Congratulations to Katie Madson, our November Fitness Patron of the Month!

Hi, I’m Katie. By way of introduction, I am a rec center regular, BodyPump enthusiast, mother of 3, and in denial of being 40. I work part-time as a Physical Therapist, volunteer at my kids’ elementary school, and participate in a local church congregation. When I’m not working, “momming”, or too tired to think, I enjoy reading, writing, running and art. I live with my family on a hobby farm in Firestone, and am regularly learning new skills like raising chickens, gardening, and beekeeping - none of which I am very good at.

I’ve been lucky to have always loved moving my body. In general working up a sweat and having sore muscles has always felt good to me and has helped me love the physical side of play. Growing up I loved playing sports, and as I aged out of intramural play in college I leaned into a lot of Ultimate Frisbee and recreational running.

Exercise has looked differently in different phases of my life. There was time I was training for marathon just to prove to myself I could do it, (and probably more honestly to avoid studying during grad school). There was a time where sport was the crux of my social life. A time when exercise proved to be the best space to grieve, and exercise has always proved to be a time to listen to really loud music and turn off my brain.

I started coming to the rec center about 10 years ago in an effort to find structure and routine to my days and to get a blessed hour away from my young kiddos. Since then I’ve discovered classes I love and lap swimming, which I love significantly less.

If I had any advice to give to the new rec center member, it would be this; “Come until you find something to enjoy, and then keep coming. Make plans to show up as part of your regular routine, and love the process more than the results.

I grew up in a household where my mom had a progressive neurological disease. Because of this, I grew up with a paradigm of movement and function not always being a guaranteed blessing of the next day. I learned from my mom, how to be grateful for what my body can do today and love what hard work feels like, regardless of what the future might be. So here’s my second piece of advice - or maybe my mom’s advice. “Don’t just show up to work for some future body you want, show up to express gratitude for the amazing body you currently have.”

Hope to see you around! (And hopefully my workout pants won’t be on inside out - I’m hoping that was a one time thing.)