By Tim Sullivan

Druid Hills resident Brennan Bolt is a labor and employment attorney at McKenna Long & Aldridge by day. By night he and his wife Michelle dote on their two young boys, Ewan and Nolan. And a couple of late nights a week he grows a beard and plays some hockey. As it turns out, not all hockey left town with the Thrashers.

So, why hockey? Flat puck, small goal, thin skates, cold, hard ice…
My college roommate had played when he was younger and had decided to get back into it. Since I enjoyed watching hockey, I decided to give it a try as well. We started going to stick times, which are basically “pick up” hockey. When I finally entered the real world, my boss encouraged me to sign up and actually play on a team. The rest, as they say, is history – I am now captain of my team.

There are seven different levels to the Atlanta Amateur Hockey League (atlantahockey.org ). Is anybody playing ALTA anymore? Where do all these games take place?
Can’t speak for ALTA, but we play at The Cooler in Alpharetta, the Ice Forum in Cumming and the Marietta Ice Center. Those of us that live in town are still waiting for Philips Arena to book our games to replace the Thrashers. I suspect we’ll be waiting a long time.

Can individuals sign up and join the league?
Yes, but there are evaluations and even a draft. I’m embarrassed to say that I was not drafted the first time I signed up with this league.

What is the hockey haircut du jour? Is it still all business on top and party in the back?
The mullet is and always will be the staple, but nowadays any style of long hair and a beard will do.

How do you expect your team, Army Mules, to fair this year?
We should make the playoffs but once they start anything can happen. One season we were the top seed and were the first team eliminated. Another season we were the last seed and won it all. Teams really turn it up a notch and the games are taken a lot more seriously.

Will you encourage your sons to take up hockey when they are old enough?
No, living in the South, football and baseball are more likely to have a better rate of return for my wife’s and my retirement plan. However, if they choose hockey, we certainly won’t discourage them. Our oldest, who is two and a half, is already interested in ice skating. We got him a pair of skates and a hockey helmet for Christmas and have taken him skating two times already. He loves it.

Were you bummed out when the Thrashers jetted out of town for Winnipeg?
Absolutely. Games at Philips were always entertaining regardless of the outcome, and watching hockey live is so much better than on television. While we still have the Gwinnett Gladiators, it’s a shame that Atlantans can no longer watch the premiere players from the NHL.

Ever get mistaken for being Canadian?
Uh, no. If you watch me play hockey, you will understand how that would be impossible to do.

Well, I have a Canadian friend – let’s call him Batman –  who leaves the wife and kids to “play hockey” at very strange hours and some suspect that he runs an international pyramid scheme.  You’re an attorney, care to speculate?
Our games do sometimes start after 10 p.m. during the week. But if you want to see if “Batman” really does play hockey, ask to see where he stores his equipment. Hockey equipment is notorious for its stench, so if the room doesn’t smell, you’ll know that something is up.

Ok, Bolt round! What’s the better movie: Slap Shot or The Cutting Edge?  Favorite ice Olympian:  Mike Eruzione or Dorothy Hamill?  Post-game beverage:  Labatt’s or Molson?
Definitely Slap Shot and Eruzione. The Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot are classic. As for beer, I’d probably say Labatt’s. Speaking of beer and hockey, how could you leave off Strange Brew, you hoser?

I don’t know! How do you not pick Dorothy Hamill? She’s cute as a button!

By Valorie Ness

For many of us scheduling time to attend to our personal needs is low on the list of priorities. With everyone living such hectic lives, finding time each day – even just a few minutes – is difficult.

The time is there if you look. I find time everyday to exercise, meditate/process thoughts, and just be.  Some days it seems like I only have nano-seconds for this but knowing I put myself on my priority list makes me feel good and feeling good helps me become a better educator, mother homemaker, spouse and friend.

Here are some of my tried and true ways to find the minutes and nano-seconds in your day.

