80-Year-Old Sara Embodies the Real Beauty, Real Fitness |

80-Year-Old Sara Embodies the Real Beauty, Real Fitness

Sara is one of those that infuses a room with light the instant she walks in. I don’t know if it’s her genuine smile, the wave (because everybody there knows her name), or the fact that she’s an real-life angel in a white sweater and workout pants. Maybe a combination of all three.

Beyond the fact that you don’t normally see many 80-year-old women in a serious training facility, Sara is different in a way that’s tough to put a finger on. Yes, she’s willing to tackle a tough exercise program – the first regular program in her life – when most women are making their way to the rocking chair. Yes, she’s magnetic and personable. But I think truly makes Sara extraordinary is the sense of courage, survival, and love that she wears like a familiar perfume.

Sara says she began training with me two years ago because of osteoporosis and diminishing strength. I believe, however, that she also wanted something in her life… after 78 years… that was totally her own. Sara is naturally thin, so weight was not an issue. But like many women who don’t exercise, she had a high level of body fat on that thin frame. We took measurements so we could track her progress as she shed the body fat (her granddaughter called the flab on the backside of her arm “fluffery”) and regained some muscle.

Sara eventually performed bent over rows, planks, and dips like women a quarter of her age. And we watched her body fat drop and her lean muscle grow. Her balance improved immensely and she had more energy than ever.

And then one day her weight began to drop unexpectedly. Every time we weighed in, she had lost more than I felt she could afford. And she was tired.

Sara was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, but told very few people. She told her doctor that she wanted to pursue aggressive treatment only when necessary. She continued her workouts and regular life. Eventually the doctor recommended chemotherapy. The cancer had gotten worse.

Sara complied, envisioning the radiation killing off the cancer and making her stronger with every treatment.

During her chemo, Sara made almost all of her workouts. She was more tired than normal, and would have to rest between sets, but she stayed her course, knowing she couldn’t neglect her body at a time she needed it’s powers the most.

And Sara won.

This week we celebrated Sara’s news of the remission of her cancer. She had long admired two of my clients’ 1931 Model A Ford that she had seen before one of her workouts. Ray and Jane, owners of this most awesome car, said that one day we’d all go for a ride.

After toasts of mimosas to Sara’s great health, Ray and Jane took Sara and I on that ride through our historic town square last Wednesday. Sara’s beautiful white hair blew in the wind as wound our way through wildflower pastures and over the lake… all with the top down. She looked like a queen.