Okay, boys and girls, gather your chairs around in a circle...we're going to have story time!
Your homework today is to: 1. Think about something you enjoyed (or wanted to do) when you were a kid that involved physical activity. It doesn't have to be sports, but could be dancing, gymnastics or anything that would involve moving about.
2. Tell us a little story about your childhood experiences with this activity, how it made you feel, why you enjoyed it.
Bonus points: Relate how you might use your story about that childhood activity to increase your current level of physical activity or increase the variety of your current activity.
Posts: 7203 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
As a child I was into swimming big time! I don't even remember not knowing how to swim. I grew up in a subdivision and even though we didn't have a pool, a good many of my friends in the neighborhood did, including my best friend, and we spent many summer days at the pool swimming and splashing all day long.
When I was a teenager I loved rollerskating!! I'd spend Friday nights and most Saturday afternoons at the rink. I was also a cheerleader in jr. high and high school and spent a lot of time at games and practices and loved my active life.
When I go back and remember how active I used to be and what good shape I was in I feel like such a couch potato now compared to how I was then. Maybe I need to reconnect with some of the things I loved then. My daughter and I have been talking about going to a local indoor pool to swim laps, so maybe I can get to swim again.
My favorite memory of childhood is hiking. I got to spend time with my dad. There was no I can do this better than you coming at me. I could just relax and see what there was to see. Today, I enjoy walking outside even if it is just around the neighborhood, but I still prefer sharing it with somebody. I want to start hiking again. mnm
We went skiing one week a year when I was a kid. We probably started when I was about 8 and stopped when I was about 12 or 13. Because we could only ski one week a year. We watched lots of skiing on TV. Jean Paul Killy was VERY popular in our house... as was the ABC Wide World of Sports "Agony of Defeat" wipe-out guy .
This was 1965. Fleece hadn't been invented. Nobody knew about "wicking" thermal underwear.
The ski boots were leather. The poles were bamboo. The skis were wood with cable bindings and attached to your boots with a leather strap.
We used a rope tow that tore our mittens to shreads.
My sister has REALLY bad memories of skiing - being freezing cold and wet and miserable. There WAS lots of crying involved... but I remember it also being so fun! It was something I was good at (unlike softball, volleyball, dodgeball, kickball and every other game where you someone very popular picks a team... and I was ALWAYS picked last).
Skiing was making the next turn a little better than the last. It was working on form. It was skiing a hill that was hard but not too hard. The competition was with myself. The competition is with the hill or the snow or weather conditions.
I couldn't ski again until I was 41 or 42 years old (finances, mostly). I went once and got soooo hooked. The equipment had all changed. I had to totally start over and learn as an adult. But... it was easy to stay warm and dry! And the fun and the challenge was the same as when I was 10. I've skied 23-30 times a year the past 3 years. (I'm 47 now.)
I alway's went swimming every Saturday..I had gotten up to the highest level in swimming classes..So I decided to take a Diving class..Well lets just say my back dive was better than my front dive...Don't ask me why, none of us could figure it out..I would love to take up diving again..
Heather Goodbye excuses!! Lets achieve those weight-loss goals!!
1. Exercise2-3 times a week
Posts: 871 | Location: Atlanta | Registered: April 13, 2004
I used to get myself into a lot of trouble as a kid. I have always been a bit of a loner so hiking in the woods was always my favorite activity. Of course beening a child who likes to wander off alone doesn't really go over well with mom. I grew up with the housatonic river in my back yard, just about 50 yards down the hill. If I walked about 15 minutes along the bank, I would come to an area that was a little shallow, and in the middle of the river was a giant boulder, shaped sort of like a chair. I built a little dam, and had a couple of crawfish that lived near it. I would chase them around. Sometimes i would go all the way down, near the water falls by the paper mill. Oh mom would get so mad, by the time I reached the waterfall i was actually in the next town. I would come home soaking wet, and I didn't know how to swim.
Laurie
There is no luckexcept where there is dicipline.
Posts: 1512 | Location: Adams, MA | Registered: March 10, 2004
quote:Originally posted by SheriaVa: [QUOTE]Originally posted by Melstruck: The reason I don't swim much now is becuase I hate to smell like chlorine all of the time. It seems so vain when I type it and it is kind of silly.
QUOTE] I am not sure what facilites/resources are available in your area, but in most major areas there are pools that are not chlorinated. They use some sort of oxygen system to keep the pool clean. I wish I had more information. This might be a start.
quote:This special dance class begins with a fun, energetic jazz warm-up, then focuses on learning repertoire from current and classic Broadway shows. A special emphasis is placed on the style of choreographer Bob Fosse. Students will work on some of the great musical dance numbers from shows such as Chicago, Hairspray, Fosse, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and many more. For Intermediate/Advanced level teens and adults.
quote:Originally posted by Melstruck: The reason I don't swim much now is becuase I hate to smell like chlorine all of the time. It seems so vain when I type it and it is kind of silly.
No, I don't think it's silly at all. The pool at my gym is SO heavily chlorinated that, even after a shower, my skin itches like I've been dipped in acid and I REEK of chlorine. This definitely keeps me out of the pool, especially because I have severely dry skin and I already struggle enough with that (esp. in the winter) without the additional damage of the chlorine.
Perhaps some of the waterbabies of the group can share with us some tips and tricks for dealing with getting the chlorine off!
Posts: 7203 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
I was a swimmer. I was on swim team from age 8 through High School - I stopped after knee surgery in 11 grade - I discovered life outside the pool - I never knew there was one!!
