| Just Do It!
With the beginning of April fast approaching, many of us are looking back at our busted bracket and wondering, How could I have gotten it so very wrong? Oh well, with Opening Day just around the corner, there'll be plenty more opportunities to live the life of an athlete, ahem, in front of a big-screen TV. Well, here at CRD Associates we take health and fitness pretty seriously throughout the year. Within our midst we have marathon runners, cyclists, hikers, skiers, yoga enthusiasts and jazzercise and spin instructors. And as part of our ongoing wellness program, when we're not feasting on antioxidant-rich chocolate chip cookies (we like to maintain a rough equilibrium!), we periodically challenge our team with diet and exercise competitions.
At CRD Associates we know all too well the value of mind-body health and fitness, given the work we do for our wide array of clients in medicine, wellness and patient advocacy.
Below are a few snapshots of our champions like you've never seen them before...
MARK VIETH When it comes to March Madness, I tend to spend more time watching basketball then playing the game. However, it is a great month to get back outside and in shape with the change in weather. I have always prided myself in trying to stay in shape, so I run periodically and try to take advantage of our wonderful little gym in our building. Typically I try to do something everyday -either running outside, on the treadmill, or weight training. I also walk a mile every morning to the metro, and a mile home (unless I'm really tired and wimp out and take the bus). I might also get back into cycling into work a few times a week, something I did several summers ago. My family gave me a "FitBit" for Christmas, which daily measures the steps you take, the miles traveled, and calories burned. I'm amazed at how quickly you
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| Serengeti Badge - 500 Miles |
can get to 10,000 steps in a day, and some days I can get to 20,000! If you spend the days walking the halls of Congress, going back and forth between the House and Senate office buildings, you can walk close to 8 miles! It's great to be able to exercise while you are working. FitBit likes to give you "badges" for reaching certain milestones. Recently, I received a "Serengeti" badge for walking and running 500 miles - the equivalent of crossing the Serengeti desert! Who knew you could travel that far over the course of 2 ½ months! How much weight have I lost? Well, unfortunately I love food as much as I love exercise. Oh, and someone told me that beer and wine have calories, too.....
KATIE SCHUBERT I am an unlikely athlete. I never saw the point of running just to run and was not really into team sports. My sister is the athlete- she played basketball and softball, while I was the one in the outfield doing cartwheels and French braiding her hair waiting for the inning to end. My father took up running when I was a kid and my mother used to go for a walk almost nightly, so exercise was always a part of our
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| After finishing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in 2014 with Team Tyler. |
lives. By the time I got to high school I became interested in field hockey and played for all four years, serving as one of the captains of the team my senior year (Go Housy!), and I even ran track for a couple of years, but that was more of a social event for me - to catch up with friends who were very talented runners, while I tried my hand at throwing and a very turtle-like pace for the 800 meter event. My scene was much more
playing saxophone in the jazz band or singing in jazz choir. During sports I was always at the back of the pack, "making sure no one was left behind." (hmmm, maybe my messaging skills were being developed right there!) My best friend during college would take me out running because I wanted to get in shape, and I hated every minute of the out-and-back route. Although running just for the heck of it was never my cup of tea, we did start the women's ultimate frisbee club at Mary Washington College.
Then I graduated and got a stressful job on Capitol Hill. The stress relief, weight loss benefits and sheer pride in accomplishing what I didn't think I ever could in running races felt great. Coming back from having a baby, running was my savior both emotionally and physically. Even when a man juggling passed me - going DOWN HILL - during a race, I was still having fun and proud of myself. I ran my first half marathon with a fellow CRDer - Erika Miller - six months
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| With my sister, Erin Lamb - a patient & disabilities advocate in her own right - and my nephew Isaiah, age 3, in the summer 2014 before the Life Without Limits 5K race for cerebral palsy. |
postpartum after my second child. I signed up because I thought that it would be a good way to get back in shape after having my daughter. Erika and I trained together, I caught the bug, and have run four half marathons since and countless shorter races ranging from 5Ks to 10 milers. As someone who works in the public health space, one of the most inspiring experiences I have had was running with Team Tyler in the 2014 Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC. I raised over $1,800 thanks to family, friends and colleagues for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of a child my oldest son's age who was battling ALL. Another unforgettable experience was running the 2014 Life Without Limits 5K in Manchester, CT with my sister and nephew, Isaiah, who had recently been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Running races not only helps you better yourself, you can connect to causes that you care about and raise awareness as well.
Incidentally, Erika also introduced me to spinning following the birth of my first child in 2009, and I was immediately hooked. In 2014 I decided that if I was
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| Finishing the Annapolis Ten Miler in August 2014 (purple tank/gray bottom) |
taking so many spin classes I might as well teach them. And so I got my certification, reached out to some gyms, went on a few auditions, and have been teaching regularly Friday mornings at 6am near my home since September.
Wellness is such an important part of my life - running, spinning, yoga - they're all effective stress relievers and mental and physical maintenance tools. That time helps me organize my thoughts and lay a plan out for the day or week. Setting this example for my three children is important to me as well. I cannot wait until they are able to join me in racing - or helping them find whatever interests them (besides video games - I'm looking at my 6 year old!) and get that feeling that they are doing something great for themselves. MEGAN ANDERSON BROOKS Being active has become an integral part of my lifestyle over the past several years. Before establishing this "be active" perspective, I simply exercised to check off a box instead of using it in a holistic approach to general physical and mental wellbeing. In the end, working out for the sake of burning calories was not a philosophy that I held onto very long. Instead, I prefer to train, hike, dance, and walk the halls of Congress during a Hill Day because those activities bring an element of purpose or fun.
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| Megan Anderson Brooks (first row, second from the left) |
A few years ago, I went as far as to make exercise a part time profession by becoming certified to teach Jazzercise. No, I don't wear legwarmers or side ponytails. The New Jazzercise is a continuously evolving workout full of high intensity, dance driven moves. While the classes are very entertaining, there is nothing more motivating than (1) having to go to an exercise class because... you are the instructor and (2) knowing that you are creating a positive and energizing atmosphere for others. That type of atmosphere fosters a sense of community, and there's nothing better than working out with 20 of your best friends. Those friends bring me back to class over and over, and make an active lifestyle easy. More importantly, those friends have shared many of my life's milestones with me including celebrating my new position at CRD. So, when I am not advocating for policy that advances science and medicine, you can probably find me shamelessly working the day's stresses off to the latest beats. If you are having trouble sticking to an active lifestyle after the shine of your New Year's resolution has worn off, I strongly suggest working out with an old friend, or better yet, a new one. ERIKA MILLER
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| Erika Miller (NY Giants hat) |
Exercise was never part of my routine until I went to law school. I started going to the gym as a way to relieve stress. I started running seriously 7 years ago as a way to break up my workout routine that mainly consisted of spinning. My first race ever was the National Half Marathon in 2010, the predecessor to DC's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, and I finished in a respectable 2:18 minutes. What began as cross training became my main form of exercise. Last spring I ran 2 half marathons and a 10 miler, setting PRs in all 3 races. I was preparing to run the Marine Corps Marathon, my first marathon, last year when I was sidelined with an injured hip. I was disappointed to skip the race, but what I really missed was meeting my running group every weekend logging all those training miles with them. I'm going to give it another shot this year and hope to be crossing the finish line of the MCM this October. In the meantime, I'll be busy training this summer and using Cross Fit for my cross training. |
