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 Pinkhouse:
Pals Outside Workouts continued...
Then there are "Princess," Estelle Gray, 53, and "Super Mom,"
her mother, Doris Gray, 80. Camerer is called "Pinkhouse"
for obvious reasons. Edwards is "Head Heart," because the
workout regimen is patented from her fitness company, Heart
Zones.
Filling out the lineup on this day are Jim and Collette Rhoads,
Edwards' 50-something neighbors and recent fitness converts;
Jennifer Farrar, 29, the mother of a 1-year-old; Betty Hill,
81, a longtime member of the Buffalo Chips running club; Sherry
Lowery, 38, who read a blurb about the gym in River Park's
community newsletter; and Duffy, Doris Gray's yellow Labrador
retriever who mostly remains impassive throughout.
Unlike many neighborhoods, where the blue glow of the TV behind
closed curtains is the only thing people have in common, this
group interacts. Even the shy ones.
"We do things for one another," Doris Gray says. "We have
a Christmas party and baby showers. You can ask these people
to do anything for you and they'd help."
Some neighbors even have a shared custody arrangement with
Duffy, who originally belonged to "Tenacious," a.k.a. gym
member Cheryl Summers, then went to Edwards, and now serves
as a companion for Doris Gray.
They all pitch in at the gym. Edwards and Camerer have provided
the wind trainers and the heart-rate-monitoring technology.
Neighbors stock Camerer's refrigerator with water and electrolyte-
replacement drinks and take turns tidying the space. The Rhoadses
built racks to store the wind trainers and installed the fluorescent
lighting in what used to be a dingy dwelling.
Edwards, something of a fitness evangelist, doesn't go so
far as to shame the neighbors into getting fit. She can, however,
be dogged and persuasive. Each year, at the Sacramento Fourth
of July parade, Edwards rents a flatbed truck and sets Camerer
and other Pinkhouse riders on it, pedaling wind trainers for
the entire parade route.
And, in the case of the Rhoadses, just living next to Edwards
and watching her seemingly indefatigable lifestyle eventually
wore them down and spurred them to purchase road bikes and
join Pinkhouse in March 2007.
"Sally and Princess kept asking us," Jim says. "... We weren't,
at that time, that athletic. We did a lot of outdoors stuff,
but not the running and cycling we saw Sally doing. Initially,
I said, 'Nah.' It looked like a lot of exercise."
Collette Rhoads recalls sitting on her porch with Jim in the
mornings, drinking coffee and watching Edwards "go out running
and come back all sweaty and then go out cycling, come back
and wash the car and move on to another activity."
Since giving in to Edwards' entreaties, the Rhoadses have
progressed to where they are entering running races and going
out for 50-mile bike rides.
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