Chiropractic plays major role in US men's water polo team sivler medal win

CARMICHAEL, Calif., Oct 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Merrill Moses, goal keeper for the U.S.A. Men's Water Polo team, and his teammates took home silver medals from Beijing this year. Terry Schroeder, D.C., a standout from the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics helped Moses and his teammates as the current head coach of the Men's Water Polo team and resident doctor of chiropractic. While they were considered underdogs in this year's games, the team pulled together to achieve silver medal victory in a match against Hungary, and Moses and teammates attribute much of their success to the role that chiropractic played in their performance.

"I can honestly say that without chiropractic, many Olympic athletes would not be able to perform to their potential," says Moses. "We take such a pounding on our bodies, especially in water polo, because it's a contact sport. I like to get a chiropractic adjustment everyday just to keep my body healthy."

Moses, who is 31 years old, 6'3", and 215 pounds, was playing at the top of his game this year, an achievement which he attributes to the four practicing Olympic Committee team chiropractors in the Olympic Village as well as Schroeder, who treated Moses and other team members throughout the games.

"Athletes know that the difference between winning and losing can be a matter of fractions," says Schroeder. "When looking for that edge, chiropractic often makes all the difference."

To help this year's team to victory, Schroeder drew on his chiropractic knowledge and his experience as a two-time Olympic silver medalist in water polo. He was inducted into the U.S.A. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1998. A statue of Schroeder's likeness sits at the entrance to the Los Angeles Coliseum commemorating the 1984 Olympics. He is noted for turning this team around by encouraging teamwork and vigorous training only months prior to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Moses plans to follow in his coach's footsteps by attending chiropractic college and earning his Doctor of Chiropractic degree. His interest in chiropractic stems from a passion for helping others. He believes chiropractic helps those who cannot physically excel, including many of the Olympic athletes who participated in this year's games.

"I believe that chiropractic is going to continue to be of growing importance in the Olympic world," concludes Schroeder.

SOURCE: Foundation for Chiropractic Progress

Chicago Marathon

I ran the Chicago Marathon on sunday. I was really excited for all the hard work I had put in as well as the meaning and purpose I had running it for the NPCO organization. The NPCO was able to raise about $20,000 dollars last I heard to move forward this great organization of providing Chiropractic care to the whole world and improve the life's of so many to life up to there full potential like God created us to be. Overall it was a successful marathon weekend. I ended up being the top fundraiser and ran a 7 min. PR in the marathon with a time of 2 hrs. 52min. 47 sec. I also met a lot of great people from other chiropractic schools, palmer and people's lives that were changed for the better with chiropractic care. Their passion is contagious and has lit a fire under me as well as their communities to spread the word and power of chiropractic and also their willingness to sacrifice their time and efforts for others. In closing I leave with a quote many of you have seen or heard many times but it truly does represent the purpose of my life and chiropractic "You never know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow." -BJ Palmer

My 2 day Journey with Reza

Well running from Iowa to Chicago is an experience itself but I think I need to start on explaining Reza. He is almost part Cyborg (half man, half machine). He runs 80-100 miles a day everyday and only stops to eat and sleep a little bit. I have never met anyone that is so focused on a goal nothing will stop him. Along the way he sprained his ankle (thanks crappy QCA roads) and ran 75 miles before he finally said something to me along highway six about 7:30 pm. He only stopped because we got out a map and calculated his distance and was somewhat content and because he ankle was so swollen he couldn't run anymore. He woke up @ 3am and continued to run on his ankle the next day. He ran 45 miles by 10am on friday. His ankle in tons of pain and would have Gabe and I work on it on the side of the road just so he could continue a little bit more. This proved that he was human and his love for the movie Borat which he constantly quotes along the way especially "High Five, Very Nice"! He loves salsa music and actually speaks some decent spanish (he is from Iran). Everyone he meets is truly his friend and even ones that treat him bad he just blows it off when myself or any other human nature should be upset.

