I have never considered myself to be athletic. I don't know that I ever will, although if you gave me a list of words to describe me and I had to choose I would no longer automatically dismiss that word as a descriptor. Maybe I'm becoming athletic or maybe over the course of the last year I've become an athlete. I don't know.
At some point in my life I made the subconscious decision that I was a book person. For reasons I don't remember, being a book person and being athletic didn't coexist except for in the exceptionally gifted. I blame Mallory from the Baby-Sitters' Club for this. She was super smart and sup uncoordinated. Although Claudia wasn't very bright or athletic either so there's a gaping hole in this theory. It doesn't help that I lack very good hand-eye coordination and that most sports you play in elementary school involve balls and aim.
I wish that it hadn't taken me so long to realize that there are some athletic pursuits that I really enjoy. The closest thing to a sport I did in school was dance. I say closest not because dancing isn't a sport, but because I wasn't great at it. I had the passion for it, but not the body shape. Lack of an athletic shape kept me from trying more. It was easy to dismiss that I wouldn't be good at sports because I didn't look like an athlete. Because I didn't have the finesse to make my arms of feet coordinate with my eyes. Because I couldn't meet the arbitrary standards that my gym teachers graded us on. Because I'm not great at being on a team. Because I liked books.
There were a few times I did discover an affinity for something. In eight grade I had a fabulous gym teacher. She taught us archery and to my great surprise I was fairly good at it. I had dance teachers who encouraged me to take harder classes because there was some quality that I had that if tapped could have made me a good dancer.At least technically, I think I'm a fabulous dancer and if you don't believe me put on some Pitbull and watch me rock out.
Over the last year, though I've found a person inside of me I didn't realize was there all this time. Elizabeth and I joined a gym last June. We found a personal trainer and I started running. I wish at some point in my life that my gym teachers hadn't graded us on the pace of our running, but on our ability to do a run- because I really enjoy it now. I thought I hated it, but I think I hated that I could never run fast enough. Running is 90% concentration and motivation and when you are trying to run a 10 minute mile because you'll fail your running unit in PE you tend to focus more on the grade, start hyperventilating because you can't run that fast, and run slower- failing the unit and making an enemy of running. But at my own pace, running is fabulous. I'm getting faster. I'm running longer at an easier pace. I hoping to run the Nike Women's Half in a few years.
I wish that someone had told me that you don't have to be super strong to do weight lifting. Like there isn't some base line skill level you have to have in order to do it. You just do it and you get better. In the last two months we've started using the TRX machine. You know the iPhone commercial with the "Run Chicken Fat" song? There's a point in that commercial when a woman has her feet in straps and she looks like she's running while doing a push-up? That's a TRX machine and she's doing mountain climbers. I can do that. I can DO that.
I wish I had known you don't have to be super flexible or super skinny to do yoga. I love yoga. Yoga calms me. My balance is better and I am more flexible now (I credit taking dance for some of that).
And I wish I had tried paddle boarding earlier. Justin (our trainer) works most of his time out at the Lake on 288. He's been trying to get Elizabeth and me out there since last summer and really trying since the beginning of this summer. I resisted because 1) I hate being outside and the water and 2) I'm not athletic and the idea of standing on a board and pulling myself with a paddle seemed ridiculous. But we've really like him as our trainer and he said that being good at yoga probably meant that I would be good at paddle boarding. A few weeks ago we went out.
I loved it.
I loved a sport that involved me being on the water (not in the water).
I'm kinda good at it.
I wish that I hadn't resisted, that I hadn't doubted myself so much. Today I went out and paddled about 3 miles without stopping. My arms are strong. My core is tighter. My legs were firmly grounded in the board. And for an hour and half it was me and a board and a paddle and the water. I went around the lake at my own pace, far away from the swimmers, singing to myself and marveling that I was doing this. How much can change in a year.
The remarkable thing is that I probably could have been athletic growing up. What was holding me back was my perception of myself. I've found that I enjoy athletic pursuits that put me in contest with myself and only myself. I am my biggest competition and hurdle.
So one of the things I challenged myself to do by 30 was a sprint triathlon. I'm taking that off because I'm not comfortable or strong enough a swimmer to be in open water. I may be some day, but I need to get comfortable putting my head under water before that can happen. In it's place I'm going to put that I went paddle boarding and liked it, because finding a water sport I enjoy really wasn't something I ever thought would happen.
