On the Track Again

Have I mentioned that everything will be changing soon? Buying a house, changing neighborhoods, our oldest in school? (Have I mentioned that all this is causing me great stress?) And with that all my own personal routines will have to be reinvented as well. Such as, oh, I don't know, WHEN I RUN?!?!?

Gah.

Today I was presented with a foretaste of all that. I needed to enroll Buddy in kindergarten, and the school has limited office hours during the summer. I couldn't take a half day for this due to my work schedule this week, but then that meant I couldn't figure out a way to go running. I meant to go to the gym yesterday and just couldn't get it in - but if I didn't do something today it would be three days of no activity, and that means a seriously unhappy mama.

So what to do? Why, turn to an old solution, one I relied on when Buddy was first born and I was bringing him downtown for daycare. Head out during my lunch hour and run on the track at the park a half mile from work.

What with this, that, and the other at work I didn't get out until mid-afternoon - not ideal for me any day, and not ideal today with the weather (hot and sunny). But I loved it. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy track workouts, and running on this track in particular, how the temperatures and winds and smells change as you go around, in the sun and then next to gardens and then nearer the lake. And how much better a speed workout is on the track than on the treadmill any day. I've had kind of a crummy week thinking about my future with running and with boxing and with any kind of athletics (and I'm having a weird foot pain thing going on so that doesn't help), but getting out on the track today just restored my spirits tremendously. (Made me hungry for more speedwork too.)

And made me very grateful for a renewed sense of possibilities. The changes that are happening in our family life are good ones, great ones, and I know this and am excited for them, but it is also, oh, very hard in the transition time (and in anticipating the transition time). So I will take any small hope I can.

Anything challenging your sense of equilibrium right now? My word of the week has been "unmoored".

Cast adrift and out to sea,
Annie

Least Favorite Thing?

Making phone calls.

Especially business-y ones.

So my job for today?

Calling prospective attorneys to find one for our house purchase.

And I kinda need to complete this today because the clock has started ticking on the contract.

Bleah.

I cheated a bit, I emailed everyone on my list first with the spiel our realtor gave us to use. So far that's netted me one conversation and one "not taking on new clients at this time" return email. So that's good, that's two off my list of six.

I'll give it another hour and then start calling the rest directly.

Sigh.

Do you have a least favorite thing?

Anxiously,
Annie

Good Grief

This is so overdue, it's embarrassing.

Let's see, in the last month we've gotten to spend time with my parents (visiting from out of town), gone to Ohio to visit The Dude's family, spent more time with my folks, and celebrated The Dude's birthday.

And while this has been going on, we've also been house-hunting (put down an offer today) and dealt with daycare drama of a truly disheartening nature (it looks like all may work out well, but it's been a really rough month of it).

So not much time for writing, and now I need to arrange an attorney and inspector and oh yes, start packing? Or at least start purging.

I will say I'm hugely grateful for the mild summer we've been having.

I'll try not to let so much time pass going forward...
Annie

If The Shoe Fits

You know you might be an athlete when...

On hearing about a friend losing a trainer/boyfriend your first comment is, "Wow, that's rough, good trainers are worth their weight in gold." (To be fair to myself, I didn't realize until afterwards that he was also her boyfriend.)

When fantasizing about playroom space in a possible new home you start thinking about exercise equipment and a dedicated workout space... when others in your household are thinking about musical instruments or building/dress-up materials.

You realize when reviewing your spending and schedule that all your spare funds and free time go towards your athletic pursuits.

Someone calls you one.

Lately I've gotten a number of compliments about my youthful appearance and about my organizational ability. While I certainly appreciate such comments, these are things that are just part of me, without any particular effort on my part. Just lucky, I know. But I have worked, I am working hard to become the athlete I always dreamed I could be... even when I couldn't admit to myself that's what I wanted.

So thank you.

Gratefully,
Annie

Out in the Open

I wrote after the recent holiday weekend how I had to change my plans for training that week around. Pretty much the story of all my serious athletic endeavor (excepting one period in my life I'll come back to later) has been like that, because it all has been after becoming a mom. And, you know, things happen. Your life is no longer your own.

Which, for me, is a very good thing. And in some very surprising ways.

So, after that intense holiday weekend I decided to take it easy on my Tuesday run, so that I would be more refreshed in the evening for my boxing class. Good thing, too, because it ended up being a private lesson. Talk about intense. And I got to ask my questions, one of which was what I should work on in practice between classes.

And then last Friday, I went to the back room of the gym, and I practiced.

And then I did it again yesterday.

I don't know if I can sufficiently convey to you the importance of this to me. The back room of our gym is an open space. There's a rowing machine and some bikes against one wall, a mirror the length of one wall, a cabinet with audio/visual equipment in one corner, and then one wall has an assortment of various gym equipment. Jump ropes, kettle bells, stability balls, slider pads, yoga mats, other stuff I haven't paid too much attention to. Mostly in the past I come in there to row and maybe to stretch a bit. Other people come in there to work on drills or fitness exercises, by themselves or with a personal trainer. So it's a place where people come to do private stuff (no classes) - but it's a wide open space, and the mirror means everyone can see everything that is going on.

So that's where I practiced. I started by rowing for 5 minutes, then jumped rope, then worked on my footwork, then on combinations. No bags there so I couldn't really hit, and I felt way too self conscious to really shadowbox. But I could work on technique, making sure I kept my head down and hands up, that I didn't cross my feet over each other, to lean in when I ducked and not too far when I slid. When I didn't know what to do or felt too stupid doing what I was, I jumped rope until I regained my composure and decided what to work on. I did this for twenty minutes and then rowed for another five.

