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Lead Stories: Sunday, November 23, 2008

Q&A: Francisco Rodriguez on his transformation from avid smoker to dedicated marathoner

Posted July 19th, 2007 at 2:45 PM by Courtney Albon

Section: Running & Training, Motivation, Success Stories, Special Features, Interviews, Health & Fitness

Francisco__Rodriguez marathon runner bank of america vice president Twenty years ago, Francisco Rodriguez smoked more than two packs of cigarettes per day - and the thought of running a marathon was almost laughable. Today, the recently-retired Bank of New York Vice President is running as many as 54 races a year and completed his 150th marathon in April at the Boston Marathon.

In the following interview TFS’s Courtney Albon speaks with Rodriguez about his metamorphosis, the challenges he faced, his source of inspiration and support, and the benefits of his new lifestyle.

TFS: What was your life like before you became a marathon runner? What were some of the specific, unhealthy habits that you had to deal with?

Rodriguez: Well, my major problem-or not problem-but my major issue is that I was a very heavy smoker. I used to smoke two and a half packs a day until 1998 when I decided that was not good. So, I started running and I haven’t stopped since then. It’s been twenty years no that I’ve been running.

I always eat healthy, but I just eat a lot. The food is always healthy, but it is in bigger quantities than other people. I don’t eat too many fats or fried foods, things like that, but my major thing was the smoking. So, now I run a lot of races and I run every day. My life is a lot better.

TFS: What triggered you to start working towards living healthier? Was there a moment of epiphany or was it more gradual?
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Is my New Year’s resolution to get in shape worth the effort?

Posted December 29th, 2006 at 12:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise, Weight Loss

Being out-of-shape is almost as strong a risk factor for a heart attack as smoking. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (December 21, 2005) shows that being out-of-shape markedly increases your risk for being fat, storing most of your fat in your belly, having a high bad LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure, and having low levels of the good HDL cholesterol.

We live in a society in which 91 percent of the population develops high blood pressure, 78 percent will have high cholesterol, and 35 percent are diabetic. More than 50 percent of us die of heart attacks and strokes from these risk factors. Doctors no longer think of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes as just being due to our genes. We now consider these diseases to be caused by our behavior.
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“Success Stories” Series:
November 2006: Jim Fortner

Posted November 1st, 2006 at 9:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Motivation, Success Stories, Columns, Success Stories

A Note from the Editor-in-Chief: This is the first edition of our brand-new “Success Stories” Series. “Success Stories” aims to highlight remarkable and factual accounts of runners who have overcome major obstacles, changed their lives via running and much more.

We are very proud that our first “Success Story” is about our very own - Mr. Jim Fortner.

Jim, now 67 years old, was once an inactive and overweight smoker. However, for the past 23 years running has completely changed his life. Today, Jim is one of the most knowledgeable runners that I have ever encountered and a true role model.

The following is Jim’s personal account of his metamorphosis. Prepare to be “wow’ed” and motivated by this incredible gentleman.

I am 67 years old and didn’t start running until I was 44. Before then, I was a very inactive person. Even as a kid, I didn’t participate in sports, except for the “sandlot” variety. I was an overweight couch potato all of my adult life and a 2-3 pack-a-day smoker from age 16…..until I reached my mid-40’s. Then I decided to lose 30 pounds, start exercising and stop smoking….in that order. I thought I had the best chance of keeping the weight off if I lost it and started exercising before I quit smoking. Read the rest of this entry »

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