What did you inherit from your mother?
- Your affinity for peanut butter?
- Your sun-kissed complexion?
- Your entrepreneurial spirit?
In my case, all of the above, plus something practically guaranteed to extend the length and quality of my adult life: my dedication to health.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t think I’d have been able to maintain the new healthy lifestyle I adopted in 2011 all these years if not for my mother’s influence. A woman who hits the gym several days a week, gets enough sleep, eats well and still understands the importance of a glass of wine, my mama is just the kind of balanced and sustainable fitness role model a young woman needs.
Of course, it took 25 years of me being out of shape to realize that, but better late than never, right?
At 60 years old, my mom is in the best shape of her life (and she was a leggy 16 year old), and I attribute her success to something most of us forget to prioritize in fitness: variation. That is, she doesn’t always go to the gym and always get on the same machine and always log the same 30 minute cardio routine. She shakes it up, from the elliptical to BodyPump, and her most recent routine shake-up was one particularly near and dear to my heart: she trained for and raced a half marathon.
The race, the More/Fitness/Shape Women’s Half Marathon, took place last Sunday in Central Park, and it was a mother-daughter success. I logged a 1:52:54 time, or exactly where I wanted to be given a winter off the race course, and my mom finished in 2:21:22, or ahead of more than 3,000 other runners who were surprised to see a speedy 60 year old runner picking them off one by one.
Bragging rights: My mom’s faster than your mom, unless you’re a Benoit Samuelson. Or one of my siblings.
As mother’s day fast approaches, how are you celebrating your mom this year?
Riled Up Runner 