FITness after 50 // April, 2014 // by T Gellenbeck

Featured Cbus-er:  Peggy Bohn

Hometown:  Dublin

Goal accomplished:  To live a healthier lifestyle through good ‘ol diet & exercise

Story:  Peggy, also known as Mom or Gigi around here,  is one of my fitness role models.  At 57 years young, she is still conquering half marathons, countless hours of Insanity, weight lifting and power walking.  Her ‘Power Walk’ pace is faster than some runner’s jogging pace (we’ve actually overheard someone during a race say, ‘Great!  I’m being passed by a walker!’)

About ten years ago, due to the many stresses of work & life, she had gained weight without even realizing it.  Tired, stressed and unhappy with her fitness level, she thought, ‘something must be done!’  She vowed to eat healthier (which meant less cheese!) and make exercising a priority again.

Although her ‘day job’ is a Procurement Specialist (something to do with Supply Chain Management, I think…), her passion is fitness.  She now makes time 4-5 days per week to exercise and with degrees in both Nutrition & Chemistry, knows how to put together a mean, clean grocery list.   This knowledge comes in handy when shopping at Whole Foods for her grandson’s weekly Sunday night healthy dinners!

I can only hope to be this FIT and fabulous when I’m approaching 60. 🙂

Some FIT after 50 tips she has to offer;

• Learn your limits.  I know I can’t run as fast as some of our running group members 20-30 years younger than me!  And I’m okay with that.
• Eat your veggies.  I sometimes snack on kale chips and pretend they are potato chips.
• Drink lots of water (especially if you drink a lot of coffee like I do!)
• Get plenty of rest.  I try to get 8 hours or more each night.
• Strength train.  I’ve found the older I get, the harder I have to work at staying in shape.  Building muscle is essential!

Some of her FITness goals;

• Teach my grandson about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle
• PR in a quarter marathon or 10K (current PR is 1:18 – 11:58 pace) or a half marathon (current PR is 2:31 – 11:31 pace).  I typically walk/run with no real strategy, but it works for me!
• Run a Disney half marathon (take a family trip & possibly celebrate my 60th birthday!)
• Run a race in 10 (or more) states.  So far I’ve done Ohio, California, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan, Indiana.
• Stay in shape, even if its just walking, until the day I rise up to Heaven (knowing her, she’ll probably continue to exercise there too!)

FITness workouts of choice;

• Run/walk intervals ~ I don’t ‘like’ running, but I can make myself do it… I much prefer to power walk
• Walking her Golden Retriever, Tucker
• Strength training
• Golfing (no cart, of course)
• At home videos include Insanity and various Yoga routines
• Used to love racquetball & scuba diving, although its been a few years