by Dan | May 22, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all need those certain times when it is nice to just go for a walk or run on our own. Time to think, to get away, to relax. But, there are also those times where it is a lot of fun running, walking, or working out in a group. You are all going through the same thing, but you can talk…socialize. You get to know each other a little better. We all are busy, we all have crazy schedules, but for that brief moment, you are like one. You have no other worries at that time. For us, with run club, it is a time to just go for a run. We do not have to be fast, or competitive…you are there because you like to run! That is the only requirement…to like to run! The motto of this club is “we leave no one behind”. Some days some of us go faster, other days not. Some days certain of us like to go farther, others not. Whatever you want to do is what you can do. No pressure. No competition. Just friends gathering to discuss issues, solve problems, and run! We are all there for each other. We cheer each other on. We motivate each other. We CARE about each other. That is what this is all about!
We like as many to show up as possible. We are quite the force going down the road when we have a large group show up. If you are free, then show up. If you can’t, then maybe next week. We are now starting again the Wednesdays at 5:30 at Northridge Brown Clinic, and then Sundays at 7AM, now back at Jackson Park again, the North parking lot.
The good part about all of this is that when some of us can’t make it here, we are running somewhere else. Why? Because we like to run. It is as simple as that. Sarah and I do many races together, but the really fun ones now are the ones I get to do with my kids. Megan and her boyfriend Nate set this run up for us in Fairfax, VA. We were there these last few days for Megan’s graduation from George Mason University. When Megan has been home on vacations, she has joined our run club here as well. Not too bad for someone who loves to swim, not run. But, she is realizing she can run anywhere, anytime.
The weather these last few days here has not been the best. It was back to the cold again this weekend, but it did not stop these diehards. They made a sign congratulating those of us who ran in Fargo the day before, and for Megan for graduating. Why would these do this? Because that is what friends do! They support you whether you are present there or not. We are always cheering each other on. Encouraging us to keep moving. If we want to run faster at races, we push each other. But the bottom line is encouragement to just keep moving. Keep trying. Keep working. Just like life. We are all “in it for the long run”. So take your friends along with you. Become a better you at the same time.
Here Jill and Paula are at Fargo, with Paula’s daughter Kala. Right Paula…great to run with your kids, isn’t it? Paula a personal best at her half marathon! I am not sure who was happier…Paula…or the rest of us in this run club! We all knew she could do it. We believed in her. But it really did not matter what her time was…it really does not matter that for any of us. The important part is to get out and run. Work on our health. Work on being here longer. Enjoying life better, healthier. I mentioned a sign last time about the race at Brookings the week before…it said “Life is short. Running makes is seem longer.” Yes, some days can be a struggle, but overall, our running will allow us to be around enjoying life longer. Whether running, walking, or exercise in general. It does not matter, as long as it is an activity we like.
Besides, when it comes to doing these other races, you can never have enough medals! The places we have gone as a result gave us a lot of other adventures to remember, and to have to talk about in the future. What are you waiting for? Get off your butt, and get moving! Don’t let life pass you by. And, remember, if you want to run, come join us at run club. No restrictions. No judgement. No pressure. Just show up! And then you will be like my daughter at the end of this past weekends 5K run…you will be dancing like no one is watching!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3523
by Dan | May 14, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all have different experiences during our lives, but we have a beginning, a present, and time to plan about our future. We just don’t know how long our future is. This weekend was a good way to spend thinking about things in this regards. First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there! I got to spend some time this weekend with my mom. Getting to spend some time thinking back about those beginning days, and spending time at home that has been a part of my life for the last 47 years. Lots of memories to think about!
My Dad has been gone for a little over 3 years ago now. It still is tough some days…but I have those memories. Every time I am back home they all come flooding back into my mind. I think of all those good times, and then realize that nobody can take that away from me. The thing that is good now is I have the privilege of getting to make new memories…new memories with my Sarah. I am lucky enough yet that they are both still included in my life.
On Saturday Sarah and I were in Brookings in the morning running the Brookings half marathon. The weather was very warm, and it got warmer quick. We ran this race together…start to finish. I was trying to help her break 2 hours. We did not quite make it, but it was close. 2:02:53. We talked, ran, spent time together. We had some ups and down, and not just the hills. She was struggling on this run…but I was going to help get her through. A friend of ours who lives in Brookings was out there and taking pictures of us. This was one of them from the finish. Thanks Cory Ann!
