Kicking Off a Year of Fitness and Health Topics

My father often questions where I get it.

The athlete thing, that is. He and my mother walk along the beach near their house and sail the San Juans, but aren't going to toe the line at the local 5K.

And me? I row on a competitive crew team, race marathons and ultra marathons, and visit the gym. I don't mind waking up at 4:30 a.m. to catch the sunrise as I row through the Montlake Cut, and I'm apt to think signing up for a 50 mile trail race seems like a good idea.

I've been an athlete my entire life. I grew up playing soccer and competed in tennis throughout high school and college. After graduate school, I moved back to Seattle from California, and begin thinking how I missed being on a sports team. I ended up joining a competitive crew team, and I've been rowing with them ever since.

A few years ago, I decided to try out trail running. The Puget Sound area is known as a mecca for the sport, with year-round snow-free mountains just east of the city. I loved the escape to wilderness that trail running provided, and found the rugged crowd drawn to the sport both unusual and of the highest quality.

My interest in athletics began to extend to my writing in the past couple of years. After I left the Puget Sound Business Journal in April of 2009, I began freelancing for a number of magazines and newspapers. I relished the break from business reporting and dove into stories on trail running, climbers, fitness, and the outdoors. In August, I traveled to Colorado to run and write about the TransRockies Run, a six-day, 115 mile stage race in the Rocky Mountains.

When I came on board as the Edmonds editor for Patch in November, I thought immediately that I'd love to continue writing about the active lifestyle. In many ways, Patch seems the perfect venue to do so. We've got a growing network of Seattle area sites that run regular columns. Be someone a resident of Edmonds or Enumclaw, information and thoughts about health and fitness apply. Though the neighborhoods and communities of the Puget Sound region are diverse, many of us share an affinity for health, exercise, and the great outdoors.

Each week through In Motion, I plan to dive into a health or fitness topic that I feel Seattle area residents will find useful, intriguing, or enlightening. I want to interview Puget Sound fitness experts, try out new gadgets, explore different ways of working out, and investigate diet and lifestyle trends. The region's strong fitness community should provide plenty of fodder for column topics. I plan for this column to maintain a strong local bent, with news and tips you can put into practice.

 I also want to bring some of my own insights and athletic experiences to the page. I'd love to share with you strategies I've tried or adopted to become and stay fit. I plan to write about some of the most exciting, rewarding, or challenging athletic events or endeavors I've taken on, in the hopes that some of you might want to try them out as well.

Most of all, I hope to hear from you. I want your suggestions on topics and trends in fitness you'd like to know about. If you hear of an event, business or individual that I should cover, pass it on. I'd love your input.

I'm looking forward to sharing my passion for an active lifestyle with all of you throughout 2011.

Heidi.Dietrich@patch.com

425-503-0074