Week 5, Day 3

I have vivid memories of my elementary school gym class. I'm standing with my back pressed against the red padded mats hanging from the cement wall, waiting for a captain to pick me for a team.

I stare at my feet while name after name is called. Lines of wiggly classmates form behind each captain until finally, I'm the only one left. I'm still looking at my feet, my back pressed against the pads, my face flushed as I try to hold back the tears. The teacher shouts, his voice echoing across the gym, "C'mon, guys! Somebody's gotta take her!"

Such was my early exposure to sports. I wasn't confident to begin with, and being the last to be picked only reinforced the notion that I could never be successful. I muddled along the best I could and even managed to win a race once, on a day when the fastest girl was home sick. But any confidence that might have developed was quickly squelched when the gym teacher bellowed at me, "You're physically unfit!" His words cut me to the core and from that point on, I mentally checked out of gym class.

Fast forward 40+ years. Yesterday I completed Week 5, Day 3 of the C25K program. It's a challenging day for a beginner because the running interval ramps up from eight-minute segments to one long run of 20 minutes.

It has taken me a very long time to undo the hurtful words of my gym teacher and believe that in fact, I CAN be successful. Yesterday as I finished Week 5, Day 3, I had only one thought:

Take THAT, you ***! :)

Is this March Madness?

 Some strange things have been happening around here, things I would never have expected from me. It is March, and there is such a thing as March Madness, you know. Brace yourselves:

1) I've become a basketball fan! Now don't get too excited because I'm ONLY a fan of the Indiana Hoosiers. Oh, I hear there are other teams out there. Even professional teams. But nope, I only care about the Hoosiers -- and, to a tiny degree, the teams they face in competition. Of course, now that they're a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, I'm prepping myself for a nerve-wracking next few weeks. I never in a million years thought I'd be anything close to a sports fan, but now I even have the Sportacular app on my phone.

I actually started following IU basketball in earnest last season, so now I can spew basketball factoids to anyone who might listen. In fact, my new-found interest in the Hoosiers probably deserves a post all its own, so watch for that one soon.

 

 2) I've started running. Well, jogging on the treadmill. I had been thinking about running for awhile, just as a means of amping up my workout, so when some friends encouraged me to try C25K, I thought...why not? I downloaded the app onto my phone and started running the very next day. Of course, I had to do it late at night when no one was at the gym, in case I fell off the treadmill.

Things went very well until about two weeks into the program when I started having significant pain in my knees. Some friends advised me to invest in decent running shoes, so off I went. And shoes are indeed an investment -- holy cow! But after running in them for just a couple of days, my knee pain completely disappeared. I no longer had to take Advil before heading to the gym, and I really started enjoying my jogging program. After a few days of not falling off the treadmill, I found that I could even run when there were other people in the gym!
  

Unfortunately, just as I started Week 5, the hardest week in the 9-week C25K program, I encountered a problem. After completing the 8-minute running intervals, my ankles were REALLY sore and swollen. I've had tendonitis in an ankle in the past (caused by overdoing it on the leg press) so this wasn't completely new, but it certainly wasn't much fun. 

I took a few days off, then went back at it and successfully finished the 20-minute run without much discomfort...until afterward. Of course, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. Now this is what my feet look like:
  

I'm obviously going to have to slow down the pace of my training program. Considering that I had not run SINCE 4TH GRADE (and even then, it was only TWICE that I can remember), I could probably use a bit more time to build up those running muscles, huh? Watch for more posts on this running thing, as I have a lot more to say about it.

Meanwhile, Bailey was home for spring break. It came and went so quickly that I can hardly believe it. It was great having her home, and it marked a milestone for ME as she drove (with a friend) on her own 8.5 hours both ways. Of course, this was no big deal to her but I nearly had to be sedated. Once she was safely home, we had a wonderful time just hanging out and doing mostly nothing. And Lily enjoyed riding around on Bailey's back each day.
 

Between basketball, running, and spring break, I've also had several class projects to develop. In fact, I have SIX different card classes coming up over the next three months! Each class will be offered twice so (getting out the calculator...) that makes 12 CLASSES to prepare. I'm co-teaching two of the classes with my friend Katie. It's super-fun to work with her, and I think our students have enjoyed it, too!

 With all these card classes in the works, my craft space has looked like this (actually much worse) for the past couple of weeks.

 

 But I've finally finished all of my projects and now can set about making class kits. That in itself is going to keep me hopping for the foreseeable future.

Here's to more crazy goings-on in the month of March. My message to you is this: Don't ever say NEVER...because you NEVER know if you'll like something until you try it.

Unless it is Velveeta cheese. That I will NEVER try.
 jp