And sure enough, people came in while I was practicing, and left, and new people came in. And they had their thoughts about what I was doing, or didn't (I always have thoughts about what I see people doing in there, though they're always good ones, I just like watching people and seeing what they're up to). And I didn't spontaneously combust.

Last Tuesday ended up being another private lesson for me, nice, but I can't make next week's (The Dude has a gig) so I'll be going in to the Sunday class instead. I'll know at least one person there but don't know what it will be like otherwise.

Oh, and my hand wraps came in, bright red. Trainer said it may take me a while to get used to them but they felt like part of me right away. Though I don't fully remember how to put them on and every guide I can find online has different instructions. So I'll just have to ask again. I do need to remember not to throw them in to the wash unless I want everything I own to be bright pink.

I've been reading The Boxer's Heart: A Woman Fighting by Kate Sekules, and it's really helpful on the philosophical question front, basically because she had the same ones I do. But the piece I've been really moved by is the documentary Shadow Boxers, which gives a brief overview of recent women's boxing and then profiles Lucia Rijker, a world champion and my new hero. She is an amazing fighter but also very articulate about the dangers of it and why she goes into the ring.

Oh, and all this makes me think about lots and lots of other stuff, and I've been looking into other gyms and classes since I can't afford to do this every month (which was another reason why it's important that I be able to work on my own)... though mostly my investigation has shown me that I was really lucky to stumble onto what I have, so I may end up sacrificing some other things (that trail race?) to keep going.

Now if only Mexican boxing would come on random late night TV again...

Infatuatedly yours,
Annie

Hooked

Okay, forget anything I wrote about not continuing with boxing. I went to what I thought would be my last class last night (after taking a week off the week before) and found myself just as in love with it as the first time. And this was after having run seven miles to work that morning...

This time, in addition to the intoxication of the speed/power/form/skill/thinking of the actual exercise, we spent a fair bit of time discussing the different types of boxing and what they focus on. (We ended up skipping a whole jump rope segment to talk about this - thanks to those seven miles earlier I was quite happy to skip that!) The other woman has recently started going to another gym to be able to qualify for amateur fighting, and had a lot of questions/complaints about how things are being done there. Our trainer comes from a professional background so was explaining the difference between the two. Which gave me room to voice the teeny tiny issue of what about this whole hurting people business...

...because, really, what business do I have learning something that's all about hurting someone...

...except for the fact that I really, really love it (and so far, have not hurt anyone).

No answers yet. That's okay. It's enough that there was room for the question. And I have some idea of where to begin looking for other voices.

One of my favorite writers comes to the rescue:

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

I guess I will just have to fit this into my training somehow, especially as I'd like to start practicing a bit in between classes. Perhaps by becoming stronger and more fit? Well, time will tell.

Excitedly,
Annie

Floating Like a Butterfly

I know I owe a race report, and it's coming, I promise.

But I had my first boxing lesson on Tuesday and I had to write about it.

Some background: Our gym offers small-group 4-week personal training sessions for an additional cost. The Dude asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I have a hard time not asking for practical gifts but thought that this year I should ask for something that would really be a treat. When I looked up the class offerings boxing was the one that stood out for me, and May was the month where it best worked out for both my weekly schedule and my training plans.

Some more background: Many years ago I studied Indonesian Kung Fu for a couple of years. I loved it, and had hoped to continue with it when I moved to Chicago, but for a number of reasons that wasn't possible.

So, cut to Tuesday. I was so excited, and so nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I had so many emotions... so I knew this meant a lot to me. Didn't know why. Still don't, exactly.

Class Description:

It was just the trainer (Carlos), and one other woman, clearly experienced. It was circuit based, so we spent the same amount of time on each of the components, but not both of us on the same component at the same time:

• Jumping rope (single-foot and both feet together);
• Working with Carlos as he wore pads for us to hit and called out punches;
• Working with the double-end bag (this is small and is attached by flexible cables to both the ceiling and the floor - we were supposed to throw light and work on form);
• Working with the heavy bag (for strength);
• Shadow-boxing (against our reflection in the mirror);

And then after going through several rounds of the circuit we ended with a speedwork and strength drill, meant to wear us out thoroughly and mimic how we might feel after many rounds in the ring.

With each turn through the circuit Carlos gave more instruction and added new components, such as dodging blows.

All his instructions were based on what we might experience in an actual fight, and it all made sense. A lot more sense then I was expecting, really, my limited sparring experience from kung fu came back to me quickly. But enhanced by what I've learned in the meantime about body mechanics, movement efficiency, race technique, training practices, etc. And enhanced by a fierceness that I did not have fifteen years ago - or at least was not willing to let out back then. And certainly an increased sense of fearlessness.

It was fascinating to listen in on his instruction to the other woman, who was getting ready to visit another gym this weekend and who is planning to fight. And really, it didn't sound all that different from the instruction he was giving me, just more advanced.

Aftermath

Three days later and I'm still on a high from class. Though boy howdy, was I sore yesterday (delayed onset muscle soreness). I had to go swimming today, slowly, just to feel I was knitting my body back together.

There was something incredibly intoxicating about working on the combination of skill, form, and power in what we were practicing. Similar to what I've learned in running, but heightened. I have three more weeks in this round and I'm looking forward to them - I suspect there may be more in the future.

And I feel there may be a lot more emotional "unpacking" I need to do for myself over those weeks...

But for starters, I need an adult-size jump rope for practicing at home. Kept tripping myself up on the kiddie ones!

Curiously,
Annie