I have been working out for the better part of my entire life. I remember as a kid just always wanting run, catch a football, ride a bike, play baseball, kickball, dodgeball, tether ball, swim and just generally moving, striving always to beat the boys.
Organized sports came later on, starting in elementary school, developing though middle school and honing my precision in high school. I was always pretty decent at most sports, not always the star on the team, but always one of the key players. I dabbled in sports that right now I wouldn’t be able to even attempt, like volleyball, for example. I remember distinctly in the eighth grade serving the ball overhand and making it over the net most of the time. I also remember being a bad sport, particularly in one game where we were losing , the reason being apathy on the team. I yelled right then and there at them on the court. I got in trouble for it. Had to sit the bench. But to me…there is nothing worse than an apathetic attitude toward pretty much anything, and in this particular case, caring if we won or lost the match.
I found my love of running, and pretty much continued on with that sport throughout high school and into college, where I received a track and field scholarship. I was pretty darn good, looking back, if I do say so myself. I felt alive when I ran. As an individual sport up against a black and white clock, it was all up to me. No judgment or subjectivity from others to win first place. Just myself . Up against competitors and a finish line. Win or lose. The in between was always a gray area. Second was “first loser”, third didn’t even ring a bell. Right or wrong…it was what it was in my brain.
So, after college, I did not become a professional athlete.
My love and my need to workout was ingrained by that time. I found other avenues to stay fit, push myself to new limits while creating a “real life” for myself, complete with a job, a car, house, utilities to pay and money to spend on bikinis and running shoes. As a side job, I become a certified Aerobics Instructor through AFAA and delved into the ultra hip, spandex-clad, scrunchy-wearing, Reebok-footed world of disco music, stages, 8-counts and leg lifts.
My body seriously never looked better. When combined with running on the beach, this workout seemed to suit . I liked the way I looked, felt and dressed in clothes. I had found the perfect fit workout.
Fast-forwarding through the years, my fitness regime somehow evolved with the changing times and events of my life, including moving to a new climate, working a different job and the huge, monumental joy of motherhood, the ultimate free-time sucker. I fI wanted to work out, it was creating a spreadsheet, including buying a double jg stroller, a backpack for the third, and with the arrival of numbers four through six, the garnering and securing of a reliable and lovable babysitter.
I continued to teach my classes and to run, all with organized efficiency. With each pregnancy, my body changed just a little bit more, but I worked with it…
After my sixth child was born, I ran my first marathon. I did very well!! I qualified for the Boston Marathon, and from that point on, a passion was born. In the next six years, I ran 24 marathons, 6 half-marathons, multiple sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons, a Tough Mudder , countless 5, 10, and 15K runs and and Iron Man. Fitness was not only my hobby, but also my job.
The classes I taught evolved as well. Where it used to be up-down-up-down and turn on a STEP platform, the classes were now morphing into many different types. More weight work was introduced, squats were plentiful and the smiling faces under the flowered headband were now replaced with a more serious, stern, and “kick my ass” glare. Workouts were now serious. I know, because the camouflage headband proved it.
All of sudden, box gyms, and all-in-one fitness gyms were being complemented and competing with more specialized workout facilities. Boxing studios, ballet/barre studios, indoor cycling joints, sweaty yoga studios and cross-training garages were opening up everywhere!!
How in the world would one EVER be able to choose where to work out????? Overwhelming choices. All good ones.
Which brings me to the point of this blog.
We all have a choice. The first choice is whether we do or don’t. And the answer to that one is easy. Yes. We do. We ALL need fitness in our lives, whether it is for the reason to fit into the size 2 jeans, to feel awesome while you go through your daily life, to meet new people in the best place possible or to train to compete for something in which you are interested.
A friend of mine posted a picture of the most incredible dancer’s pose I have ever seen. I can’t do it like that. Another friend performed a box jump to heights that now I, after several injuries which have held me down in the recent past, could not even dream of even attempting. Still, another friend posted video of climbing up a rope like a ninja to the ceiling with incredible upper body strength. I honestly think I could get halfway up and then plummet to the ground in a heap. The one that hurt most is the acquaintance who posted a finishing time of her marathon. Although it did not beat my best, it was still damn good, and it made me reminisce of the good ol’ days of Jen the Runner.
So then I wondered….do I practice the dancer’s pose to perfect it? Do I go home and build my boxes in my garage until I can jump as high? Do I head over to the box gym and practice on the hanging ropes??
I want to see if I can do all of that!!!
But then I remember….fitness now for me is a way of life. It’s my way of waking up and realizing how much I actually do love to move. The “why” in my head questions the need to jump high, climb higher and run faster. The competitive side of me is grimacing, because I know it would be a huge challenge, and I hate losing a challenge. I hate not even being able to try.
I am reminded of the days I could not work out the way I wanted, due to surgery on a tendon or a knee, especially during the Autumn months when the beauty of the world’s gym is on full display. I felt left out of the party, and made a silent vow to myself that when I was back, I would remember that feeling and let me guide me through the rest of my life.
I’m still not a professional athlete. I don’t even play one on TV.
But I’m still a contender in my own heart.
That’s the “Why” of it.
jensumandthensome 