**editor’s note: this is part one of a two part series on my relationship with exercise and how the nike + ipod has created a running breakthrough for me**
**warning: this blog entry contains a lot of text and musings about my personal relationship with exercise. it does not include a review of the nike + ipod, so if you’re looking forward to that you could skip this post and wait for the second installment.**
ok, so you’ve read the warning and you still want to read my musings before learning about my new running gadget. thanks!
my relationship with exercise can be broken into five distinct segments:
1. as a kid, my parents supported and promoted formal participation in athletic endeavors, including ballet, soccer, tap dance, and swimming lessons. in addition to orchestrated exercise, some of my most cherished childhood memories center around playing wiffle ball at the garfield park church around the corner from our house, going to recreation swim at harvey west pool with my family, and walking, biking, or roller skating (with my adorable minnie mouse velcro roller skates, of course) down to the ocean and back. i was lucky to have parents who planned such fun activities and ensured i was active throughout my childhood.
2. in sixth grade, i had a major growth spurt and my arches fell (editor’s note: i’m not *really* sure if these two go hand in hand) and through the end of high school running and walking were somewhat painful, despite my custom made arch supports. i had always loved swimming, and with the onset of pronated ankles/flat feet, i threw myself into the sport. for swim team and water polo, i dedicated myself to morning, evening, and weekend practices and spent more hours in the pool than anywhere else. my high school years blended into a series of exhausting practices for swim team, not doing anything athletic for a while, pouring all my energy into daily doubles for water polo, and repeating. after high school, i played water polo at uc davis, which maintained the cycle of mandatory binge work outs followed by long periods of no exercise. basically, if a practice wasn’t scheduled, there was no way i’d do anything athletic.
3. after i chose to stop playing water polo at davis so i could focus on my studies, i swam infrequently, both on my own and with my parents. i ate a lot of great food with mike and spent most of my time studying, munching, hanging out with friends, and unsure how to begin a regular exercise pattern without a coach (or parent) making me get into the water. i also worked teaching lessons at harvey west pool, and had no desire to exercise in the water after hours of working there – i just wanted to be dry!
4. the summer after i graduated from college i realized how out of shape i had become, and erm, how much weight pizza and beer added to my figure. thus mike, tyler and i implemented our get-fit-2003 campaign, where we exercised 4-5 times every week. tyler and i would swim (aka have hardcore competitions) at harvey west pool while mike ran around the block outside. mike and i made a conscious effort to cook more at home and eat smaller, healthier portions of food. while i may never look at cottage cheese or soy crisps with delight again (i waaay over consumed them throughout the get-fit campaign), we discovered a mutual love of cooking and attempted many new recipes in addition to copying recipes our very health conscious parents made for us as kids. get-fit-2003 was a challenging and exhausting era, where we re-trained both our bodies and stomachs, and learned to love exercising and healthy eating and cooking. i also slowly incorporated running into my repertoire, as mike loves to run. i shockingly discovered that my arches were no longer painful, which i never thought would be possible again.
5. it’s been about 4.5 years since the get-fit campaign. i am still exercising about four times per week, and find that i really need the work outs to feel good. i cherish my exercise time, much as i did as a child with my parents, and enjoy the time out from everything else in my life to clear my mind and move my limbs. mike and i alternate between swimming, running, long walks, biking, and yoga/pilates, and luckily my arches are continuing to be pain-free. shockingly, i have become a bit of a swimming wuss and dedicate most of my time in the winter to treadmills and pilates instead of braving the cold in the pool (my nordic ancestors would be so disappointed in me!).
while it’s been a half decade since i started running, up until a month ago i never really loved running. i feel like i suck at it, especially because mike is 100x faster than me and i end up breathing in his dust as i trail him. however, mike gave me a groundbreaking present for christmas: a nike + ipod, and it has changed my relationship with running. what is this fine device??? you’ll have to read the next installment to find out!
