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Pedal pusher likes to keep things moving
LORRI SUGHROUE
McCook Daily Gazette
McCOOK, Nebraska --Travi Rambali likes to push the limits -- of herself.
The self-avowed exercise devotee bikes about 400 miles per month in the summer and runs two to four times a week. She also likes to do weight training, plays volleyball and tries fits in at least one exercise class a week at the YMCA.
Then, there's home schooling her kids - Tyler, 17, Devin, 16, Riley, 14 and Peyton, 11. In between this, she also fits in the housework, grocery shopping and making meals, with help from her family.
"I joke that I have ADD, that I can't sit still," Rambali said. "If I take a day off, I don't feel good, I feel yucky. I like to keep moving." But Rambali added that she tries to keep a balance between workouts and everything else and doesn't take her health for granted. "A healthy body will give you a healthy mind, then everything else falls into place."
Originally from Stapleton, Nebraska, she's also not afraid of a little adventure: she met her husband, Darcy, the first day of school at Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division. Both served in the Army in the first Gulf War during 1990-91.
"Parachuting in the Army is different than doing it recreationally," she said. "You have your ruck sack and other equipment, so there's a little more to it."
But Rambali doesn't see herself as a Superwoman. Instead, she sees her active lifestyle as a way to release stress and be good to herself.
"Women get used to taking care of everyone else and sometimes we lose a part of ourselves when we're always doing that," she said. "And moms feel guilty when they want to do something for themselves. But exercise makes you feel good, it builds self confidence. It helps you find a part of yourself you didn't know you had."
It wasn't always like that. In her 20's, she kept busy raising her four kids, when getting fit wasn't really a priority. Around 2005, when she and a friend happened to watch an "Oprah" show about bootcamp exercising, she got on board, lost 25 pounds and felt great.
She started walking a lot, when a friend asked her to go biking. "Even though I had a terrible bike, I still had fun," Rambali said. "The next weekend, we bought a better bike."
She's been biking ever since. Although Rambali runs at least twice a week, biking is still her favorite as it works all the muscles and is less jarring than running, she said.
It also helps builds her faith, Rambali said, as she likes to take God with her on the rides. It's kind of spiritual experience, she said, as she watches the scenery fly by.
"I talk to God, or pray," she said. "I thank him for the beauty around me, or pray for friends and family."
Whether by herself or with other biking enthusiasts, Rambali said on her bike she sees things in nature she would otherwise miss, like a raccoon quietly watching her from a ditch, or a deer stopping suddenly at the side of the road. "I get to see some amazing things, there's always something to tell the kids when I get home."
Although exercise is a big part of who she is, Rambali said she still has "those days." When that happens, she gets out of the problem and into the solution.
"If I'm super grouchy, I grab my purse, hit the Y and get it out of my system," she laughed.