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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Excelsior-Shorewood Sun-Sailor

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sailor.mnsun.com

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Retired nurse stays fit, helps those in need BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER The word “active� doesn’t begin to describe Doris Braley. “I was an Iowa farm girl,� she said. “We were poor. I climbed trees, I iceskated, I played girls basketball and softball, and I just kept it up.� Now 73, Braley said, “I get up in the morning and do stretches, and I’ve been walking for years.� She runs laps weekly at the New Brighton Community Center and was recently enrolled in five different classes there, including Pilates, cardio workout, yoga and T’ai Chi Chih. Braley logged 500 miles on her bike last summer, including trips on the Cannon River trails and multiple trips around Lake Calhoun in one day. “I usually go to the Cannon River,� she said. “It’s awesome. I don’t like to bike in town.� “You have to keep at it,� said Braley, who thinks nothing of biking 50 miles at a time. Last year, Braley bought ice skates. “I hadn’t ice-skated for 30 years,� she said. “I started with a shovel holding me up.� She kept at it, perfecting her form and her speed. When Braley was 64, her daughter participated in a triathlon, and Braley became concerned when it seemed as though her daughter should have finished, but was nowhere in sight. “I started running and found her; she was dehydrated,� Braley said. “I walked and ran with her to finish the race, and she said, ‘Mom, why don’t you do this?’� Braley participated in three 5K races last year, and is already signing up for another. “There are really a lot of things in life that aren’t important,� Braley said. “But the things that are very important are health, to keep going, to have friends and be involved in the community.� She makes sure her life adheres to those tenets. A retired nurse, Braley has donated time and expertise during trips to Third World countries through Christian Peacemakers since 1997. She has worked

in Nicaragua and Honduras, and recounts traveling up the Andes Mountains and walking across streams. On two trips to Barrancabermeja, Colombia, she traveled the Magdalena River to different places. “It was just awesome; I loved it,� Braley said. “When I lived with other medical teams in Nicaragua, I started to learn some Spanish. It’s good to use different parts of your brain.� She has also been active with Vets for Peace and Women Against Military Madness, including participating in protests in Columbus, Ga. A year ago, she took part in a 100mile peace walk and plans to do it again in 2014. For the last 11 years, Braley has volunteered her nursing expertise in a free clinic each Thursday. In addition, she has delivered Meals on Wheels for 30 years. “I’m not a TV-watching person,� she said. Patrice Atkinson, recreation supervisor for the city of New Brighton, sums Doris Braley is pictured with her grandson Adam, 15. (Submitted photo) it up this way: “Doris has the vitality Below: On one of her trips abroad, Doris Braley worked in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and spirit that motivates those around with children in a village in the bush country. (Submitted photo) her.� Braley often walks with a friend to the club, works out and walks home, according to Atkinson. “She has done many running events and the three-day walk for breast cancer,� Atkinson said. “She uses the New Brighton Community Center fitness center and takes multiple group fitness classes.� Lesley Young, recreation coordinator for New Brighton, said that the city has seen increased interest in senior citizen card-playing groups and travel opportunities. “We’ve added some extended travel and contracted with two travel companies,� she said. Because of insurance benefits, the Silver Sneakers program has also become popular, Young said. “That gives people an incentive to work out and use the track and gym,� Young said. “We have ‘sit and fit’ chair exercises and education and enrichment workshops, too.�

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Excelsior-Shorewood Sun-Sailor

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sailor.mnsun.com

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Working out is a lifestyle for one Plymouth woman BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jill Widseth works full-time as a manufacturer’s representative, but she still manages to maintain a dizzying list of physical activities on a regular basis: hiking, biking, walking, running, water skiing, spinning, kickboxing, snowshoeing, ice skating, in-line skating and cross-country skiing, to name a few. “Until my late 20s, I didn’t work out, but then I got interested in it,� said Widseth, who is 58. “The older I get, the more I want to do. It’s a lifestyle. Working out gives me energy. I sleep like a baby at night.� Widseth lives five minutes from Lifetime Fitness in Plymouth, where she works out. She tries to get to the gym five to six times a week, usually at 5:30 a.m. “They have good classes at Lifetime, and they’re packed,� Widseth said. “The classes are hard. They have incredible instructors at 5:30 a.m.; they just kick our butts. It’s total conditioning:

skied on the lake each New Year’s Day at an open place on the Mississippi River near the old Ford plant. “Then you can say you did it,� Widseth said. “It’s just what I do.� Widseth’s father, the late Dean Widseth, played football at the University of Minnesota. “We were always outside growing up,� she said. “Besides doing the standard games outside with neighbor friends, my dad played catch with us with the baseball and football. We went to the beach a lot as a family. My mom loved ice skating, so we did that a lot, and my dad built us an igloo every winter. We biked or walked most places we needed to get to if it was within a few miles.� In contrast to Widseth’s pursuit of an early-morning exercise class, Heather King, a personal trainer at Lifetime Fitness in Plymouth, said that clients 55 and older often work with a personal trainer one-on-one each week to “lay a good foundation of exercise and build balance.� Most people sign up for two 55-min-

“The older I get, the more I want to do. It’s a lifestyle. Working out gives me energy. I sleep like a baby at night.� - Plymouth resident Jill Widseth Snowshoeing is a winter sport Jill Widseth enjoys. (Submitted photo) weights, a little cardio every few minutes, burpees, jumping. It’s crazy. There are a lot of really young people in the class. It’s so challenging.� Beyond the gym, her other physical activities depend on her schedule and friends that are available. She has a group of several female friends that enjoy biking to Excelsior for lunch in the summertime. She likes to hike in French Park in Plymouth and regularly does a 6.2-mile loop at Baker Park. “Once in a while we do a ‘quadathlon’ – we walk the 6.2-mile hilly loop once, Rollerblade twice, bike three times and then go to lunch,� she said. Despite both her knees being boneon-bone, Widseth said, “Movement helps me. I can’t run anymore, but I can play racquet ball and do other side-toside sports.� She still hasn’t tried kiteboarding, but has that sport on her list. “I started water skiing in my mid30s,� Widseth said. “It’s one of my favorites. I love being outdoors. The key to being fit is to find things you like to do. I need variety.� For four years, Widseth said, she

ute sessions a week, but some want more, King said. In addition to group fitness classes and working with personal trainers, other activities available at Lifetime Fitness include swimming, yoga, Pilates, racquetball, tennis and running. “We have a good variety of older and younger clients,� King said. Jane Schrader of Plymouth is a long-time swimmer, but she has chosen instead to exercise daily for several years at the hour-long water aerobics class at Plymouth’s Lifetime Fitness. “It makes me move,� Schrader said. “You move all of your body. You have the buoyancy of the water, so you push a little harder. It keeps your body healthier.� Schrader finds that the water exercise is even more important to her now. “I’m diabetic, and this helps keep the circulation and everything going,� she said. “When I don’t go, I miss it; I feel it.� Many of the people she’s met in class have had hip or knee replacement surgery and find that water aerobics aids in their healing, Schrader said.

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