Wake up 5-7 minutes early each day. If this is the only time you get to yourself all day please extend it to 15-20 minutes. This may seem like the last thing you would consider doing to yourself after a 14 or 16 hour day, but try it. First change your thought process. You are not doing this to yourself you are doing this for yourself. Utilizing these precious few minutes to gather yourself and  to work on you will really make a positive impact on your day.

Choose silence when driving. Think of this as time to meditate and be with your thoughts. In Atlanta traffic a 5-mile drive easily turn into 50 minutes with just the wrong conditions or a few raindrops. There is nothing we can do to control traffic, so just embrace the time as time for yourself.

Walk to do errands. This is the perfect time to get in exercise minutes – 5 here and 12 there really add up over the course of a week. Take walking breaks much like co-workers take smoke breaks. Have you ever added up the total time your fellow employee takes to go on smoke breaks? It’s roughly 30-50 minutes. Walk outside or use your building’s stairs or hallways.

While you wait at your child’s extracurricular event take time for yourself. Since most programs do not want parents/guardians around while the kids do their thing anyway, this is the perfect opportunity to do yours. Whether it’s walking, jogging, participating in your own class, or quietly sitting for a meditation session, take advantage of this precious time.

Use standing in line time and on the phone time wisely. Have you ever seen someone standing in line balancing on one foot or doing single leg squats, calf raises or static stretching? Well, it was probably me. I am always doing one of these spontaneous exercises while otherwise “wasting” time. Sure I get a few strange looks, but I embrace it and hope that the image of me doing these things sticks with the people staring and will encourage them to try it for their selves.

Make your office work for you. Remove you’re your uncomfortable, ill-fitting office chair and replace it with a kneeling chair or an exercise ball. These exercise chairs will allow you to maintain good posture while at your desk. The ball will work your balance, core muscles, posture, and many other fun exercises as well.

Join an activity-based program with someone. The benefit to joining with a friend is the accountability that it promotes between you and your activity friend. It’s human nature that people are more likely to participate in things when they know others are counting on them. Play activity based games with your children, spouse or friend There is a big push now to get our kids eating healthy and moving. What better opportunity to get yourself going than to get out with your kids.

Meet your friends for something other than dinner and drinks. Why is our culture is so focused on food? It fascinates me that so many of our group functions with family and friends are driven by food and drink. Why not a bikeride, trail walk, or family day in the park?

Turn off the TV, cell phone, iPad at night and be with yourself or your loved one(s). Take the last few minutes before you drift off to lie quietly and just be with your happy thoughts from the day. Focus on your positive accomplishments. Consider how many opportunities you had to better yourself physically and emotionally. Notice the change in the loved ones around you and how all of your daily duties seemed less dreadful and just maybe a bit more delightful.

Valorie Ness is the owner of Catalyst Fitness in Midtown. catalystfitness.com

By Tim Sullivan

“39 is the new 40.” I heard these words come out of my mouth a couple of weeks ago as I tried to explain how my body feels these days. My New Year’s realization is that 2012 will be the year I turn 40 and I can only blame so much on having two young children. My friend Tony mentioned the other night that, of all of our friends, I have taken the longest to turn 40 and this will be the year that I will put his confusing sentiment to rest.

Don’t let the fresh faced photo next to my byline fool you. Like most columnists I had that taken back in the 1980’s when I was singing backup for Dexy’s Midnight Runners…  No, the 2011 me was hobbled by chronic calf injuries which was a bitter pill to swallow whilst chronicling the accomplishments of the incredible amateur athletes I’ve featured in this space.  I’m not saying my days of buying green bananas are over, but I can bid a fond farewell to any road race PR’s and my basketball techniques will involve less athleticism and decidedly more cheating.

So back to the calf injuries. As they consistently resurfaced throughout the year I felt like not only was Father Time showing up but he was ticked off and looking for an overdue rent payment. Being that the injury was in both legs foretold a particular doom.  It wasn’t just the calves.

