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Live Well, Lead Well: Kyle Cavanaugh

The Working@Duke series profiles leaders at Duke who balance work and life

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Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke's vice president for administration, makes running an important part of his daily routine. Photo by Duke Photography

Working@Duke is profiling leaders at Duke who maintain work-life balance and lead well by living well. Healthy habits boost mood and energy and combat diseases, which can also reduce healthcare costs for you and Duke as a whole.

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Through exercise or other behaviors, these leaders are role models.

Name: Kyle CavanaughPosition: Duke vice president for administration Regimen: I’ve run every day for over 35 years. Because my days start early in the morning and go into the evening, I find that if I don’t run very early in the morning, it doesn’t get done. I get up at about 4, and from 4 to 5, I try to clear out emails from the night before, do any non-work related reading if I need to, and try to get on the road sometime between 5 and 5:30. I’ve been doing that through all the seasons. I’ve tried to do a moderate distance run Monday through Friday and go a little bit longer on weekends. If I’m injured, I’ll use a stationary bike. Wellness mantra: I’ve had a very strong family history of health issues, predominantly cancer. I believe there is a linkage to staying active and keeping yourself healthy and prolonging, not necessarily your life, but the quality of your life. I truly believe that by staying physically active, it’s preventative medicine. Top health and wellness goals: This year is about trying to explore, more deliberately, different modalities. I’m riding bikes a lot more than I have in the past five years. The other is to resume a regular swimming routine. How a healthy lifestyle affects my work: My meeting schedule tomorrow goes from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and then picks back up again at 8 p.m. for a Duke Kunshan University call. That’s not out of the norm. I’m fortunate that I’ve been a pretty high-energy person throughout my life, but I believe that staying healthy and attempting to stay well helps to contribute to that capacity. Taking care of yourself is a really personal investment and has dividends for your family, the well-being of your circle and the people who you work with.Biggest fitness accomplishment: It’s been a blast to have run the Boston Marathon a couple of times and the New York City Marathon a couple of times. Those were a lot of fun, but they’re milestones in this lifetime pursuit of staying active. Advice: It’s to experiment or try to find what works for you. There’s not one single exercise. With demands on time, especially those with family responsibilities and if you have a commute or you’re going to school, it becomes difficult to fit exercise into a busy schedule. But trying to keep it as high on your priority list as you can is something everybody needs to give some time to think about.