Perception is a Product of Perspective ~ Elizabeth Candela
Throughout my life, running has been a great source of psychological, emotional, and spiritual therapy -plus it's a great form of exercise. I have used running to de-stress, meditate, reflect, chase down personal demons, pray and give thanks to God and of course, stay in shape.
Since 2001, my relationship with running has evolved.
On September 11, 2001, my husband was one of nearly 3,000 killed in the WTC. Running helped me deal with the pain and sorrow as well as the stress of raising two children as an only parent.
In 2008, I suffered some GI problems.
This forced me to focus on my nutrition, health and fitness. I was determined to stay healthy for my family. In fact, I decided to go back to school and study Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. Since then, I became an American College of Sports Medicine Health Fitness Specialist, and a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. I also developed and own a patent for a portable abdominal fitness device, which hopefully, one day will make it to market.
In 2010, I ran in The NYC MORE Fitness Half Marathon.
Training for and running in that race added another perspective to my relationship with running. During that half marathon, I met a senior runner – she was about 70 years old. I yelled to her, “You are an inspiration!” She yelled back, “Thank you, sweetie!” ...Wow!
After that race, I thought,
"That could be me one day ....No! I want that to be me one day."
So, I set a goal to run a ½ marathon in every state (plus DC), a ½ marathon on all 7 continents and at least one marathon!
In 2014, I completed my first Marathon:
New York City!
Goal was 3:33 - Finished in 3:35!
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| Holding Back the Tears. Can't believe I did it! |
Since then, I have completed all six World Major Marathons (NYC, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London and Tokyo). I have run in 45 out of 50 states plus DC. I have placed 1, 2 or 3 in my age group in 34 out of 45 states. I have also run in Antartica in 2023 as part of my 7-Continent Challenge.
As you can imagine, this blog has evolved over time. It is an account of my races and the lessons I have learned through running, which in summary are to ..
RUN FEARLESS!
RUN TO INSPIRE!
RUN FOR PEACE!