Now my running experience. Never in my life would I would have expected to run almost 40 miles the 1st day. I have never ran over 20. The second day I only ran about 15 miles due to Reza's ankle problem. The biggest thing I learned is that you can push your body to levels you never thought were possible. Reza also gives you energy and power, just being next to this man is truly inspiring. Reza also runs while carrying an American Flag during the day, which Gabe and I would carry for him to give him a break and there was something magical about it and would make you run faster and not want to stop. The biggest thing I think I found out is you truly see human nature. And despite how selfless you are and try to make the world a better place there are people that will always try to bring you down along with there pathetic lives. I also witness minor racism along the way just because Reza is from Iran. Yet overall most people were willing to go out of their way and meet Reza, and offer a helping hand or make a donation.

Then there is his film crew, Kevin Marycarmen, and Jasmin. They dropped everything in LA to follow Reza and film him, take pictures and help update his journey on his website www.runwithreza.org But they do some much more than that. They often wake up @ 3am with Reza and get into the truck and drop him off for his runs, they grocery shop, cook, and drive the RV as well. Yes they even run and ride a bike along side of Reza as well. They too have the generous heart of Reza and as much as I don't think they realize it, they are truly making a difference as well.

All I can say is that it was truly and experience of a lifetime. I am truly ready to Run the Chicago Marathon now and look forward to meeting up with Reza and his crew on Oct. 11th. I thank you all for the experience and it was truly an honor.

Bix 7!

I ran the Bix 7 miler today. This years race was the USATF National 7 mile championship. This was my 3rd year running the race and was looking to PR on my first years time of 40:17 and possibly break 40 min. in the race. Well I ran 40:06 and had a fantastic race. Dirk came to visit me and Erin was able to see it so it was really cool. This was my final big race until the Chicago Marathon and was a good way to go into major marathon training on a high note. Again I will keep everyone posted on any races, training, and other big news regarding the Chicago Marathon. As always donate to my cause and sponsor the NPCO.

Crazy 5k

So yesterday morning I was out doing a hilly little over 7 mile run in the rain and decided to do a 5k that I heard about in Illinois that started @ 7pm saturday night.  I wasn't to sure how I would run since I did a track workout on friday and then the hilly 7 miles in the morning but figured it was good training for the upcoming bix 7 in July.  So the race started and I was just trying to hold on to a guy that I race against a lot around here that is pretty good, but I usually can take him in a 5k and he usually beats me in the longer races.  There was a police officer ahead of us on a bike and we all thought he was the pace bike and he made a radical right hand turn down a street.  Well 10 guys in the lead pack followed him and realized it was the wrong way.  So we had to run back and get back on the course.  So me and the one guy quickly caught up and took the lead the rest of the race and were neck and neck and he was able to out kick me and beat my by about 2 seconds.  I ran 17:20 and probably would have been about 17 flat, maybe under 17 if I hadn't gone the wrong way earlier in the race. Overall it was a fun race and good training, and I ran what I wanted to.

Quad City Distance Classic Half Marathon

So this is a few days late.  I ran my first half marathon on sunday.  My goal was 1hr 18 min.  I ended up smashing that and ran 1hr 17min. 12 sec.  That is a 5:54/mile avg.  I was really excited about this since my training has been really sporadic this year.  It also has given me more motivation to work harder so I can break 40min. in the Bix 7 and run 2hrs 50min-2hrs 55min in the Chicago Marathon in October.  I finished 6th place overall and won my age group.  Overall it was an exciting day for me and one of the best races I have run my whole life.  Hope you enjoyed this entry.  As always support my cause.

May 2nd 2009,

Today I ran the N8k @ Palmer College. For the second year in a row I was second place but I did my goal of running under 28min. with a finish time of 27:53. I was able to run my last mile(ish) (8k is 4.98 miles, not exactly 5) in 5:20 which the downhill to the finish was nice. Overall I was happy with the race the only thing I noticed was I fell apart a little bit in the middle of the race when there were a few more hills which is something I need to work on a little bit. It got a cool prize for getting second place as well. I got a Sansa 2gb mp3 player (it's basically PC's ipod nano) so that was pretty sweet. Again hope everyone enjoyed the blog entry and don't forget to donate to www.firstgiving.com/paulnottoli