Fuel more fun. Where does that phrase come from?
Robby and I have two kids and staying in shape isn’t exactly easy. We aren’t still riding, running and skiing because we want to be fast – we do it because it brings us so much joy and peace. We wanted Bivo to reflect that side of us.
Growing up, my dad was my coach, and he was an awesome one. He reinforced the importance of having fun. He coached a youth program and I was one of the younger kids. Every Wednesday and Saturday, we got together as a group and I always was chasing after the older kids. He made every workout unique and made sure everyone was included. If we were going for a long run, the front of the pack would stop along the way to climb rocks and do push ups so the back of the pack could catch up and be part of the whole adventure. When it was really hot, we’d do workouts in and out of the river to keep cool. On one long run/hike, we stopped half way at a farm stand that happened to have candy. All the kids bought healthy stuff. My dad? He bought the candy. He made us realize it’s ok to be a little different and to not take ourselves too seriously. When there was a big patch of stinging nettle, we’d all run through and laugh at the itchy pain (weird, I know). But we had so much fun together.
Fast forward to the end of my ski career, I knew I was done because I wasn’t having as much fun. The workouts weren’t as enjoyable, I started to wonder what another career would look like and I was simply just going through the motions. My dad and I had a lot of conversations throughout my ski career on how I would know if I should keep racing. To him, it was all about fun, and when that stopped, I should too. That took an immense amount of pressure off me. And I am seriously grateful for that because skiing is still my favorite thing to do.
By Carina Hamel (Bivo co-founder)
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