I've always been active and even as a child, I kind of prided myself on being an athlete since I was too muscular to be a model or a dancer or any other 'girly' thing that pre-teen girls might dream of...
As a child, I played tennis, soccer, swam on the swim team, got picked first for kickball and dodgeball and generally loved to beat the boys at anything I could. This was a good thing since much of this was pre-title 9 and the only soccer team I could play on was with the boys. As I matured, I learned that boys didn't like the girls who always beat them, so I learned to tone it down some. And when college came around, I opted for rugby over soccer since I was strong and tough. I loved it!
I played rugby for a few years after graduation (even coached a college team for a season) but eventually, career aspirations got in the way and I had to give it up. That's about the time I took up skiing, hiking and mountain biking for most of my active pursuits. When I moved out of New England a lack of local friends and a lack of decent mountains kind of changed my focus a bit. I started spending more time working (particularly on the weekends) so I needed an activity that I could do on MY schedule. Enter home video workouts. I collected a very large library of them (starting with The Firm Volume 2 for those in the know) and found it a great way to stay in good shape. I was also working a lot of long hours in retail on my feet all day (and slinging shipment boxes a couple of times a week), so staying fit and at a healthy weight was fairly easy.
Then I left retail, moved to Florida, went back to school for engineering and took up bar tending in the evenings to pay the bills. I gained a bunch of weight and wasn't able to get it all under control despite numerous attempts. At one point, I was doing over 800 minutes of vigorous activity a week, eating less than 1000 calories per day and not losing weight. Go figure. I was also enjoying heavy lifting at a gym and running on a treadmill or doing videos for cardio. It was insane how hard I was working. I was fit, but I was not lean. Not by a long shot.
When I moved to North Carolina for my career, my new husband and I took up bicycling. I was having foot trouble making running difficult, so biking made sense. And it was a great area for it! That was in the summer of 2005 and that was also the last time that I followed any type of structured and consistent weight training program. I'd become a cardio junky! Cycling eventually lead to triathlon which I found to be great fun. I loved having three sports to train and I loved the races. My old competitive self came racing to the surface and I got hooked very quickly!
In March of this year (2012), I destroyed my lisfranc joint (in my foot) in an accident with my dogs out on the farm. I had surgery and today am still working to recover from it. I'm still limited mobility but things are improving every day. I will be restricted from any impact for months yet, but I'm pleased to at least be done with the crutches.
As I've gone through this recovery period, I've questioned my choice of sport. If you saw me, you'd know why. I'm kind of like an old, out of shape, Mary Lou Retton. I'm stocky, muscular and clearly not built for endurance races. I find myself thinking that if I chose a sport more suited to my skills and body type (strength and coordination), that I might have more success and more fun.
Tomorrow, I will be attending an open house for a new crossfit gym in my area. Who knows, maybe it'll entice me? I'll be sure to post how it goes...
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