Athletic pursuits: a personal history

This picture says everything about my childhood view of sports: the facial expression, the  glove on the wrong hand, the insistence on carrying a hot pink tote bag.

Lately I've seen a lot of posts and pictures on Facebook of friends' kids playing soccer.  At work, I see kids grudgingly jumping rope in gym, and it makes me smile and reminds me of my own uncoordinated youth. I have so many fond memories of my non-athleticism throughout the years. The idea for this post originated from wanting to record what I'm able to remember, and also see how my perceptions have changed over time. So it's a long, long post. Sorry. You can stop reading now if you want. (This also took me about a month to finish, so I figured it needed to be published.) Anyway, I had fun sporting it up even though I was generally terrible. If it isn't fun on some level, then why bother?

Elementary school:
No interest in P.E. or sports whatsoever. I would've gladly sat in the bleachers and read my Sweet Valley Twins or Babysitters Club books and left the gym floor to the kids who actually wanted to be there. I was the classic kid who got picked last for dodgeball and had the other team break me at Red Rover. This didn't traumatize me. It was just part of the natural order, and I accepted my place in it. I dreaded playing basketball, volleyball, or anything with objects flying towards my head. Once, we did one of those Presidential P.E. challenges, and we had to do pull-ups. I remember seeing the pull-up bar and thinking, "Are they serious?"

Everyone knows the point of Field Day is to hang out with your friends on the bleachers.

More grown up, but not really. 

On field days, they held 50 yard dashes, and some kids would get so into it. It was mystifying. How is dry heaving in the grass after sprinting fun? One sport I recall enjoying was field hockey--which we played in the gym. (Honestly, only after watching field hockey during the Olympics did I remember liking it!)

Softball:
I randomly played softball during 7th or 8th grade. This was around the time schools began allowing any student who wanted to participate do so. I was more interested in hanging out with my friend Erin and playing catch with her during warm-up. Erin, however, was 1) pretty good at softball, and 2) actually knew the rules. Our team consisted of 90% of the girls in the class, so I was like the 5th-string rightfielder. I was okay with it since I preferred chilling in the dugout anyway.

Tennis:
During freshman year of high school, I carpooled with my friends Leigh Ann and April, who played tennis. Despite not ever having played the sport, let alone know the rules, I joined the team. We had to wear short, pleated white skirts with huge pockets meant to hold extra tennis balls. I remember being told to follow through on my stroke because I swung the racket like a fly swatter.

I liked going to practices and hitting balls from the machine that spits them out. Now I drive by the tennis courts on the way to Target all the time. Seeing matches through the chain link fences reminds me of those cool fall afternoons.

Track:
As a junior at IC, I drove myself and my then-freshman sister Christina to and from school. She joined the softball team, and I'd spend afternoons bored in the lobby/break area thing by the gym while she was at practice. So I decided to do track. (By now, tryouts for any sport were apparently an obsolete idea?) I should not have been allowed on the track team, because I was terrible. My event was the 800 meters.  I remember the coach telling me this, and I didn't know how far 800 meters was on a track. Actually did not  know until Zach explained (like in 2008) that one lap around is 400 meters.  "You mean I was supposed to run twice around the track?!! Ohhhh..."

This was at  a Latin convention, not a real track meet. The girl in the jeans tipped me off. And I'm in a relay! Lord help us all.

Despite my complete lack of interest in actually running, I enjoyed going to track meets, watching the cute  guys, and just being on the team. I held the starting blocks for the fast girl during meets. Should've been made the team manager and called it a day.

Soccer:

Forever 17!

Of all the sporty things I've ever done, soccer was the. most. fun. I loved running around on grass, wearing shin guards and the socks pulled up to my knees (still have the socks and wear them when it's cold!), going to practices, eating oranges at games, linking arms with my teammates to "build a wall," the whole experience. Plus I thought if I ran around hard enough, it would mask the fact that I didn't fully understand the rules. I remember one teammate (Jamie!) took time to explain the positions to me. It was fun being teammates with my sister, playing a sport I actually enjoyed, and being a senior in high school with the future wide open and full of possibilities.

