Let's Get Physical

I confess: I do not spend every minute of my life working on accomplishing my 2010 New Year's Goals. Sue me. But in the interim, I thought I'd interject some additional thoughts.

For instance, I wonder if anyone finds it strange that my "Top 10 For 2010" (Why didn't I think of that title before just now?!) doesn't include any fitness goals. I mean, isn't that usually the #1 priority of any one's New Year's Resolutions? True, according to my list I do have 5 races to run, but I don't necessarily run races for fitness. I run races because is the only time I ever feel competitive, even if I'm only competing against time.

I'd say the main reason I didn't include any fitness goals is because I have already made working out an integral part of my life for the last several years. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I wouldn't really be 'me' if I wasn't utterly faithful to my fitness regime. I've always been a very thin girl (my eternal gratitude goes to Grandpa Vel for passing along such good genes), so I think I've confused friends, family and coworkers by becoming such a gym junkie. After all, I can eat whatever I want and not gain a pound (don't worry, even I cringed when I typed that). I think working out goes so far beyond losing weight though! In fact, even though I have worked out six days a week for about 2 years, I haven't lost a pound and I may have actually gained a few pounds of muscle.

I think my obsession with working out began after I graduated high school. Let me be clear, though, it did not begin as an obsession. In high school I had always relied on cheerleading to keep me fit. But after graduation I needed some way to stay active, so I decided to try running on for size. For a while, it did not fit. Running had always been the bane of my existence growing up. I dreaded the required annual mile run in gym class. I remember sweating and wheezing for the rest of the school day after the dreaded run, and I never even ran the whole dang thing without walking the curves and running the straights - well, most of the straights. Just as Dr. Leo Marvin consulted Bob in the movie, "What About Bob?", I knew it was going to take 'baby steps' to achieve my goal, which was to sorta, possibly, kinda, maybe enjoy running. I started out slow - verrrrrry slooooow- but I eventually worked up to running a mile without stopping, and then 2, and then 3, etc. I came to the conclusion that running wasn't so bad and in fact, I liked it. And I wanted to get better at it.

In college I discovered that running was a great way to relieve the stress and pressure of school work. Running became a crucial part of my life even if I could only make time for it once a week. Some of my best college memories include running with Janet, either on the track behind our dorm or through the quaint little neighborhood just off campus. When we weren't exchanging world-altering epiphanies, which are naturally exchanged by students during the college years, we were dedicating laps and miles to our favorite people at Walsh University. Thankfully, having so many favorite people at Walsh only pushed us to run farther.

When I graduated college, I used running as a time to really hunker down and figure out my future without the distractions of every day life interrupting me. During the year post graduation and pre-moving to Chicago, many people tried to discourage me from moving to the Big City, but running always helped me to regroup and stay focused on my goals. Through running and with the support of my family, I found the encouragement to follow my dreams.

By the time I moved to Chicago in 2002 I was running no less than 3 times a week. Since then, I've had many self revelations along the Lake Michigan running path. Oh if running paths could talk...

In February 2006 my company offered a Wellness Plan which would deeply discount a membership to any gym of choice. I chose Equinox. I chose it partly for the convenience (it was located in my office building at the time, along with an additional location in my neighborhood) and I partly chose it because it was unlike any gym I'd ever seen: very modern, very clean, very spa-like. In addition to my running, I started taking muscle conditioning classes twice a week, and my body quickly learned a soreness it had not previously experienced. I'd agree that soreness turns many people off from working out, but being the masochist I am, I embraced it. Soreness is a good thing! Soreness does not mean you are out of shape, per se. In fact, if you aren't sore after almost every session, then you probably aren't working hard enough. It doesn't even matter if you've been weight training for years and years. (True, I should disclaim that it is also entirely possible to work too hard. And it is really dangerous to do too much too soon.) Soreness indicates that your muscle fibers have virtually been ripped to shreds, but the recovery time is when they mend themselves, therefore, becoming stronger. Sounds awful, right? But I know my bones and my muscles love me for it. I know they want to work! By building good bone density and muscle strength, I'm warding off osteoporosis, in addition to other diseases. I haven't been sick for over a year and I credit the immunity-boosting effects of my workouts. Oh yeah, did I mention the muscle definition?? I'm certainly no shoe-in to win any World's Strongest Woman competitions, but just seeing the definition of my muscles reminds me that I'm a STRONG woman, and that I'm capable of handling any obstacle life throws at me.

Also, I'd say I began increasing the frequency of my workouts (5 to 6 days a week, up from 3 to 4) when my job became very stressful (circa 2007). I didn't view working out as a form of escapism from the stress necessarily, but rather a time when I could be totally disconnected from the outside world and instead very connected to the present tense of my body and mind. I learned that working out is a way to fuse body with mind, and I can't think of any other activity that allows for utilizing both simultaneously, besides exercising. Just think how fused all those Olympic athletes must be! Bottom line, muscle conditioning taught me how to shut out the world and focus -I mean really focus- on something that was beginning to reveal itself as a great importance to my life.

My job is no longer as stressful as it once was, but the reduction of stress was in no way indicative of any desire to cease my love affair with the gym, or to reduce the frequency with which I retreated into the arms of my lover, Equinox.

If someone were to ask me the one item I couldn't live without, I'd probably say my gym pass. I've embraced the perpetual challenge of exercising as a lifetime commitment, and I'm thankful for the countless reasons it has made me such an advocate for being active.