by Dan | Jul 3, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This Friday was the kickoff to the 4th of July weekend, and it started out with the Freedom 5K run, put on by DASH of Watertown. It was a great run, great weather, and here are the members of the Watertown Area Run Club who participated, along with the 2 up and coming members, the McElroy girls! It was a great event for friendly competition, fun, and spending time with friends.
Even though it was fun, the start can be intense in every race!
Every race has its moments, but again, all in fun. Here Sarah and I are getting are game faces on, especially when I told her she was “going down” in this race!
And we are off! It is fun watching the little kids take off…they go like there is no tomorrow, and then start fading fast. It is nice to see them out and trying though!
Even though Sarah and I can have some friendly competition, we are also best of friends! It is great that we both love doing this. It is a great way to spend time together. The start of the race was a mile from our house, so we walked over to it, ran the race, and walked back home. Lots of time for talking as well!
Another set of friends can relate. Two very good friends, and my nurses, one current, one from the past. Susan and Chris. They are sticking to it, backing each other up, and having a good time doing their running!
Way to go you two! Smiling and enjoying life! But that is what is great about friends. They are there when you need them, they have your back, and are someone you can count on…especially to go running or exercise with! So, whether Susan and Chris, Sarah and I, all of our Watertown Area Run Club members, or whoever, the important thing in life is your friends. Those are the people that matter in your life. They are the people who will miss you if you were gone! They are the people you can count on! Run on!
Friends are truly what matters in your life!
Now, just remember this weekend, with it being the 4th of July, the true meaning behind it is Freedom! We are lucky to have had people fight for our freedom in the past, and those who continue to do so for us. Because we have freedom, we are free to choose what we want to do, such as participate in fun runs, spending time with friends, and having fun.
Be thankful for what you have, and who you can spend time with! We have that freedom to choose. Enjoy the weekend…enjoy life…and all the adventures it can bring! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3201
by Dan | Jun 26, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
There are all kinds of fun runs/walks during the year, and especially during the Summer, to be able to participate in. It is also a time when you can include your friends, or family, and have fun with it…or maybe even show how tough you can be getting ready for it. Here Molly, Nick and I are getting ready for the Fargo 5k in May. Sometimes though, we just need to convince ourselves that we can do it.
If we can convince our minds, our bodies can handle it! I had to keep talking Molly through it that night as well…to help convince her that she still could do it.
We all need some extra support sometimes…to help us realize what we are capable of doing…to help get past our fear of the unknown. It was great running a 5k with my daughter! There have been several other events so far this Summer…just last week we did the Race for Chase…a 10 mile race where you have a 2 person team. One person rides a bike, one person runs. You have to start together, and finish together, and you can trade off biking and running whenever you want…but you both are covering 10 miles. Sarah was my team mate. We won our age group category! Here is a group of some of the people participating.
It was a good time…and something different to do. Of course, I had to have a little fun along the way and hold up a trophy (which we did not win!) before hand as I was giving some of the other people who are on our run club a challenge as to who was going to get it!
Of course we also had the Hospital Hill Run. Another great turnout for our 20th anniversary. Here is everybody at the start this year.
Here is a good example when it comes to all of the events: You need to have the courage to start! Everything in life has obstacles, but those obstacles were meant to overcome. If you don’t push yourselves, you will have no idea how far you can go. You have to start in order to finish! Once you finish, you will be looking for more challenges…more experiences…more adventures!
You just have to remember it does not have to be a competition against somebody else. It can be a competition with yourself though…a competition to show yourself what you are capable of. What are you made of? How are you able to overcome challenges in your life?…Setbacks in your life?…Difficulties in your life? Are you going to be able to push through and create and experience new adventures in your life? You might actually like it too! For many of us, wouldn’t that be a surprise? I have talked about Dr. George Sheehan in the past…the cardiologist who helped promote the running boom in the 1970’s. He was wise beyond his years! What a great summary to keep in mind for all of us!
Convincing ourselves is the challenge…and if we convince our minds, we are half way there! Don’t worry what somebody else may think…worry about what you are going to think! Take care of yourself, and have great adventures along the way. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3194
by Dan | Jun 19, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Motivation, Wellness/Health
There were lots of fun times spent with the kids growing up. A lot of these memories start flooding back when I go looking through all of the pictures. Everybody here was so proud of the fish they caught. The kids always came with us when we went to go run races too.
Here are my twins one year after doing Grandma’s marathon. It was great having your own cheering section along the route. As they got older, I returned the favor by cheering them on at all of their sport events. It was just as much fun watching them as it was participating in the events myself. As a Dad, it was fun watching them evolve and change, and grow up!
They are all in college now…where has the time gone! That is what makes pictures such a treasure…you can always look back and feel like you were right back at that moment again. Forever a treasure.
Many of us can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad! Things may not always go as planned, and life throws a lot of curve balls, and problems along the way. At times there always seemed to be something more stressful that had to be worked on. That is where the exercise came into play. It was an escape valve. A way to unload some of that pressure, blow off some steam…just have time to think.
But, what I think was more important about being a Dad, especially for my kids, was to see how Sarah and I got along. When they see how much we care for each other, and do things for each other…there is no stronger bond. Lead by example. You can say anything you want, but if you don’t show it with your actions, it means nothing.
