Fit-Less

 

Athlete Challenge

It's been an exciting day in Destin as 100's of super fit people descended on our little beach town.  And it's all for a good cause, raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, "a top-rated nonprofit organization that supports the military's special operations forces and their families through three programs:
- College Scholarships for the surviving children of fallen Special Operations Forces
- Family Services, including educational counseling
- Wounded Special Operations Forces Support"*

There's been several events today:
- Individual 50 mile run (military and civilian categories)
- Individual 50K run (military and civilian categories)
- Relay
- Son of a Beach Athlete Challenge (Elite male/female & Open male/female)
- 24hr Sand Run - 6 runners will attempt to break the individual Official World Record for "Greatest Distance Run on Sand in 24 Hours" as certified by Guinness World Records (83.04 miles*), Camp Gulf just happens to be the turn around point!

I went to a local restaurant and sponsor of the event, The Back Porch, and watched part of the Athlete Challenge.  It was amazing to see how in shape these people were and how far they pushed their bodies.  At first it was inspiring and then it became a little depressing for me since I am very limited in what physical activity I can tolerate.  Yes, it is technically my ankle that's damaged but since my body stays in a constant state of fight-or-flight due to a confused sympathetic nervous system, getting my heart rate up and/or doing strenuous exercise affects me differently than it used to and I have to be very careful.  The last time I did cardio, I thought I was having a heart attack and was wiped out for about a week.  I've decided to take it a lot more easy doing mostly stretching, Pilate's and tai chi.  All I can say is I wish I would've been more fitness conscious when I had the chance.  Now I'm just a spectator and it's easy to get bitter and angry but it's not any body's fault this happened to me.

So I was out there cheering on strangers at the athletic challenge and I will be cheering on the six 24hr Sand Runners.  And if you're out there reading this and you have the opportunity to start an exercise program whether it's joining a regular gym, buying a Beachbody workout video series, participating in a Crossfit program or whatever fitness option you have, go for it!  There's those of us out here that would love to be able to do it and physically can't.

But back to the 24hr Sand Run, it's almost time to get started so I've got to go get bundled up because it's COLD!  We've had great winter weather down here for weeks but of course it decides to get cold this weekend with the low going down to about 35 degrees tonight and that's not including the wind!  I guess the 24hr runners won't mind but the spectators and record keepers will probably be a little chilly!

*From the website Special Operations Warrior Foundation http://www.specialops.org/