Not much exercise in running for office

It was the moment of truth for Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry. On the campaign trail in New Hampshire, he had just finished playing hockey with some former Boston Bruins.

“I’m in the worst shape I’ve ever been in my life,” he confessed to reporters later. Kerry, an avid windsurfer and college hockey player, managed to score two goals, but said that he hadn’t had any serious exercise since competing in a charity bike race back in August.

Such is life on the campaign trail, where candidates are tested on more than their knowledge of foreign affairs and the economy. There are few things (including competing in the Tour de France, medical school residency or being the parent of newborn triplets) that rival the grueling ordeal of the campaign trail. It’s an around-the-clock endurance test lasting months: sleep deprivation and strange hotel beds, countless plane rides, junk food eaten on the run, a lack of regular exercise and copious amounts of stress. The effects are beginning to show on the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, as they succumb to bronchitis, laryngitis, the flu and weight gain. How they manage to appear -- for the most part -- healthy and energetic despite a punishing schedule is something of a testament to an adrenaline rush fueled by thousands of screaming supporters.

It helps if you’re able to sneak in some workouts, stick to a fairly healthy diet and take the occasional turbo nap, as some of the candidates have done.

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards insists on regular five-mile runs, preferably outside and alone, where he can think without the press corps or even his staff around. “Run time is pretty much sacred time around here,” says Roger Salazar, the candidate’s national spokesman, who added that Edwards prefers afternoon jogs. The 50-year-old candidate doesn’t apply the same discipline to his diet, however; Salazar says Edwards’ favorite meal is a cheeseburger and fries. Oh, and a steady supply of Diet Cokes. Not caffeine free. Any vitamins in that regimen?

“Unless Diet Coke contains vitamins,” Salazar says, “I’m not aware of any.”

Edwards’ recent attack of bronchitis forced him to temporarily trade water for Diet Coke, as his voice at one point went from hoarse to a full rasp.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, 49, has been keeping up with the treadmill and weight workouts that have trimmed his once portly physique. In South Carolina he did his usual brisk two-mile walk at the Charleston Place hotel gym, followed by a combination cellphone call and dumbbell workout. “It relaxes me in the morning and I get some of the stress out,” he says. “It’s a form of meditation for me.”

Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark has been scheduling frequent swims along with debates and interviews. The 59-year-old Clark is trying to stick to a daily 45-minute swim routine “pretty much everywhere we’ve had a pool and time to do it,” according to national press secretary Bill Buck. In New Hampshire, Clark joined the Dartmouth College swim team during practice and did laps at the YMCA in Manchester, where he remained relatively anonymous until curious members recognized him and stopped to chat.

The campaign staff, says Buck, doesn’t need daily reminders to hunt down a pool. “But he does stress the importance of this for him, and we are mindful of that.”

Kerry, 60, has canceled some events because of laryngitis, and tried to stave off the hoarseness with a nonalcoholic concoction containing ginger and lemon. He’s also rarely seen without a water bottle close by.

Before quitting the race last week, 61-year-old Sen. Joe Lieberman got an energy boost before events from a set of push-ups. Exactly how many?

“Lots,” says Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera. “More than his 30-year-old spokesman is capable of doing.” The occasional treadmill run is squeezed in when possible at hotel gyms and health clubs.

Exercise is only part of keeping healthy -- watching one’s diet is crucial too. But it’s not always that easy when meals must be grabbed on the run and homemade desserts tempt the candidates at many whistle-stops. For some, special dietary concerns pose an extra challenge.

Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich not only abstains from caffeine and alcohol, but also is a vegan, meaning he eats no animal products. That can be something of a problem in smaller towns, where organic beet smoothies are hard to come by. Not to worry; when 57-year-old Kucinich can’t visit a favorite restaurant, volunteers prepare meals. “We’d be getting back on the plane,” says David Swanson, former campaign press secretary for Kucinich, “and we’d be handed big bags of food that people have prepared. I don’t think he’s gone hungry yet.”

Neither, apparently, has Howard Dean. Observers say his shirt collars and waistband appear to be fitting tighter these days, the result of an incorrigible sweet tooth that’s exacerbated by a plentiful supply of treats on the campaign bus.

