John M. Bottorff, D.C., C.C.S.T., is a 1981 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and a second generation chiropractor. He is certified in Chiropractic Spinal Trauma. He is a triathlete and an avid cyclist, runner and swimmer. He can be contacted at Bottorff Advanced Chiropractic at 362-8833 or online at www.Cvillepainrelief.com.
Erin Blaydes poses with her running partner, Cindy Hennette.
Blaydes and Hennette pose with the Advanced Chiropractic Turkeys, Lunch and Dinner, during the Park and Rec annual Thanksgiving Day Pie Run.
Some seeds once planted take time to produce fruit. This week’s Health Hero has finally gotten the educational role she has wanted for 16 years.
Erin Blaydes will be using her bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology to teach physical education and health at Greencastle Middle School. She plans to show students that she practices what she preaches.
Growing up on a farm near Waynetown, Blaydes was no stranger to work. Her interests in sports developed early and her greatest passion was for basketball.
“I could play any position and I had pretty good ball-handling skills,” said. “I was 5’9” and only weighed 110 pounds so I could play inside but I got beat up quite a bit.”
Her career included two AAU championships and Blaydes is an inductee to the Montgomery Basketball Hall of Fame.
Volleyball was her second choice for organized sports.
Because of her talent she was recruited by several smaller colleges, but chose to go to Purdue University and get a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology.
“I played intramural basketball,” she said. “It was much less stress and fit my schedule.”
After Purdue she moved on to St. Mary’s-of-the-Woods where she earned a teaching degree in elementary education. Blaydes remained active during this period, playing organized volleyball and basketball in the Women’s Basketball League in Fishers.
She is presently teaching at Greencastle Middle School, however, after 16 years of elementary education she will finally get the spot she has always wanted — teaching health and physical education.
Blaydes wants to impact healthy habit patterns in young children, hoping they can make better life choices. Her direction can already be felt in her achieving a grant that will allow her to purchase fitness mats, kettlebells and dumbbells for her P.E. class. While these two items may seem simple in their make up, they open the door for an almost endless number of exercises that maintain an individuals interest and be used effectively at all stages of life. Another project she plans for her students in health class is a study of sports drinks.
“Many sports drinks have loads of sugar and sodium,” Blaydes said. “The kids choose them not because they are healthy but from the influence of advertising.”
Believing you lead by example, Blaydes plans to be hands on as a coach and even workout with the students when possible.
Her personal journey took a turn when she traded her basketball shoes for a pair of running shoes in 2010 following back surgery. An absolute believer in the effectiveness of an accountability buddy, she runs with Cindy Hennette. The two did two mini-marathons, the Indy Mini and the Kentucky Derby.
“At the Kentucky Derby we got to run around the track, not on the track, but it was pretty cool,” she said.
The two determined the 13.1-mile races were too much and have settled for 5k races or 3.2 miles.
“We’ve run a hundred of them,” she said. “There are people at all the races you know. We dress up and everyone looks for us. We even get a lot of media coverage.”
She was proud of their Indy Mini shirt that read, “On A Scale on 1-10 I’m a 13.1.”
Blaydes believes exercise needs to be fun if you are going to keep doing it.
Add to this raising her sons, Drake, 15, and Drew, 9. She also is an IHSAA basketball official.
Exercise creates energy and Blaydes needs it.
See you on the ride.
