FEATURES

"Just Go Play"....

Tuesday, 23 December 2014 00:10

ED. Marnie Walth is North Dakota's premier female multisport athlete. She's raced in Minnesota many times over the years and has won her share of our most competitive races, e.g. Heart of the Lakes, Timberman, Apple, Gear West Du, Square Lake etc. In 2005, she was ranked 3rd on Team Minnesota. Recently she was hired to write a weekly fitness column for the Bismarck Tribune. She's a terrific writer and her words should resonate with fitness and recreational enthusiasts everywhere, not just in the Prairie Rose state.

By Marnie Walth (BismarckTribune.com)

Whenever I see a new trail project underway my brain speaks to me in a wise man’s whispery, whimsical voice: “If you build it, he will come.” Or, more appropriately, “they will come.”

I’m not suggesting the Chicago Black Sox will appear from area cornfields as they did for Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in “Field of Dreams,” but rather Team Western NoDak — our communities’ adults, children and even teenagers — will come to run, walk, bike, rollerblade, skateboard, push a stroller or be pushed in a stroller....

This phenomenon extends beyond trails and baseball fields, of course. Drive around our exploding communities on a sunny day and you’ll see parks, basketball and volleyball courts, soccer fields and softball diamonds filled with active people. Our community leaders have forged ahead with critically important recreation developments despite naysayers and NIMBYs and I applaud them.

Spoiler alert: In “Dreams,” Iowa corn farmer Kinsella builds a beautiful baseball field and the Chicago Black Sox do indeed come. First one player walks hesitantly from the corn stalks, then seven more, and, eventually, they come in full force to play their beloved baseball game.

In the end, we as a community benefit from the same phenomenon Kinsella witnessed in the film: community leaders build “it” and players come to play. What’s more, whether we conscientiously seek this or not, we reap a hefty bounty of health and overall wellness benefits, too.

Bismarck Parks Community Relations Manager Paula Redmann succinctly sums up the role parks and recreation plays in our lives: “We are the health care provider you don’t think about,” Redmann said. “We invite people to jump in. Go explore, just go play.”

Paula is spot on. The physical, mental and social benefits offered by recreation areas and events might as well be labeled with an FDA-approved statement that reads “Warning: Recreation activities may be addictive and may reduce risk for heart disease, depression and cancer. May also increase energy levels and improve mood.” I’m not making this up.

The power of leading an active life, as a general rule, trumps the medical field in terms of reducing risk for and prevalence of chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, depression and obesity. Physical activity can have profound effect on that which ails you at the moment, too.

For me, nothing cures a stress-induced headache bad mood faster than a good run on the Riverwood Drive bike trail and the best unwind after a deadline-infused week is a Friday night bike ride with friends. This exercise-as-medicine thing can be a proactive strategy, too: If I rise an hour earlier in the morning to make time for an early workout like swimming laps with the local Masters Swim Team at the Bismarck Aquatic Center, I have more energy for the rest of the day.

I know that may sound crazy. However, if you’re interested in doing the same — finding the joy in physical fitness or perhaps just finding ways to make it tolerable — I’d appreciate the opportunity help by sharing tips, ideas and lessons I learned with you here. I’ll tell you about activities, routines and training plans I've discovered in my 45 years that are fun, rewarding and sustainable. For good measure, I’ll tell you about the flops, too.

Running is often the thread that weaves my thoughts together, but I’ll also blab about biking, swimming, skiing, fitness classes and fitness trends plus motivational newcomers — new to me, anyway — such as socia media-based workout groups and electronic gadgets.

Full disclosure, my husband says he thinks I’m a fitness freak and I know he’s not the only one. But, trust me, I’ve seen worse. So please take my enthusiasm with a drop of salty sweat. There are so many ways to have a little fun while getting some exercise. In the words of my friend Paula: “Just go play.”