Just Do It

Betsy McCall started teaching fitness in college as a way to pay the bills -- and to keep herself thin.

It wasn't until years later that she realized fitness isn't necessarily all about weight. Sometimes it's just about getting off the couch and into motion.

McCall is now fitness coordinator at the Jones Center, and on Monday, she'll start another "Couch to 5K" class. While she would love it if all of her students committed to running, she's "pumped ... if I can get one person into a class that would not have otherwise come, get one person to change a little bit of their lifestyle. A lot of times once people make it through that 5K, they think, 'I did it,' and life gets back in the way.

"So I would say 50 percent" continue to run, she adds. "I would love it to be 60 percent. It's probably a little closer to 40. But [the class] has shown them they can get up and can do more, and a lot of them will continue fitness [efforts] in some way."

The class meets for six weeks, McCall explains, and concludes with students participating in the Springdale Downtown Runaround on Oct. 8. In between, there will also be group runs every Saturday plus morning runs during the week. (McCall says the schedule hasn't been finalized.)

"Group runs are not required, but accountability is a big factor in whether you're going to continue on your fitness journey," she says. "Quitting in front of someone else is extremely hard to do. Mostly it's about the accountability, but it's also a chance to get one-on-one coaching.

"'Couch to 5K' gives you a person that interacts with you any time you need it. We have tips and tricks to help; we can show you what shoes we wear and how to use that frozen water bottle to help that muscle relax.

"My goal is not that you run a 5K in world record time. The hardest part is to get someone off that couch and coming."

-- Becca Martin-Brown

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NAN What's Up on 08/26/2016