My physical therapist Carl is a bald, goateed, giant of a man who probably should be availing the Atlanta Falcons of his pain-inflicting services but for now he seems to be content with me. According to Carl (who I tend to agree with because I’m afraid not to) the muscle tears in my calves are just a manifestation of a general body malaise, kind of like the “brain cloud” suffered by Tom Hank’s character in the movie Joe versus the Volcano. Like Joe, I prepared myself to be shipped off to a remote island where indigenous people led by a painted up Abe Vigoda would sacrifice me to an active volcano in return for a lifetime supply of orange soda.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, Carl has deep-tissue massaged (or “Rolfed” for the initiated) every muscle in my lower body. I’ve even undergone a couple of sessions of “Dry Needling,” which is a last resort effort to get a tight or aggravated muscle to release and it involves a huge man sticking a needle deep into the offending muscle. It hurts.  Sadly, the Rolfing hurts even more.

According to Carl, it was the tightness and underperforming leg muscles that have led to the calf injuries. The calves were being asked to do too much when I was running or performing the various boot camp-like exercises I subjected myself to and they’ve staged a revolt I’ve termed “Occupy Tim.” I don’t know exactly what their point is but I’m pretty sure they are right.

My Gluteus muscles have been designated by Carl as the most guilty in the grand landscape of my failing, soon-to-be-40 year old body. They just aren’t holding up their end of the bargain so he has me doing a series of exercises stolen from a Golden Girls episode to wake those butt muscles up. I do them at work. Some people stare.

Unable to run off calories I’ve taken a hard look at my diet. After a particularly gluttonous Thanksgiving weekend I decided to give this gluten-free diet a try.

It must make sense, right! In a nutshell (because nuts are ok) this diet called for eschewing bread, pasta, cereal, beer and crackers. These are perhaps my five favorite items on the menu. I thought if I could really avoid these things for a month, I’d be so wafer thin that Christian Bale would be shadowing my every move to play the guy that got wafer thin on the gluten-free diet in a blockbuster movie coming soon to a theater near you.

I lost about four pounds. Turns out they make all sorts of gluten-free products for folks who actually have a gluten intolerance that pretty much fills up the space you left behind by not eating Cheez-its. My wife Kristen has offered that perhaps I should avoid “Nut Thins” and the like and to stop eating deli ham by the fistful.  At least I get wiser as I get older.  And that’s what I’m looking forward to–enlightenment (and tweed jackets with elbow patches)! At least until dementia sets in.

Happy New Year, folks!  More amazing amateur athlete stories to come.

By Tim Sullivan

Last month, Virginia Highland resident Allie Schellhammer took top honors in the women’s division at the annual Cabbagetown Romp and Stomp 5K.  Days later she gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Charlotte.  Here she does her best to convince me that this is not amazing stuff.  I am not fully convinced.

When I told my wife Kristen (and mother of our two) that the woman who won the race was nine months pregnant her response was something along the lines of “Wha’?  How?  With that belly?  How?”   So in practical terms, umm, how do you do it?

Spanx. No just kidding. I’m going to claim genetics – my mom only gained 17 pounds while pregnant with me and my twin. I’m lucky to carry my babies in a manner that is very conducive to running and for the most part, I don’t notice the belly at all.

What does your doctor advise with regards to competitive running during pregnancy?  Because let’s face it – pregnancy is about the best reason in the history of mankind to waddle around, eat ice cream and demand back rubs.

That’s what my husband Joel always tells me. And then, in the next breath, he tells me I should definitely try to defend my title and win a race.  As I’m sure a lot of people read when the Chicago runner completed the Chicago Marathon and then gave birth seven hours later, it’s completely fine to maintain the workout regimen you had prior to pregnancy. But please don’t take my answer as a medical license to do something crazy – talk to your doctor first!

