Lace Up. Get Moving.

Most of you are aware that I am a runner, and in light of this week's horrific events, I want to focus on moving. Ours is a nation that does not stop running, even when tragedy strikes. To be honest, lately I have gotten a little off my typical running regime. I am still aiming to complete a half marathon in all 50 states, but the pace has slowed in recent months. I think the fire was stoked on Monday. The first thing I did the day after The Boston Marathon was to lace up and go for a run. It felt great.

I came across these encouraging words today:

"I do not possess the requisite skill to express what I am feeling right now. But I know this: A marathon is ultimately a test of toughness and resolve. Those who run them typically do so to prove to themselves that they can fight through great adversity and still prevail. This nation's history shares the same spirit that the marathon showcases, and as we always have, we will prevail. We will mourn our dead, help our wounded, bring the criminals who committed this heinous act to justice. America will not quit. It will not stop running. And the Boston Marathon will not go away."

Maybe you aren't so inclined to go run 26.2 miles, but you should try viewing your health, and healthy living in general, as a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race. Maybe you even view getting active or eating well as a mountain or personal marathon. So what is your "marathon" as it relates to your health? Are you struggling to get into an exercise routine?

Healthy Living Starts in Two Places: the Kitchen and Movement

In a recent interview with Nashville's own, Dr. Travis Stork of the famed "Doctor's" television program, Dr. Stork said "we currently live in a health care system that is focused on treating diseases instead of preventing them; that we take care of problems after they happen and not before."

"Let food be thy medicine. Hippocrates was onto something," Stork said. "Healthy living starts in the kitchen and studies show that lifestyle (exercise and diet) can decrease your chance for many cancers and can decrease the recurrence of cancers."

He told the story of his father who was 60 pounds overweight and on medication for much of his life. The medication he took was to treat his symptoms.

"Not once did he ever have a conversation with anyone about how he could reverse his condition. "Sometimes we oversubscribe when the best thing to do would to write a grocery prescription," Stork said.

Sounds like Dr. Stork would make a good chiropractor!

The First Few Steps are the Most Difficult...

Put your left foot in front of you right, and then your right foot in front of your left, and then repeat. That's called walking. And it could be the best thing for your overall health. It is a good way to start the movement you need. It is easy. It works. It pays off.

It's Easy

• Walking is the simplest way to start and continue a fitness journey.
• Walking costs nothing to get started.
• Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any type of exercise.
• Walking is easy and safe.

It Works

• Studies show that for every hour of walking, life expectancy may increase by two hours.
• Walking for as few as 30 minutes a day provides heart health benefits.
• Walking is the single most effective form of exercise to achieve heart health.

It Pays

• Physically active people save $500 a year in healthcare costs.
• Employers can save $16 for every $1 they spend on health and wellness.
• Fitness programs have reduced employer healthcare costs by 20 - 55%.
• Reducing just one health risk in the workplace increases productivity by 9%.
• Reducing one health risk decreases absenteeism by 2%.

The historian George Macaulay Trevelyan wrote in 1913 that his two doctors were "My left leg and my right."

The truth in that statement is coming to light every day with new studies and reports. The Guardian published an article titled, "Walking could protect brain against shrinking," based off research published by U.S. neurologists who monitored 300 volunteers over 13 years. The report says walking may ward off a variety of conditions, such as Alzheimer's and dementia.

In the study, those who walked the most cut their risk of developing memory problems by half. And it suggested people try to walk 9 miles a week, the optimum distance for "neurological exercise."

Those that walked about 9 miles a week had larger brains and dementia or cognitive impairment was 50% greater on those who only walked short distances.

"Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer's disease," Dr Kirk Erickson, of Pittsburgh University, who led the study said. "Brain size inevitably shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems. "But if regular exercise in midlife could improve brain health, thinking and memory in later life, it would be one more reason to make regular exercise in people of all ages a public health imperative."

Why Sitting is Killing Us

The dangers of sitting might be equal or greater than the benefits of walking.

In a Gizmodo article, "Sitting Is the Smoking of Our Generation," Nilofer Merchant lays out the case against sitting on our tush all day.

Merchant writes:

"After 1 hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat declines by as much as 90%. Extended sitting slows the body's metabolism affecting things like (good cholesterol) HDL levels in our bodies."

"Research shows that this lack of physical activity is directly tied to 6% of the impact for heart diseases, 7% for type 2 diabetes, and 10% for breast cancer, or color cancer. You might already know that the death rate associated with obesity in the US is now 35 million. But do you know what it is in relationship to Tobacco? Just 3.5 million."

"The New York Times reported on another study, published last year in the journal Circulation that looked at nearly 9,000 Australians and found that for each additional hour of television a person sat and watched per day, the risk of dying rose by 11%. In that article, a doctor is quoted as saying that excessive sitting, which he defines as nine hours a day, is a lethal activity."

Physical inactivity has also been labeled a public health issue, and the health risks of physical inactivity are similar to smoking, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

So, what can you do to move your body?

A good start might be to putting your left foot in front of your right foot more often. Get to the gym. And when you're not in the gym, hit the stairs instead of the elevator. Interrupt sitting whenever you can. Stretch more. Walk around at lunch time. On a phone call? Pace around the room instead of plopping down on the chair. Look for every excuse to move your body. Stand up for your right to stand up.

Need more motivation?

Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, wrote: "Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, too, put his health down to shoe leather, writing: "I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out."

Whether it is ten miles or just one, you will never regret lacing up those running/walking shoes and going outside.