Reaching the Finish Line

You are probably thinking this is going to be about the election, but it is not. This is about a different kind of finish line. Yesterday, members of the Finding Joy in Motion program reached their finish line: the culmination of 24 weeks of learning, training, and dedication. 

Finding Joy in Motion is for everyone. When I first started this program, I thought it was going to be about training for a half marathon. And while several ladies did successfully complete a half marathon (way to go Tracie Tighe, Paula Duran, Debbie Ternes, and Tracy Moon!!), it turned out to be much more than that. For most of the ladies in the program, yesterday’s run/walk was the farthest distance they had ever completed. Regardless of the distance itself, that is A HUGE accomplishment!

This program is about so much more than running and walking. It is about making a commitment to yourself, getting in touch with your inner athlete (we all have one, really!), and taking care of yourself. We are all getting older. Yes, it’s true. Many people will tell you that your body has to slow down as you get older, but that part is not true. An Newton said…sort of…a body in motion will stay in motion and a body at rest will stay at rest and atrophy. When you do not move, your muscles actually break down and get weaker.  This makes the need to slow down as we get older even more of a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you are active and move regularly, you can reverse that trend and keep your muscles strong. And with mindful training, you can even build strength to make your muscles EVEN stronger and stay injury free. Stronger muscles lead to better balance, more stability and fewer injuries.

Many of you know my story: I literally failed physical education in high school. As a very hard-working finance and accounting executive, I spent most of my adult life behind a desk…until I decided to walk a marathon for my 40th birthday. I won’t get into what caused me to set that goal (but if you are interested, reply to this email and I will be happy to share with you), but (to make a long story short) it set my body in motion. And I haven’t stopped since! I’ve participated in over 120 races since then. I haven’t won any of them (not even close!) and I haven’t even been first in my age group (ever!). Many times I have been dead last. But that doesn’t matter. The joy I feel from completing my personal goal (whatever that may be at the time) is not in any way affected by my place in the “race”. Competition is merely a “petition” for “comp”anionship. The only person I am competing against is the person I was yesterday. 

At our graduation celebration, ladies walked and ran from 1.5 miles to 13.1 miles and everyone had a fantastic time. Despite the masks, the smiles and sparkling eyes were were shining bright! I did not expect to feel so overwhelmed by everyone’s accomplishment, but it really was an amazing experience. You can see some photos here.  Here is just a sample of what ladies are saying:

So while this program started out as a half marathon training program, it turned into so much more over the last six months. It has become a personal discovery program. If you are interested in discovering your inner athlete, the next session is staring on November 17th. More information is available here.