Parents set the tone for the kids…mom and dad both! If you don’t work as a team, nothing gets done, or at least not done very well. The kids bought us tickets to go on an adventure…Chanhassen to go see a play, Beauty and the Beast, followed the next night to a Twins game. This was our Mother and Father’s day present from them. It was great.
Here Sarah is at the play. It was a great gift!
Father’s Day now leave a gap with me since my Dad passed away 1 1/2 years ago. Maybe time will continue to heal, but not yet. It is a tough day for me. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him!
But, I have lots of memories to keep looking back at! There were lots of things he taught me as well, and led by example. It takes a special individual to really be a Dad!
Hopefully I have been doing this for my kids…at least trying! We all make mistakes. That is what makes life an adventure. Things are never predictable, and it is always easier to come up with the right way to do things once the problem or issue is over. Trying to do it right at the time is what is hard. I still have my mom to bounce things off of, but there are still times when I wish I could still ask my Dad for advice.
Miss you Dad! Everybody else have a good Father’s Day…remember why we have these days. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3187
by Dan | Jun 12, 2016 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Yesterday marked the 20th Anniversary of the Hospital Hill 5k Run. Tom Beaudry and Kris Munger have been my mainstay for many years, but we have had help for many years by other people volunteering and helping. One of those was Tim Page. He was a pharmacist at Prairie Lakes Hospital since 1992. He was our official starter of the race for the last 19 years. Tim lost his battle with cancer, and passed away one week ago. Tim was a co-worker, colleague, runner, and…friend. He was in our hearts and minds yesterday. Here is a picture before last years race with Tom Beaudry, as we were getting ready to get set up for the race.
Here is a picture from years ago when Tom and Tim had done one of their first marathons together. I trained with both of them for one of the early Grandma’s marathons as well, but that was the only one I got to train with Tim also. Tom had some memories of quotes that Tim use to say on some of those runs: “There is Magic in Misery”, “I can, I will, I’m going to finish this run”. I remember a few of these lines as well. He struggled with injury on that last one where I was involved in, but he never quit. He finished…regardless. Just like his adventure in life. That is what running, or exercise in general, can do for us. It can make us stronger, not only physically, but mentally. It can help us push through the every day struggles that we can come across each and every day. But don’t give up! We all have our struggles to contend with…but we need to learn to deal with them as they come.
For the race yesterday, Tim’s dad stepped in, and became our starter for the 20th anniversary race…a race we dedicated to Tim Page.
I have to believe that put a smile on Tim’s face! Even though we may not always be able to handles things in life as they come, how we handle the “adventure” says a lot about us as well. We all have a purpose in life, and I think the goal would be for all of us…definitely for me…to feel like we made us difference with our lives. That what we do, and did, had a purpose, and that we should feel satisfied with how our life turned out. If it is not, then you need to make a change while you can…to figure out that purpose in your life…to decide what adventures you are going to take.
We need to figure out our purpose!
Here is Tim starting the race last year…
Even though he was not there, he was…in our hearts and minds! Tim is now “starting” a new adventure…one everybody else may not have been ready for him to take, but many of those times we are not given many options.
Tim…you will be missed!
Keep moving everybody! Keep doing what you can to take care of yourselves, as we all embark on new adventures, and continue to Strive to Survive!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3180
by Dan | Jun 5, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I have spent this last year discussing about exercise, life, motivation, and inspiration. I have had topics of me about how to stay “In it for the Long Run”, and most recently finished up a series on “Success in Life”. Now is the time to reflect back on all of this, and then incorporate it going forward. How better way to start than a picture of my friend Tom and I. We have been through a lot together. Many races, challenges, training runs, and all of these times has a story to tell.
Life is full of adventure, and ours adventures can fulfill our passions, and our passions create our life! This is what I will incorporate going forward. Discussing my adventures in regards to fitness and activity, how it fulfills my passion in life, and how this passion has helped create my life, and everybody and everything in my life. I will talk about how some of this passion of mine has rubbed off on other people, and what two people could this include more than some of my nurses, both current and past.
Here are Chris and Susan after they just finished their last adventure…having finished their first half marathon in Fargo a few weeks ago. The looks on their face says it all! Excitement, pride, accomplishment. They did it! Way to go you two! They started a new adventure, which all of us at times need to do as well.
We all have a time when we need to start something new. Something we have not done before, or go somewhere we have never been before. That is what makes life exciting! Explore! See what’s out there. Take advantage of each new day we have, and live life to the fullest. By the time we are no longer here, we want to be able to say “I lived my life with no regrets”! Time to become adventurous!
Here is Zeus waiting patiently as I am eating popcorn, just hoping that I will give in and give him some. His concentration is unbroken! He will continue to stare me down until I give in! Sometimes in life it is OK to wait patiently for things, and other times it is not. We need to make things happen, not wait for things to happen for us. Let loose…be bold…go explore…find out what we may be missing! Life is an adventure!
So hang on! Time to go explore! Time to go on an adventure with our life! Time to help find our own passions, and to live our life to the fullest. And so the adventure begins…I will take you on my adventures, and then see where your adventures can take you, as we all Strive to Survive! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3173
