How I Got This Body: Cycle of life

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Last update: October 5, 2007 - 6:07 PM

'I commute from Northfield to Minneapolis for work. Depending on which the way the wind is blowing it sometimes takes 2 hours 15 minutes and it sometimes takes three hours. I get to the [fire] station at 7 a.m., work a 24-hour shift and then ride home. I also do some group rides, cyclo-cross skills and weight training. Added bonus "I figured it out and driving to work one way would cost $8 in gas. On I-35 northbound, people are sitting there at stop-and-go and I'm going like 21 miles an hour, clipping along at a steady pace." Training at work "Your body adapts to carrying around all that heavy gear with your air tank and boots, or holding a charged hose. Your shoulders and legs definitely get stronger, and you also use cardio to be able to chop through walls or roofs." Heroic acts We were at the scene of the I-35 bridge collapse and to see all the survivors, the people who did get off the bridge, made you just really happy that you're alive and that you have people around you. It made you respect life in that way. And then you just feel real sadness, too, for the ones who died. Community support Having people around you to train with and who have the same goals makes you feel really satisfied. I really feel part of the cycling community. At the end of August I started going up to the velodrome. This place is a great venue and atmosphere, and Bob Williams, who does the announcing, is just so inspiring. We have fun together at work, and everyone is really fit and conscious. There's a workout area and everybody on the crew tries to do something every day. Reward I like being challenged, and I love competition. I do one or two cyclocross races a week from mid-September to Nationals in December. During the road season, I do one race a week from April to August. Body type After playing soccer through college, I started running and ran about 40 marathons. Then I started cycling because I wasn't built to run that kind of distance; I just wasn't efficient and was looking for something else. Somebody told me cycling was probably a better fit, so I started in 2005." SARAH MORAN

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