Have You Ever Heard Of Heather Lee?
I had never heard of Heather Lee either until I read about her recently in an article in the New York Times!  I am a big fan of Australia and would love to live there if only it were closer to the US!
The article on Heather Lee leaped out at me because it tells the story of a 92 year old woman living in Richmond, New South Wales who became the New South Wales Senior Australian of the Year.  This is due to her record in race walking.
This woman not only works out three times a week, but is constantly thinking ahead. She has her goals set for this year and is determined to reach them.  She is famous for her speed walking and incorporates stretching, walking at least 10,000 steps daily into her routine,  and has given up driving.
Heather Lee clams her optimism springs from her willingness to compete not only with others, but herself.  She is determined to increase her speed this year.
Race walking is not easy but she is able to talk while doing it.  She characterizes her life as nothing remarkable. She was not particularly career oriented, but talks extensively about her second marriage which she recalls as a “wonderful, wonderful, perfect life”.  Her late husband told her before he passed away to show everybody what she is made up of and to go after whatever she wanted.
A Healthy Lifestyle
Ms. Lee reveals that her life has always leaned towards being fit and incorporating some form of wellness into her routine. She and her husband were ahead of the curve back in the 1970’s.  They did cleanses, brewed their own kombucha, and put lecithin on their cereal according to this article.  She started race walking because she liked how she felt after it was over.  She began her emphasis on race walking before turning 85 and won 4 Gold Medals in the Australian Masters Games.
Her Life’s Purpose
I figure when we all get to a certain age we begin thinking about our legacy. Ms. Lee would like to serve as a guide to the middle age woman who is thinking growing older is about slowing down. She asserts; “age is no barrier to anything, really”. Now, this is a woman definitely growing older with gusto.