100 / WOMEN’S HEALTH APRIL 2019
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The term typically conjures images of bubble
baths and spa days. But senior editor Marissa Gainsburg
discovered that testing her body’s limits was the
best TLC she could ever give it.
Redefining
Self-Care
The North Face,
Merrell, and Michelob
Ultra—my generous
“sponsors”—approve
this message.
I can’t believe I did that.
The words flashed through my head
over and over like a GIF as I walked
alongside thousands of exhausted
runners to exit Central Park. I’d
just crossed the finish line of the TCS
New York City Marathon—my first
26.2—and my cheeks, wrinkled up to
my eyes, ached almost as much as my
legs. When a photographer snapped
a picture, I broke out in happy tears
until a weird but powerful calm came
over me. I can’t. Believe. I did that.
It’s a sentiment I’d chased several
times over the past year, the first on
a rock-climbing trip in Joshua
Tree National Park, then during an