With all the talk of New Year Resolutions, many involving losing a few pounds (and inches off our waistlines), perhaps one approach to the holidays is to get off the couch (and away from the TV). Participate in an active community event like cross-country skiing, dance, or some participative sport. Or escape to the woods for a hike, not hit the mall.
My son and I returned to Mayor Daley’s Chicago Sports Fest at McCormick Place again this year. Produced by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, the Chicago Sports Fest offered activities for young and old alike, though most the activities were for young people. My son timed himself on a 40-year dash and we competed in a stationary rowing event. We both joined in a two hour game of floor hockey (can’t remember the last time I had so much fun hitting around a puck). We both broke a sweat.
All sorts of inflatable jumping places and climbing walls at the Chicago Sports Fest provided ample space for wound up children to release their holiday sugar highs. Last year my son went fishing, played table tennis, ran football pass patterns, watched skateboarders while taking a snack, and passed a series of fitness tests provided by SportFit. If you needed to catch your breadth, you could also watch various sporting events, meet a few celebs, or catch of Medieval sword fight. For the frugal minded, the Sports Fest is free (other than the $9 discounted parking).
This wasn’t our first active holiday. Over Thanksgiving, my family spent most of the week hiking to Abrams, Laurel, and Grotto Falls in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. By 10am Thanksgiving morning, the trail to Grotto Falls was filled with a parade of hikers of all ages who decided doing something active was healthier than watching the Macy’s Parade on TV. The brisk mountain air, spirited up and down hiking, and hilarious sprint-rest-sprint hiking style of our eight year old son helped us build an appetite for the holiday feasts that week, prepared mostly with ingredients we had stored from our abundant summertime gardens: carrots, rutabagas, cabbage, leeks, potatoes, onions, garlic. Like the Chicago Sports Fest, entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.
In a time where everyone seems to be talking about healthcare, let’s not forget that health and wellness starts with us: living in a more sustainable way, eating right, getting lots of exercise, minimizing stress, laughing more and worrying less.
Hope to see you on a trail (or at the Sports Fest next year). We’re the ones with the leap-frog-hiking son.
Photography: John D. Ivanko/www.ecopreneuring.biz
