Local woman celebrates 66th birthday by completing a fitness challenge

Last year, Sue Slater and her husband, Steven Schindler, relocated to Fallbrook from Glendale, California, and Slater is now working as a part time fitness instructor at California Bodies.

Slater said that she has been passionate about fitness for over 40 years.

"When I was younger, I wasn't in good physical condition," she said. "Then when I was 23, I took a fitness class at Truman college, and the class was taught by a marathon runner. That class sparked my interest."

She began running marathons at the age of 25, and she has completed more than 50 marathons since that time. Now, Slater runs over 30 miles a week, walks 20 miles a week, participates in weight training, and she teaches Zoom fitness lessons and personal training.

Slater worked as a registered nurse for 40 years and retired from Kaiser Permanente in 2019. As an RN, she noticed how important physical health is as you age. She watched many of her patients struggle, and she decided to start working out every day and working hard to become stronger.

"Strength is independence," she said. "If you can stay strong, you'll be able to stay independent longer. That's important to me."

This inspired her to challenge herself for her 66th birthday, May 11. She made a promise to herself to complete 66 full pull ups, 66 military push ups, and run 6.6 miles in less than 66 minutes.

Slater trained for a year in preparation for this challenge. Along with her daily personal workouts, training sessions and running around 30 miles every week, Slater practiced pull ups and military push ups until she was confident in her ability to succeed during the challenge.

"Every exercise I did during the challenge was hard, I was exhausted," she said. "I had never done that many pull ups before. But I kept going and pushed through."

The day after completing her challenge, Slater was back to her daily workouts and runs.

"I think it's important, especially for people over 50, to remember that strength is independence," she said. "You need to work on total body strength, and if you're inexperienced, be sure to find a qualified trainer."

Slater doesn't plan on stopping with her challenging fitness routine anytime soon. Her next goal is to compete in a marathon in 2021.

"Now that the races are opening up again, I'm going to run in the San Diego Rock N' Roll full marathon," she said. "Fitness is the same as nursing, it's all about wellness and continuing to stay strong."