Alki Beach 5K, Supporting NW Hope & Healing | Aug. 28 2016
Head on out to Seattle’s best waterfront run for an amazing cause! Every year thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer or gynecologic cancer in the Pacific Northwest. One organization in Seattle offers these women immediate financial assistance, Northwest Hope & Healing. When you’re fighting to survive, you shouldn’t have to struggle to eat, pay your utilities or phone bill, or have transportation to treatment. This Sunday head on out to the Alki Boathouse and run for a cause. Enjoy the sights and sounds of West Seattle via a gorgeous waterfront 5K route (that’s 3.1 miles), encompassing Alki Beach and the restored Bathhouse, Alki Beach Park, Anchor Park, and stunning views of the waterfront and downtown Seattle.
Although fundraising is not required, participants are urged to gather donations to help local cancer patients. Last year the event raised more than $75,000 in financial aid for women with breast and gynecological cancer. This year the need is even greater, and with your help, we’re hoping to DOUBLE the proceeds from last year. Ask ten friends to donate $10; make a $50 donation and have your employer donate; hold a garage sale and donate the proceeds, and you’ll have $100 before you know it. But don’t stop there! All donations are welcome, and the sky is the limit. So many people in our community have experienced cancer or cared for someone with cancer that they will be grateful for the chance to help if you just ask!
For More Information and registration check out www.alkibeach5k.com Pre-registration is encouraged, but you can also register in person on the day of the event!
Columbia Winery Charity Run & Walk | Aug. 20th, 2016
Columbia Winery Charity Run & Walk | Aug. 20th, 2016
Be sure to make the most of your weekend and head on out to the Columbia Winery for their summer 5K/10K supporting Seattle Children’s Hospital. The race will start and finish at the Columbia Winery, and is a chip timed event. It’s not too late to register! Registration is still available through the day of the race, so dust off those running shoes and kick up your heels! Kids 12 and under run for free, so bring the whole family! register at www.runforchildrens.org
Race Day Schedule:
7:00 AM: Onsite registration & bib pickup
8:30 AM: 10K Run starts
8:45 AM: 5K Run/Walk starts
9:45 AM: Kids Dash
10:00 AM: Awards Ceremony & Race Festival
11:30 AM: Post event Festival ends
Proceeds benefit uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital which ensures quality care to all children in the Northwest, regardless of their ability to pay. The need for uncompensated care is estimated to be more than $120 million this year. Of the 100,000 patients treated at Children’s each year, 65% need financial assistance.
The Run for Children’s Guild is a group of volunteers dedicated to helping children in the Northwest by raising money for uncompensated care at Children’s Hospital. Each year they organize an annual run/walk event to help raise money for uncompensated care.
Last year’s event was a huge success, raising over $100,000 for uncompensated care – this year they hope to top it. See you there!
Seafair Weekend | AUGUST 5TH – 7TH
It’s that time of year again, Seafair Weekend!
It’s Seattle’s traditional summer festival. A month-long, region-wide barbecue, that brings an entire community together in celebration. For 67 years Seafair has been about community events, parades, Miss Seafair, the Navy and Coast Guard, amateur athletics, airplanes and of course, boat racing. But most of all, Seafair has been about people and it continues to be.
The Seafair Foundation was established to create and build opportunities for Seafair’s Scholarship Program for Women, Ambassador Program, Holiday Cruise, Youth Education Program and the Seafair Sanctioned Community Events. As an extension of the Seafair Festival, the foundation has given Seafair an additional venue to direct resources towards making a greater impact on the community. The Seafair Foundation’s mission statement is Celebrating and rewarding cultural diversity, education and community engagement in Greater Seattle.
Got to www.seafair.com for more information on this weekends events!
Avoiding Chronic Pain
Good physical and mental health can help you keep pain in check. Getting enough sleep, exercising and eating a balanced diet, reducing stress, and taking care of your health problems early can all keep your mind and body alert and active. They all also contribute to your overall quality of life. However, it can still be a challenge to avoid chronic pain. Our bodies work hard for us, and it’s easy to not give them the care they deserve. Joseph Brence, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT, COMT, DAC over at the American Physical Therapy Association has put together a list of 5 tips to avoid chronic pain. The American Physical Therapy Association launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the risks of opioids and the safe alternative of physical therapy for long-term pain management. With that in mind, these tips were created to help patients keep pain in balance.
1. Know Pain, Know Gain. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that understanding how our pain systems work is an excellent strategy in managing it. The great news is that you don’t need to know a lot! Simply knowing the basics of how our brain and nerves work, and their role in pain, can help reduce your chance for developing chronic symptoms. Learn more.
