Last weekend I ran my second half marathon. It was 13.1 miles of pavement and four bridges on a windy day in Miami Beach. The running joke (no pun intended) in the race circuit is that it is not so much the 13 miles but the point 1 that will get you. Truer words had never been spoken.
The entire race was physically challenging but what I was not expecting was the emotional wave that almost toppled me. This race was in support of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and so every few miles you would see a team of people, pushing a large stroller with a child with a shiny bald head and grin, clearly fighting and winning their battle against cancer.
As I prepared to finish the last mile a young woman, with a spatula prosthetic leg slowly ran by me. I smiled at her and told her that she was amazing, to which she quickly replied, “We are ALL amazing.” It was Sarah Reinertsen who is a super athlete that happens to be an amputee.
Her remark made me reaffirm why I embrace a healthy lifestyle. And why I always tell my friends that the best thing they can do for themselves is to join some type of group that promotes and encourages healthy living. Attending races is how my husband and I spend most weekends during running season. We run, we mingle and we’re home by 9:00 am. Not only do we feel good physically, but the added bonus of having run for a cause further fortifies our commitment to health and to our selves.
There is an old adage that says “we are what we eat” and when you pair up the decision to live a healthy life with an activity that reinforces it – you are truly feeding your body, your mind and your soul the richest diet any “body” would want!
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