By Sheryl Hodge
Network World, 07/23/01
Mark Sears, director of subscription services at SolidWorks
Corp., in Concord, Mass., uses travel as an excuse to work out. Sears purposely
books his business flights with lengthy layovers so he can squeeze in some
exercise. When he gets to the airport, he heads to a nearby hotel to use its
fitness facilities and swims laps.
Chris Walker has been cycling to work ever since he started
work as a business development associate at Novo, an e-business development
company. "Pumping blood through the noggin at that early hour kick-starts
everything. Add a dose of California coastline, the Golden Gate Bridge and
the Marina, y voila: a tried-and-true recipe for everlasting health and happiness.
And, it doesn't hurt that riding in takes the exact same amount of time
as the Golden Gate Transit - including shower and dress time," he says.
So with work attire and laptop strapped to his back, Walker makes his way
to work and better fitness.
"My riding posse, including a fellow Novoite, keeps me on
my committed toes," Walker says.
The riders share good conversation while they bask in the
glory of the surrounding nature. While a chorus of screaming coyotes filled
the desert with song one evening, Walker and his fellow riders took in the
majestic sight of redtail hawks hunting in clouds of mist. The riders know
firsthand that enjoying the wilds of nature is best done from a distance.
A close encounter they had with a lone coyote that evening was as beautiful
as it was frightening - and luckily uneventful. Perhaps it was just nature's
contribution to raising those heart rates.
For Jean Carhart, a project manager at Computer Associates
in Scottsdale, Ariz., keeping fit involves a much cooler setting. After a
long day in the office, she looks forward to lacing up her skates and hitting
the ice ... and a puck.
More than a year ago, a friend dared Carhart to give ice hockey
a try. Carhart had said it looked easy, words she quickly retracted. "I
want to officially declare - learning to play ice hockey is not easy. Sure
it was fun to ice skate when you were 10 years old; it is not so easy to pick
up 25 years later," she says.
Ice hockey fits easily into her schedule because her team
gets late, ice time, usually at 9 or 10 p.m. So even when Carhart finds herself
having to stay a couple of hours late at work she can still make it to the
rink in time for a great workout. On off nights, Carhart says she does the
typical treadmill and weight training routine, a little tame for her taste
but necessary to help improve her on-ice performance as well as her overall
fitness.
Besides being lots of fun, "[ice hockey] is great for working
off all that aggravation that builds up during the day (when you blow a fuse,
you just get 2 minutes in the penalty box)." Carhart says
When Erin Dunne is not being director of research services
at Vertical Systems Group in Dedham, Mass., she's training for a triathlon,
teaching aerobics or practicing yoga. For Dunne, being active and athletic
has always been a way of life.
Dunne was introduced to the Reebok Step while undergoing rehab
for a broken leg. When her gym started offering step aerobic classes, she
thought, "Hey, I know how to do that!" So Dunne got certified and started
teaching.
After she became accustomed to the step workouts, Dunne decided
she needed a change. So, she started running. It was challenging, Dunne admits,
but says her competitive nature and the physical effects that running has
on bodyweight and body shape were great motivators. Dunne does yoga to balance
the effects of weight training and impact activities and says it gives her
piece of mind like nothing else.
Great satisfaction comes from competing in triathlons. However,
Dunne says she hates swimming and gets so terrified before an open water swim
that she can't breathe when she gets into the water. Despite being a rational,
logical person, she fears creatures from the deep. So why does she do it?
"Must be that competitive thing again," she says.
Dunne says training for an event is great because it brings
exercising for fitness to another level. "I think a tangible goal makes
prioritizing exercise easier."
Dunne says she requires a schedule to keep fit. "I basically
use my evening workouts as a way to get me out of the office in good time.
When it's crunch time at work and I have to be there late, I really try
to exercise in the morning."
When work puts her on the road Dunne's fitness essentials
for travel include a bathing suit, swim goggles and a jump rope. If the hotel
pool is too small for laps Dunne does what she calls the "hotel/TV workout"
— jump rope during the first set of commercials, watch TV show, do abdominal
workout during second set of commercials, and so on.
Staying fit in the high-tech industry is all about prioritizing,
she stresses.
Racquetball is a wonderful fit for IT professionals, advises
Robert Abbott, technical services manager at Sparks Health System, in Fort
Smith, Ark. It's one of the best stress relief activities around, he says.
"A person can get a lot done in an hour, about 700 calories worth."
And, he notes, a racquet and some goggles fit easily into
a travel bag so you can play while on the road.
Chris Kilday, a senior network analyst at Computer Task Group,
an IT services firm in Buffalo, N.Y., goes into work an hour early so he can
take a 2-hour lunch three times per week to play handball. "The club is
only about 15 minutes away, so I can travel, get dressed, play an hour, shower
and travel back in right about 2 hours."
Upon his return to the office, Kilday says he finds that his
mind and body are refreshed. "I have a higher energy level in the afternoons
on the days I play," he says.
