Monday, May 14, 2007
A Change of Pace
Yes, my Mother's Day was lovely, thankyouverymuch. Truth be told, I'm not much of a fan of Mother's and Father's day, viewing them more as a "Hallmark Holiday" than anything else. Nicholas made me a darling watercolor at school and was "interviewed" by his teacher about his mother. I was the lucky recipient of his answers to such questions as, "What is a mom?" Answer: "Someone who takes care of you." Q: "What is your favorite thing your mom does for you?" Answer: "Take me to Dairy Queen!" Q: "What is one of your mom's favorite things to do?" Answer: "knit!" It was a cute snapshot of how he views his world. Pretty accurate, I'd say.
I asked for some time to workout on Mother's Day, and was of course granted such an indulgence (have I mentioned I'm down 7 lbs so far! Whee!). For a change, I decided to do something different. Cross-train, if you will. So rather than go to the YMCA, or go for a run through my neighborhood, I unearthed my Rollerblades. I haven't rollerbladed in YEARS, but for some reason it struck me as a good idea. And oh my god, it was a blast!
I've never been a solid rollerblader. My rollerblades are somewhat crappy and I've never mastered the contortions one must be able to do in order to apply the brake on the back of the right rollerblade. My blades are so old that you have to physically lift the toe of your foot off the ground rather than just slide it forward. But in lifting your toe you are now precariously balancing on one blade while trying to exert enough force with the other to slow you down. Without crashing. It's not pretty, people. Usually I end up just bailing into grass or something and performing the awkward 2-3 quick-steps to bring myself to a stop. Ungainly, but usually effective. But despite my lack of grace and finesse, I set out. Old rollerblades, wrist guards, and Walkman. That's right, I said Walkman. With a tape deck. It's old and bulky, but I use it every time I go on a walk or run from my house. I LIKE to listen to the radio when I workout. Mr. Chick has an iPod, but I don't. I like getting my music for free and not having to worry about creating my playlists, etc. I get bored with the same old music. And iPods don't have talk radio, and I listen to that as well (I know, I know - they have podcasts, but that takes effort to download the podcasts, etc. I'm too lazy. Back when I had a cellphone I would always forget to plug it in and recharge the battery, rendering it useless. See? Techno-lazy.) So I was really cutting a fine form with my bad self. Rockin' it early 90's like. God, I suck.
But! It was so fun! And totally made my hips and butt burn with the effort! I did my usual 3 mile course but was enjoying it so much I did a few extra laps around the block. I'm sure the young guy who lives around the corner from me and is always working on his jacked up monster trucks was wondering what in the hell I was doing rollerblading past his house 2 or 3 times. (dude! I was totally not cruising by your house to check you out! You thought so, though, I could tell.) I noticed more than a few people looking at me with either confusion or amusement as they passed me in their cars. So what! I was smiling. I was having fun and it felt great. The streets in my area are wide and smooth, and are mostly flat enough not to worry too much about an unexpected downhill causing me risk of bodily injury. I highly recommend you dig out YOUR rollerblades and give it a try again. You know you still have them - somewhere.
Now? Now I can strap on my Rollerblades and do that while Nicholas rides his Razor scooter! He's always going so much faster than I can keep up with when I'm just walking, so this will be perfect. Even if I have to push Lauren in the jogging stroller. Added resistance! Oh, but I am brilliant! I might have to take this on a test run this afternoon - we're headed for 80 degrees and sunny today. Perfect blading/scooting weather.
I asked for some time to workout on Mother's Day, and was of course granted such an indulgence (have I mentioned I'm down 7 lbs so far! Whee!). For a change, I decided to do something different. Cross-train, if you will. So rather than go to the YMCA, or go for a run through my neighborhood, I unearthed my Rollerblades. I haven't rollerbladed in YEARS, but for some reason it struck me as a good idea. And oh my god, it was a blast!
I've never been a solid rollerblader. My rollerblades are somewhat crappy and I've never mastered the contortions one must be able to do in order to apply the brake on the back of the right rollerblade. My blades are so old that you have to physically lift the toe of your foot off the ground rather than just slide it forward. But in lifting your toe you are now precariously balancing on one blade while trying to exert enough force with the other to slow you down. Without crashing. It's not pretty, people. Usually I end up just bailing into grass or something and performing the awkward 2-3 quick-steps to bring myself to a stop. Ungainly, but usually effective. But despite my lack of grace and finesse, I set out. Old rollerblades, wrist guards, and Walkman. That's right, I said Walkman. With a tape deck. It's old and bulky, but I use it every time I go on a walk or run from my house. I LIKE to listen to the radio when I workout. Mr. Chick has an iPod, but I don't. I like getting my music for free and not having to worry about creating my playlists, etc. I get bored with the same old music. And iPods don't have talk radio, and I listen to that as well (I know, I know - they have podcasts, but that takes effort to download the podcasts, etc. I'm too lazy. Back when I had a cellphone I would always forget to plug it in and recharge the battery, rendering it useless. See? Techno-lazy.) So I was really cutting a fine form with my bad self. Rockin' it early 90's like. God, I suck.
But! It was so fun! And totally made my hips and butt burn with the effort! I did my usual 3 mile course but was enjoying it so much I did a few extra laps around the block. I'm sure the young guy who lives around the corner from me and is always working on his jacked up monster trucks was wondering what in the hell I was doing rollerblading past his house 2 or 3 times. (dude! I was totally not cruising by your house to check you out! You thought so, though, I could tell.) I noticed more than a few people looking at me with either confusion or amusement as they passed me in their cars. So what! I was smiling. I was having fun and it felt great. The streets in my area are wide and smooth, and are mostly flat enough not to worry too much about an unexpected downhill causing me risk of bodily injury. I highly recommend you dig out YOUR rollerblades and give it a try again. You know you still have them - somewhere.
Now? Now I can strap on my Rollerblades and do that while Nicholas rides his Razor scooter! He's always going so much faster than I can keep up with when I'm just walking, so this will be perfect. Even if I have to push Lauren in the jogging stroller. Added resistance! Oh, but I am brilliant! I might have to take this on a test run this afternoon - we're headed for 80 degrees and sunny today. Perfect blading/scooting weather.
// posted by MP @ 12:03 PM 
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Ha! You crack me up with the 80's reference. I totally relate to feeling like a dork because I'm surrounded by 18-year-old students. They wear t-shirts and the shortest of shorts: these girls are tiny, tanned, and toned. Contrast that with me: cropped khakis (mom-sized) and pale, somewhat flabby arms/legs. I feel like their mother!! So uncool. But I console myself with the assurance that they, too, will one day be in their mid-thirties. It's inevitable! (Oh, and I totally love my ipod, never thought it was necessary, but now I realize how much better it really is!)
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