Michael Fassnacht doesn’t really do rest days. The 58-year-old is up around 5 a.m., fits in a workout before his job starts, and, by his own estimate, logs about two hours of podcast listening a day, often while cycling or exercising. Sitting still hasn’t defined his career, either. The German-born marketing executive made his bones at the ad agency FCB Chicago before being tapped as the city’s first chief marketing officer and the president of World Business Chicago, its economic development arm. These days he’s back in the private sector as a regional president and chief growth officer for the real estate development and construction giant Clayco. Fitness is where Fassnacht gets away from all that. A former marathon runner whose knees eventually vetoed the habit, he has traded long runs for swimming — a sport he used to hate — and other lower-impact pursuits. The adjustments are deliberate. “It’s not about getting old, it’s about growing old,” he says. “Growing old is active. Getting old is passive.”
Into the Deep
“Swimming is a lot about breathing. It has a meditative quality. Five years ago, I became an open-water swimmer. The pool is more of a workout; if you swim in the lake or the ocean, it’s more spiritual. You’re out there in the water and realize you’re really tiny. It grounds you. But you have to respect the lake. It’s a very tricky body of water. I swim with a float, and I don’t swim if the waves are over four feet.”
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Divvy Up
“I have a gravel bike and some nice road bikes, but they’re too expensive to leave at the beach. So I take a Divvy there, put my phone [in my float], swim, and then get back on a Divvy. It’s phenomenal. I took a Divvy back from a board meeting this morning. People are like, ‘You’re a business executive. You’re on a Divvy?’ I live and work in the Loop. To get around, it’s the smartest thing.”
Pause button
“My wife is a mindfulness and yoga teacher. Meditation isn’t just an exercise you do; it’s how you live your life. I do shorter meditations throughout the day to get grounded. You can do it for 10 seconds in your office chair or walking from point A to B, conscious of how you walk. It’s more fluid for me the older I get.”
Kelly Aiglon is a freelance writer and contributing Found editor for Chicago magazine.