Who: Charlie Bretz, 65, Colton; 5 feet 10 inches; 165 pounds.

Workout: In 2000, Bretz quit smoking, cut down on alcohol, cleaned up his diet and started running.

He now has five Portland Marathons under his belt, and he qualified for the Boston Marathon with 51 seconds to spare.

At his heaviest, he weighed 230.

He starts his day, five days a week, with 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and some stretching.

Olivia Bucks/The OregonianJackie Dingfelder

Who: Jackie Dingfelder, 47, Portland; 5 feet 2 inches, 110 pounds

Workout: Dingfelder, D-East Portland, a former House member, is newly elected to the Oregon Senate representing District 23. When not working in the Legislature she's an environmental planning consultant.

Brent Wojahn/The OregonianMaxine Henderson

Workout: Henderson is an early bird who shows up faithfully five mornings a week at East Side Athletic. On Mondays and Wednesdays she takes an hourlong step aerobics class that might also include free weights, jump ropes, push-ups and squats. Tuesdays and Thursdays she takes a group power class that includes free weights as well. Fridays are treadmill day; she does two to four miles.

After her gym workout she heads to Clackamas Town Center for some mall walking. She does a couple of miles and sets a pretty fast pace.

Always physically active, Henderson met her husband of 55 years, Ron, at the Oaks Park roller-skating rink. They and their three children became diehard campers and water-skiers.

Henderson recently hiked to the top of Colorado's Pike's Peak.

Feedback? "I'm miserable if I don't exercise. I have to have it; it's like a drug. My day goes straight downhill if I don't." Her efforts have paid off in general good health and her doctor's admiration.

Nutrition: Henderson eats lightly in the morning, half an energy bar before her workout. Afterward, she has oatmeal or yogurt with cereal mixed in. She rarely eats red meat or sweets. Her husband is diabetic and they eat lightly in general: fish and fowl, fruits and vegetables and pasta. She drinks decaf, lots of water and very little alcohol.

Henderson takes a lot of supplements, including all the alphabet vitamins plus calcium, glucosamine, omega 3 and more. She also takes apple cider vinegar in pill form. Because of the sheer volume she takes half her supplements before exercising and half after.

If you'd like to share your workout with readers -- or know someone whose workout you'd like to read about -- send name, age, daytime phone number and workout details to Nancy Dow, My Workout, The Oregonian, 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 or by e-mail to nancydow@
news.oregonian.com. We encourage one or two recent, high-quality digital photos sent as JPEG attachments.

Brent Wojahn/The OregonianDylan Madenski figures he spends 90 minutes a day on his fixed-gear bike.

Workout: Madenski, an EMT, spent two years in the Peace Corps in China's Guizhou Province. His first purchase there was a bike, and that remains his preferred mode of transportation. His commuter triangle includes Clackamas, where his full-time job is based; PSU, where he takes pre-med classes four mornings a week; and Northeast Portland, where he lives. He's on his fixed-gear bike 90 minutes a day.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Madenski lifts weights at home for 45 minutes and always follows with some yoga for flexibility. He tries to practice yoga other days as well and has gym rings at home for pull-ups. He worked part time on a river rescue team during the summer and on a couple of occasions had to pull someone out of the water.

The question: "What can I do to make sure I'm healthy when I'm 80?" is a question that guides Madenski. He transports a lot of frail elderly people who have broken bones. One of his goals as an EMT is to be able to lift twice his body weight. He wants to maintain bone density and flexibility and, in his dreams, would have "abs you can wash clothes on." He also wants to be a doctor, perhaps in emergency medicine.

Nutrition: He says the best food he's ever had was in China, though he had a hard time finding brown rice there. Madenski eats a lot of produce, nuts and lean meat. Breakfast might be yogurt with fruit, cottage cheese or steel-cut oatmeal. He eats lots of salads, stir-frys and steamed fish. He might have wild rice or a sandwich now and then but otherwise is not big on grains. He and his work partner keep nuts and dried fruit in their ambulance for snacking. He takes a multivitamin, fish oil and selenium and would take his coffee in an IV if he could. His downfalls are fried chicken and good beer.