Taekwondo:
Sometime during high school, Christina and I studied taekwondo because my dad wanted us to learn how to defend ourselves. My favorite things about taekwondo were doing drills on the pads or the wavemaster, and practicing the patterns. I was hot and cold with the sparring--I didn't like getting kicked or punched, but sure as hell enjoyed doing the hitting and punching. They stressed the point of martial arts was to practice self control, not to start wailing on people randomly. I thought it made me more aggressive. I'd like to do taekwondo again, but without the sparring. Just drilling and patterns. Like tae bo. I should do tae bo.

Yoga:
Not a sport, but I started doing yoga in college and it's the only thing I've stuck with consistently. It all began with a Crunch yoga VHS, which Christina and I did on the carpet without mats. Then I took classes at Midtown Yoga. I met Arline, who is my yoga teacher to this day. She's a total pretzel and I can't do anything she does, but I love her anyway. I also took classes at the UofM from a super creepy instructor to fulfill the PE requirement. Do colleges still require PE? Anyway, I love yoga. Always have, always will! I am not-secretly a hippie at heart.

I have met some of the coolest people through yoga. Including my wedding photographer, Melissa! (She's the one who looks like Hilary Swank.) 

St. Jude Half-Marathon, 2005:
Possibly the most random decision I've ever made, to run a half marathon. The girl who hates running decides to run 13. My friend Amanda was running it and asked me to train with her. Having nothing else happening, I agreed, then signed up a week later. Might as well get the t-shirt for all that work! We started training on the Mississippi River greenbelt trail, running to a trashcan, walking to the next one, etc. The day I was able to run the entire length of the trail was huge.

Special day.

I was so excited and nervous the morning of the race. I remember getting to the first mile and thinking, "That was only one mile?" But we kept trucking along. My hips started to hurt around the UT Med campus, near my old orthodontist. I loved the race finish, running into the park, getting a medal, seeing the buffet. There was soup from McAllister's (3 kinds), pizza, a huge table full of oreos and chocolate chip cookies, fruit. It was the most amazing thing ever, and it ruined me. Nothing I've done since has lived up to the St. Jude Half Marathon post-race buffet of 2005. I'd like to do this race again (mostly to see if the buffet has changed), but it sells out quickly. This is the race closest to my heart, because it seemed utterly impossible. It was such a confidence booster and made me believe I could do anything. To reward myself for finishing the race, I didn't run for 2 years.

Austin Half 2007
After the St. Jude, I wasn't planning on running another half marathon. Possibly ever. But I did want to visit Christina, and she wanted to run the half in Austin. I trained for this race by going to spin classes. I went on maybe 4 runs, none longer than 6 miles. In retrospect this was not a smart plan. But I didn't die, so it's ok.

This picture is actually of a hot guy who was getting undressed by his car outside the expo. We were trying not to be obviously creepy.

I remember going to the race expo and filling my bag with free samples. We got back to the house and between us had 15 Lara Bars. Race day was freezing cold. Christina and I huddled together--unbeknownst to us--towards the front of the start. The gun went off, and people started flying past us. It was seriously a stampede of tall, skinny, crazy-eyed runners. We were trying not to get trampled, and I suddenly needed to use the bathroom, so we agreed to find each other at the finish. I never did stop at a porta-potty because the lines were so long.

This race was fun because I didn't know anything about Austin, so I enjoyed the newness of my surroundings. Around mile 12, just when I thought we were done with the hilly parts, the race organizers throw in a monstrous hill. I could see people, ant-like, disappearing once they crested. I must have passed out mentally trying to go up the thing. I do remember running past the Texas state capitol towards the finish.  At the post race buffet, they had bananas and chicken noodle soup. I saw a volunteer rebuke a runner who asked for seconds. I thought that was really rude. The guy just ran 13 or 26 miles. He deserved extra soup! Anyway, after the race Christina and I napped for about 4 hours, then went with Clint to eat Mexican food.

