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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Disc jockey swims 4.1 miles in Lake Austin
Who out there listens to Mix 94.7?
If you do, you know that the disc jockeys from the “JB and Sandy Show” have been busy lately tackling physical challenges. One ran 10 miles, another rode 100 miles on a bike, a third did a gut-wrenching gym workout. And this morning, JB Hager swam 4.1 miles from the Pennybacker Bridge to Abel’s on the Lake near the Tom Miller Dam.
I water ski on Lake Austin nearly every Tuesday morning, and as my husband Chris and I headed up the river to get in some slalom turns, we spotted JB and his crew. JB had just started his challenge. At that point he was cruising downstream like a freight train, ducks and catfish leaping out of the way. (You can slide me a $5 for that one later, bud!)
Worried that the wake we were setting off might throw him off-course, we stopped for a quick hello and promised to catch up with him on our way in.
An hour later, we spotted JB again, near Mount Bonnell, the half-way point in his odyssey. Dude was still trucking along scaring the wildlife out of the way.
We slowed our boat so I could leap into the water and chase him for a few minutes. I don’t think he even noticed me alongside of him until he paused to slurp down a packet of Gu and sip some water (other than what was in the lake.)
I was impressed. Two miles in and he barely whined. His shoulder was giving him trouble, as shoulders will do when you crank on them for extended periods of time. We chatted a minute, said hi to his support kayaker Tim and waved at the rest of the radio show crew. (They were kicked back on a follow boat, eating French toast and sipping mimosas while JB continued to burn calories.)
Attached are some photos of JB the first time we saw him and later, when I jumped in to share a few minutes of fun with him.
JB successfully completed his swim, just as I knew he would. Way to go JB!
His time? A respectable 2 hours and 35 minutes. “I had the wind at my back,” he said.
JB and Sandy had special motivation to undertake their challenges. “Part of it was Sandy and I knew we were going to be starting TV in October, and this was a little kick in pants to take better care of ourselves,” JB said.
Good enough.
So what can we take from this? If JB can do it, if Sandy can do it, if Alex can do it, if Sarah can do it … you can too!
Get out there and challenge yourself to something you didn’t think you could do. It’ll do you — and your attitude — a world of good.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Swimming
Out of Control Fat Roll!
Last spring, four young professionals in Austin griped that their jeans were too tight. They complained about failed diets, office snacks and weight that kept creeping up.
They were out of control!
What to do?
Determined to whip their unwanted expansions into shape, they launched a friendly competition. They became the Out of Control Fat Roll gang, hatched a blog, opened a Facebook page and started a Twitter account. They would make exercise a part of their lifestyle and kick junk food to the curb.
“Four girls unite because their jeans are too tight,” they screamed.
But they needed incentive. Real incentive.
So Jenni Balthrop, 27; Meredith Budwin, 26; Ashley Sparger, 26; and Kristine Gloria, 25; added some motivation.
Whoever lost the greatest percentage of weight by Oct. 6 would get a new pair of (hopefully smaller, sexier) jeans — purchased by the other three. The loser — and this is harsh — would have her photo taken in a bikini and posted on the blog.
This was serious.
They drafted spreadsheets. They scheduled office weigh-ins and began charting their weight publicly, on their blog and on a sheet posted in the office kitchen where two of the women work.
They made public confessions when they had what they termed failures — indulgences in unhealthy food or skipped workouts. They created their own lingo and drafted wanted posters for Fatroll Offenders — people who brought unhealthy food to the office.
“We’ve had huge support from friends, family and coworkers,” Budwin says.
They joined boot camps and organized weekend runs, took pilates and yoga. They even organized a team for the upcoming Silicon Labs marathon relay.
And they’ve found a supportive following in blogosphere with their updates at www.outofcontrolfatroll.com, which tracks their weekly progress. Their (very hilarious) Twitter account is at @fatroll.
“When you put yourself out there publicly, it makes you very approachable. It’s amazing the support you get,” says Sparger, who wears a pedometer on her left pump.
So far, they’ve each shed between 7 and 15 pounds.
“We’re not striving to be super models, we just want to reach a healthy body mass index,” Balthrop says.
The final weigh in is Thursday, Oct. 8.
After that? A maintenance round to get them through the holidays.
We’ll keep you posted.
Any tips for the Fat Roll girls?
The photo above shows the gang. From left to right, that’s Meredith Budwin, Jenni Balthrop, Ashley Sparger and Kristine Gloria. Beautiful, aren’t they?
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment Categories: weight loss
