Lynelle Phillips
January 5, 2012
Lynelle Phillips has figured out that it takes just as much time for her to drive as bicycle to work. By the time she leaves from her Shepard neighborhood, drives to the University campus, parks in a parking garage, and then walk to her office, she can bicycle in and lock up at a primo spot near the door. “I can’t use the excuse ‘I don’t have time to exercise’ now,” she said.
Phillips, RN MPH and a professor at the MU School of Nursing and Master of Public Health program, enjoys the fact that exercise is built into her day. “It is not something I think about in a regimented sort of way, like making myself get up and go to a gym. Exercise just happens without thinking about it too much at all.”
She actually adds distance to her morning ride for the mental health aspect of exercise. “On the way to work I like to take the scenic route along the trail,” she explained. “The trails are so beautiful and peaceful. I find peace in a spiritual sense.” Phillips estimates that the scenic route brings her exercise time up to close to an hour a day and incorporates the commute time she would have used anyway.
Her commuting to work by bike everyday has been an inspiration to others as well. “I have a bet with a guy in my office that if I bike to work every day he will take the stairs every day. We are on the 8th floor,” said Phillips. She also gets emails from others asking how she does it. “I really hate the heat,” she explained. “I try and build in time to cool off when I get to where I am going and always bring a change of clothes and water. A quick sponge bath in the bathroom helps a lot. Most other weather is no big deal if you pack your stuff in a water-proof bag.”
Phillips does have has one request to make commuting easier. “If Pednet could work on flattening out parts of Columbia, particularly the Shepard School area, that would be really nice.”
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