Most people wouldn't consider competing in any long-distance race walking at age 79, much less at a world-class level.
But for Dr. Shaul Ladany, race walking has been a way of life. He practices for several hours every day and continues to compete in 35 events a year.
Ladany, having survived the Holocaust, the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and hurdles like lymphoma and skin cancer, described race walking as giving him a way of moving past his horrific experiences. Ladany told The Jewish Week in 2011, "I believe that if I didn't continue to engage in physical activity as I am used to, I wouldn't be able to move."
A 2009 study by Harvard Men's Health Watch found that walking reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 31 percent and lowered the risk of dying by 32 percent for those who walked just 5.5 miles per week at a casual pace (about two miles per hour.)
You may not be the next long-distance race walking champion, but you can begin your journey to an active lifestyle with motivation from Wise Aging.
Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Sprit by Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Dr. Linda Thal provides the tools we need to acheive an active body and mind. With warmth, humor, and wisdom Cowan and Thal explore a wide range of issues around aging, including:
- Investing in relationships with adult children and spouses
- Befriending an aging body
- Offering and seeking forgiveness
- Cultivating gratitude and other aspects of well-being
- Learning to live with loss
- Shaping one's legacy, becoming stewards of the future
Order your copies of Wise Aging today.
Wise Aging is a project of the The Institute for Jewish Spirituality, which is training facilitators to lead groups around the country in an exploration of what it means to approach our later years with intention, energy, and joy. Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, & Spirit will be the core text for these group workshops. If you would like to find out more about establishing a Wise Aging workshop group in your community, contact the IJS here.