At some point in my life I made the subconscious decision that I was a book person. For reasons I don't remember, being a book person and being athletic didn't coexist except for in the exceptionally gifted. I blame Mallory from the Baby-Sitters' Club for this. She was super smart and sup uncoordinated. Although Claudia wasn't very bright or athletic either so there's a gaping hole in this theory. It doesn't help that I lack very good hand-eye coordination and that most sports you play in elementary school involve balls and aim.
I wish that it hadn't taken me so long to realize that there are some athletic pursuits that I really enjoy. The closest thing to a sport I did in school was dance. I say closest not because dancing isn't a sport, but because I wasn't great at it. I had the passion for it, but not the body shape. Lack of an athletic shape kept me from trying more. It was easy to dismiss that I wouldn't be good at sports because I didn't look like an athlete. Because I didn't have the finesse to make my arms of feet coordinate with my eyes. Because I couldn't meet the arbitrary standards that my gym teachers graded us on. Because I'm not great at being on a team. Because I liked books.
There were a few times I did discover an affinity for something. In eight grade I had a fabulous gym teacher. She taught us archery and to my great surprise I was fairly good at it. I had dance teachers who encouraged me to take harder classes because there was some quality that I had that if tapped could have made me a good dancer.At least technically, I think I'm a fabulous dancer and if you don't believe me put on some Pitbull and watch me rock out.
Over the last year, though I've found a person inside of me I didn't realize was there all this time. Elizabeth and I joined a gym last June. We found a personal trainer and I started running. I wish at some point in my life that my gym teachers hadn't graded us on the pace of our running, but on our ability to do a run- because I really enjoy it now. I thought I hated it, but I think I hated that I could never run fast enough. Running is 90% concentration and motivation and when you are trying to run a 10 minute mile because you'll fail your running unit in PE you tend to focus more on the grade, start hyperventilating because you can't run that fast, and run slower- failing the unit and making an enemy of running. But at my own pace, running is fabulous. I'm getting faster. I'm running longer at an easier pace. I hoping to run the Nike Women's Half in a few years.
I wish that someone had told me that you don't have to be super strong to do weight lifting. Like there isn't some base line skill level you have to have in order to do it. You just do it and you get better. In the last two months we've started using the TRX machine. You know the iPhone commercial with the "Run Chicken Fat" song? There's a point in that commercial when a woman has her feet in straps and she looks like she's running while doing a push-up? That's a TRX machine and she's doing mountain climbers. I can do that. I can DO that.
I wish I had known you don't have to be super flexible or super skinny to do yoga. I love yoga. Yoga calms me. My balance is better and I am more flexible now (I credit taking dance for some of that).
And I wish I had tried paddle boarding earlier. Justin (our trainer) works most of his time out at the Lake on 288. He's been trying to get Elizabeth and me out there since last summer and really trying since the beginning of this summer. I resisted because 1) I hate being outside and the water and 2) I'm not athletic and the idea of standing on a board and pulling myself with a paddle seemed ridiculous. But we've really like him as our trainer and he said that being good at yoga probably meant that I would be good at paddle boarding. A few weeks ago we went out.
I loved a sport that involved me being on the water (not in the water).
I'm kinda good at it.
I wish that I hadn't resisted, that I hadn't doubted myself so much. Today I went out and paddled about 3 miles without stopping. My arms are strong. My core is tighter. My legs were firmly grounded in the board. And for an hour and half it was me and a board and a paddle and the water. I went around the lake at my own pace, far away from the swimmers, singing to myself and marveling that I was doing this. How much can change in a year.
The remarkable thing is that I probably could have been athletic growing up. What was holding me back was my perception of myself. I've found that I enjoy athletic pursuits that put me in contest with myself and only myself. I am my biggest competition and hurdle.
So one of the things I challenged myself to do by 30 was a sprint triathlon. I'm taking that off because I'm not comfortable or strong enough a swimmer to be in open water. I may be some day, but I need to get comfortable putting my head under water before that can happen. In it's place I'm going to put that I went paddle boarding and liked it, because finding a water sport I enjoy really wasn't something I ever thought would happen.
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