Author: Charles Weigel

Where There’s a Will, There’s a (Long) Way

Many of us have extraordinary tales of travel. From right here in the United States to the far corners of the world, ordinary women are doing extraordinary things and we at Title Nine want to hear about it! Tell us your tall tales of adventure, the trials and tribulations of moving your own mountain, how you’re influencing others and inspiring us all to get up off the couch and get active either near or far. If your story is picked, we’ll shout it from the mountain top or really, we’ll publish it here on Timeout. So drop us a line at timeout@titlenine.com and tell us your extraordinary tale.

For our next Extraordinary Adventure, we’ll be getting medieval in northern Spain. The Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James in English) is a 1,200-year-old pilgrimage route that stretches 500 miles across mountains and other rugged terrain to end up in the town of Santiago de Compostela. Marcia Shaver, an artist from Redmond Washington, made the trek in 2008—all 1,299,851 steps of it—and is planning a second, longer, and more arduous trip in a few days.

“When I was 54 years old and my family was raised, I was at a crossroads in my life and wanted to have an epic adventure,” says Marcia. She and a friend decided to tackle the Camino, a route that few Americans have travelled. “Religion had virtually no part in my decision to go, but once immersed in the Camino, no one was more surprised than I was at how great a role spirituality and reflection played in our journey.”

But before her spirit can soar, Marcia has to make sure her body can handle it. “Training on the trail is a bad idea,” she notes, which is why she’s been heading to the gym at least three times a week in preparation for this trip. Her training routine includes 20 or 30 minutes on the elliptical or the climber, followed by a cocktail of weights, lunges, and step-ups. “The better shape you are in, the more fun you will have. You will be able to appreciate the wildflowers and the sunrises, and somewhere along the way you realize that you should have done this years ago because you feel so good.”

And that sort of inspiration feeds nicely into her artistic work and the many drawings she does during her hikes. “As an artist, the landscape is what really moves me. And when you’re out there walking in it day after day, you’re so immersed.” That sort of focus and serenity seems to carry a number of deeper lessons with it as well. “On the Camino, we learned that want and need are two vastly different things. We took joy in the simple things and felt immensely grateful for everything we received, however humble. It was one of the most compelling experiences of my life… and it enables me to view my life forever differently.”

We at Title Nine were pretty damn impressed by Marcia, and we expect another helping of intensity and insight from her upcoming adventure. So check back here often: Marcia will be tracking down whatever Internet cafes she can find in the towns she passes through so she can blog all about it. While you wait for her first post, you might want to check out the amazing book of texts and images that resulted from her last trip, The Artist’s Journey: The Perfumed Pilgrim Tackles the Camino de Santiago.

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Meet Alissa (our Title Nine surf camp winner)

Alissa Pywell geared up and headed down to Costa Rica for a week-long adventure with her (super-lucky) friend Kate. “I am excited to be able to try surfing again…and to get into Yoga.” Alissa told us, “Neither are things that I avidly partake in at home.”

Alissa avidly partakes of many other things, though. She lists camping, biking, volleyball, swimming, backpacking, snowboarding, kayaking, and exploring (phew!) among her interests. “I am very outdoorsy and love to travel,” says this 29-year-old outdoor program coordinator at Illinois State University. “My greatest accomplishments have been working with young people, introducing them to nature, and showing them that they can do anything!”

That kind of idealism seems to be second nature to Alissa. “I like to show that I can swim, snowboard, and mountain bike hard in a size 12, and I like to encourage others to keep trying new things no matter their age, weight, or perceived ability. I think Title Nine shares that mission and I’d like to promote that through this trip.”

Although she entered T9’s contest “on a whim,” that hasn’t kept Alissa from making big plans. “I am looking forward to being in a community of women and getting to know some new friends,” she says. “I am most excited about being able to explore the area and discover some of the natural history of Costa Rica.” But, in addition to the snorkeling, hiking, talking to locals, eating local food, and “watching sunsets over the water,” Alissa is most psyched about time with her pal Kate. “She and I are friends from college and haven’t seen each other in a few years. What a great excuse to spend some time together!”

Okay, okay! We admit it: We’re envious!

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Unchained MELody

Despite playing varsity basketball all four years in high school, in college Mel Alexander became, she says, “the polar opposite of athletic.” Coming from a family with a history of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease however, alarm bells really went off when she realized she’d reached 300 lbs. Something had to change.

The first shifts were mental. “I took a good look at some of my self-destructive behaviors and made a conscious decision about who I wanted to be and how I wanted to feel.” She also stopped making excuses. It wasn’t that she lacked the time to exercise, she saw, “I didn’t make the time.”.

But how does a full-time student with a full-time job and an eleven-year-old son even start doing that? Pretty much anywhere. “Even if it’s just walking for a certain time every day, we all can start somewhere. If you can’t block off an hour, you can take 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there.” She also plans family activities that get everyone’s hearts pumping, like evening walks or turning off the TV for a spontaneous dance party.

