How many times have you seen and heard the phrase “no pain no gain”? How about “Pain is weakness leaving the body”?  I saw a tag line on a friend’s e-mail that said ”You can be sore tomorrow or sorry tomorrow”.

Each one of these indicates torture to the non-exerciser.  If you’d rather avoid torture, here’s the best advice I can provide.

Do something that you enjoy.

That’s right, it’s that easy. Exercise doesn’t have to be limited to plodding endless miles on a treadmill (yuck!). Find something that makes you feel alive.  Something that gives you a goal to work toward and offers a sense of accomplishment. Something that you can immerse yourself in and make part of your life.

Here’s a list of the things I can think of off the top of my head that I’ve done this year that I would consider exercise:

• Paddled a kayak through the Dells of the Fox
• Ran multiple 5k’s outdoors
• Went geocaching with my kids
• Rode my mountain bike in the Iceman Cometh Challenge with my family cheering at the finish line
• Rode 100 miles (twice) on my road bike…before lunch
• Paddled a canoe on the Du Page River in the middle of winter
• Summitted 14,255′ Longs Peak with my daughters
• Spent 8 hours adventure racing through the Michigan woods
• Ran the Warrior Dash on Father’s Day with friends and family
• Rowed 1.3 million meters on the Concept 2 rowing machine
• Played golf with Sara
• Set multiple personal records in the deadlift
• Swam whitewater rapids (on purpose) to practice swiftwater rescue
• Completed the TRX 40/40 Challenge
• A couple of times, for a little variety, I even ran on the treadmill. 

Sunrise over Twin Sisters Peaks

Aside from the actual exercise part of each of these activites, I experienced moments I’ll never forget. 

I stood 6 feet from a herd of deer while riding my mountain bike, neither of us wanting to give up the trail. I watched the sunrise from 11,000 feet above sea level. I got caught in wicked thunderstorms and sleet storms. I witnessed the absolute silence of the winter woods after a big snowfall.  I watched coyotes, eagles, and hawks when they didn’t realize anyone was watching.  I waded through waist deep water fully clothed at one time and waist deep snow at another. I listened to the laughter of children and the look of amazement as they accomplished goals they never imagined.  I felt the pride of accomplishment in reaching my own goals.     

Each one of these experiences helped me be a better person, a better father, added years to my life, put a smile on my face and the faces of others around me, and yes, each was a form of exercise. 

None of these required any special skills that anyone else couldn’t obtain.  Just a level of commitment and creativity that many aren’t willing to pursue.  I’m just an ordinary guy who doesn’t want to live an ordinary life.

Each was exercise. None of them were boring or torturous. Every time I went to the fitness center I was there with a purpose in mind.  I knew that every squat was going to help me on the mountain bike or make it easier to haul a 55 lb. backpack up a mountain. Every rep had a purpose.

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. Think outside the box and find what you enjoy.  And do it, often!

Like I mentioned in a recent post, exercise is a means to an end and for me, it’s about creating lasting memories.  This one will be with me forever.  I had a great time.  I learned a lot about self-organizing a mountaineering trip in a foreign country.   I saw things I never expected and it really opened my eyes to a culture outside my own. 

It was a great experience and I hope to have the opportunity to do it again in the coming years.  Ultimately though, without fitness I would never have been able to consider a trip like this or any of the other crazy adventures I’ve had over the past few years. 

What’s fitness going to do for you?  Where will it take you?  Leave a comment below and let others know how fitness will change your life.

Read all about our trip to climb the Mexican Volcanoes right here.

John and Rachael at Iceman 2004

This is going to be a really quick post. 

Today, it’s your turn.  I’d like to know what’s your motivation?  What’s your reason for working out?

For me, a workout is a means to an end and something that helps me toward a goal of creating a lasting memory.  I enjoy riding my bike and my workouts are geared toward improving my performance on the bike.   One of my favorite memories is the Iceman race in Northern Michigan.  I’ve ridden the race 17 times, but specifically the five times I’ve ridden the race with my daughters have created the greatest memories.

Leave a comment below right now about your motivation and what you’re doing to create those memories.

I’ve formed a team for the Relay for Life in Bolingbrook to make a small contribution and maybe help one more child enjoy another birthday and I’m asking for your support.

In the 2 minutes it takes to make a donation to my American Cancer Society Relay For Life® team, you can help me and my team save lives – and improve the quality of life for people who have cancer.

