“I was kind of shy in high school. I was not confident in sports. I was in the band and on the speech team. What really changed for me, was when I got into medical school, one of my roommates was a speed skater. He trained all the time. He was actually in 4 Olympics over the years. I started hanging out with him and his friends, and it became very positive to be around all of them. At first, I just wanted to be part of the group, but then I started running and really liked it. I’ve run 5-6 marathons over the years and did a lot of the smaller races too. I kept up with that for a long time. In recent years, I started working out with a trainer, and I’ve really enjoyed that. I like to do adventurous things too. About a year ago, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and that was really fun. Now, in October, my brother and I are going to go from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I always try to have a little project out there to inspire me. Recently, I’ve been going to this 5 am class at the gym and I really enjoy the camaraderie. I was never on any sports teams, so the class has been really nice. I must be close to the oldest person at the gym, and yet everyone is so upbeat and encouraging. It makes me feel good. I always think that if I could start my life over, where would I like to start? It would be around the age of 15 or 16, so I could do school sports because I think learning to be on a team and learning to work with other people is great. I came to exercise later in life, but it’s been a great addition. If I don’t exercise, I get kind of restless and down in the dumps. When I do exercise, I feel really good and much more upbeat. I’m able to tell patients that you may not feel the greatest when you first start exercising, and you may feel more tired, but with persistence, you’ll feel better and have more energy. Because I see that. I’m 66 and I hope to keep going for as long as I can. I hope to live to 80 or 90 and be fit.”