Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Ray Zahab broke the speed record of the trek to the North Pole. He walked while dragging a sled in forty below weather. The most inspirational part of this story is that he started running when he was thirty-four years old after being a long-time smoker living a VERY sedentary lifestyle.

This video of his talk at TED is so inspirational that it’s worth the download time:

Not only did they trek for ten or fifteen hours at a time, they blogged the entire time. You can read them here:

• South Pole Quest 2008

He says:

“I remember thinking, ‘What do I take from this journey? That I’m this uber-endurance guy?’ As I stand here today talking to you guys, I’ve been running for the grand sum of five years and a year before that, I was a pack a day smoker living a very sedentary lifestyle. What I take from this journey is that in fact, within every fiber of my belief standing here, I know that we can make the impossible possible. I’m learning this at forty. Can you imagine being thirteen years old, hearing those words and believing it?”

No matter how old you are, BELIEVE it. If you have ever thought that being fit and healthy was impossible, it is POSSIBLE. You CAN do it. The only thing standing in your way is your head telling you that you can’t. If Ray Zahab can become an uber-endurance athlete at an age when most people think that their careers are over, then we can get to a healthy weight. We just have to keep on trudging through the snow, pulling our sleds of history behind us.