Sad news that Jack Lalanne died this week. The guy was fabulous! My mom used to watch him while she ironed. We would do leg lifts together with him. My mom never got fit, but she did take the occasional walk around the block. Sadly, she smoked cigarettes and died of lung cancer at age 64, depriving my children of the wonderful grandmother experience she would have provided.
So - I've never thought of myself as sedentary. But I did not get into my quest for fitness (defined as being able to go for hikes, walks, bike rides, jogs without huffing and puffing and being "heart healthy") until coming to Aramco at age 37. What a wonderful place - the gym is free, classes are free (or have a minimal charge), self-directed fitness groups abound. I finally started "running" (and I do use that term loosely) in 1999 (age 46). 'Hate' is not a strong enough word for how I felt about being on the track! I could not jog around the 400 m track even once! Amazing that I stuck with it. But I did. The support I received from my friends in the DRRC (Dhahran Road Runners Club) was simply amazing. What a fun bunch of people to hang out with - a diverse group of many different nationalities - Saudi, American, Canadian, Philippino, Irish, English, Welsh, French, Austrailian, New Zealander, Lebanese, and the list goes on! We trained hard and partied even harder.
The DRRC hosts many races and fun runs throughout the year. Many of us participate in the Bahrain Marathon Relay, a charity run held every fall in the small island kingdom of Bahrain, located just over a 25 km causeway linking Al Khobar with the island. More a "party weekend with 15 minutes of running" than anything else, the BMR became the highlight of our year as far as fun weekends went! Of course, I got sucked onto the planning committee, but that is one thing I'm pretty good at (organizing).
Anyway, what got me thinking about writing about fitness was this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/fashion/27SKIN.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health
We have been so lucky for the past 20 years to have access to free gyms. I am on Facebook with many of my old classmates from Belleville Township High School West class of 1971 and when I see their pictures, the majority of them look fat or out of shape. Very sad. Even the ones who were athletes in our high school years gave that lifestyle up, it seems. As I get older all I hear is about everyone's aches and pains. I never want to be that way! If I'm hurt, I want it to be the result of a sports injury because I was out there busting my butt trying to stay fit!
My sister Carol worked out regularly and stayed fit until she was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago. She still fights it, going to the gym or walking when she can. My admiration for her knows no bounds!
I digress -
These past 2.5 years we've lived in RT, my friend Åsa and I started the Ras Tanura Fitness Group Beginning Runners' Workshop. There was one community running group here, but it was designed for people who were already fast and wanted to get faster. The coach would have taken beginners, but most beginning runners were too intimidated to join. I then carried on with the Intermediate Running Group. Geeze, I'm 57 years old and more fit than I've ever been. It's never too late to start a fitness program. I love motivating others to run & get fit. But, as the article mentioned says, most people don't stick with the program.
To continue my story, the group of us in the DRRC (when Bo and I still lived in Dhahran) decided to do a marathon. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I could run 26.2 miles! But 19 of us trained together and all of us completed the Rome Marathon in 2007. I'm still proud of all of us! Many of us carried on to do a marathon each year. I participated in the Phoenix Marathon in 2008 and the others continued in other marathons in Europe. Sadly I stopped with 2 because my foot did not cooperate, but I hope to build back up to half marathons. The others have done Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and will be in Prague this year.
There is no more fun group than a running group. My friend Kathy in Phoenix (who is a cancer survivor and has gained a lot of weight from the drugs) joined up with Team In Training and did the Phoenix half marathon this year. Haven't heard how she did yet. She used to hate running, too, but loves it now! I'm so proud of her!
Since I have not been running 1000 miles a week to train for a marathon, I have gained 15 pounds. So, part of my fitness quest is also a weight-loss quest. I hope to blog about it here. If I write about it, perhaps it will make me accountable?
