Murdock takes to the track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Photos courtesy of Norm Murdock
I’m just a regular guy.
Used to be very athletic as a young man: high school football, swim team, Nautilus machines, ran a 17-mile jogging route almost every day in my 20s (remember when running was the fitness rage?). Used to eat all I wanted, and any kind of food I wanted, and burned it right off with my youthful lifestyle. Stayed up all night. Had a few beverages.
Sound familiar?
By January 2016, though, I was defeated. I reached back into my youth and bought a shiny new racing car to take to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. I couldn’t fit in it. I couldn’t go up a flight of steps without wheezing. My joints were killing me. I was depressed. I was letting my family and myself down, and looking at looming health consequences of being out of shape.
But I’m motivated by the new race car. I wanted to feel the thrill of being fit, fast and frisky again. And I wanted to win some races.
I live in “Upper New Albany,” also known as Johnstown, so the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany is very convenient, only 10 miles away. Did the tour, got the prices, beautiful place. I joined up.
Norm Murdock shows off his KickStar certificate of completion alongside his race car
I hadn’t seen the inside of a health club in 25 years. Things are logged, tallied and reported back to you, and fitness prescriptions are programmed into the machines’ local area network. You can go from station to station and the screen tells you the seat positions, the amount of weight and the number of repetitions. The staff was there to help me navigate my way.
But I was still lost. A piece was missing. I was going through the motions, but not fundamentally changing my attitude about food. And I really didn’t understand what exercise was all about.
The health and fitness center had just the orientation I needed: the KickStart Program, several sessions with the center’s resident dietitian to design a meal plan specific to your goals, health situation and psychological attitudes. Then, the staff tracks you, encourages you and holds you accountable with very concrete benchmarks along the way.
Coupled with that, KickStart includes several sessions with your own personal trainer from the center’s staff. He or she will develop an exercise plan in coordination with the dietitian to get your weight down, metabolism up and attitude into positive territory. My goals were flexibility, faster reflexes and, of course weight loss. The two staffers, dietitian Lauren Blake and trainer Alex Wessels, met together to make my plan integrated for my body and mind.
Murdock out on the course in late August
By the end of the 12-week program, I had lost almost 30 pounds. More importantly, I was put on a path to understand why to exercise, how to eat and where to get more help.
I’ve since lost more weight. I still go to the center to work out. I occasionally need a tune-up, like my race car, so I get Alex or Lauren for an hour to train me some more.
I could not have done it without professional help. The smartest thing I did was drop my ego at the front door and ask for guidance.
The racing?
We had a little celebration at the center in June. I won my first race in the new race car. I went from not safe and not comfortable to fast and furious.
Norm Murdock is a Johnstown resident and a frequent guest at the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
