Good morning.
It is a beautiful Saturday here in Pawleys Island and will be a perfect day for a long run. Apparently, my friends in New Hampshire will, likewise, have a beautiful day for a run as well. Today our half marathon pushes us over the hour mark and that is exciting. Ultimately our trainings longest run will be two hours, which we will do multiple times, so eclipsing 64 minutes today will push us over the halfway mark. Pretty cool! Everyone is doing great, and I am really excited for the different stories of each runner. One has never run a half, while a few of us are battling back to a distance we once routinely ran. Being honest, I have doubts about myself, but I am all in and am ready to register!
Exercise matters
In all the craziness of our world, there are few certainties. One certainty beyond any doubt, is that exercise is a must! Study after study confirms that if we want to live long, functional and happier lives, exercise is key ingredient.
This study sheds light on how exactly exercise protects against the consequences of aging.
What I once again finding amusing, is how they are using the findings to seek a way to create a drug that can be used to get the same benefits as exercising. I understand (and sympathize) with the very minimal population who cannot exercise for whatever reason, but come on, we do not need a pill, we need to take responsibility of our health.
Unbelievably, 23 percent of Americans meet the minimal exercise requirements set down by the Center for disease and Control (CDC),* https://fortune.com/2018/06/28/americans-do-not-exercise-enough-cdc/. The minimal CDC requirements can might even be debated as far as their value for functional capability, but the bar is set fairly low for maintaining cardiovascular health and yet three-quarters of our country fail to participate.
With the tremendous cost of healthcare, mental health and other outlying effects of an unhealthy world, it blows my mind we do not make exercise a priority. Sure, I guess it will be great one day if we have a pill, we can take that will give us the same benefits of exercise, but I am quite confident, it will fall short of all the benefits.
What are we focused on?
We all want a life of something, and those somethings vary from person to person, and that’s the beauty of our individual freedoms. However, while we seek whatever it is we want, over 75 percent of Americans are ignoring what will ultimately benefit us the most. I understand we are free to have a personal choice and that is cool, but a person’s choice to forego exercise will come with a cost for all of us. Health care is a hot topic and is also a huge drain on our federal budget. Taking responsibility for our personal health would go a long way toward reducing the cost of health care. I personally would rather have my taxes go toward mental health and special needs individuals. This is not a political statement on my part, but more a desire to get people to take responsibility for their health.
Back to half marathon training
I am not certain if my body will allow me to run for two hours, but I will put the time and effort into trying. I may find it is wise to stop at sixty minutes, and time will tell. Along the way, I plan to invest in my body and maintain my health and fitness as best I can. I am blowing out a few candles once again next week and my efforts to take responsibility for my fitness have benefited me in many ways. I am in no way bragging, because I certainly can do better, but I am not waiting on a new drug to provide the benefits that exercising has proven to affective. The five plus hours I invest in my fitness each week is minimal compared to the other things I do, but the benefits are far more important.
Thanks for sipping coffee and listening to my rant!
Have a great weekend and God Bless my friends!
Mike
*Fortune Magazine, BY
June 28, 2018