Eventually, Mel says, “I began to treat working out the same way I treated work: something that had a schedule I needed to stick with.” That meant waking up at 5am most days for about an hour of cardio. She sneaks in a midday CrossFit workout three times a week (“I’m completely obsessed with CrossFit.”). After work, there’s dinner with the family, homework with her son until 9pm, and her own schoolwork until midnight.

While that sort of schedule can be “painful at times,” Mel says that “being healthy gives me a sense of accomplishment that almost nothing can parallel.” And, after all those badass CrossFit workouts, “I have grown a mental tenacity that translates into my everyday life. I can now look in the mirror and appreciate the person I was, the person I have become, and the person I will be.”

Speaking of appreciation, did I mention that that full-time job Mel heads to after her morning workout is at Title Nine? Hope you’re as impressed by her as we are!

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Home: San Pablo, CA
Occupation: Email Marketer
Education: BA
Partner: Yes
Children: 11 yr old boy
Age: 25
Height: 6’3
Sports, past and present: Basketball
Athletic accomplishments: 4 year Varsity Basketball (HS), Honorable mention All State (Jr/Sr years), 1st Team All League (Soph/Jr/Sr), MVP (Jr year)
Little known fact: I’m incredibly shy
Guilty pleasure: Pizza and Baked Goods
Most embarrassing moment: Running sprints with my co-workers for an outdoor workout (after it had rained) and falling at least 3 times flat on my butt!
Greatest triumph: Being able to run (and finish) a 10k Trail Race.
Favorite thing to do when not working or working out: Read, Write and listen to music.
Moment of Inspiration: Waking up and rolling out of bed at over 300 lbs.
Favorite Quote: Believing that anything is impossible is simply a misguided state of mind.

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M-S 45-60 minutes of cardio

3 times/wk CrossFit (strength and conditioning),

Sat – 45 minutes strength training

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GOAL!

When the Women’s Professional Soccer league became official, Katie Hooker thought, “This is it; this is what I’ve been waiting for, so let’s get training.” She’d played Division 1, and one year of professional soccer (until the WUSA league folded in 2003), but six years had passed. “Now, as a married woman with a great full-time job, I was faced with a real decision of whether or not I wanted to try and play pro again…silly question. I knew I would play.”

That meant hard work. “It takes a lot to plan your day around training,” she says “when will I get to eat, when will I train, when is there time to work, time to be with my husband (as newly weds), time to spend with the dog, and time to sleep and recover?” She trained through Colorado’s freezing winter with a crew of seventeen-year-old boys (“It was the best thing I ever did for my game”) and eventually was drafted by the New Jersey Sky Blue, a team she helped take from last place to the championship.

These days, Katie is assistant soccer coach at the University of Denver. Though she does get on-the-job workouts, she still knows the difficulties of working in working out in a busy life. “If you think about it most professional athletes only have one job. When you combine that stuff with a ‘real’ job, it can become complicated.” The first step is a good attitude: She sees  workouts “as time to listen to music, exercise with my dog, or to just be outside. I’ve always looked for a way to make it fun and enjoyable.”

When it comes to the details, Katie bucks the conventional wisdom that you should choose a routine and stick with it. “I think the secret is to change things up. Not only is it better for your body but it’s a lot more fun.” Workouts, she says, can come in many forms: when your routine just isn’t possible, “embrace the opportunity to do something different.”

And for those moments when even the lure of something new isn’t enough? Katie has this sage advice: “I find, if I simply go get dressed in the proper clothes, I am halfway there: one less excuse!”

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Home: Littleton, CO
Occupation: Asst. Soccer Coach at University of Denver
Education: BSBA in Statistics from University of Denver
Partner: Jeff Hooker, husband
Children: None
Age: 28
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 125
Sports, past and present: Played soccer, softball, basketball, golf and tennis growing up…still do all of those including snow skiing.
Athletic accomplishments: Division 1 soccer player, Professional Soccer player and Champion.
Little known fact about you: I hate rain.
Guilty pleasure: Pizza.
Most embarrassing moment: Peed my pants in my second grade classroom.
Greatest triumph: Having a breakthrough moment with my old dog. I spent two years trying to train her to be off-leash and return to me, and it finally happened. She passed away shortly after.
Favorite thing to do when not working or working out: Sun bathe in Ventura, CA and swim in the ocean.

