Jan 11: Fit Lauderdale

I'm just back from a lovely brisk walk around my neighborhood. The air was fresh and cool this morning. As usual, South Florida proved to be a great place to get outdoors for some exercise. Many areas of the world aren't like this, believe me. (You may well be looking out your window right now, wherever you are - maybe in the northern U.S. or in Europe or Canada. And you may find yourself agreeing, "Yeah, dude, I know!") I lived in Vermont for 14 years, a state where many days don't exactly make you feel like a long walk. So it's, well, fitting that there's a new health promotion here called "Fit Lauderdale." Really this is simply a collection ideas for getting in shape, suggestions for better fitness. And links to websites and businesses that may help you. Yoga anyone?

These ideas cover a broad range of possibles, from salsa lessons to running a marathon, from playing tennis to meditating on the beach. You'll find links for bicycling around Broward, links for hiking through our parks, links for swimming and surfing and paddleboarding. Even links for links - as in golf. Speaking of links, one click will bring you to the long list of suggestions for getting fit through Fit Lauderdale: http://www.sunny.org/fitlauderdale/

There's no question that South Florida inspires many of us to greater fitness. It's that kind of community. Just visit the Fort Lauderdale beach some morning to see what I mean. I've blogged many times about the tight bodies you spot jogging like mad on the sand or bicycling like mad along A1A or paddling boards like mad out in the Atlantic. Only yesterday I stopped downtown for a haircut and coffee and couldn't escape the joggers even there, people loping down the sidewalk among the tall buildings. You see exercisers everywhere around Greater Fort Lauderdale. Obviously, the weather is a key factor in all this. When most days of the year are sunny, you can head out the door to walk or run or bike or whatever else almost any time. Whenever it's convenient for you. Simple. Add to that the sheer number of fit and attractive people around this community, both male and female, and you have - voila! Inspiration to exercise. No kidding, just hang at that beach for a while. Motivation will go sprinting past you, over and over and over. This is not to say you need to compete with these fitness devotees, of course. No one says you have to go sprinting alongside them in order to find your own level of fitness. All any of us must do to feel more comfortable in our bodies, I suspect, is honestly decide it's time to make that happen. Maybe Fit Lauderdale will help.