LITTLE ROCK — Ten years ago, Carl Carter avoided exercise. Now he runs at least 30 miles a week and has agreed to coach participants in a national fitness challenge.
Carter, 32, will advise individual contestants in the Blue & You Fitness Challenge, Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s annual three month, nationwide wellness promotion.
A wiry guy in tailored slacks and a slim purple sweater, he is difficult to imagine with an extra 70 pounds, wearing what he calls “ill-fitting clothes.” But when Blue Cross debuted the fitness challenge in 2004, in partnership with the state Department of Health, Carter was working for the company full time and studying business at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock during the evenings. He didn’t have much free time, and what he had, he spent painting or lounging in front of the TV.
He reluctantly signed onto the challenge, three months of thrice-weekly exercise, under pressure from enthusiastic colleagues.
“I did lots of Spinning and walking. I just wanted to get the workout over with as quickly as possible,” he said.
Carter grew up with two brothers. His father relished coaching his sons’ sports teams. “But I was the bench-warmer,” Carter said. “I just did not have the coordination or, frankly, the interest.”
Linda Kyzer, a Blue Cross internal consultant and vice chairman of the Governor’s Council on Fitness, says the challenge began as an outgrowth of a state cardiovascular task force. “We were tired of Arkansas being 49 and 50 in overall health,” she said. So the insurance company and the state agency competed to see which could get more employees moving for three months. They called the experiment the Arkansas Fitness Challenge.
The contest expanded beyond Arkansas in 2008.
Most years, about 12,000 people participate nationwide.
The Blue & You contest is about co-workers, students, church members, clubs and other groups competing against one another and challenging themselves to hit fitness benchmarks. Groups earn points by logging how often they exercise and howmany members participate for all 92 days. But the challenge is also about cutting obesity-related diseases and associated costs, borne by the government, Blue Cross and other private insurers.
How did Carter, the once lackluster participant, become a Blue & You coach and motivator? “All of my pants were too tight. I was struggling to get them fastened,” he said. “In 2005 I saw a billboard for the Little Rock Marathon. I thought, ‘I’m not athletic, but surely I can put one foot in front of the other.’”
His pinched waistbands and low energy were just the tip of his motivation. It was the grief of losing a brother in a car wreck that inspired him to change his life.
When he began running, he marked his distance by mailboxes, then light poles. Soon he was marking it in miles. But by that first marathon, he had still never run farther than eight miles. “I completed the marathon, but I walked a lot. It was the first time in my life that I cried and there were no tears,” he said.
He has completed 17 marathons in six years. Since he has transformed himself from a couch potato to a marathoner, Carter is convinced that he can help others become active.
“It’s about finding the thing you love. If a workout feels like a workout, you’re in trouble,” he said.
For the 2013 Blue & You challenge, he has set up an open category for individuals, “Me, Myself and I Workout.” Anyone age 13 or older who wants to complete the fitness challenge can join.
“Over the years, some people wanted to join the challenge, but they weren’t affiliated with any team. This year, we decided to open the competition to individuals as well,” Kyzer said.
Me Myself and I Workout will form one large team to compete against the other Blue & You teams, from Arkansas and beyond. All team members will be able to contact Carter with questions, and he plans to send e-mails that tell his story and offer advice about gear, workout structure and nutrition.
He will also chronicle his physical journey throughout the challenge. “I’ve committed to exercising each day for all 92 days,” he said.
Registration for Blue & You Fitness Challenge closes Feb. 28, and the competition starts March 1. Carter plans to run in the Little Rock Marathon on March 3. “So my exercise on March 4 will probably be really short,” he said.
He proposed to his wife, a Spinning enthusiast, at mile 16 during the 2011 Little Rock marathon. He has run in the Chicago and Disney World marathons and hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon this year. He also does yoga, cycling and strength training.
For Carter, exercise isn’t just about dropping 70 pounds. “I was the person who had horrible sinus and allergy issues. Now I have none. I don’t enjoy TV anymore, which leads to improved productivity. I’m able to enjoy my kids more, do more painting, do the things I need to do. Now I don’t put off mowing the lawn for two weeks,” he said.
More information about the contest is at blueandyoufitnesschallenge-ark.com.
ActiveStyle, Pages 27 on 02/18/2013