Exercise
opportunities for all citizens
Walking,
running, cycling, swimming, soccer, martial arts, tennis, basketball, weight
lifting, Pilates, aerobics and dancing are all methods of exercise. These are
the type of exercises that improves your cardiovascular and respiratory systems
as well as muscle tone and therefore your quality of life. Your choices of
exercise are plentiful, now you need to pick a few and make the conscious effort
to get involved.
The
Valdosta Lowndes Parks and Recreation Department offer a slew of opportunities
for children and adults in a number of the exercise activities. Call them up or
check out their web page for more information on how you can get involved.
There are at least two swim teams for children in Valdosta, and there are a few
ways for adults to enjoy swimming as an exercise. Stone Creek and YMCA have
teams that allow children to learn and enjoy the sport of swimming. Find out
more and get those little fish with a group.
Between VLP&C, Boys & Girls Club and the Azalea City Soccer Club, there
are no excuses in finding the right type of soccer program that your children
can enjoy.
Remember your track etiquette, rules for the track, when used for running or
walking. Slower traffic stays on the right hand side, or outside lanes. If you
are walking or running faster then anyone else on the track, lane one and two
should be kept open for you. Once some others come on the track who
are faster than you, let those people be in lane one and or two, and you move
out to lane three or more. The very least you should do is move to the outside
if a faster person is coming from behind – especially if they say “track”
as they approach. Be kind to others as all the people use the track – slower
traffic goes to the right, or outside lanes.
Safety for the walkers and runners on the roads – face traffic, use sidewalks
whenever possible, wear light colored clothing to be seen easier, carry
identification, be aware of your surroundings at all times and wear reflective
vests or bands in the early morning or late afternoons. Watch the on-coming
traffic for those drivers in a daze or too preoccupied with the cell-phone to
properly control their vehicle. Be courteous to others on the road to walk or
run in single file when vehicles approach. Vehicles should be able to handle a
person on the side of the road, but when two or more people are abreast – the
active people are not being courteous to the drivers. Boils down to sharing the
road and the golden rule of do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
More
information about events in the surrounding area of Valdosta include:
April 5th – Berrien County 3rd Annual Puppy Trot. This
event includes a 4 mile and a 1 mile Dog Walk. The events are open to all
walkers and runners, just sign up for the event that appeals to you the most.
There is a cool t-shirt with a fun design, awards and medals for all the Dog
Walk participants. Proceeds benefit the Berrien County Humane Society.
April 12th – Valwood presents Victory for Victoria, a 10K, 5K and 1
mile event on the Valwood campus. Proceeds benefit the St. Jude’s Brain
Research Program. Applications are now available.
April 19th – Hope and Faith 5K Run and Walk is presented by HUMC
and SpaceMakers – Custom Closet Interiors.
This is an event to raise money for the American Cancer Society Relay for
Life. Over 140 people enjoyed this event last year with 10 year olds all the way
up to 77 year olds joining in on the fun and festivities.
May
17th – Run for the Children – 5K and 1 mile events for the whole
family.
All proceeds benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center for Lowndes County – a
non-profit organization that strives to promote prevention and awareness of
child abuse and to minimize the trauma to children who have been abused. The
event is being hosted by Leadership Lowndes Class of 2008.
All
of these events will be good for the entire family to be involved. Be sure to
put the dates on your calendar right now. Applications are either at Get Active,
or will be soon. You will find how much fun and encouraging these events
are and you will want to participate in others coming in May thru July 2008,
including Baytree 8K on July 4th. Make the decision now to be a part of these
events – raise your bar.
There are weekly, FREE activities for the runners and cyclists in the area.
Runners can show up at Get Active Running and more on Saturday and Sunday
morning at 7AM for all-comer runs from 4 to 8 plus mile runs. For more
information on the runs, check out the web page www.getactivevaldosta.com
, call or send an email. Cyclists can meet for rides on Tuesday, Thursday,
Saturday and Sunday. For more information on the cycling rides, check out the
web page at www.azaleacitycyclists.com.
If you have questions about your walking, running or other training, drop me an
email and I will do my level best to answer your questions. Check out www.getactivevaldosta.com
to get connected. Listen to the Get Active South Georgia radio program on
Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7PM on Talk 92.1 FM to receive additional information
or to ask questions.
Thank
you,
Todd
& Alice Smoot
GET
ACTIVE
Running
and more
GET
ACTIVE SOUTH GEORGIA
as
heard on
Talk
92.1 FM Tuesdays 6 to 7 PM
GET
ACTIVE SOUTH GEORGIA
as read weekly in the Sunday VDT - look for us
www.getactivevaldosta.com
3200-C
North Ashley Street
Valdosta,
GA 31602
229-219-0010
229-219-0012
(F)
In
the long run, one must have goals to succeed.
"To
give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift" Steve
Prefontaine