Get fit and healthy and fight breast cancer

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By Marie McAden

<a href="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pinkribbonoutofpeople1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1308" title="pinkribbonoutofpeople" src="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pinkribbonoutofpeople1-300x221.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="221" /></a>Three days. Thirty miles. The inaugural LoCo Motion walking and running event—set for Sept. 30- Oct. 2 in the Lowcountry—will turn couch potatoes into cross-country champions to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer.<!--more-->

<a href="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cancerwalk.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1309" title="cancerwalk" src="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cancerwalk-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>Sound like more than your feet can handle? No worries. Event organizers have scheduled 15 weeks of free training sessions in Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island to help participants prepare for the big fall show date.

“This is your opportunity to do something you never thought was possible,” said event organizer Laura Morgan. “Don’t be intimidated by the distance. You can do it.”

A reduced version of the 60-mile “Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure” walk, LoCo Motion was designed to appeal to a greater audience by cutting the distance in half and opening it to both walkers and runners. More than 3,000 are expected to participate.

<a href="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/BeachWalkers.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1310" title="BeachWalkers" src="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/BeachWalkers-300x163.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="163" /></a>The event will begin Friday afternoon, Sept. 30 at The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort &amp; Spa with a 10-mile walk/run along the beach and area neighborhoods. The following day, LoCo Motion will move to Bluffton’s Old Town for another 10-mile trek at the Calhoun Street Promenade. Then it’s back to Hilton Head for the last 10-mile leg set to take off Sunday morning, Oct. 2 from Coligny Beach.

Recognizing that most people will need to build up to walking 10 miles a day, free training sessions have been scheduled every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning starting June 21. You don’t have to be registered as a LoCo Motion participant to take part in the training events.

<a href="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tennisshoes.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1311" title="tennisshoes" src="http://www.beaufortislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tennisshoes-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a>In Beaufort, training sessions will be offered at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 7:30 a.m. Saturdays at Beaufort Memorial’s LifeFit Wellness Center. Call 522-5637 for more information.

“We want people to get out and get their bodies moving,” Morgan said. “Walking with others can help you stay motivated to get fit and healthy.”

Each session will start with a brief clinic on a variety of health and exercise topics from stretching to hydration to foot care.

Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s Clinical Nutrition Manager Roxanne Davis-Cote will offer tips on what to eat and drink during the training sessions and the three-day event.

“I recommend two to four ounces of water per mile,” Davis-Cote said. “If you start to feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.”

A well-balanced diet that includes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean meats also is essential to condition your body for an intense workout.

“Nutrition is energy,” Davis-Cote explained. “You need to put energy in before you put energy out.”

To stay fueled, runners may want to pack energy gels that are easy to carry and eat on the go. For walkers, a piece of fruit or low fat snack bar will help maintain stamina.

LoCo Motion is one of several fundraising events put on by Carolina Cups, a non-profit public charity dedicated to funding breast cancer education, screening, treatment, and clinical research.

Proceeds from LoCo Motion will benefit several regional cancer organizations, providing breast cancer screening, treatment, and research for Lowcountry residents. Funding recipients include Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s Keyserling Cancer Center, Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health, the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, the Breast Cancer Program at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital, the Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC in Charleston and the American Cancer Society.

For more information on Carolina Cups and the LoCo Motion event, visit www.carolinacups.org or call 868-1888. For more information on the training at Beaufort Memorial, call Hollie Smith at Lifefit Wellness Center at 522-5637.

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