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Since I never do the same thing week to week, this is what it looked like last week:

Monday: Train/play soccer with the team for 1.5hrs includes warming up, playing soccer, running fitness, including some core work, and a cool down. A hard work ou.t
Tuesday: Similar to Monday, but for a shorter period of time only one hour. A hard work out.
Wednesday: Same as Monday, very intense. A hard workout.
Thursday: Take the day off: body is tired and has worked very hard for three straight days.
Friday: Light jog with the dog, about 20minutes. Upon return, I do three sets of pushups, ten pushups per set. Each one has a different emphasis, like go down slow and up fast, or vice versa. Last set is done with hands in the triangle to emphasize the “lats” a little more. A light workout
Saturday: Golf, take dog for a few long walks. Although I usually ride in a cart when golfing, there are times to walk to your ball or the next tee, so I take advantage of that. When out with the dog, I use it not necessarily as a time for fitness, but it is still time spent doing a physical activity versus doing nothing.
Sunday: Off

Moment of Inspiration: Listening to then teammate, Heather O’Reilly, give an inspirational speech last summer to a group of aspiring youth soccer players. It inspired me to share my knowledge and always give back.
Favorite Quote: “Perfect practice makes perfect”

Oh yeah, and why is your nickname Flo?: In the 1984 Olympics, there was a volleyball player named Flo Heiman. I was two years old at the time and my older siblings were watching a lot of the Olympic games. The story goes I saw Flo and just said, “I’m Flo.” So being the wonderful brothers they are, they said “Ok, you’re Flo”…and it stuck for life. My six brothers and their friends still call me Flo.

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How to Move Mountains

Interviewing Terrie Anne Bennett is like getting a great pep talk from your coach. Her non-stop inspirational tips and enthusiasm make you feel ready to run a marathon. She is, it turns out, nationally and internationally certified in alpine and adaptive racing and race coaching.

“I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work my passion into work…helping people grow through being active.” The highlight of her career was coaching Maine Handicapped Skiing, a group of young athletes usually excluded from team sports. “Some of the disabled skiers were outperforming their instructors, so I created a ski team.” Four team members eventually competed nationally.

She also develops K-12 curriculums for modern languages in Maine, including programs to teach English to migrant workers. Then there’s the volunteer work she does for the Disabled Veterans Association in Aspen, Colorado, and little things like launching the nation’s first smoke-free ski facility at Black Mountain. Not to mention her own rigorous training regimen (see below!).

How does she do it all?

“I have a high-pressure job. For me to be successful at my work, I need my mind and body and soul to be balanced.” This means working in workouts wherever she can: taking the stairs to her sixth-floor office, starting walking programs with coworkers, doing yoga in hotel rooms. She plans vacations to coincide with sporting events, taking mom to a half marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland. “I do a distance that’s not gonna kill me, I have fun, my mom walks the 10k. We still enjoy the country because we’re not beat up and exhausted.”

Working out makes you more efficient in the long run. You get out more than you put in. “You’ll be a better person if you take the time to do this in your life.” And that means knowing what you want to get out of your workout. It’s not a question of weight loss or external factors. When Terrie Anne gets a woman on the slopes, the first thing she asks is “Tell me what you want to feel on the hill?” and she works from there. “Recreation is re-creating yourself. We need to find those activities that work. It might be different for everyone.”

And it does work. I hung up the phone after our conversation and got my bike out of storage. Thanks Terrie Anne!

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Home: Portland Maine
Occupation:
Education, Skiing
Education:
BA Anthropology; MA Leadership and Administration; Certificate of Advanced Study in Curriculum Instruction and Design
Partner: Yes
Children:
No, but want to adopt.
Age: 40
Height:
5’ 5”
Weight: 130
Sports, past and present: Ice Hockey, running, triathlon, alpine and cross-country skiing, yoga, hopefully kite surfing someday.
Athletic accomplishments:
Highest physical fitness score in Army basic training in my company (for men and women); Being a PSIA adaptive examiner; running races with my mom, who’s a cancer patient. In Maui she ran her first 5k since coming out of cancer treatment.
Little known fact about you: I speak three languages fluently.
Guilty pleasure:
Thai food as hot as I can get it, and coconut milk.

Most embarrassing moment: There’s just been so many of them! I had a brand new cross bike and it was on the back of my car. It had a velcro strap to keep the wheel from turning while I was driving. So, I get to the parking lot where there are all these people getting their bikes ready. I jump on my bike and clip in and start to pedal, and go ass over teakettle because I forgot to take the velcro strap off.

Favorite thing to do when not working or working out: Working on the kid’s book about migrant workers I’m writing.

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I have different seasonal workouts.

Lift 2 – 3 times a week (including a lot of core strength and balance, free weights using lighter weights, 3 sets, 15 reps. I split upper and lower body, super -set the sets, doing three mini-circuits, to get the cardio…which makes it quicker and less boring).

Swim Twice a week.

Run 3 – 4 times (minimum 5k, maximum 10mi…anywhere between 20 and 30 miles a week)

Yoga 4 days a week (even if I’m on the road and can’t find a yoga place, I’ll do a couple of rounds of “salute to the sun” in my hotel room).

In summer I run and cycle more.

Moment of Inspiration: Watching my mom finish the Maui Tacos 5k after cancer treatment. As a kid, watching my dad run the Green Mountain marathon, which inspired me to be a runner.

Favorite Quote: TS Elliot “Only those who risk going too far can find out how far one can go.”

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