I loved to swim and be in the water. I think it is the combination of solitude and social. I could think and sing to myself while practicing, but then there were people to talk to in between! And here's a schedule I can't believe I kept up - during the summer, on weekdays our parents would drive us for morning practice and bring our bikes along. After a 2 HOUR practice, we would ride the 5 miles back home, spend the day at our community pool and then ride our bikes BACK to the pool for evening practice where our parents would pick us up after another 2 HOUR practice!! UGH...the shape I was in. The funny thing is, we thought nothing of it....and ironically, those are some of my best memories!
The reason I don't swim much now is becuase I hate to smell like chlorine all of the time. It seems so vain when I type it and it is kind of silly. But there is something about it - maybe it makes me think too much about my childhood, I don't know. I don't mind smelling like the bottom of the ocean after scuba (it's not a glamour sport, but a blast), but I"m afraid to smell like cholorine sometimes. I know there has been advancements in shampoos and soaps to get rid of the smell, so maybe I should try again.
I know, I'll add it as one day of my workout for the next two weeks and see how I feel (and smell).
Mel
Healthy Habits Challenge Goals: 1.Log food each day to monitor staying at 1300 calories per day. 2. Exercise 4x per week (5x is a bonus)
The miracle isn't that I finished, the miracle is that I had the courage to start. - John "the Penguin" Bingham
Posts: 588 | Location: Nashville | Registered: April 05, 2004
This was in easy! The tough part is sharing about my "Peggy Fleming" years or my dreams of dancing.
I wanted to take dance lessons - ballet, tap, I didn't care. I was crushed when a high school teacher invited me to be part of a charter dance group and my mother turned her down. Of course, we had no idea where we would have found shoes in my size (then 11AAA).
One of my health/fitness goals is to be able to do some of the dances from the movie musical Chicago. Dh and ds got me the CD for Christmas last year. I'm working on it.
When I was a little kid through high school, I played soccer. When I was young it was intramural soccer which was alot of fun. I always played defense and one day a little boy on the opposite side came barreling down the field and I defended the goal(laughing) and tried to kick the ball out of his feet and broke his foot. His parents called mine and my parents we're like how can our little girl do something like that. She's not the type to do that on purpose. I DID THOUGH!!
I guess how I relate that now to my activity is I'm relentless. I take no prisoners when I work out and actually from what my trainers tell me I can work out harder then my husband and have more endurance. But I would never tell him that.
Posts: 112 | Location: Pittsburgh,PA | Registered: October 25, 2004
I flunked swimming at the Y for a whole year, before I got out of the tadpole group. A whole year of blowing bubbles and putting your face in the water. But, after that last jump in the deep end, and swimming to the end, I was hooked. I loved the water, and rode my bike three miles to the pool all summer long for many summers. To this day, I love the water, and I will swim till the day I can't. I feel that it can be the best possible exercise a person with arthritis can get. Works for me!
Summer Challenge Goals:
1. Get out of the house and in the pool four days a week. 2. Schedule meals a week at a time. 3. five fruits and vegetables a day, along with water.
Posts: 3445 | Location: Central USA | Registered: March 11, 2004
Funny thing...my first reaction was nothing! LOL Then I read a few responses and remembered riding my bike and swimming were favorite things. I stopped riding my bike when I got my driver's license and have never gotten back to it. I have a cheap bike that I think I might get shaped up this spring so I can at least take a little ride around the neighborhood in the evenings as a little extra exercise this spring/summer. I think that might be fun. Can't see myself getting into long distance riding but it would be nice to do something besides always walking.
This is actually what drew me to triathlon -- when I was a kid I loved to swim and ride bikes. Also, I used to see a tri that went by my house. Completing my first tri ranks up there with getting married and buying my house as the best moments in my life.
I have had some trouble remembering the fun part of this whole thing -- getting too involved of the grind of training, trying to lose weight, etc. So maybe what I need to do is recapture the play mentality again.
I took today off working out because I needed it. I have been doing well with my new routine but needed a break.
----------- Jen
Posts: 2868 | Location: Ohio | Registered: March 11, 2004
When I was a kid, I waited for Memorial Day like I waited for Christmas, because that was the day the pool opened! I loved to swim. Not laps so much, but the splashing and diving into that cool blue underwater world and being able to float and all those things. I did swim on a team for a while, but early morning practices weren't something I could do at that age.
These days, I try to finagle summer weekend invitations to my in-laws' house, where they have a small lap pool. I can leave DS with his grandmother for a while and take a leisurely swim. And this past weekend, I saw people swimming laps at an outdoor pool at a local high school. It was a sunny day but if it was 60 degrees, I'd be very surprised. But I actually thought to myself, Wow, wouldn't that be great.
Maybe that's something to think about adding back to my exercise routine.
1. What I enjoyed as a kid: roller coasters and riding my bike all over the neighborhood. (Like I could leave out my favorite past-time. )
2. What I enjoy(ed) about both is the freedom of movement. I can just let go and be free, even if I'm with a friend or group. I easily put in at least 10 miles worth of exercise per day in either activity, but there is also some major thrill factor involved, too. Okay, more in one than the other, but still. It also (as a kid) was a rare sense of alone time without responsibility. (Oldest kid in a single parent home = not much time to myself to be a kid.) Especially since no one in my immediate family will ride most of the coasters that I really wanted to ride as a kid. (Not that they'd even get near the ones that I ride now. )
Laura
Life is like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs, but the curves, spirals, loops and corkscrews are what make life interesting.
When I was a kid, we used to go horseback riding almost every weekend in the summer. I loved it so much. The feeling of being atop this wonderfully beautiful animal, striding through the woods/fields, being connected with nature, the wind in my hair during canters, etc....
I haven't ridden in 12 years and made a deal with myself that if I got my certifications, I would go. As soon as the snow melts, I'm holding myself to that promise to myself.
I may even take my mom with me as she was my riding partner back then : )
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
) 