There were 600 women registered for this race and maybe a few others were pregnant. Maybe.  But none of them, young, old or knocked up ran it in 20 minutes flat like you did!  Have you been able to perform at this level through all three pregnancies?

We actually had three miscarriages before we had our oldest daughter so I was pretty cautious while pregnant with her and only did a few races. Nine months later I was pregnant with our second daughter and had just joined the Atlanta Track Club’s competitive team. I raced at least once a month and actually had one of my fastest ever half-marathon times (1:24) while 27-weeks pregnant. With this pregnancy, though, I’ve trained a lot with my double jogging stroller. This baby has raced with me the most and I’ve probably been the fastest with her – the debate is always if she crossed the line first or if I did.

Joel keeps a great pace as well and is a consistent winner in our “Stroller Division” which means your daughters Catherine and Caroline have played a part in claiming victory too. How does the Schellhammer family find time to get exercise in?

Joel travels a lot so the girls are my best training partners. We try to combine longer training runs with naptime so they’re not bored. Add in a few fun landmark destination runs (Centennial Olympic Fountains, the Aquarium, Zoo and Children’s Museum) and it keeps them happy. I love that they get fresh air while we take our adventures through the city. My revised goal on hills is to run just fast enough so my oldest doesn’t ask, “Why are we walking?”

And just how long (or short) after giving birth do you expect to be back out getting your miles in?

Mentally, I’d be ready as soon as I leave the hospital, but physically I think it will be at least three weeks before I’m doing anything (and we’re talking slow three to four mile jaunts at a time). Doctors recommend you wait six weeks and I might take them up on it this time around. I hear the transition to three kids is crazy!

In mid-October, my friend Mike Benzie posted on his Facebook page “Took 3rd overall in the Monster Dash 5k in Grant Park.  2nd in the non-pregnant division.” Does your performance improve when you aren’t pregnant?

Ha! The crazy thing is my times aren’t that much faster when I’m not pregnant. I really think that my body reacts to pregnancy like “blood doping” – all the extra blood from the baby coursing through my veins actually helps. I hope that training with a triple jogger (yes, they make them and yes, we own one!) will help me reach some new PRs.

By Tim Sullivan

Nathan Bolster will rise in the wee, dark hours of the morning on Nov. 5 to help set up one of Atlanta’s favorite festivals and then he’ll lace his running shoes up for the 8 a.m. start.  He’ll cross the finish line in the 6th annual Romp and Stomp 5k in roughly 18:30, and then he’ll settle in for a full day of festival volunteerism.

Just how heavy sits the crown of being Cabbagetown’s Fastest Man, 2009-2010?
While it is a very geographically constrained title it is still a great responsibility. Hard to walk the streets of Cabbagetown without whispers and comment in my wake.

You will defend your title at the Romp and Stomp 5k on Nov. 5.  What’s the latest on (2008 winner) Jim Prible’s secretive, midnight workout routine?
What??!!  I thought there was a curfew in Cabbagetown due to the graffiti ordinance.  No matter – I get my workouts in chasing my daughter’s (Livia, 5) “two wheeler.”  That should be sufficient.

What year did you move to Cabbagetown and in what ways would you say it has changed for the better?
I moved here in 2000.  There are more services and activities.  We can get a pizza delivered, buy wine legally, grow organic vegetables, meet neighbors at the community center and send our kids to a preschool across the park.  None of that existed when I first moved here.

And for the worse?
We’ve lost a lot of great people that knew the roots of the neighborhood.  Their spirits live on, but I do miss seeing those that gave Cabbagetown its edge and knew its history. There are still characters around but they are not as abundant as before.

What is it about the Cabbagetown aesthetic that just begs for its picture to be taken?
Cabbagetown beckons artists. It is tight, urban, relatively inexpensive and full of weirdos. Perfect!  Cabbagetown is a mix of the other side of the tracks and the fresh and hip. It makes me smile to see Facebook pics from the Krog tunnel.