Anyway, we have 17 MONTHS TO GO in Saudi Arabia. Whatever will I do without a free gym? No worries, I'll find one wherever I am and carry on with all my different programs. Who knows, maybe I'll start a running group in Gansbaai, South Africa, when I get there!
So - I've never thought of myself as sedentary. But I did not get into my quest for fitness (defined as being able to go for hikes, walks, bike rides, jogs without huffing and puffing and being "heart healthy") until coming to Aramco at age 37. What a wonderful place - the gym is free, classes are free (or have a minimal charge), self-directed fitness groups abound. I finally started "running" (and I do use that term loosely) in 1999 (age 46). 'Hate' is not a strong enough word for how I felt about being on the track! I could not jog around the 400 m track even once! Amazing that I stuck with it. But I did. The support I received from my friends in the DRRC (Dhahran Road Runners Club) was simply amazing. What a fun bunch of people to hang out with - a diverse group of many different nationalities - Saudi, American, Canadian, Philippino, Irish, English, Welsh, French, Austrailian, New Zealander, Lebanese, and the list goes on! We trained hard and partied even harder.
The DRRC hosts many races and fun runs throughout the year. Many of us participate in the Bahrain Marathon Relay, a charity run held every fall in the small island kingdom of Bahrain, located just over a 25 km causeway linking Al Khobar with the island. More a "party weekend with 15 minutes of running" than anything else, the BMR became the highlight of our year as far as fun weekends went! Of course, I got sucked onto the planning committee, but that is one thing I'm pretty good at (organizing).
Anyway, what got me thinking about writing about fitness was this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/fashion/27SKIN.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health
We have been so lucky for the past 20 years to have access to free gyms. I am on Facebook with many of my old classmates from Belleville Township High School West class of 1971 and when I see their pictures, the majority of them look fat or out of shape. Very sad. Even the ones who were athletes in our high school years gave that lifestyle up, it seems. As I get older all I hear is about everyone's aches and pains. I never want to be that way! If I'm hurt, I want it to be the result of a sports injury because I was out there busting my butt trying to stay fit!
My sister Carol worked out regularly and stayed fit until she was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago. She still fights it, going to the gym or walking when she can. My admiration for her knows no bounds!
I digress -
These past 2.5 years we've lived in RT, my friend Åsa and I started the Ras Tanura Fitness Group Beginning Runners' Workshop. There was one community running group here, but it was designed for people who were already fast and wanted to get faster. The coach would have taken beginners, but most beginning runners were too intimidated to join. I then carried on with the Intermediate Running Group. Geeze, I'm 57 years old and more fit than I've ever been. It's never too late to start a fitness program. I love motivating others to run & get fit. But, as the article mentioned says, most people don't stick with the program.
To continue my story, the group of us in the DRRC (when Bo and I still lived in Dhahran) decided to do a marathon. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I could run 26.2 miles! But 19 of us trained together and all of us completed the Rome Marathon in 2007. I'm still proud of all of us! Many of us carried on to do a marathon each year. I participated in the Phoenix Marathon in 2008 and the others continued in other marathons in Europe. Sadly I stopped with 2 because my foot did not cooperate, but I hope to build back up to half marathons. The others have done Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and will be in Prague this year.
There is no more fun group than a running group. My friend Kathy in Phoenix (who is a cancer survivor and has gained a lot of weight from the drugs) joined up with Team In Training and did the Phoenix half marathon this year. Haven't heard how she did yet. She used to hate running, too, but loves it now! I'm so proud of her!
Since I have not been running 1000 miles a week to train for a marathon, I have gained 15 pounds. So, part of my fitness quest is also a weight-loss quest. I hope to blog about it here. If I write about it, perhaps it will make me accountable?
Anyway, we have 17 MONTHS TO GO in Saudi Arabia. Whatever will I do without a free gym? No worries, I'll find one wherever I am and carry on with all my different programs. Who knows, maybe I'll start a running group in Gansbaai, South Africa, when I get there!
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