A single step…

 
Many people talk about wanting to “get healthy.” What exactly does it mean to “get healthy”? Gain strength? Lose weight? Increase energy? Decrease medications?

For many of us it’s yes, yes, yes and yes. So what steps are we willing to take to reach these goals; goals that may feel completely out of reach?

A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
Chinese proverb

Senior accounting major Andy Chaffee is hoping to inspire those around him to take that initial step toward a healthier lifestyle. Last summer he met with alumni relations director Julia Szabo with a proposal. He signed up to compete in the 2012 Ironman Lake Placid and is hoping to inspire others to fitness and to philanthropy as he builds a support team for himself. As he told members of the President’s Society at their annual banquet…

"In all of my research, I have found that the most important thing I will need in order to complete the event is a support team. It can get fairly boring and monotonous just going out for runs, or bike rides or doing what seems like endless amounts of laps in the swimming pool by yourself. But knowing that you have a group of people invested in knowing how you are progressing through this process can completely make those feelings disappear."

So we decided on a two separate challenges. First, the greater Bluffton community has been challenged to Get Moving. During 36 weeks of intense training, Andy will cover at least 3,240 miles running, biking and swimming. As a group, the rest of us are challenged to increase our activity by 3,240 half-hour sessions. We’re getting a head start. Our increased activity counts now, Andy’s doesn’t start until Nov. 14.

And he’s starting to taunt us, tweeting last night “Only 4 weeks until training starts! Challengers better take advantage of the head start! #BlufftonTeamAndy #superpumped”

The second challenge looks to use cash as a motivator, not for Andy, but as gifts toward the Health and Fitness Education Center. We’re looking for at least 36 people to sponsor Andy for one week of his training, by donating $1 for every mile he trains for the week.

Are you ready to accept the throw down? Join either or both challenges, and check out progress at www.bluffton.edu/teamandy

To get through the hardest journey
we need take only one step at a time,
but we must keep on stepping.
Chinese proverb