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Showing posts from April, 2009

On Becoming a Runner (pt. 1)

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I can clearly and completely remember the first time I went running for exercise.  I was in college, in the early 90’s.  I had always been athletic, even pretty fast as a kid, but had, in my gloomy adolescence, shunned all athletic activities.  The famous “freshman fifteen” were threatening my body and I was determined to fight them off.  My then boyfriend was an athlete who introduced me to the weight room and I signed up for aerobics classes.  I watched my diet and not only fought off the fifteen, but went home at semester break almost fifteen pounds lighter than when I started.  I soon tired of the classes and was looking for something new.  This was before fitness centers and open gyms were on small campuses, and I wouldn’t have even known where to find a treadmill.  Just off school grounds, there was a reservoir with a concrete loop around it that was popular for walking and running.  The same boyfriend took me out there, new sneakers and all, and gave me some tips.  I thought I

Playlist from the 9:30 ride on 4/22/09

Boring title, I know.  As I sit here, re-connecting to my much neglected little blog, I lack the creative juices to come up with something more interesting.  A student asked me to post the music from today's class, so here it is.  Recently, I have been doing some new profiles, mixing some fantastic new mash-ups into old rides and just being very relaxed about it all.  I have also taken on some challenges of my own, taking my own advice from my posts around the new year...."What do you want to bring in this year?  The race you've always wanted to do?"  Truth be told, when I write like that or even speak over the mic in the Spin room, I am talking to myself just as much as I am talking to you.  So, yes, I've taken on the out-of-my comfort zone running races, and boy has it been a journey, trying to navigate teaching, being a divorced mom (and all that comes with it), having healthy relationships, and doing my "own" training. I can't speak for all instr