Thursday, January 06, 2011

"Walking Tall"


No one can ever accuse me of being an athlete! The most athletic thing I do is walk. I have walked a number of 5K races. I was in the habit of walking to work and back for many years, until I got sidelined with knee surgery 2 years ago. And I walk up and down the main hall at Clifton Middle School countless times every day.

Nowadays young women are encouraged to go out for sports. I'm not sure if I would have done that when I was younger or not. I did jump rope with a lot of skill - and enthusiasm. I could ride a bike up and down the foothills of Granada Hills when I was growing up. I was a roller skating fiend. I was hard to beat in foot races. And no one could beat me at dodgeball!

I was never a fan of P.E. Back in the day when I went to school, P.E. grades were based on skill tests. I could never hit the ball or make a basket, so even though my gym clothes were sparkling clean - and ironed - every Monday morning, and even though I got perfect scores on the written tests, I always got a C in P.E.

One year I got put in "Corrective P.E." because of my bowed legs and pronated ankles. Everyone else in there was seriously disabled and I often felt like a fraud. But I got an easy A. Of course, that was the year I had Trig, so I got a C in Trig. Straight A's always eluded me!

Since my knee surgery 2 years ago, I have not walked to work. And I haven't done any other kind of exercise on any regular kind of basis. So in the spirit of self-improvement that the new year always brings, I did walk to and from school today.

One step at a time!

2 comments:

amy k said...

Good job! You have to start somewhere and as long as it's not "tomorrow" it's good. Keep it up!

Diane said...

You are truly an athlete in my eyes since you have done a 5K. I thought about it once but that was enough. I have lived in a two-story house for the last 22 years and that's the extent of my sportage experience.

No, wait a minute . . . In high school I was put in Advanced PE for a semester so that I could get Driver's Ed worked into my schedule. Those girls were serious athletes and I was totally intimidated by them. Most all of the girls in that class were of the "in crowd", Cheerleaders, on the Pep Squad, or in Drill Team.
For many weeks it seemed to be one of the most painful, emotional experiences of my life. Then the coaches began to take pity on me and taught me how to keep score and where the equipment was kept. I figured out how to make friends with the girls on a different level and it all worked out.

And, if this counts as athletic, several years later I accidentally survived BYU Survival. (Long story there.)

You are an athlete, you have a tetherball!