This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.
There’s a good chance on this Monday morning that you have a little bit of an Olympic hangover after opening weekend of the 2012 games in London. Yes, sports fans, they have arrived! After all the qualifiers, prelims, and other drama (security debacle anyone?), the torch has been passed and the highly anticipated amateur sporting event has begun.
Did you watch the opening ceremonies? Was it what you expected?
Our blog is full of articles that talk about ways to stay well, tips for getting in more exercise, ideas for getting the most out of our staff in your corporate fitness center or retirement community fitness center, etc. And if you're reading regularly, you've probably read the recommendation that adults get 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise each week.
Did you know that, depending on the sport, many Olympians train anywhere from 3-5 hours per day with typically only one day of rest? Eighteen to 30 hours per week! That really puts my struggle to get a 30 minute run into perspective!
I heard a story recently about the history of the games, and, it turns out that the Greeks originally intended the games to focus on more than just body. They believed that the mind was an important part of the games. So there used to be (wait for it) poetry competitions as part of the games! Who knew?!
Why, you ask, is poetry no longer part of this globally loved tradition? Ironically, globalization of the games made it harder for translation of submitted poems to be effective, and, according to Olympics organizers, quality was also an issue. Poetry fell out of the games in the 1948 Olympics.
We've returned to London for the 30th Olympiad, and I'm on the edge of my seat for what great stories will surface about the amateur athletes around the globe who've come together in London in pursue of the gold. In the Olympic spirit, I’ve left my own poem below about the games. (I’m more of an athlete than I am a poet…thank goodness!) 
Roses are red
Violets…hooray!
It’s time for the Olympics
Go USA!
If you’re moved by the ceremony, the athleticism, the purity of the games, take a stab at your own Olympic-sized poem in the comment section below. If poetry isn't your thing, play our Olympic trivia challenge on our Facebook page.