February is a time of romance, chocolate and mass-produced greeting cards thanks to the celebration of Valentine's Day.
But there are bigger and better reasons to search your heart this time of the year, as February is also National Heart Disease Awareness Month.
One way to stay heart-healthy this month is Chewacla State Park's 23rd annual Love Your Heart Run and 5th annual Crank Your Heart Ride Feb. 18. The run is a 10K, and the bike ride is one of two trails at three and a half or 11 miles.
"It's open to everybody--students, people in the community, and we actually have a lot of people from other cities that come," said Amber Meredith, public relations intern at Chewacla State Park.
Meredith said she is hopeful large turnouts in the past will return this year.
"Last year we had about 700 people that came, so hopefully we will have just as many people this year or even more," she said.
Whether or not a person chooses to get healthy by running a race, Mary Hanna, telehealth RN at East Alabama Medical Center, said "everyone should be aware and concerned about heart disease."
Hanna said she believes all people will be affected in some way by heart disease.
"I daresay that everyone will either have heart disease, be at risk for heart disease or know someone with heart disease," she said.
Will Golden, a 23-year-old pro golfer and Auburn resident, falls into the first category.
"When I was born, (doctors) realized I had some heart problems and they immediately sent me to UAB for testing," Golden said. "I was born with a congenital heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot."
Twenty-three years, seven surgeries and four pacemakers later, Golden said he is feeling "better than ever" given the circumstances.
"Having this heart disease and the complete heart block definitely makes my cardiac output less efficient," he said. "Running for a long period of time is very tough, but since I was a teenager I have been training to improve all of that."
Golden said he is optimistic about his condition.
"It will never be awesome, or normal like other people who are in good shape," he said, "but I am able to stay in good enough shape for golf."
According to Hanna, modifiable risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, physical inactivity and obesity.
Hanna said it is important to "address these modifiable risk factors through lifestyle modifications, surveillance, talking with your physician and, if needed, medications so heart disease can be prevented" or in Golden's case, the side effects limited.
The events at Chewacla are examples of ways to combat these modifiable factors and what's more, it's all for a great cause.
"It's put on by the Exceptional Outreach Organization which is a nonprofit organization in Auburn made up of board members," Meredith said. "Basically the whole thing they do as a foundation is raise money to put toward programs for children and adults with special needs in Lee County like Best Buddies of Auburn University and Lee County Special Olympics."
Registration begins at 6:15 a.m. the day of the race, but online registration is also available at http://www.loveyourheartrun.com. Those who register by Feb. 3 will receive a $5 discount from the original $25 fee.
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