a nicotine addiction. There are several different programs that can assist you in quitting, such as nicotine patches which allow you to gradually decrease your nicotine intake, nicotine gum that can help calm cravings or prescriptions such as Chantix. I think that no one road is right for everyone and it never hurts to consult a physician – especially if you’ve been smoking for over 10 years.

There’s even a website dedicated to helping you quit smoking

Here are some tips that worked for me:

Things that help with oral fixation/needing something to do with your hands:

* Chewing Gum
* Holding Chopsticks (sounds weird, but takes concentration and really works!)
* Chewing on/holding straws (if you’re in a bar) or pens (if you’re at work)

Find something productive/healthy to do with your former smoke breaks

* Call your parents or significant other and let them know you are thinking about them
* Find a quiet place to just stand and take a few deep breaths of CLEAN AIR!
* Have a healthy snack break:apples, nuts or loose granola

My advice to anyone who’s serious about quitting: BE STRONG – second to your willpower is your determination. How determine are you to kick this nasty habit and save your life??  Only you can decide to quit and actually go through with it.

Another important thing to know; one moment of weakness will lead to another – the only way to quit is to quit completely. This means no “occasional cigarette when I’m drinking,” no “I’ll only take a drag here and there.” You’re either a smoker or you’re not.

Need a cheerleader? Email me at mhargroder@gmail.com or message me on twitter @heyitsmegan