Tiffany Briggs is a WILD Athlete who has been living with type 2 diabetes for about 7 1/2 years. As a member of TeamWILD’s 2011 cycle team, she was an inspiration to me as she juggled training with the demands of her busy life raising “irish twins” with her husband, Brian, teaching college-level history, knitting, quilting, reading and sleeping (an important part of training).
How do you define “Athlete”?
An athlete to me is anyone who gets up and moves around. It does not have to be formal exercise, but living an active life rather than that of a couch potato typically falls into my Athlete definition. Now if someone participates in training programs with set goals and constantly works to improve their physical well being via exercise to me that person is a “super star” athlete! I really envy that kind of drive as I am not there just yet. Haven’t found that inner place that puts you there.
What inspires you?
Mainly I am inspired by friends that live an active life. I’ve got three or four friends that I knew before joining TeamWILD that constantly challenge themselves to new physical heights via biking and running for the most part. They inspire me to at least try to be more active, although it continues to be a challenge. My kids inspire me to at least try, I’d like to keep up with them as they age. My 6 year old learning to ride his bike made me want to throw on my gear and head out with him.
How do you move past obstacles to your fitness goals?
I try not to berate myself too harshly when I fail. In my life fitness seems to take planning and if I don’t take the time to plan it out it won’t happen. I’ve bought a new calendar to help with this purpose beginning in January and I hope to have solved one of my obstacles. Another obstacle for me is I just don’t like to exercise, it doesn’t give me that feeling of empowerment it seems to do for others. I’d like to learn to play mental games with myself to see if I can’t move past this. My biggest obstacle is my kids. I exercise best when I am with my husband, so for us we need to find a babysitter and move forward. We both feel guilty doing this as we aren’t spending time with the kids and we are spending money on the kids. I live for the day when both kids can ride a bike and join us!
How do you reward yourself?
I reward myself too often for the most part. I relax watching a movie and knitting, this is my typical reward.
What is something about you that might surprise us?
I was an avid cyclist as a child and biked from San Francisco to San Diego when I was a 8. This trip was done over a week and a half as part of an American Youth Hostels group.
How do you GO WILD in your life?
I encourage my borderline diabetic and diabetic friends that live sedentary lives to join me, somehow I feel that if I can get one of them to join me in trying to become more active it will keep me active as well. I also share my story, this is important as it is through sharing that I am able to put things into better perspective.