If you'd like to share your workout with readers send name, age, daytime phone number and workout details to Nancy Dow, My Workout, The Oregonian, 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 or by e-mail to nancydow@news.oregonian.com. We encourage one or two recent, high-quality digital photos sent as JPEG attachments.

Who: Jessica Swartz Amezcua, 36, Portland; 5 feet 6 inches, 155 pounds.

Workout: Amezcua is a former bike commuter and ultimate Frisbee player who now has three children. Two to three evenings a week she takes them to the Beaverton YMCA, which she likes for the racquetball program. There's child care for her 3-year-old and a kids' program for her older children. She plays racquetball for two hours but will happily play longer when she can.

Benjamin Brink/The OregonianIqbal Kana lifts 55-pound dumbbells at Riverplace Athletic gym.

Who: Iqbal Kana, 49, Portland; 5 feet 5 inches, 128 pounds.

Workout: Kana, originally from India, is a massage therapist with a practice in Johns Landing. A former skier and squash player, he works out at Riverplace Athletic about five days a week for an hour or more. He stretches and lifts free weights; he also practices yoga a couple of times a month. Almost every morning he runs Portland's bridges for 2 to 2 1/2 miles, and most weekends he hikes in the Gorge or Forest Park.

Brent Wojahn/The OregonianCycling is one way Ted Allison of West Linn keeps fit.

Type AAA: Allison, 51, a teaching and performing pianist, describes himself as a very competitive triple-Type A. He works out twice a day, seven days. He's been running since he was 16, and he took up biking in April.

Cassandra Cleveland works out seven days a week.

Workout: Cleveland, who works out seven days a week, manages a Bally's Kids Club. She runs 3 1/2 miles every morning unless rain drives her indoors and onto a treadmill.

Mike Cunningham incorporates a balance of cardio, strength training and core exercises each week.

Workout: Cunningham is a physician assistant at the Portland Clinic's Tigard location, specializing in orthopedics. A former runner, he works out four to five days a week for 75 minutes, always warming up and stretching first.

Thi Mai recently completed the 154-mile "Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day."

Workout: Thi Mai, who works for the Bureau of Land Management, is getting ready to ride Cycle Oregon, as she did last year. She'll be easy to spot on her custom-made, bright orange, yellow and green bike. She recently completed the 154-mile Ramrod, which stands for "Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day."

Who: John McKee, 52, Portland; 6 feet, 7 inches; 225 pounds.

No regrets: McKee, an All-American basketball player once tried out for the Reno Bighorns -- an event former Trail Blazer coach Jack Ramsey helped set up -- but he didn't make it. His life went a different direction.

Motoya Nakamura / The OregonianDot Beland's secret is two workouts a day.

Who: Dot Beland, 84, Portland; 5 feet, 6 1/2 inches; 140 pounds

Daily doubles: Beland, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner, works out twice a day at Holladay Park Plaza, where she lives. In the afternoons she spends 30 to 45 minutes on the treadmill with a book ("It's too boring otherwise"). A really good book will keep her treading longer. Her morning workout is 45 to 90 minutes and includes lots of variety.

Brent Wojahn / The OregonianStaci MacCorkle (left) joins Emily Roth for a walking session at Tom McCall Waterfront park in Portland.

Close call: Roth, a natural resource planner for Portland Parks & Recreation, is a birder and world traveler. On a trip to Alaska in the mid-'90s she was on Blackstone Bay photographing a harbor seal from her kayak.

Steven Nehl / The OregonianCorbin Willis Jr. has found success with a short workout routine each day.

Military service: Willis is a World War II and Korean War veteran who flew 79 total missions. He was a POW during World War II.

Who: Donna Behrens, 82, Woodburn; 5 foot 3, 118 pounds

Background: If anyone deserves the title of survivor, it's Behrens. She's handled five bouts with three kinds of cancer and at least eight surgeries. She smoked for 20 years but it wasn't until 20 years after she quit that lung cancer hit. She now has a total of one lung and has survived thyroid cancer and melanoma.

In addition, she lost one of her sons to a brain hemorrhage at 13, and her first husband died of colon cancer. Behrens also has had surgery for a torn retina and two spinal surgeries for benign tumors.