Dale says that she was told that she ‘ran before she walked’; some kind of fitness has always been part of her lifestyle. She played sports when she was younger and when she left the ‘team’, she took up hiking, biking and running. She’s hiked Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro, has done two major bike tours in Italy as well as done the Boston Marathon. She enjoys many benefits from her active lifestyle-not the least of which is a lightening fast recovery from her recent major surgery.
What’s her advice to someone that is new to the fitness lifestyle? “Engage in something you love with a friend and make exercise your private time to recharge yourself.”
This seems to be working for Dale who finds lots of support in the 6:30 am ‘boot camp family’. We were thrilled to see Dale walking the dome during boot camp after her surgery where at least we could keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t break into a full run. You just can’t keep this lady still.
Dale balances proper eating, vegetables and fish every day with a few ‘pig out’ days. Her ‘go-to cheat food’ is cheese and she loves savory foods like soups. I’m not sure how she manages without listing a staple like chocolate as a favorite; maybe we can learn something from loving cheese instead!
Dale manages to fit her workouts in first thing in the morning to kick start her day with the hopes that activity will keep her out of the rocking chair. I can’t see Dale in any kind of chair anytime soon. She says that her active lifestyle helps to keep her young at heart, keeps disease at bay, increases her flexibility, improves her sleep, reduces stress and provides a general sense of well being. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and wants to live life to the fullest – CARPE DIEM. She can still fit into her high school basket ball shorts and a thong (Really Dale? We haven’t seen that at boot camp yet…)
The ‘take home’ message here is that Dale has found exercise in many forms to be a marvelous way to enhance her quality of life. She says it’s never too late to enjoy the benefits of an active life. Even though she’s someone who has always been fit, we can learn from her example that fitness is the ‘magic pill’ to happiness.