The American Cancer Society invests much-needed funds raised through Relay For Life® to save lives from cancer. They’ll use your donation to:

• Help people stay well by educating them on ways prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable.
• Help people get well with FREE hands-on support through every step of their cancer experience.
• Find cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it, and discover new ways to cure it.
• Fight back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rally communities worldwide to join the fight.

Every donation really does make a difference. Please visit my personal Relay for Life page to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.

If it’s easier to spread your donation over several months, you can do that by choosing a “sustaining gift” option. Thank you for joining me in this effort. I will keep you updated on my progress.

To learn more about Relay For Life®, please visit RelayForLife.org

For me, it was anything but demoralizing. I felt incredible as I rode the 22km climb with an average incline of 7.7%, sometimes kicking up to over 11%. I rode the entire climb with a giant, stupid grin on my face because I could hardly believe I pedaling my bike up one of the most iconic climbs in cycling. It took 2:15 to get to the top. I spent almost an hour on the summit before making the ripping fast descent in 20 minutes to the town of Bedoin in the valley below. I trained hard leading up to the trip and it paid off.

The Ventoux will be used in this year’s Tour de France this Saturday, July 25. never before has a climb this large been featured this late, with the race’s final day coming on Sunday. With a massive climb like this on the penultimate day, there could be fireworks among the leaders.

Be sure to watch it on Versus

Think back to when you were a kid and you got your first bike. Remember that feeling of freedom? The joy of being able to power yourself along to go places you couldn’t go before was amazing, wasn’t it? Think about that time you taught your child to ride their bike as they wobbled on two wheels.

Now, think of how you would have felt if you never got that bike. There are a lot of kids who can’t afford a bike and here someone’s deciding that they’re going to throw one away. What a waste.

Their argument is that by putting it out by the curb, the trash pickers will scoop it up and it will go to use. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that bike that was once your prized posession is on it’s way to become scrap metal. What a waste. That bike could bring a whole new life to a kid. It could give them hope, inspiration, keep them off the streets and give them a goal to work towards. It could help someone get to work. It could make the difference between putting food on the table, or not.

If you’re about throw away a bike just because you no longer need it, don’t do it. Donate it. Take it to Goodwill. Take it to Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago. Drop it off at the The Recyclery. Or, take it to any one of these places. If that’s too much trouble, contact me and I’ll take care of it for you.

Please, don’t throw it away.

(Photo provided courtesy of Deborah Courson Smith)

One that brings back the most incredible memories for me was the Four Winds USA Adventure. The race was held in August 2002 in the Wasatch Range, just outside Salt Lake City.

If you’re interested, read on.

(Be ready, it’s a long race and a long story, but it’s fun!)

Give me a choice between indoor and outdoor and I’ll take the fresh air anytime.

No treadmill? Walk outside. Take a run. Add even more fun and hike on a trail. You might find something fun in your city that you never knew existed.

• Did you know there’s an abandoned putt-putt golf course hidden in the woods less than 4 miles from the Lifestyles Fitness Center?
• Whalon Lake offers several miles of paved trails around a peaceful lake just a few miles from your home
• Camp Sagwau offers a naturally formed rock canyon, and it’s in Lemont!
• Where can you see Bolingbrook, Naperville, Woodridge, Lisle, at the same time?
• There’s a naturally occuring waterfall just 20 minutes from Bolingbrook? Have you been there? If you’re lucky, you might even see the white deer herd.

We’ve got miles of bike trails, hiking trails, rivers, golf courses, and more right in our backyard. Think it’s too cold outside? Give it a try and you’ll be surpised how quickly you’ll warm up and won’t even notice the low temps.

It’s Mother Nature’s equivalent of the treadmill, Stairmaster, elliptical machine, rowing machine, and exercise bike. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Do you know a fun and interesting place nearby? Let’s hear about it.

I’m pretty excited about it and it’s coming along nicely. I’ve built the “skeleton” and started laying the strips. It doesn’t look like much to the casual observer, but I can see what it’s supposed to look like and in my mind I’m already paddling. More pictures to follow as the project progresses. It’s going to take awhile!

I’ve had the plans for two years now and I’ve finally gotten up the guts to start the project. It just seemed so overwhelming when I thought about the entire task. I kept looking at the whole and not seeing the parts. I guess it’s kind of like starting a fitness program. Break it down, look at it in smaller chunks and it becomes a lot easier.

For the question you’ve been asking (and my family has been asking), how am I going to get it out of the basement once it’s finished? I’ll worry about that one later. One step at a time.