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Sadie's Rule: Must Be At Least As Buff As Mom

Sadie!

Every day, we give you a snapshot of one fellow striver in fitness. We ask personal questions, he or she boldly answers. Today's snapshot: Sadie.

• What's your go-to workout? Running. It's what I turn to when I don't know what workout I want to do. I hated it with a passion until about eight years ago, when my parents started doing it out of the blue. I couldn't handle being slower and less buff than my mom, so off I went, and it turned out, I like it! Now family athletic events are becoming kind of a tradition. We've done a mini "triathalon" (with canoeing in place of swimming) and a 5k together. Both races were so small that we all won medals because, basically, there were no other people in our age categories. Shameful, or awesome bragging rights? I can never decide. 
• What's your number one workout spot? Normally, I'm very outdoorsy and I love hiking and paddling at our local parks, but... I love the indoor turf field at the local rec center. It fascinates me. There is fake dirt-colored plastic under the fake grass, and the white lines are just sort of woven in. It's so soft and pleasant, and little plastic pellets get all over you when doing floor exercises. Who thinks of this stuff?
• What's the healthiest thing you eat? This morning I had homemade yogurt with the wild rasberry/blackberry jam my mom made me for Christmas. It still has the seeds in it. Even if everything else I eat that day comes out of a bag, I at least feel like I've eaten something rustic and wholesome and slightly wild.
• What's your secret (fitness-related) sin? Besides sucking at push-ups? I drive to the gym. I think it's maybe four miles. I should really just ride my bike there. But I take a 6 a.m. class, and at 5 a.m. I just can't bring myself to start pedalling. Yet. 
• What do you wear to the gym? I am sold, sold, sold on "wicking" fabrics. My favorite is a tech shirt from the second 5k I ever ran. I got eleventy-first place, I convinced three other first-timers to run with me, and my niece was being born while I was running it! 
• What's the best thing in your gym bag? I don't even have one. I just lay my keys next to my water bottle at the side of the turf field. Everyone else does the same. Wholesome small-town living... Sometimes I don't even take my keys inside, and leave the car unlocked!
• What would you do (fitness-wise) if you had all the time/ability in the world? On the ability front, I would do chin-ups! So many chin-ups! That is my eventual goal, I just may be a while getting there. When I can do a chin-up, I'm going to try rock-climbing as a reward. As far as time, I hope that over the course of my life, I will have time for everything. Right now, it's Boot Camp; this fall, I am extremely excited to try roller dancing! 
• What are you just never going to try? I've been on a low-carb diet (awful) and been a vegan (fine, but life without pizza was too sad). I track calories now, but I don't think I will ever do a food-prohibiting diet, like raw foods, again. There are too many delicious things that require my (at least occasional) attention. And as far as activities go, I never see a class or a workout or an Olympic event that I don't think, "Ooooh... that would be fun," even if I know it will kick my ass in all kinds of terrible new ways. 
• What superhero (real life or fictional) most inspires you? The Doctor! aka Dr. Who. He just kind of jumps into the middle of things and makes the best of it, and that's my exercise philosophy. Even if I'm terrible at something, if I like it, I'll keep doing it — so I run races where I am the slowest runner, take classes where I am the weakest link... but then I get better and getting better is awesome!