Health Resolve Still Strong after Resolution Run

County Human Services Specialists training for a 10K (left to right) Eloisa Vitela, Lorena Ugarte, Lily Yakubik, Gloria Cordova, Patricia Laffiton, Taylor McDonald, Debora Arellanes

One County employee trains for triathlons.

A group of his co-workers just finished walking their first 5Ks.

Despite their different fitness levels, a group of Human Services Specialists at the County’s ACCESS center in Mission Valley have found a common way to help each other be healthier.

Their approach is to register for the same organized walks and runs, but then train at their own pace, setting personal goals.  

The informal fitness group coalesced after Human Services Specialist Taylor McDonald posted a flyer for the Jan. 8 “Resolution Run” 5K and 15K runs through Mission Bay Park. McDonald, 34, has been running since about 2008 and also competes in  triathlons.

When he posted the flyer in the office, McDonald was already signed up for the 15K run—9.3 miles. But he encouraged co-workers to give the shorter race a try, either running or walking.

About nine other employees got into the idea and registered for the 5K, all of them completing the 3.3 mile, Sunday morning course.

“There are some people who don’t walk much at all; for them to get out there and do a 5K was huge,” McDonald said. “To see them walk around with their race T-shirts on was pretty inspiring.”

Next up: A St. Patrick’s Day 10K around Mission Bay. The signup sheet is posted in the office.

Patricia Laffiton, for one, is getting ready. Laffiton, like McDonald, helps ACCESS phone customers in the Mission Valley office.

About four months ago, Laffiton said she was diagnosed with diabetes and she knew she had to make some changes.

“Exercise was something I just wasn’t doing,” the 36-year-old said.

In her three years with the County, Laffiton said had become accustomed to spending her lunch hour at her desk. After her diagnosis, she started walking, building up to about 2.5 miles along the San Diego River, several days a week.

Her co-worker and walking partner Yenissa Salgado has been a  mentor and a positive inspiration, Laffiton said. Salgado has helped her to stick with the routine and pick up her pace.

Laffiton said her supervisor, Gloria Cordova, has also supported her.

Her husband and kids have been encouraging at home and helped her to keep walking on weekends too. 

Laffiton said the 5K Resolution Run represented a new distance goal. She finished, even running some of the race, and now she’s gearing up for the St. Patrick’s Day 10K. She’s aiming to  build up  her endurance and speed by then.

Regular walking for the first time in her life has already improved her blood pressure, and it definitely makes her feel better, Laffiton said. 

“When you’re doing it you may get a little hot and tired, but afterwards it feels really good,” she said.

On Our Way to San Francisco

Members of the Communications Office return to the CAC after adding more steps to their totals..

by Sarah Gordon

In 2011, the County Communications Office was busy promoting health and fitness to the public as part of Live Well, San Diego!.

Then about a month ago, we learned an employee wellness program here was about to launch. We’d be helping promote that too.

It was finally time to ask ourselves: Are we walking the talk? Or are we sitting in front of our computers during work, eating at our desks, commuting, then flopping on the couch most of the evening?

We decided if we were going to encourage everyone to get healthier, we’d better do it too.

That’s why the County Communications Office is on its way to San Francisco! We’re walking and running there from the County Administration Center.

Who knows how long it will take each of us go the 500 or so miles, but three weeks into the trip on January 9, we’ve collectively travelled 414 miles.

Since I’m already past San Clemente and leading the pack, my colleagues generously volunteered me to write this.

Of course, what we’re really doing is keeping track of the miles we walk or run each week and charting our progress with pins on a big map. We haven’t decided if the first one to reach San Francisco gets a prize or bragging rights.

We’re counting miles travelled during lunch, breaks or on our own time. We’re using smartphone aps, conventional pedometers and online mapping programs to find our distances.

So far, the game seems to be motivating some of us. One communications specialist who was always at his desk and suspected of living in the office now announces at the end of the day he’s walking to Horton Plaza. And he really gets up and goes! A couple of us who usually walk at lunch have resisted the temptation to skip days and go out to eat, because we want to have lots of miles to report for the week.

You overhear people talking about walking.

“I walked two miles before work; I walked once around the building,” Communications Manager Linda Miller told some of her employees the other day. “And, get this, if you walk to Filippi’s and back, it’s a mile.”

The San Francisco challenge is lighthearted and just a little competitive. We have no idea whether it will keep us moving.  

But just three weeks into this quest, more than two-thirds of us had joined the game, and almost everyone in the office is talking or thinking about personal fitness levels. That’s something new for us.

We’ll keep you posted on how it goes here. Please tell us about fitness initiatives in your departments so we can cover them on InSite. Maybe we can all inspire each other to get moving!