How far do you think you could walk in one day?
Five miles?
Ten?
How about twenty six?
Today, for the sixth year in a row, my husband and his mom participated in the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. It is an awesome event that helps raise money and awareness for cancer treatment and research. People sign up to walk (you can choose to walk part or all of the 26.2-mile marathon route) and then they ask friends and family to sponsor them by donating money. Last year, the Jimmy Fund Walk raised over six million dollars to help fight cancer...pretty amazing, huh?
Words cannot describe how great it feels to participate in an event like this one. I have done the Jimmy Fund Walk twice, in 2004 and 2005, and it was incredible. Over 8,000 people participate in the walk, so you are constantly surrounded by people who are cheering, saying hello, and providing support and encouragement. Hundreds of friendly people volunteer to work at the event, so every few miles you are greeted by folks who want to help you, keep you hydrated, and provide praise and high-fives. Family and friends of walkers stop along the route with signs, offering thanks to everyone who passes by. Every mile along the route is marked by a large sign featuring a child with cancer. This is probably the most inspirational part of the walk; each sign shows the child's name, a picture, and information about the child. Seeing a smiling face every mile provides that much-needed boost of energy, particularly as the course progresses!
Another motivating image is seeing the diverse group of people who participate. As I watched from the sidelines this year, it was great to see the different groups of people who came out to walk. I saw teams of young girls, probably around ages 14-16, all walking together with huge smiles on their faces. Isn't it nice to see young people showing such selflessness and caring, joining together to raise money for a great cause?
I also saw older folks, some who looked as old as 70, walking at their own pace, many of them completing the entire 26.2 miles. One woman walked with a cane, as her partner walked alongside her, holding her hand.
My husband told me that he crossed the path of a young man who chose to participate in the 3-mile walk option, which started at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and ended with the other walkers at Copley Square. The man walked the entire three miles despite being on crutches.
Young, old, healthy, sick, fit, overweight...thousands of people walked for a very good cause today. Some of them walked for the first time, others have participated in this walk for over ten years. As they crossed the finish line, they were greeted by music and food and a festive celebration that they very much deserved. I was so proud of my husband and his mom...and for the thousands of other people who gave up their day (not to mention their muscles, aching feet, etc) for a worthy cause.
Even though I am "retired" from the walk, being in the middle of the celebration was definitely inspiration to get up and start moving again. I haven't been doing very well with my exercise regimen lately, and I really needed something to kick me back into gear. It got me thinking...if 70 year old people can walk 26 miles, then what is my excuse for sitting on the couch every night? And what about those people who would give anything to get out of bed, or out of a hospital room, and just walk outside? So many of us (me included) are blessed with good health and yet we waste it by just sitting around, putting things off. or saying we don't have time for exercise. Well, I am hoping to put my foot down (literally and figuratively!) and do something about it. Time for exercise! Tomorrow, I am going to get home from work and take a walk. I don't have any specific goal as far as distance...I just want to get outside and move around. Maybe I will walk the whole time, maybe I will run. Who knows? All I know is that I hope it will be Day One of a new, healthy, exercise routine. Wish me luck!
QUESTIONS FOR YOU: Do you exercise? What is your routine? If you have a regular regimen, how do you stay motivated to keep going? (I'm looking for inspiration here, people! HELP!) :)
I do exercise! I try to do every other day, but it typically turns out to be 4 days per week. My routine is the routine of VARIETY! I like running and distance biking, but here in Florida the weather is unpredictable due to the heat and the rain. Also, boredom with routine is a big problem for me. I still find it difficult to get out into the garage and use my bowflex for strength training. Therefore, it's important for me to have a fun "plan B." I have step aerobics videos, a DVD which my roommate and I have nicknamed "the evil DVD" but is actually pretty fun to do, despite the a$$ kicking it gives us, all in all I have a collection of about 10 different workouts I can choose from. Sometimes I just run around my house and dance for 30 minutes, jumping up and down the stairs and such. I suppose my philosophy is "doing something is always better than doing nothing." I've even found the Wii Fit to be enjoyable, if not "challenging." 30 minutes of movement is still a vast improvement of 30 minutes on the couch.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that keeps me motivated is doing exactly what your husband and his mom did - signing up for a charity event! I biked 100 miles this past May to raise money for MS. It was absolutely thrilling and, having several people in my life with MS, it was very meaningful. Plus, in order to make it to the finish line, I knew I'd have to get my butt in the saddle and really train. I'm also doing the Disney 10K Race for the Taste and 13K Tower of Terror race, both of which have proceeds which go to charity. There's something about signing up for an event and knowing that I'll be out there, doing the race whether I've trained or not, that keeps my focus on exercising every other day.
Do you have Garageband on your computer? I have trouble with motivation, but what gets me going is this: I make 30/45/and 60 minutes music mashes. In Garageband you open up a Podcast and import from iTunes the music you want, one at a time. You can slice 'em together - 30 seconds of a hot jam, followed by 2 minutes of rock n'roll, followed by 1 minute of slow jam - and then I know that when the song changes, I change my pace (whether I'm on the elliptical or hitting the streets). It keeps you guessing, keeps you moving, and makes the time go by fast. That's nice, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteYou can also slice in speeches from the coach-before-the-big-game as seen in popular sports movies, i.e. Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday (http://may-on-the-short-story.blogspot.com/2009/04/eudora-welty-centenary-one-writers.html). Fires you up and all of a sudden five minutes have passed! Happy football season.
ReplyDeleteSorry wrong link above, apparently my control-copy did not work. For the ultimate motivation, especially if you're in the mood to break some necks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rFx6OFooCs
ReplyDeleteI am TOTALLY going to try this!!! I am STILL struggling with the exercise motivation! ARGH!
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