Run, Girl, Run! (Taking Care of Our Bodies “Shmirat Ha-guf”)

“Run to Stay Young.”

That was the title of the blog post in today’s New York Times health and wellness section. My brother, Ezra, emailed the link to me, my siblings, my nieces and one of my cousins.

According to this blog, research shows that running (or any other physically taxing activity), rather than simply walking, may reverse the aging process. It contends that we should “pick up the pace” of our workouts to gain the greatest benefit for our health and fitness levels. Simply walking quickly is not enough to reap benefits for our health and fitness – we need to be much more physically active from a cardio-vascular perspective.

Ezra is probably the quietest, or most introspective, of my four brothers. Yet over the past year, he is the one who has been quietly inspiring me, motivating me, pushing me and challenging me to return to my full level of health and physical fitness.

He knows that I am not a natural athlete. That I have to work hard to achieve my goals athletically. When I discovered my passion for cycling in my 30’s, I worked really hard to train for each and every one of my cycling trips.

When I would run to train for a race, I trained tenaciously, but my running would always be slow and steady. So when I sustained permanent neurological damage in my leg and foot resulting from breaking my leg in a cycling accident three years ago, it impeded – and still impedes – my ability to just “do what I want” athletically. I get frustrated. I don’t feel like working out because my feet and legs hurt. They don’t behave as I want them to.

And then I remember: I am so fortunate: I CAN STILL USE MY LEGS. My feet are still functioning. Many people with my condition cannot even walk at all. So I persevere – I train when I can, until my legs/feet hurt too much, and then I back off. I try different brands of running shoes. Which ones will be the magic ones that will keep me the most pain free?

I have my team of professional advisors: my kinesiotherapist who is an Ironman and who has done multiple marathons and other events; my friend the podiatrist who has done 8 Ironmans, is an Ultramarathoner and many other events; my neurological chiropractor who has made a huge difference in how I feel simply by changing my diet and my neurologist. They have each given me all of the exercises I should be doing to try and stay pain-free and healthy. I stretch and “foam roll.” But the bottom line is, even though my feet/legs always hurt: I am walking, I am running, I am learning how to swim (not an easy thing to do at my age), I am cycling. Two steps forward, one step back.

And then, a little less than a year ago, I happened to mention to my brother Ezra that one of my long-term goals was to eventually run a half-marathon – in the distant future. This was on my “bucket list.”(eg – maybe, 2-3 years from now). I asked if he would do it with me, since he was a multi-time marathon runner. Ezra said, “Let’s do a it now! In the next few months. It will give you a goal to work toward and keep you motivated.” If I say to him, “I don’t think I’m going to make it, (due to my injuries)” he won’t let me back out. He says: “You’re the reason we’ve all signed up for this half-marathon, so no backing out now!” He’s doing this to support me. And one of my cousins is joining us on this endeavor, possibly my step-brother-in law, and one of my other brothers might do his second 5k run with us. So, I am in – no backing out now!!

The half-marathon is February 22nd in Tampa, Florida. Now that I’ve made it public, I must keep up with the training!

Ezra, without realizing it, is making sure that I am living up to the ideals of our Jewish teachings on caring for our bodies. He wants to make sure that I won’t neglect my responsibility to myself.

We are taught in our Jewish tradition that our body is a gift from God and that we must take care of it, by exercising and eating properly. The concept of caring for our bodies in Judaism is called “Shmirat Ha-guf” – Guarding our Bodies.

Medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides said: “as long as a person exercises and exerts himself [sic], sickness does not befall him and his strength increases. But one who is idle and does not exercise, even if he eats healthy foods and maintains healthy habits, all his days will be days of ailment and his strength will diminish.”

And as the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo said: “The body is the soul’s house. Shouldn’t we therefore take care of our house so that it doesn’t fall into ruin?” (20 BCE-40 CE)

Thank you, Ezra, for helping me to live up to my obligation to fulfill the commandment of “Shmirat ha-guf” and for making sure that I will be “running to stay young” hopefully for a very long time! You are an awesome brother!

Who wants to join us for the Tampa Gasparilla Half-Marathon on Sunday, Februay 22nd, 2015? We’d love to have you be part of our team!

Tampa Gasparilla Half-Marathon