By Sam Altstein, DO

Over the years I have developed a variety of ways to try and inspire my patients to lead healthier lives. Towards this end, I often speak about how my own personal healthy eating and exercise habits have combined to augment my health as much as my happiness.

While my life as a New Yorker over the past 15 years has grown more enriching, it has also grown more complicated to the point where it has become difficult for me to find the time to exercise and train the way I am used to doing. In addition to being a father, husband and busy physician, I am also a frequent marathoner and triathlete. As my life moved forward I started to feel that there just weren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done! So, quite organically, I began to combine my commute with my work-out routine and I now have a number of beautiful running and cycling routes from my home in Brooklyn to my office in Chelsea

My original goal of multi-tasking my commute with my training, however, yielded so much more than just being fit and prepared for a long race. I now have an enhanced, personal relationship with my city. I have seen her at all times and in all conditions, year-round, day and night. My travels on foot or bicycle have opened my eyes to farmers markets filled with organic, locally grown produce, interesting restaurants, museums and sites to tell my friends and family about that I otherwise wouldn’t have known existed. My personal favorite part of the trip is crossing the Manhattan Bridge. At dawn I see the fiery sunrise over Brooklyn and Queens and at dusk, the fading light over the East River reflects off of the buildings of lower Manhattan and the rising Freedom Tower which gives me energy to push my way home and return to work the next day, inspired to share my experiences with my patients.