Category: Uncategorized

My dad is the reason I started running. He spent most of his career as a 5^th grade teacher, but his love was Physical Education. He got his Masters in it, and I was the test subject for his thesis. In a box somewhere are hours of 8mm film spools of three year-old me climbing ladders, jumping off boxes and tumbling around our living room. He was passionate about getting kids excited about being physically fit. Growing up in that environment, playing sports wasn’t something I ever thought about doing…it was just what I did.

      The gym teacher and his test monkey.

Sometime in the late 70s, my dad caught the running bug. It became his lifestyle. He wore tall socks and track jackets, grew a beard and basically became the fashion plate for every hipster in 2013. He’d head to the track, run to work a couple days a week, and enter every race in the area. He actually proposed to my stepmom during one of those races. And, probably coolest of all, he started a race at the school where he taught to raise funds for their gym and playground equipment. That race has been going on for well over 30 years now, and the top elementary school boy and girl finisher now receive the Jim Hoyer memorial trophy.

My dad would have been 73 today. His birthday always makes me think about him, of course. But it also causes me to think a lot about health, fitness and diet. My dad died at age 58, on the track at the same school he started that race at years earlier. He never stopped exercising and always looked really fit and healthy. But my dad also had diabetes, which, by even his own account, he was pretty inconsistent at managing. He’d get wrapped up in a project in the garage for hours and forget to eat or check his blood sugar, and he always did have a sweet tooth. Most of us have bodies that can handle that, but those habits resulted in complications that ultimately lead to his heart attack.

I miss my dad a lot, even now. And on this day more than any other, I think back on things he said, things we did, and the way he lived his life. In the spirit of this blog, this year I’ve decided to look for some lessons in those memories that might help me find that healthy balance I’m looking for. Here are five strong lessons that I’ve learned from my dad and the amazing, fun, dynamic, active person he was:

1. Physical activity feels like play if it is part of your life, instead of a fitness plan. I need to channel 10 year old me more.
2. Infuse passion into daily life. Work is such a large part of life that we all need to build moments into it that we love.
3. Encouraging others to be active reinforces the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and adds to the fun of staying fit.
4. Other people care a lot about our health, so we should too.
5. Worrying about a balance between health and indulgence is a luxury. I’m lucky that I can have that glass of wine or that dessert, and know my body can handle it. I need to enjoy those moments of indulgence.

I plan to revisit this list a lot in the next few weeks. I’d love to hear any thoughts you all have, or any things you’ve learned from those who’ve inspired you to be fit, fun and fabulous (if you’re shy, please reread #3, above).

And remember to say thanks to those people who inspire you.

I took a fitness class yesterday at OrangeTheory. I’ve been to a few classes there now, and like the blend of cardio and strength training because strength training isn’t something I generally do on my own. Now I’m so sore that, although I’m too warm, I can’t bring myself to take off the hoody I threw on this morning because the thought of moving my arms that way is unbearable.

But this day of relative inactivity and immersing myself in the last regular season NFL games (nice job, Seahawks!) has given me the chance to ponder my reasons for doing this workout. Last night I was going to a holiday party, where I knew there would be lots of wine and things wrapped in bacon. I wanted those things. So, I reasoned that I would somehow earn those by putting myself through a good workout in the morning.

It’s probably the case that any motivation to make me workout is good, on some very basic level. But I dislike the fact that I, and so many other people I know, think of exercise as some sort of price that must be paid or time served as punishment for doing things I enjoy more. I’m pretty sure that this mentality is part of why I have such a love/hate relationship with fitness, and why my motivation to exercise can be wildly inconsistent.

I don’t have a good answer to this problem right now. But, for the next few weeks, I’ve vowed to try to look at physical activity as a reward. I’m going to mix up my activities a bit, do some things I like but haven’t done in a while, meet up with friends for some social fitness time, and ask other people what works for them.

This starts tomorrow, with a hip-hop dance class I’m taking with three of my favorite people. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be awful at it, but I’m looking forward to it. Dancing never feels like exercise to me, so I’m excited to try it and hang out with friends. We’ll probably grab a cocktail after, but it won’t be because I earned it with all those whip and nae nae reps. It will be because that’s what we want to do next and we’re having a good night. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, if anyone has any tips on this topic, please share. I’m excited to try new things and figure this piece out.

Welcome to SWIM BIKE bRUNch, a site that will chronicle my attempts to find a way to be fit and healthy while still enjoying life’s great culinary indulgences. I love wine, cheese and chocolate mousse. I also love feeling fit. I even enjoy exercise…some days. But for some reason, I’ve found it hard to find a good balance between the two. It seems like that should be easy, but it isn’t. And chatting with many of my friends, family, coworkers and other folks, I know I’m not alone.

So, this is my year to dive into this issue, and hopefully figure it out. I’m going to dig into patterns, try strategies, find better motivation and share it all here. But I’m also going to eat—things with butter and sugar and flavors that I crave. And I’m going to have my fair share of mimosas and wine flights and Moscow mules made with locally crafted ginger beer. I don’t want to give those up, and I shouldn’t have to. It’s not like I’m training for the Olympics. I just want to make all these things part of my life in a way that feels healthy and balanced and doesn’t somehow wind up with me avoiding my fitness routine every couple of months.

If you can relate to this on any level, I hope you check in every once in a while. Comment on posts, share ideas, and if you are in the Seattle area, maybe meet up for a workout…possibly followed by some tasty tapas. One thing I do know is that sharing and friends definitely help keep my fitness on track. And they certainly make the indulgent moments better too.

You can also follow along on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Swimbikebrunch) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/SBB_Seattle).

Here’s to a fit, fun and fabulous 2016!