Karen Clark, 49
Knoxville, Tennessee
Loves: Rowing
Sports were never Karen Clark’s thing as a kid. But when, in her early 40s, she couldn’t budge a large flowerpot, the computer consultant and married mom of two started to long for muscles. Clark hired a personal trainer and enjoyed the workouts, but was looking for more. Then he had her try a rowing machine, and she liked it enough to sign up for a three-day workshop on the Tennessee River. She came home a changed woman.
“You’re working with a team, and everyone’s focused on the same goal. The sun’s coming up over the water. And I’m thinking, ‘I want to do this as often as I can,’” she says.
Clark now rows three times a week, typically in a shell with eight other women. “When a row goes well, you’ve pushed yourself beyond what you thought you could do. That is exhilarating,” she says.
Now, not only is Clark able to move her own flowerpots, but she’s gone from a size 12 to a size 8. The sport has also brought Clark closer to her daughters, Isabel, 20, and Olivia, 17, who delight in cheering her on. “When your children tell you they’re proud of you, that’s great stuff,” she says.
By Dorothy Foltz-Gray
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