Dr. George A. Sheehan (November 5, 1918 - November 1, 1993) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his books and writings about the sport of running. His book, "Running & Being: The Total Experience," became a New York Times best seller.
Originally Published Circa 1991
If the Grim Reaper wants to catch Dr. George Sheehan, he had better drop his scythe and put on running shoes. A year ago, 69-year-old Sheehan, noted author, fitness expert, cardiologist and marathon runner, was diagnosed as having cancer. ``I have an alien in my body,`` he says, matter-of-factly.
The alien is prostate cancer. It has spread into the bone. It is inoperable.
But rather than spend his time cooped up in a hospital undergoing painful treatments, Sheehan is heeding the sage advice of Oliver Wendell Holmes: ``The best way to a long life is to get a chronic disease and take care of it.``
``I watch my diet,`` Sheehan says. ``I don`t eat red meat, cheese or fat. I eat lots of fish and grain.``
And he has a bone scan every six months to track the spread of the cancer.
Sheehan agreed to undergo radiation treatments just a few months ago. But only because the pain in his pelvic bone was ruining his morning run.
The radiation treatments seem to have worked. ``Cancer is no longer a death sentence. A lot of people recover from it,`` Sheehan says. ``And luckily prostate cancer is not a very . . . aggressive cancer. My son is an endocrinologist. He told me that most people with prostate cancer tend to die of something else.
``And I have no intention of dying of anything else,`` he says.
Certainly not of boredom or inactivity.
Sheehan, known in the fitness world as the Running Philospher, is the author of five best-selling books on running: Dr. Sheehan on Running; Running and Being, The Total Experience; Dr. Sheehan`s Medical Advice for Runners; This Running Life and his latest paperback, Dr. Sheehan on Fitness. He also pens a monthly column for Runner`s World magazine.
Sheehan was in South Florida recently to speak to groups of the Humana Hospital Seniors Association. And he preached fitness to auditoriums packed with more knit golf shirts and orthopedic shoes than Lycra shorts and running shoes.
Sheehan took up running at age 45. Since then he has run more than 60 marathons, grueling 26.2 mile races. So when he preaches getting fit, even late in life, he knows what he`s talking about.
He says he has ``slacked off`` his weekly road mileage. He only logs around 30 miles a week these days, what with traveling for speaking engagements and all.
And he can only squeeze in two 10K (6.2 miles) races each month, and at a slightly slower pace than he`s used to. ``I`m slowing down,`` he says of his still admirable 10K time of 46 minutes.
But Sheehan, who lives in Ocean Grove, N.J., hasn`t run a marathon in three years. He pulled an ankle in New York three years ago and has been sick with colds during the past two Boston Marathons, which are held in April.
He admits he has suffered for his sport. But he`s not one to complain - unless you ask. ``I`ve had just about every injury except a torn cartilage and a stress fracture,`` he says.
Sheehan has been laid up over the years with heel spurs, tender Achilles tendon, painful runner`s knee, wrenched low back problems and pulled hamstring. But in spite of all the road injuries, he still believes running is the key to health and happiness.
When Sheehan speaks of running, he refers to the sheer joy, the introspectiveness, and the deep-seated need for the solitary activity. And he is the first to admit that the hour on the track is the only time of day he can formulate his thoughts and ideas.
But besides being an important private time, running, or exercising every day, will put you on the road to longer life, he says.
``Back in 1968, at the start of the running craze, we saw a mysterious drop in the number of coronary deaths. Then the rate picked up again in the late `70s. What happened was that a lot of people were kept alive by running and exercise.``
He feels Jim Fixx, the famous runner-doctor who died of coronary disease while running, was one of these statistics.
The gospel of good health, Sheehan says, is simple. It means energy. And having enough left over after work to do more than fall asleep in front of the TV set.
``But, don`t worry, I`m not here to get you all running.`` There were audible sounds of relief from his audience. ``There are many forms of physical salvation,`` he says. And only three rules.
Rule No. 1: Exercise to the limits of your endurance.
``Thirty minutes four times a week is all you need,`` he says. Sheehan stresses that exercise can be any activity that uses large muscle groups - such as racket sports, aerobic dance, walking, swimming or cycling.
Whatever form of exercise you choose, make it simple, efficient and comfortable. ``Exercise should never be painful,`` he says.
Sheehan cites a small study conducted in Pittsburgh that showed the healthiest group of people were mail carriers. ``And you never see mailmen huffing and puffing on their rounds. In fact, you hardly ever notice them; they are so quiet and steady.``
Sheehan`s recommendation of 30 minutes four times a week follows the current moderate exercise prescription from Dr. Kenneth Cooper, known as the father of aerobics. Cooper, who first wrote of the need for aerobic activity in 1968, now believes that anyone who runs more than 15 miles a week is exercising for reasons other than good health.
Rule No. 2: Don`t eat fat. This means no butter, oil, fried foods, red meat. Stick as close to the Pritikin diet of whole grains, fruit and vegetables as possible, he says.
Rule No. 3: Take naps.
Sheehan is a big believer in catnaps. He maintains that modern biofeedback, stress management and Transcendental Meditation are just complicated ways of simulating the relaxation the brain experiences during sleep. So, asks Sheehan, why not just nap?
``I used to go to those TM classes and fork over $100 to get my mantra, my meditation `word,` `` he says. ``The word was stupid.``
Today, Sheehan gets angrier over ``age excuses`` than age prejudice. Old age is no excuse for being out of shape, he says.
``Inactivity is giving aging a bad name. Accelerated decay - that`s what we think of as getting old today.``
In his slightly evangelistic manner of speaking, Sheehan told his audience that he actually envies people who never have exercised.
`The less you have done, the further you can go,`` Sheehan says. ``Every day you will get stronger and stronger.``
Good health is all in what you do every day. And in what you think you can do. And Sheehan believes that fitness unquestionably will improve the quality of life.
In becoming fit late in life, in the golden years, Sheehan`s advice is to follow the creed of Ralph Waldo Emerson: ``Combine the curiosity of a child, the energy of an adult and the wisdom of age.`
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