Something we did in the present, but now will be a memory of our past. We have run together for over 28 years…this is how we started dating. Running has been a big part of our life, and it will continue into our future. Hopefully, we have many more years to do this!
We have had many friends…running friends…along the way. Here are some of them as we were all getting ready to run Saturday. Running is like life…some days are good, some days not so good. Some days are more challenging than others. They had many signs out along the race course, and one in particular stood out to me. It said “Life is short, running make is seem longer”. Now this could be taken many ways. Some of those runs can be a struggle, and may make seem like time is slow, or drags on. But for me, it means I get to enjoy all of what life throws at us, good and bad, and how to learn to adapt, overcome obstacles, and enjoy everything life has to offer. Appreciate all of those moments. They eventually become memories. Life is short. Take full advantage of them all. Remember from where you came, where you are at this present time, and then look forward to the future. A future that you can still have a lot of control over.
Eventually that time we have will come to a finish, just like these races do. The joy you experience when you finally cross the finish line can be hard to describe some times. I think life may be like this as well. Enjoy it for all it is worth. It truly is priceless. We have one life, so live it to the fullest. Become a better you, and look back at your past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future! Strive to Survive! You don’t want to have any regrets about our lives later!
Keep moving everybody! Happy Mother’s Day!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3515
by Dan | May 7, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
It was a busy weekend…one of my daughters, Molly, graduated from SDSU. Megan will graduate in 2 weeks from George Mason University. They both spent a lot of time, and hard work, earning their degrees. Molly graduated with a degree in Health Education, and will be going to study Ultrasound. We all need to keep striving for things in our life, to keep working on improving ourselves, and to learn more. There is always something to learn! If we quit trying to learn, life becomes stale and boring. The famous saying, “The more we know, the more we don’t know” rings true also. We always need to work on becoming a better person, both physically and mentally.
As parents, you always try to be there for your kids, to keep encouraging, to keep working, to keep striving. If you want it, you have to earn it! This is no different than working on exercise and our diet…if we want to become healthier, we have to work at it, and again, we have to keep learning on how we can do this better. Molly had a sign on the top of her cap, “Finally done with this B.S.” Now this can be taken many ways, but of course, it really means Bachelor of Science!
The crowd at graduation was huge for SDSU…and it was already split into a morning, afternoon, and later afternoon sessions! We heard, and more importantly, those graduating heard, that if you want something in life, you have to earn it. Always keep striving, and even though their college days may be over, our learning never ends! Remember that!
We are proud of you Molly, just like we are with our other kids, and just like all parents are of their own kids. We are there for you, will be there to support you, encourage you, but…we can’t do it for you! You have to push yourself. You have to want to earn it. You have to want to be better. Boy, this sounds an awful like what I say in this blog many times. We have to want to be healthier, and have to want to watch our diet, and eat better. We have to want to exercise for our own benefit…and we have to keep learning on how we can do it better!
My nurse, Chris, made an awesome cake to celebrate. Thank you Chris! It was delicious. And, because it was a special occasion, and I did my run in the morning, and also did my weight workout as well, I splurged this time and I had a second piece of cake later that evening! It was totally worth it! Sometimes, you have to reward yourself as well. So, everybody, keep moving, keep learning, and keep striving to become a better you!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3508
by Dan | Apr 30, 2017 | Equipment, Exercise, Goals, weight lifting, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
When it comes to exercise, cardio type exercise is important, but weight training/resistance type exercise is also very important. You should incorporate this into your weekly exercise routine 2-3 times per week. You don’t have to have fancy equipment, you can do many of the exercises by using your own body weight. Certain accessories can allow you to do even more of a variety of exercises, and you still don’t have to spend a lot of money. It is nice to have the space to be able to do it though. I set this up in my garage, but if you don’t have this space, then an area in your house will work to do bodyweight exercises. This may also be the time to consider having a membership to a gym to have unlimited access to whatever equipment you want to use. Here first, is one of me doing a pull-up. The strap helps initially by learning the technique of doing this, with full lift over the bar, and then back down with full extension of your arms.
