Menu

A Running Doc’s Life: Keep Exercise Fun!

This was a few years ago running the Disney Half Marathon with my daughter Megan, and our neighbor Noah Hauck. We had a ball! This picture was taken with less than a 1/2 mile left in the race. We did not care what our time was, we were having fun. Neither Megan nor Noah had run a Half Marathon before, so any time was a personal best for them. But it boils down to this: continue to keep having fun! Exercise should be like going out to play. We all did that as a kid. We need to keep that energy and enthusiasm as we get older. Dr. George Sheehan, a cardiologist who wrote many books on running, emphasized this point many times. “Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Make it play, not work!”. So true!

My daughters and I were working out one day last year when they were both home. This is us after we just got done with our workout. We are all smiling! We got moving, and had fun! Of course, Megan’s shirt helps: “Fartacus!”.

This is still one of my favorite pictures. Our run club members that day were posing on the bridge, and the rest of us are serious, and Jill decides to be “different”. Don’t follow everybody else. March to your own drum beat. Have fun! Be a kid again. Life is too short to be serious all of the time. Take care of yourself in the process, and get out and move. Do whatever activity you like to do, or it won’t be fun. I walk, bike, and run, and my favorite of course is running. Now sometimes other members in our run club rub off on me too!

We were doing a long run, and of course, we needed some nutrition, and Jill brought orange slices. Of course, you can’t just eat them, you have to pose with them in your mouth too! Be goofy! We may all be adults, but that does not mean we can’t have fun just like we did when we were kids!

This was never more true than last weekend when we were in Brookings doing the Half Marathon, and some of us were doing the marathon. I wrote about this last week. Time does not matter. Having fun matters!!!

Pay attention to what is around us. Look at the positives in life. Remember to make exercise fun. Play! Laugh! Relax! Enjoy the moment with everything!

What a great summary! Truth in such few words. Give them something to really talk about. Have Fun! Play! Enjoy life like we are supposed to. Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day of New Streak: # 784

Let's Get In Touch!

Call, e-mail or use the contact form for more information.

605-884-4226

strive2survive@brownclinic.org