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RUNNING for a Balanced Life

We’ve all heard it said countless times before—exercise is important to your health. And
we absent-mindedly nod our heads and agree. However, when we closely examine why
exercise is good for us, the statement becomes both more interesting and more compel-
ling. Knowing the details about how running can make you physically, mentally, and
emotionally stronger will give you greater inspiration as you begin your workout routine.
Many people who are considering starting to run list weight management or losing
weight as a top goal. This is great. Just the same, it helps to think of your outside ap-
pearance as reflection of your internal health. As women, we all want to be thin. Yet our
perceptions of “thin” are often skewed by the images we see in magazines and on TV.
Your weight goal should emphasize overall health more so than focusing on a number.
As you are mentally preparing to embark on your journey towards becoming a runner,
try to focus more on how you are going to improve your overall health, and not just your
appearance, through running.
To do this, it helps to meditate on the number of ways running can make your life bet-
ter, longer, and more fulfilled. First off, running can help reduce your risk of developing
many of the most common diseases in the United States today. According to the Center
for Disease Control, the top three leading causes of death among women of any racial
or ethnic background are heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Exercise decreases your risk
of all three diseases and studies have shown that running decreases your risk more than
many other types of exercise.
When you run, a type of cholesterol called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) becomes
elevated in the blood. This type of cholesterol is responsible for ridding your body of
other bad types of cholesterol and therefore it helps to keep your arteries healthy. A study