Drive for your lifelong passions

I was born with the fitness bug, because no one in my family was ever into being active like me, other than my brother, nature over nurture for sure. I don’t have a formal background in any sport, mostly because as a kid I hadn’t the discipline to stick with anything, except for handball. I could play handball until my hands bled.

My brother was my biggest rival. We would play for hours a day. When I became a hairstylist at 20, we switched to playing with paddles, to save my hands. We played for hours every Sunday. I dabbled with running track and playing tennis in my younger years, but it did not stick.

In my 30’s I worked in a hair salon that was in the Equinox gym on the upper east side in Manhattan. There, I met lots of fitness junkies, and lots of marathon runners.

The running bug stuck. Mostly, at first, I wanted to prove to myself that I had the discipline to stick with the training. I ran my first marathon at 34 and subsequently ran two more, a total of three in twelve months, one of which was the qualifier for the Boston marathon. I have run a total of five marathons, 22 half marathons and countless other races.

Simultaneously, I discovered yoga. It instantly became my other obsession. I’ve since stopped running and began playing tennis. My love of tennis and yoga, which I now teach, will be lifelong passions, no more dabbling!

Recreationally, my husband and I ski, bike and hike. If you know me, you know that I love food. I also enjoy a cocktail or two on the weekend. Still, if I haven’t done something physical, I’m not satisfied.

Being strong and healthy is very important to me, so I can continue doing what I love until I drop dead.

(Lydia Fierro)