Run for your Life

My son, Benjamin Haber, who is an elite distance runner sent me the following link to a U.S. News and World Report article:

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/08/11/run-for-your-life.html

What this article basically says is that the myths that running causes joint damage is baloney. It says that "older runners live longer and suffer fewer disabilities than healthy non-runners."

So I wrote back to Ben to say I would give it a try today. What have I got to lose? Nothing. I am convinced that there are only two people in the world who care whether I live or die--my sons Benjamin and Daniel. My husband cares but he's not the most uplifting person since he's sick all the time. So I thought I would give it a try today and I did. First thing, I ran and walked in front of my house on South Fork Road for 12 minutes. A start. Then when I walked up South Mountain Road this morning, I ran and walked all the way down. I usually walk only two miles. I walk one mile up to the place above a rock quarry with a gorgeous view and then I walk back down. Usually it takes me an hour and a half to almost two hours because I walk slowly, look around, watch rabbits scamper into the brush, look for birds, take photographs, and enjoy being outside. So this morning it took me 53 minutes to walk up to the stump at the one mile mark and it took me 28 minutes to run and walk back home. How come I feel so much better? Running makes me feel great. Ben is right. I need to start running. He's always tried to encourage me to run. It is amazing to me that I could feel so good and not breathe very hard coming back down South Mountain Road. It felt great. Running heals everything. Running is good. Running means health.