2. Keep moving. Gradually and steadily. Living an active, healthy lifestyle not only improves our general well-being and health, but can also reduce our chances of developing chronic pain. Our body was built to move, and we need to understand that not all aches or soreness is cause for concern. Learn more.
3. Spend time with a good PT. If you experience an injury, or develop the onset of pain, seeing a physical therapist (PT) early on can help address and manage your symptoms. PTs are movement experts who can diagnose and treat injuries and help you identify strategies to better manage your pain. The earlier you seek care, the better the chances you have for not developing chronic symptoms. And there’s no reason to wait: you can see a physical therapist without a physician’s referral in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Learn more.
4. Don’t focus on an image. While most of us want a diagnostic image (ie, x-ray, MRI) to tell us “why we hurt,” images actually give us little information about what’s causing pain. A study performed on individuals 60 years or older, who had no symptoms of low back pain, found that more than 90% had a degenerated or bulging disc, 36% had a herniated disc, and 21% had spinal stenosis. What shows up on an image may or may not be related to your symptoms. Once imaging has cleared you of a serious condition, your physical therapist will help guide you back to the life you want to live!
5. Addressing depression and anxiety helps. Your chances of developing chronic pain may be higher if you also are experiencing depression and anxiety. A recent study in the Journal of Pain showed that depression, as well as some of our thoughts about pain prior to total knee replacement, was related to long-term pain following the procedure. Make sure that you talk to your medical provider about your mental health throughout your treatment; it can help make your journey go much more smoothly following an injury or surgery.
Benefits of Water Workouts
Whether you are trying to beat the heat or add some spice to your workout, the pool is a great option to enjoy the weather this sunny summer in Seattle! There are actually many benefits to be had from adding water workouts to your daily regime. Along with adding variety, activities like lap swimming offers a number of health and fitness advantages for athletes and physical therapy patients.
Our friends over at Foot Hills Sports Medicine in Arizona, have put together a great list of the top 5 reasons to make the pool your second gym – Let’s check them out!
1. You can swim for a lifetime.
Simple lap swimming is one of the few activities that is truly accessible to all ages. When submerged up to your neck in water, your body carries less than 10% of its total weight. This allows older people, who may have less resilient bones and joints, to reduce stress on their bodies while working out core muscle groups. Freestyle swimming can help build and retain strength in your legs, arms and core muscle groups. These muscles are critical for standing and performing basic movements as you age.
2. Pool workouts offer full-body resistance exercises.
Swimming with your body fully submerged, engages your entire body in a resistance training exercise against the water. Along those same lines, water aerobics are great for anyone exploring ways to incorporate low-impact exercises into their physical therapy routine.
Walking, running, or practicing forms of conventionally land-based activities, underwater, can help you improve your athletic performance outside of the pool.
3. Lap swimming promotes cardiovascular health.
Light to intermediate lap swimming for 20-30 minutes, can be the key to a healthy heart and lungs. To strengthen your cardiovascular system, set personal fitness goals and track your progress. If you are able to swim 4 laps on day 1 of your swim routine, you may want to try swimming 6 laps by day 4.
Continue to set small goals for yourself as you train. Because swimming is a cardio-intensive activity, it is important to remain conscious of your breathing and heart rate. Pace yourself; find and maintain the most sustainable speed, while continuing to push yourself to improve over time.
4. Lap Swimming can relieve stress and its effects.
Very few activities can provide the same level of calm as lap swimming. Finding your body’s natural rhythm while swimming increases feelings of well-being and reduces anxiety. These psychological health perks translate directly into physical health benefits by helping relieve neck pain and soften tension in the neck and back.
5. It’s fun!
Water has a way of maximizing fun. From traditional lap swimming, to water running and aquatic Tai-Chi, water sports offer exciting training conditions you cannot experience on dry land.
Whale of a Run – Benefitting Meals on Wheels Kitsap | July 30th, 2016
Head on out to the 36th annual Whale of a Run benefiting Meals on Wheels Kitsap this weekend. There is something for everyone — a 4-mile race, a 1-mile run/walk, a Kids Dash, and a Special Olympics Athletes Non-Competitive Fun Dash. So, invite your family, friends, co-workers, and business associates. Throw out a challenge!
Meals on Wheels Kitsap has been the major provider of nutrition services for elderly persons age 60 years and older in Kitsap County since 1973. Meals on Wheels Kitsap provides meals and other nutrition services at eight community dining locations throughout the county and delivers nutritious meals directly to homebound elderly. Hot, frozen or nutritional supplement meals are delivered daily or weekly by volunteers.
