Master’s Athlete of the Year 2009

Master's Athlete of the Year, Rita Hanscom
Master's Athlete of the Year, Rita Hanscom

Rita Hanscom was selected as Master’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year for 2009.

Rita Hanscom (San Diego, Calif.): Named World Masters Athlete of 2009 by the IAAF and World Masters Athletics after winning five gold medals in Lahti and setting a world record in the W55 heptathlon. She’s a deputy attorney general for the state of California.

The photo above is from the 2009 Master’s Track & Field Outdoor World Championships in Lahti, Finland. It was a privilege to meet Rita and her son and daughter.

In Finland, there was a sense of community and fellowship among the 5,300 athletes from 80 countries. It’s challenging to explain. It was unique, competitive, healthy and vibrant, supportive.  Amazingly supportive.

Who couldn’t use as much of that that the law will allow, in pursuing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

USATF Masters Track Press Release

Shot Put
Shot Put

USATF Press Release, February 8, 2010: United States Largest Master’s Track & Field Indoor World Championships Ever, heading to Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

Click here to read the official USATF Press Release.

The past few weeks have been a painful reminder how challenging it is to stay motivated. Most of us can eventually find a compelling reason(s) to get healthy.

Few of us find compelling, long-term reasons.

That is why it is essential to figure out a million ways to stay motivated. A million.  Are ya with me.  Succeed or fail.  There is no middle ground.

USA Track and Field does it for me.  For now.

What’s doing it for you?

Health Blogs

You Can Do It
You Can Do It

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-million blogs on the Internet, and growing daily.

There are 221-million results if you Google “Health Blogs”.

What are all these health-blog people trying to say? Please let me summarize for you:

  1. Dream Big
  2. Get There
  3. Stay There

If your goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough.

PS. Do your excuses make you stop or make you sick? Mine made me sick. Sick to think that I’m the only one responsible for my actions and I wasn’t doing anything about it, except making excuses.

Excuses be damned.

Blood Pressure Tests

Just Do It
Just Do It

Do you know your blood pressure? And do you know your resting heart rate?  How often do you check?  Do you know how and why you have the numbers you do?

Also known as a no-brainer, putting it off and being afraid to know are not good. I check it virtually every time I’m in a Wal-Mart or Publix Grocery Store, for free, at one of those testing stations.

What would happen to your results if you walked five days each week, fitting in 15-30 minutes (or more) each time? And what would happen if you did that for five years in a row?

Last night’s results at Wal-Mart:

Show Me The Money
Show Me The Money