Category Archives: Fitness

Crossing The Finish Line – My Thoughts on the Boston Marathon Tragedy

I keep thinking back to my first marathon (Rock ‘n Roll – 1998) and remembering how exhilarated I was as I crossed the finish line. The months of training, the sore knees, the sweat-stained clothes, the sacrificed Friday nights in the name of early Saturday morning runs – they were all worth it for that euphoria at the finish. Each run brought me closer to knowing my truest self and the journey culminated in that grand finale on race day.

The finish line of a race is sacred space, and after the images of the explosions at the Boston finish, I’m not sure I’ll ever again view one in quite the same way.

I don’t know why the bomber chose a marathon finish line as the target. This violent act could have transpired anywhere – at a shopping mall, an amusement park, a busy train station – but it didn’t. This one happened at a race, and so the images of those runners in their numbers and singlets and Mylar blankets will be inextricably tied to our memories of this event.

There are as many perspectives on this tragedy as there are observers, and I won’t pretend to speak for all of them. But for those of us who are runners, there is one simple thing that we can do to honor those who lost lives and limbs yesterday.

We. Can. Run.

Lace up those shoes and hit the road. Run for the people who finished, elated, only to hear the explosions moments or minutes or hours later.

Run for the people who were in exactly the right place at exactly the wrong time and were injured or killed.

Run for the runners who never got to finish this race for which they’d trained and planned and sacrificed, those who were urgently yet heart-breakingly redirected away from the finish to ensure their safety.

Run for the event organizers and volunteers who lived and breathed this race all year long to make it an unforgettable celebration of the sport and of community and of health.

Run for the spectators who brought their signs and silly hats and cheered till they were hoarse and clapped till their hands hurt. If you’re a runner, you know the power those spectators hold, the energy they provide. Too many of those injured and killed yesterday were spectators; God bless each and every one of them.

We can’t erase what happened yesterday. We can’t even prevent it from happening again. But what we can do and must do is to resist being driven away from races and sporting events and amusement parks and zoos and shopping malls and airports and cities…out of fear. We just can’t let fear break us. Instead, we must heal.

So, if you’re a runner, then run. Run alone, or with friends, or better yet, in a race. Reclaim the sport for the exhilarating, uplifting, connected experience that it has always been and must continue to be.

And if you’re not a runner, perhaps you can find a race in your area in the coming weeks and sign up to volunteer. See what each of those people affected by this senseless act of violence already knew – that running heals and that each finish line is sacred space. You’ll see.

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Sticking to Habits When Things Get Messy

I’m on Spring Break with my family this week, so this is a guest post by Leo Babauta, republished with his permission. I thought this might be good timing for his thoughts on sticking to healthy habits even when life gets a little messy…it happens!

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‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’ ~Winston Churchill

By Leo Babauta of ZenHabits

We’d like to think that making positive life changes is a straight line from beginning to where we want to go.

But life has taught us differently.

Experience shows us that you can start a new habit (let’s say working out) and things go great for awhile, and then life gets in the way. Things get messy. Things fall apart. We have a few bad days, or a huge project to work on at work, or relationship problems, or a family crisis, or we get sick.

What do we do when life gets messy and our habits fall to the wayside? Well, give up, obviously.

Actually, I take that back. We tend to give up, because when things get in the way and we mess up on our habits, it’s a little discouraging, even depressing.

But it doesn’t have to be. There are a few things you can do instead:

Breathe. Pause for a moment, breathe, focus on the breath. Know that you are OK, in this moment. Give yourself a moment’s space to think about what’s going on in your life, and who you are.

Give yourself a break. If things like relationship problems get in the way of your habits, allow yourself to pause the habits until you get your life in order and let your mind rest. Rest is important. Get plenty of sleep — this is important, because when stressful things are happening in our lives, our bodies and minds need plenty of rest to heal.

Know that every habit has bumps in the road. There’s never a perfectly smooth path with no bumps. Seriously, no habit goes on a perfectly straight line — at least, none that I’ve created, and none that anyone I know has created. Expect the bumps, and don’t let them end everything.

Allow yourself to experience the messy. Things will always come up, life gets messy, painful things happen. That’s OK. Give yourself the space to experience the pain with the joy, the mess with the beauty.

Find a friend to help you get on track. It’s great if you can do habits by yourself, but it’s even better if you can find a friend who will do it with you, or at least hold you accountable, and help you get things back on track once things clear up for you.

Keep smiling!. That’s the most important thing. Smile, and you’re doing it right.

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Begin Making Tiny Movements

(as originally posted 3/4/11)

At the end of each yoga class, our instructor settles us into “savasana” (alternately spelled shavasana), a pose in which we lie flat on our backs, perfectly still, for a few minutes of meditative silence. With nothing but a fan whirring overhead or (if we’re lucky) birds chirping outside, it’s the quietest moment of my day. It’s a period of complete rest, no matter how short-lived. When it’s time to end savasana, the instructor asks us to “begin making tiny movements with our fingers and toes” before we raise ourselves to a seated position and end the class with a single “om”.

That phrase “begin making tiny movements” has stuck with me for several weeks now. It seems to be a choicefully selected phrase, notable for its specificity. Not big movements. Not “okay, sit up now.” But “Begin making tiny movements…” For a room full of women who’ve just been completely at rest, tiny movements are about all we want to muster.

Then, this week, I read this little nugget on the Peace & Projects blog written by  Melissa Gorzelanczyk, and I thought “Aha!”

I’ll include it here so you can read it for yourself.

“Focus on tiny movements. That’s all it takes to change your life. If you want to quit smoking, you can stop putting a cigarette in your mouth and lighting the end. Once you master the way you move, you can do anything. You can decide to write instead of go out to lunch. You can put away the beer and go to bed early. You can feel your feet on the ground for a run. Movements, no matter how small, shape your entire life. How you go through the motions is up to you.”

So true. Change is simply a series of tiny movements strung together. It’s making “the next right choice” and every moment is a new chance to get it right.  I’ve blogged before about momentum and how it can be a helpful force if you are on the right track. But if you find yourself on the wrong track, one that doesn’t serve your goals, then perhaps the best thing you can do is to still yourself.  Completely.  Stop everything.  Find your own Savasana. And when you’re ready, begin making tiny movements… strung together, they’ll change your life.

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