You were part of the small group of neighbors that started the uber-popular Chomp and Stomp Festival some nine years ago (chompandstomp.com ).  Did you ever imagine it would become so big?  I’ve been telling friends to show up two days early to make sure they get a good spot in the park.
The first year we were going to be happy with 100 neighbors showing up and we got 1,000 (from all over Atlanta).  The festival was over in four hours because we ran out of everything. Now we need satellites to get an accurate count.  We knew we had something really special immediately and I have thought from year two that our battle would be to keep it small and familiar.

I’m wondering how, after all those years of chili and beer, you’ve actually gotten faster?
Running has been my mainstay since age 5. Triathlons are the hot thing now and I love all three challenges and trying to string them together but they are seasonal and I do not like cold water. So for fall and winter, Cyclocross is taking my energy. Nothing like a bunch of bike dorks going as hard as they can for 45 minutes in dirt, sand, and obstacles for a spare tube or the like as a prize (georgia-cross.com)

And while I know nothing compares to the glory achieved on the streets of Cabbagetown, any PR’s or other accolades you can share with us from all of your efforts?
The Romp and Stomp was a big one –  that was my fastest 5k time since high school.  I’ve got some half-ironman efforts that I am proud of but truthfully I want a strong full ironman race to my credit and then you will hear some serious shouting from the rooftops.

If the Chomp and Stomp is a triathlon, what are the three main achievements all attendees need to go home having completed?
Romp and Stomp 5k (run for glory), Taste Chili (swim the sea of people), Enjoy Beer/Music (bike home)

Runners and non-runners alike will enjoy an afternoon of festivities from noon to 3 p.m. including live music, food and family fun provided by Atlanta firefighters, Doc Chey’s and other Morningside Village businesses. Race registration ends Oct. 10, but space is limited, so register soon before racenumbers are sold-out. Register in-store at Phidippides or online at MorningsideMile.com.

The first 500 registrants will receive a technical race hat and all other registrants will receive a cotton T-shirt. Guests can celebrate Doc Chey’s 14th anniversary by competing in the 4th annual Noodle Eating Contest at 1:30 p.m. The fastest speed-eater to conquer a heaping bowl of noodles will win a $100 gift card.  At 2 p.m., attendees can watch neighborhood schools and nonprofits compete for a donation check in the Charity Sumo Tournament.

Other block party festivities include a live band, pet adoptions, craft market, local merchants, bouncy house, face painter, charity dunk tank and more. Kids can enjoy fire safety activities with station 19 firefighters in celebration of October being National Fire Safety Month. Bring your well behaved leashed dog to Intown Animal Hospital for $10 nail trims benefiting a local animal shelter and other doggie fun. Food provided by Doc Chey’s and other Morningside Village restaurants. Last year’s inaugural Morningside Mile raised $6,000 for Atlanta fire station 19 in Virginia Highland.

Now commemorating 21 years, AIDS Walk Atlanta & 5K Run continues to raise the much needed funds for organizations throughout the metro-Atlanta area that provide essential programs and services to men, women and children who are infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

With the support and dedication of teams and corporate sponsors, the event raised $920,000 during its 2010 campaign

To take part in the event, register at aidswalkatlanta.com (individuals, families and teams welcome). Runners are then encouraged to raise money online to support their run. The cost to register is $25 per runner through Oct. 15 at noon online. After that registration will be on-site from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for $40.

Participants are encouraged to take MARTA and no pets, strollers, or inline skates will be allowed due to city ordinances.

How can you participate in Car-Free Day? Make a commitment to reduce your automobile use on Sept. 21. That might mean biking or riding MARTA to work, walking to the store or the Blue Sky Concert, sharing a ride with friends and neighbors, or riding the bus.

Car-Free Day aims to reduce excessive automobile use for one day out of the year and to remind the community that the care is not the only or bet way to make many kinds of trips. Most trips people take are less than three miles. Walking not only saves gas, but it contributes to your health and the health of the community.