The organization’s target population are frail, low-income elderly persons who depend on well-balanced meals for their primary source of nutrition. Food is a basic need. Good nutrition improves health, maintains functionality, prolongs independence, benefits quality of life, and saves money. Meals on Wheels Kitsaps meals provide good nutrition, and their volunteers provide the vital human contact we all need.
For more information check the event website out at http://www.mealsonwheelskitsap.org/whale-of-a-run.html It’s sure to be an event to remember!
Pokemon GO – Gotta catch ‘em all… and stay safe tryin’
Pokemon GO has hit the nation by storm with it’s interactive gaming concept, it’s difficult to spend more than a few minutes outdoors without seeing someone slowly passing by, eyes glued to their phone. The game allows users to live out their 1996 dreams of “catching ’em all” by traveling around the map to collect as many of the fictional creatures as possible. It’s also next to impossible to play the game without traveling. The farther users move, the wider variety of Pokemon they will encounter.
The app has been extremely successful, and critics are praising the game for its clear benefit of encouraging users to get out of the house and exercise. However, many users have reported negative health effects caused by use of the app. Unsurprisingly, several of these complaints mention sore legs and fatigue, which are likely side effects of exercise. Another common injury is neck pain caused by poor posture. The term ‘text neck’ has become a popular term for those who suffer from cervical spine pain when looking downward at their phones in a forward flexed posture.
By taking breaks from Pokemon GO throughout the day and practicing exercises, you will be better positioned to become a Pokémon master without compromising your posture. Perhaps try to counteract looking down at your smartphone for long periods of time, by simply starting to look up. This neck-stretching exercise requires you to tilt your head back, which encourages better posture. However, It is important that you don’t stretch too far back, doing so can result in pain or a strain on your neck. Since the shoulders, chest and back can all be impacted by ‘text neck’, it is essential to practice 
exercises that will open up these muscles as well. Try a simple shoulder blade squeeze. Pull your chest back by squeezing your shoulder blades together when standing up, your shoulders should pull back and your chest should open up. Repeating this approximately 30 times once or twice a day should help keep those muscles stimulated.
The moral of the story is take care of your body; not only will it serve you well in the digital world but it may come in handy in real life as well! If you are feeling pain in your neck and through your shoulders that may be more serious, and not necessarily Pokemon related, schedule an initial evaluation with a physical therapist. They can recommend a broad range of exercises that will help you get on the road to recovery.
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Weingus, Leigh. “People Are Getting Injured Playing Pokémon Go, And Physical Therapists Are Taking It Very Seriously.” MindBodyGreen. N.p., 19 July 2016. Web. 21 July 2016.
Sutherland, Sarah. “Pokemon Go: The Hazards of Catching ’em All.” Advance Healthcare Network. N.p., 20 July 2016. Web. 21 July 2016.
West Seattle Float Dodger 5K | July 23rd, 2016
Head on out to the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K – Seattle’s most fun summer running tradition – THIS weekend!
Imagine running down California Ave SW in wonderful West Seattle, a main drag usually reserved for cars. Imagine being cheered by thousands of people, the entire length of the run. Imagine trying to outrun spectacular parade floats of the West Seattle Summer Parade. All of this can be yours at the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K.
Finish your run with a root beer float, and best of all 100% of the proceeds benefits our non-profits: the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and West Seattle Food Bank.
About LLS: The mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
LLS exists to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients. They are the voice for all blood cancer patients and we work to ensure access to treatments for all blood cancer patients.
LLS recognizes that finding cures is not enough; they ensure that patients have access to the treatments, services and providers they need to live longer, better, healthier lives. LLS is dedicated to removing barriers to care. By providing advocates a powerful voice, the Policy and Advocacy Team drives policies that accelerate the development and approval of innovative treatments and ensure that patients have sustainable access to quality, affordable coordinated care. the LLS team is committed to ensuring that patients have access to an adequate network of providers and services and are protected from high out-of-pocket costs that limit access to life-saving treatments.
About West Seattle Food Bank: West Seattle Food Bank is committed to providing food security and community connections to our neighbors in need.
West Seattle Food Bank envision a strong and connected community in which all people have access to safe and nutritious food and the essential necessities of living.
Values
Compassion & Respect – recognizing the inherent dignity of each client
Diversity & Multiculturalism – understanding the diverse individual and cultural needs in our community
Collaboration & Cooperation – engaging and involving a network of community members
Education & Prevention – striving to understand, eliminate and prevent the root causes of hunger
Stewardship & Sustainability – being responsible stewards of our resources
For more information on the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K or to make a donation check out: www.floatdodger5k.com