Next is some squats that can be done either with no extra weight, or using weight, such as this, with a kettle bell, which comes in many different weight sizes. Just remember to start low, if any weight at all.
A similar technique for doing a bodyweight squat can be done using a weighted ball, and doing what are called wall balls. Squatting down with the ball in your hand, and then standing as you throw the ball up against the wall. Then when you catch, you drop back down into a squat.
You can also do pushups or planks, which are also great for arm strength, and for working on your core muscles…those muscles of your abdomen, and extending around your sides to your back. The upright position of the pushup is your plank position, which you can hold, starting at 10 seconds, and working your way up to try and hold for a minute.
You can come up with may varieties of different exercises to do, with your own body weight, and incorporating some additional light weight accessories. You can then expand as you want to progress as you want, depending on your interests. Here is mine…”Reiffenberger Anytime!”
So, become a better you. Work on those resistance exercises, weight training. It is amazing how much stronger you can feel. You are in control of your exercise, activities. Just do something! Keep moving everybody! I just surpassed 3500 consecutive days!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3501
by Dan | Apr 23, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
We spend Saturday morning at Jackson Park as part of the Clean and Green activity picking up litter/trash. It was a great day out, warm, no wind. The Optimist Group was out as well cleaning up sections along the bike trail leading to Jackson Park. It is amazing how much garbage is out there each year, and how people cannot throw things into a garbage can, even when the garbage cans are right there for them! It was a great way to get an hour of walking in as well, and working on the legs doing squats and bending over while picking up the garbage. We had a good crew from the H2O Watertown Trail Committee.
We are doing good by picking up garbage and keeping the community clean, but we also got to get outside and enjoy the weather, and keep active. From Jackson Park you could look across at the other section of trail and see the Optimist group out cleaning up the section of trail that goes by it.
At the end of the hour, this is what we had collected, just in Jackson Park!
When you volunteer, you are not only doing good, but feeling good about what you do to help with the community. We all live here, and we all need to help take care of it…and we get some exercise as well!
By volunteering, you get to meet new people, take part in worthwhile activities, inspire others, be involved…and above all else…you get to make a difference!
Getting some activity out of it for our own benefit is just icing on the cake!
And then when you get done, you get to see how nice everything looks, the beauty in nature that is out there for all of us to enjoy. Just remember to do your part, and put garbage where it is supposed to go. If we all did this, we would not have to go out and pick it all up!
Make a difference…volunteer! Become a better you, and get exercise out of it as well! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3494
by Dan | Apr 16, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Commitment is what we all need to begin challenges in our life, but we also need confidence to believe we can. The key component of all of this is that it needs to be fun as well. If it is not fun, we won’t continue with it. It would be like having another job, and who really needs to have another job? My daughter Megan is finishing up her senior year in college, having competed in swimming as a club sport. She had her final meet of her college career…going to Atlanta to compete in the national meet. She worked hard at it, but had a ton of fun doing this in her 4 years of college. This was her concentration prior to her event. But, she also knows how to have fun!
You need to stay relaxed before your events. The more relaxed you are, the more confident you can be that you are going to “go for it”!
If we don’t have fun at the same time, we will not do well. We won’t do what we are capable of. You have to believe in yourself, and once you do this, nothing can stop you!
You have to be ready to start. For many of us, the start can be one of the toughest things. For many of the rest of us, it hanging in there and continuing to work at it that is the tough part. If you believe in yourself, you will have a great start.
In this picture, my daughter Megan is the one arched all the way back with her head in the water already, while the other swimmers are still launching back. She had a great start, led by confidence and hard work.
The start is only the beginning…you have to keep going…keep pushing…going past our comfort zones, and pushing ourselves, sometimes past limits we are not used to doing. It may not always be comfortable, but when we do, the confidence that can develop from this is powerful!
You are going to work at it, get tired, push yourself beyond what you perceive as your limits. When you accomplish something like this, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
When you believe in yourself, you become unstoppable! And then, that is when…
Make your workouts fun! Make them unique to you. Do something you like, or you won’t continue with it. You will surprise yourself what you are capable of. Your goals become reachable, and your life is much more enjoyable, and fulfilled. Don’t let your mind hold you back. Your body is ready to go, it just needs that push that only your mind will help you with. Have fun, gain confidence…become a better you! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3487
