I have to admit it?s pretty shocking to me that I will turn 70 years old the first week of October, 2017!? Almost equally shocking is the fact that come January, 2018, ?I will be beginning my 18^th year here at Advantage Personal Training!

I think the best news about this BIG birthday is that I certainly don?t feel 70 ? or 60 ? or, most of the time, even 30.? I know I certainly was never in the shape forty years ago that I?m in now, and I know how much of that I owe to this gym.

My story, sadly enough, begins on the school playground.? When you?re only 4?10? in high school AND terminally shy ? and there is no Title IX, no tennis, no track, no basketball, no anything for girls but field hockey ? or field hockey ? you can imagine I was not a big draw for anybody?s team.? I grew up thinking that not only was I a sports failure but probably the most unathletic kid on the planet.

I started playing racquetball when I was nearly 40 and found out I wasn?t too bad, but until my early 50?s, I didn?t do much more than that.? Then, on a day that changed my life forever, I saw a small story in the Mystic River Press about a gym that had opened in Old Mystic.? Who knows why, but I called ? and the rest is history.

Although the owner was the same age as my kids, he had such an appreciation for creating a program tailored to each individual client and that client?s specific needs, even us middle-aged moms!? And so began my career in weight training.

As I became stronger and suddenly saw muscles ? REAL muscles on my arms and legs!!! ? I couldn?t wait to get to the gym and work out!? More than that, however,?I discovered that exercise had become a real lifestyle change for me.? As I worked through my program, I realized I wanted more and more, and so I added more fitness classes coupled with outdoor cycling, then weekly power walking with a group of other women.? AND I have hiked extensively in the White Mountains, the Canadian Rockies, Sedona, and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco all in the past 14 months!

It?s easy to see how exercise has changed and enhanced my life.? Would I be where I am at 70 without my exciting new ?jock? life?? Never!!!

And I admit it:? I wore a sleeveless dress to my 50^th high school reunion two years ago, and LOL not for entirely honorable reasons!? It felt great!