This post appears as part of our Healthier 2021 series, following three WebMD team members as they strive to improve their health this year. You can follow their travels here.
By Mark Spoor
In the three weeks of my healthier year 2021 (which started in late 2020) things were really going. I had taken 21 Peloton bike courses, learned a lot about stretching and flexibility, cleaned up my diet and had measurable results.
Then I went to my 14 year old daughter’s team training.
My daughter is an eye catcher on a very competitive travel softball team. How competitive? They have team workouts in mid-January if it’s … what’s the word I’m looking for … oh yeah – freezing cold.
Anyway, one of the other dads on the team is the head football coach of a local high school so the girls can train in the school’s weight room. The place is amazing and has all the amenities you can expect from a large college.
As I sat in a comfortable chair with the other parents to watch these kids pacing up and down, I saw my daughter and her wonderful teammates go from gossip-hungry, social media-craving teenagers to focused, fearless, aspiring athletes were.
I sat in awe as my daughter worked thick, heavy ropes with all the confidence and boast of someone with a publicity deal. She ran through some pretty high box jumps like she was playing hopscotch, and then jumped on the rope like in an 80s film montage.
At that time I thought, “You can do more, old man.”
And then I did it.
It started with the socially distant food that the team and parents enjoyed after training. (If there’s one thing softball parents love to do is go out to eat.) While everyone else was drinking chips and salsa, I waited for my meal and sipped a glass of unsweetened tea (or, as my friends and family, out the north call it “iced tea”). The food itself? Grilled prawns, onions, peppers, coriander, lime rice and yes, a bit of spicy queso.
Dessert? No thanks, i’m fine.
The next morning when I got on the bike, I decided to skip the normal beginner ride and try the longer, more challenging, more advanced beginner ride. The biggest differences? During this sweat festival you come in and out while driving, which you don’t do in the beginner classes.
This requires coordination, my friends – something that I am not blessed with an abundance of.
The intensity also increases many times over. Finally, you need to increase the resistance to keep the bike steady while away from the seat. Then, to my surprise, when you sit down again, the resistance remains high. At the end of the 30 minutes, I poured some sweat.
But, you know what? I did it. I did it again the next day, along with a 10-minute core workout. The struggle for flexibility continues, but I’m making progress there too.
Laura Downey, a co-worker of mine on her own journey to Healthier 2021, recently asked me to do a live peloton class with her soon. Hey laura. I am almost ready to try. Maybe we can get Cheer Dad Bill on board too!
After finishing that first 30 minute drive, I felt so proud of myself that I reached out to the instructor on Twitter and thanked them for the lesson.
Yes, I actually thanked him for the torture.
After doing that, I tried to think of a way to thank my daughter for her inspiration that wouldn’t result in a wink or a grunt (a tough question if you’re a teenager). Hopefully that did the trick.
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