Iron Pol

Birthdays can be challenging.  Since our son and daughter have birthdays so close, we tend to have one party for both of them.  Due to the timing, my dad was going to miss that party, so we decided to have lunch at his house and let the kids open his presents there.  Between Sunday School, church, and lunch, it was nearly 2 p.m. before they were both down for their nap.

The plan was to get to the pool for my swim and then go to dinner for our daughter's birthday meal.  Then my wife reminded me that my car had to get to the shop for periodic maintenance.  Given the late start to naps and a planned exursion for dinner, it was going to be a challenge to fit all the pieces together.  It was time to highlight another benefit of fitness.

Figuring the shop to be around eight miles from home, I abandoned the idea of completing a swim (miss number three for November) and decided to drive the car to the shop, myself.  By wearing running clothes and taking my Amphipod, I could fit a workout in by running home.  The kids could nap, I would get my workout done, my car would be dropped off, and no new wrinkles would be introduced to an already tight schedule.

People often point to weight loss and overall health when considering the benefits of an active lifestyle.  By looking deeper, there are lots of other benefits.  Most people would have had to wake the kids up from their nap and load them into the car, or jam one more trip into a full day.  By combining workouts with other errands, the fit athlete can actually reduce their workload.

For other great (and often humorous) examples of this philosophy, visit George Schweitzer's site.  He has quite a few stories about putting his fitness to good use.

Leave a Reply