by Dan | Jan 22, 2014 | Etc.

Well, the Goofy Challenge has come and gone, but it left memories to last a lifetime. Steve and I made it. Disney 1/2 marathon saturday, followed by the Disney marathon sunday. 39.3 miles total. As they say there: “Yeah, we did 39.3 miles, because 40 is just crazy!” Over 25,000 people each day! We had to learn to pace a little smarter to try and make sure we could do it all. We were very consistent. Half marathon on saturday we completed in 2 hours 22 minutes. The first half of the marathon on sunday was 2:23, and the last half marathon was 2:22! Can’t be much more consistent!

Here we are coming through the tent after the finish line, and getting our medals. A total of 3 for the weekend. A Donald Duck medal for completing the half marathon, then here on sunday, a Mickey Mouse medal for finishing the marathon, and the coveted Goofy medal for finishing both. Needless to say, it was fun, but we are wiped! Afterwards, our legs were tightening up so bad we had to have help from our wives getting into and out of the bus to get back to the hotel.

Our families surprised us by being at the finish line! Here Steve is with his wife Carletta, son Noah, and daughter Carissa, who also ran the half marathon the day before. There son Jeff cheered from home.

Here is my family. My son Nick, daughter Megan, and my wife Sarah, who ran the half marathon saturday. My daughter Molly started back in college earlier, so she cheered from Brookings! It was a great time, great weather, and hard to describe the emotions by completing this, and being surrounded by people everywhere. It makes it easier to stay motivated to run. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2311
by Dan | Jan 8, 2014 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health

We are getting ready to head out to Orlando for the Disney half and full marathon again. Sarah will be doing the 1/2 marathon saturday, and Steve Hauck and I will be doing the Goofy Challenge: doing the 1/2 marathon on saturday, and then the full marathon on sunday! Little nervous, but fired up as well. First time for doing this. Steve and I did the full marathon last year. It was Steve’s first.

The weather should be great! It will be a little tough being this hot right away. Temps to be in the 60’s to start off, and end in the low 80’s by the finish line. A far cry from 40-50 below zero! Our goal: We are just going to finish. We are not worried about time. We will take our pictures with all of the characters along the way. Training partners sticking together! Stay moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2297
by Dan | Dec 31, 2013 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health

The New Year is upon us! Lead by example…prove to friends and family…and yourself…that you are serious about your health. Take control of it! Work together, and encourage each others, support each other, exercise with each other! You can begin a new year by trying to learn from past mistakes, and make the coming year better the last. Here Sarah and I are with part of the Hauck family when we were at Disney last January for the Half Marathon and Marathon. We are going back again in a few weeks, but will have 2 of my 3 kids along as well. The families that workout together, stay healthy together. You don’t need it to be January 1 to make that new resolution. It can be anytime, just do it! Believe in yourself. But remember to have fun along the way, and you can create memories for a lifetime! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2289
by Dan | Dec 23, 2013 | Exercise, Family, Holidays, Motivation

My girls are home from college! I don’t know who was more excited, Sarah and I, or my girls. They were racing across the waiting area of the airport to get at each other. Tears flowing by all. It has been good having us all back together again for the holidays.

The girls were very excited to see each other. It had been 4 months since they saw each in person. As a parent, it is nice to see that you did something right that they get along that well, and actually missed each other. Nick was happy to have them home too.

Mom had the tears flowing too! We will have a good month together, as that is how long they have off before going back to school. Now, we just have to get used to everybody being home at the same time. I have been going in to Anytime Fitness to workout when it has been so cold out, and everybody else is fighting to use the equipment at home. Also, nice to see everybody still thinks working out and staying in shape is important. Again, we must have done something right! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2281
by Dan | Dec 6, 2013 | Equipment, Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health, Winter
The cold has been terrible right now to try and go outside and run. I can put up with a lot of extremes with the temperature, but when it gets this cold, with windchills -25 degrees or worse, then it becomes more an issue of safety as well. That does not mean you cannot find alternatives way to exercise.

This morning was the perfect time to ultilize my membership at Anytime Fitness. Warm environment, with plenty of equipment to use, and other people working out at the same time. This works great during the cold, but not everybody has this ability. There are different types of exercise equipment you can purchase that is very inexpensive, or that you can even create/make on your own. We teach this also in our Strive 2 Survive program. I have equipment of my own that I utilize as well.

I have built this up over the years, and it is equipment that either I, or someone in my family utilizes frequently. Even though we have this, sometimes you just need to do something different in order to keep the interest and the motivation there. When the weather is not like it is now, I will be outside. I love looking around at everything when working out. It takes your mind off what you doing, and it goes by so much faster. You can also go indoors at the mall and go walk around. You have a long enough route to be making laps. Just leave your money at home so you are not tempted to spend every time you do this! Whatever it takes, there is always a right time for fitness: Anytime! It is up to you as to how and where you want to do the exercise at. Good luck! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2264