Joy Through Exercise

"I owe my 布林莫尔 degree to Jen Shillingford,” says Irene Segal Ayers ’82, who credits the compassionate former director of athletics for letting the “overweight, chain-smoking English major” fulfill her entire gym requirement during second semester, 大四.

现在 an Ironman triathlete, 马拉松运动员, 徒步旅行者, 和背包客, Ayers quit smoking by temporarily switching to candy (“For the health effects of obesity to be as bad as smoking, you’d need to weigh over 300 pounds,她推理道。, then dropped the weight she gained and gradually got fit by doing what she loves.

“I’ve never liked team sports—but as a kid, I loved biking, swimming, and running,她说。. Exercise eased the stress of career and family demands as Ayers jogged, 然后跑了, then raced her way to middle age. Training for her first triathlon, she rode her bike in the hardest gear “because I didn’t know how to change gears! This was a rediscovery.”

“I don’t care what other people think, I don’t care if I don’t look good in Spandex, and I don’t care if I finish in last place."

The FitMawrter 脸谱网 group is full of such women, rebooting their personal strength and joy through exercise. If the group had a motto, it might be Ayers’s response to my query, loosely translated from Latin: “I don’t care what other people think, I don’t care if I don’t look good in Spandex, and I don’t care if I finish in last place. [No, that's not true. 我依然在意, but I’ve learned to adjust my goals—a last-place finish in an Ironman is still an Ironman finish].” To a desk-dweller like me, their resolve is impressive. But what’s surprising is the source of the group’s camaraderie: a contagious sense of humor and fun.

“At this age, it doesn’t matter if I look foolish. It's about having fun while getting stronger,” says Carol Bergstresser Quick ’90, who reinvented herself from an “uncoordinated and introverted” college student terrified of public speaking to a fitness instructor leading classes in weight lifting, yoga (with Pilates), and indoor cycling at Gold’s Gym. For the former computer programmer with a master’s degree in public policy, her son’s long-term illness necessitated a job with flexibility. “Getting certified in Body Pump was harder for me than graduate school!她说。. “This is a new way to use my brain.”

Of the mental hurdles she cleared to join her first group fitness class—and later, 领导——她说, “I had so many misconceptions about what fitness was and what a fit person looks like. I thought, I can’t be on stage (teaching) unless I look better than I look now! That was a complete fallacy. I’m not graceful, but I’m willing to try anything. I’ve found power being in front of people and having them listen to me.”

“My happiness is cued to swing dancing,” says Cynthia Burr Ramsey ’92, who took it up at 40, while dating after her divorce. An accomplished clarinetist and Night Owls vocalist in college, Ramsey couldn’t suppress her impulse to move while playing or singing. “I’m enthusiastic, loud, and vivacious,她说。. “I’ve been a dancer all along—I just didn’t realize all the different types of bodies dancers could have.”

Devoted to a style called West Coast Swing, she prefers this “conversational” form to ballroom dance, in which the “lead” gives directions that the “follow” executes. The “intensely social connections” swing dance inspires remind her of her a cappella days; long experience listening and responding as voices blend to create sound gives her sure footing as she communicates physically through dance.

“The quicker you and your partner can pick up on what you’re telling each other with your bodies, 就越有趣,她说。.

现在, managing a new job, coursework towards an MBA, 一段关系, and family demands, Ramsey still tries to dance every week. “My great epiphany was understanding how dance affects me socially and psychologically. This is where I find the most joy and freedom.”

Midlife offers an opportunity to refit our lives to our aspirations; to borrow a computer metaphor, new values won’t be in force until we reboot. “I used to think that I had to do something really big and important, but I didn’t know what that was,卡罗尔·奎克说, whose clients convey her work’s significance with their gratitude.

献给辛迪·拉姆齐, the satisfaction dance brings isn’t an end but a means to measure engagement she seeks off the dance floor. She speaks for many of us when she says, “My life is a search for the kind of intense, joyful connection I first found at 布林莫尔.”