Former drug addicts find new fixation on triathlons

(CNN) — When rehab and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings didn't work for Eddie Freas, he sought another way to kick his 20-year drug and alcohol addiction.

Eddie Freas fights drug addiction by putting all his energy into training for triathlons.

He swam 2.4 miles. He biked 112 miles. He ran 26.2 miles. The Pennsville, New Jersey, resident found relief in triathlons.

 "I feel better when I'm working out," said Freas, 33. "It does wonders for the mind. The reason I started running — it was a switch that went off in my head. I started feeling positive and feeling great about myself."

Freas spent his youth in pursuit of drugs. At the age of 13, he snuck bottles of Amaretto and rum from his mother's liquor cabinet. He also developed a taste for marijuana and cocaine. By his senior year of high school, Freas was kicked off the wrestling and football teams after failing a drug test.

Then in 2007, after a three-day binge, "I came home and was crying," Freas said. "I was so depressed. I turned on the TV." The set was tuned to ESPN, which was airing a story about a former drug addict who competed in triathlons.

The program's subject was Todd Crandell, who had lost a college hockey scholarship because of a drug addiction. After 13 years of using drugs, Crandell started competing in Ironman races and championed finding positive ways to fight addiction through his program called Racing for Recovery.

"Having an athletic background, I was drawn to getting back in shape," Crandell said. "It makes you turn intellectually and spiritually fit. Exercise is essential. It decreases addiction, depression and you use it as part of the recovery."

Freas was entranced by the parallels.

"His whole story seemed like mine," Freas said. "That's why it hit me so much. It was my story but it happened to somebody else. I knew I had to get back into fitness."

He took a bus to Racing for Recovery's office in Sylvania, Ohio. There, Freas said he learned to "stay clean and use other things — fitness, instead of drugs." On his first day, Freas pushed himself to run 10 miles.

"It killed me," Freas said. "I was just motivated. I was sore for a week and I gradually got into it. As soon as I started including fitness into my everyday lifestyle, it made it so much easier. It kept me busy and because of the physical fitness, it was making me feel better about myself."

He pushed himself to run farther and raced in his first Ironman competition in 2008.

"It's different when you use drugs, you temporarily feel good and afterwards, you feel like doing more drugs," Freas said. "When you go for a long run and do physical fitness, you feel good doing it."

Research in animals and humans show that exercise can be a mild antidepressant.

"It isn't a huge surprise when you consider many positive effects exercise can have with regards to the brain chemistry: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, epinephrine — these are all associated with mood altering effects," said Dr. Cedric Bryant, the chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. "If they're able to get this natural high, through a natural endeavor such as exercise, it allows them to replace the means to achieve that high with a more positive approach."

One study showed that women trying to quit smoking were more successful when they exercised. And the National Institute on Drug Abuse held a conference last year to explore the possible role of physical activity in substance abuse prevention.

"The thought centers around the release of mood-altering brain chemical, mainly endorphins," Bryant said. "It gives you euphoria or what you call 'runner's high.' "

Crandell said some people who battle drug addiction "want something more than sitting in support groups filled with smoke, complaining about drinking."

"I've had some of my naysayers from other programs who say you've taken one addiction and replaced it for another," Crandell said. "I've taken addiction and put into a new focus that includes exercise. Exercise for me is essential to my recovery and well-being."

The purpose of Racing for Recovery is not to turn everyone into an athlete, but to focus on positive pursuits in a person's life.

"Whatever you lost during your addiction, that should be your Ironman, not just running," Crandell said. "If your goal is to become a teacher, let that be your Ironman."

After Freas spent six months in Ohio, he returned to his hometown.

"I didn't want to come back home, because this was where I did all the dirt, all the partying and stuff," Freas said. "As time went on, I had to come back here. My life is turned around. I got to help people in my hometown."

Back in New Jersey, Freas helped train Dustin Deckard, 19, a former high school star wrestler, who is recovering from a four-year heroin addiction. Deckard wanted to get clean after a near-fatal overdose.

"I have to be clean the rest of my life," Deckard said. "Sometimes that overwhelms me. I just feel that sometimes it's not fair that other people can go out and have fun and drink and do whatever at a party. But me — if I do anything — it's off. I can't stop. I definitely have troubles with that."

Freas and Deckard have developed a brotherhood.

"I know how he was feeling, being down, not wanting to use drugs," Deckard said. "I just relate to him in every way. We both used. He's also into sports and into wrestling like I was. That's what's cool."

 

You don’t need to go to the gym to get fit

By: Carol Bardelli

Home gyms are nice but not necessary to get fit.

The CTV.ca News Staff (article link) and other news sources including Reuters reported that new research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that a predisposition to obesity may be as easy to overcome as spending a few hours a week at the gym. This study found that study subjects performing a high level of physical activity basically counteract effects of gene mutations that predisposes them to obesity. The findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Did they really need to go to a gym to accomplish this? Probably not.

When we exercise – be it aerobic activity or anaerobic resistance training – our bodies don't care how or where we get it done. After you stimulate a muscle it doesn't second guess whether it should grow based on whether you used top of the line dumbbells, an expensive space age machine, or you simply used your own body for resistance and did push ups or pull ups.

Your cardiovascular system doesn't give a hoot whether you got your running done on a $5000 treadmill or a free track at a public park. And your fat cells will not refuse to release fat for fuel based on whether your caloric deficit was achieved at a high end gym or in your own garage.

I'd like to point you to some free workout sources in this segment. Our budgets and saving money are on most of our minds these days. Even in better economic times I've heard people use lack of money as an excuse not to work out.

It's time to debunk the myth you must spend a lot of dough to keep from looking like the Pillsbury dough boy. Free workout resources are out there and available to nearly all of us. When my son was a preschooler, he and I got in the habit of listening to the radio in the morning and dancing to the music. Most forms of dance are great aerobics workouts. And if you dance in your kitchen like we do you don't even have to be good at it. You can also dance to television shows like VH1 Jump Start and MTV You Rock The Deuce.

Other free workout opportunities are available in many community parks. Check out walking trails, bike paths, free fitness courses like Tai Chi, and guided workout stations in your city. Guided workout stations generally have instructions posted on signs for each exercise. These exercises typically include resistance training like push ups and pull ups.

If you subscribe to cable or satellite services many carry FitTV network which broadcasts a wide variety of guided workout programs for up to four hours a day. We absolutely love Gilad Bodies In Motion, Total Body Sculpt With Gilad, and all their other exercise programs which include aerobics, yoga, stretching, resistance training and more. ESPN Classic has exercise programs including Kiana's Flex Appeal and Denise Austin's Getting Fit. If you're already paying for it why not make use of it.

Online workout resources include websites with free exercise videos and demonstrations including one I plan to review for you soon. You can also find guides online for learning isometrics and calisthenics. These two forms of resistance training require only your body and another surface like a wall or floor as a piece of exercise equipment. Check out the Bodybuilding.com Article 'New Age Isometric Training’ by Kelly Baggett on two types of isometric exercises, yielding and overcoming isometrics, including sample exercises.

YouTube has many well executed exercise demonstrations. If you don't know how to perform certain exercises (ie. bicep curls, squats, push ups) and can't afford sessions with a personal trainer these videos can be just as educational.

You really can get fit without ever stepping foot in a gym. Any of the examples above are a great place to start.

Always consult you physician before starting any exercise program.