A hiker and biker at home, Dean, 55, hasn’t had time for Spinning classes on the road. Press secretary Doug Thornell says the former Vermont governor’s exercise these days is attending five to seven campaign events a day. “The governor gets a workout from the amount of walking and the energy he exudes onstage.”

Being a doctor hasn’t made Dean immune to illness. His brush with bronchitis after the Iowa caucuses left him with a gravelly voice in New Hampshire, which he tried to improve with advice and remedies from supporters. During public events, copious amounts of cough drops were slipped into the governor’s hands. At one point Dean joked that he had accumulated a lifetime supply of Ricola and Fisherman’s Friend lozenges.

Added Thornell, “Being a doctor, he has a very good understanding of the body’s limits and how far you can push yourself until it has a negative repercussion.”

In other words, positive attitude and adrenaline can go only so far, especially considering most of the candidates are in their 50s and 60s, prime time for early signs of heart ailments, high blood pressure and other health problems.

Like many Americans, however, the candidates are generally more health-conscious than they were a decade ago, more vigilant about diets, workouts, regular checkups and sleep. That can help a candidate prepare for weeks of stumping, but once the campaign starts all bets are off.

Still, most wouldn’t trade the rush for anything. “I’ve had candidates tell me that they never feel more alive than when they’re running for office,” says Ron Faucheux, author of “Running for Office: The Strategies, Techniques and Messages Modern Political Candidates Need to Win Elections” (M. Evans & Co., 2002). “It’s that adrenaline and positive attitude that you have that may get you over a lot of difficulty. Ultimately you might have to pay the piper. But in the short run, you can get away with it.”

The toll of nonstop campaigning on one’s health is well known to political commentator and author Pat Buchanan, 65, a veteran of three presidential races (1992, 1996 and 2000). He entered the ’92 campaign with a preexisting heart condition that eventually caused him to have heart valve surgery and spend a month in the hospital. The 2000 race was interrupted by three gallbladder surgeries. He blames campaign stress for exacerbating both medical conditions.

“It’s funny,” he said in an interview, “I look at pictures of myself from 1992 and I look 10 years older than I do now.”

While campaigning, Buchanan exercised when he could but found it difficult during 18-hour days that began at 5 a.m. with television and radio interviews. “It’s tough on these guys,” he says, “and I see it taking a toll on their personality.”

Could exhaustion have been responsible for Dean’s infamous Iowa “I Have a Scream” speech? “I don’t know,” Buchanan says. “He certainly didn’t seem exhausted.”

The public may forgive a croaky voice, but appearances count on the campaign trail. Looking gaunt and haggard doesn’t engender a lot of confidence in a candidate. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the televised 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debates. Richard Nixon, weary from traveling extensively and dealing with a knee injury, was trounced by a hale and hearty John F. Kennedy.

Sleep deprivation alone can fuel health problems, says Dr. Benjamin Ansell, director of the UCLA Comprehensive Health Program. High blood pressure, fibromyalgia and depression have been linked to a lack of sleep.

As far as the candidates are concerned, he adds, “It could well affect their moods and cognitive function and even judgment -- how they respond to questions. To the extent that people make campaign gaffes, that could very well be related to sleep deprivation.”

Erratic diets can wreak havoc too. Those photo ops at the local doughnut hut can hit a candidate with a sugar and caffeine rush, followed by a low blood sugar crash hours later.

But don’t look for campaign schedule reform anytime soon. “The candidates are exhausted, but they’re not publicly complaining about it because they don’t want to look like wimps,” says Faucheux, a political consultant who’s been a candidate himself.

And there just might be something in the public’s perception of campaigns that they should be somewhat grueling; after all, candidates are likely to face even more difficult circumstances if they become president.

“It certainly is a testing ground that will harden people who go through it,” he says. “And that hardening process may serve them well as president if they get elected. But I’m not sure it’s always testing the right things.”

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Campaign trail mix

Life on the campaign trail can be tough on candidates, and we’re not just talking about the debates. Consider their lack of sleep, endless travel, disrupted exercise programs and vast amounts of food -- junk and otherwise -- consumed.

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Times staff writers Matea Gold, Maria La Ganga, Scott Martelle and James Rainey contributed to this report.