The Mexican food.

Germantown Half 2010
Zach and I ran this race together. It's nice to have an active husband, because he inspires/literally pushes me (in a non-domestic abuse way) out the door. This was the first time I did the whole "long run every week" business. We also had a plan to start slower than we thought necessary.

I'm glad we had a strategy because it rained like crazy on race day. It started with a light drizzle and by the end it was really pouring. It was helpful to have the extra energy towards the finish. I remember being drenched and cold and wanting the race to end. It was miraculous we didn't get hypothermia. What didn't kill us made us stronger. After the race we went to India Palace's Sunday buffet. And slept.

Swampstomper 25K 2012
My first trail race! Zach did it the year before and loved it, plus I'd read Born to Run, which makes running sound like the most fun thing ever. It was around fall of last year when I really started to enjoy running, and actually looked forward to doing the long runs. We did all of them on trails, which is much more fun than the neighborhood. Last year was pretty trying for me, so running became therapeutic. It made me feel like I was accomplishing something.

Practically dying.

This race happened on the only cold day in January. I was nervous about getting lost and becoming disoriented in the woods, so I packed a ton of brownies in my spi-belt. A person needs sugar for energy, right? There were parts during the run when I was by myself completely, but I never freaked out and the route was well-marked. The aid stations had tons of food: potato chips, pretzels, m&m's, actual potatoes. Everyone at the race so encouraging, when runners would pass each other, they'd say, "Looking good!" or "You got this!" It was so nice. Halfway through I started hurting, but I ran/walked a little with another woman who was also struggling. When I saw her at the finish she thanked me for encouraging her. Me!!

 Totally falling asleep in this picture.

Anyway, the last third of the race sucked, and by the end I was crawling up the steeper hills. When I saw the photographer at the top of one, I knew the finish was near. They were grilling burgers at the finish, and I ate two. (Why doesn't anyone think to bring a big cake? I wanted some cake after this.) Zach killed it at this race, he finished in less than 2 and a half hours. I was so proud!

Austin Half 2012
It's always fun to take time off work, recharge the batteries, visit my sisters, eat, and shop. I needed a reason to do it in February, and the half marathon was it. Christina and Ronni ran this as well! This was exactly a month after the Swampstomper. (Just thinking about this makes me tired. Where did this energy come from?) I really, really wanted to run a personal best at Austin, but tried not to put too much on myself in case it wasn't meant to be.

 I got maybe 10 hours of sleep total on this trip. Ronni and I went shopping the next day!

Race morning was really crowded and it took 12 minutes to get to the official start. But I felt good, enjoyed the big crowds and running through the city. This time, instead of descending after the Big Hill at mile 12, we turned and went up another hill. At this point, I was hurting pretty badly and gimping my way to the finish. Along the course were signs which read '800 meters left' (2 laps around a track!) and '200 meters to go.' This both helped and annoyed me because I knew exactly how much more pain I had to endure before it ended. When I turned and saw the green barriers and the finish, it was like a second wind.  There is really something to mind over matter. And I got my personal record. I will not lie--this made me feel like a million bucks. This, and the yellow silipint Livestrong cups they gave away at the end. The race wasn't over until I found the people giving away the cups.

This is the best cup ever. You can pour hot liquids into it, and it doesn't melt. I use it every day.

San Diego Half 2012

Balboa Park!

This was something I wasn't planning on doing at all, but Amanda talked me into it. I'm so happy to have done this. It was like the old days of running with my bestie on Mud Island. Plus it gave me a chance to see San Diego, and now I'm in love with the city.

A sign with my name on it! I had to take a picture.

FREELOADER.

I feel an apology is due because this post was 300 years long. But I won't apologize, because it was fun to write. One day, when I'm zipping around the nursing home in my walker, I'll look at this post on my iPad 80G and my trifocals, and be so jazzed.