In The News
Dr Robinson On ‘My Workout’
by Nancy Dow, The Oregonian
Who: Lee Robinson, 53, West Linn; 5 feet 10 inches, 160 pounds.
Workout: Robinson, a facial plastic surgeon, broke his leg at age 14 in a run-in with a horse. Knee pain has been with him ever since, and though it didn’t stop him from running it did prevent him from running every day or running more than two or three miles at a time. Things have changed, though, now that he runs in the “fivefingers” type of shoes that are becoming more popular with athletes. “The cushion creates a more natural stride,” Robinson says, “and the impact is a lot less. When I wear these, I feel like I can run forever.” He adds that they work best on a smooth surface.
Robinson runs 3 1/2 to five miles, six days a week, and prefers a route with hills. Most days he also does 120 lunges, to strengthen quads and knees, 100 sit-ups and three sets of 20 of squats, push-ups and triceps dips. He goes to a gym twice a week, but when working out at home he lifts 40-pound bags of salt for upper-body strength and does pull-ups on a railing in his garage. He skis downhill in winter and bikes a lot in central Oregon.
Feedback: Robinson says running became a priority in medical school as his main outlet for stress. He runs with his wife and daughter once in a while but otherwise enjoys the solitude of running by himself. His route to new footwear began when his son gave him a book called “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. Robinson says he’s “running without any pain now, and the change was apparent immediately. Your gait is shorter and you’re not pounding as much. I feel better and I sleep better, too.”
Nutrition: He’s lost 14 pounds since he was able to ramp up his workout. Not a morning eater, he makes do with coffee and half of a protein bar. Lunch is generally half a sandwich with cottage cheese. He eats a big dinner with lots of produce from the family’s large vegetable garden. He’s a fan of local, organic, grass-fed beef, and fish, especially salmon, that he catches in the Columbia River. He grows raspberries but otherwise is not a big sweets eater. He enjoys a glass or two of wine at night and he takes fish oil and vitamin D. He likes to go out for sushi and, though his wife does most of the home cooking, he has charge of the barbecue grill.
