2019-04-01 Women's Health

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