I turned 10 years old in Portsmouth, Virginia. I hate that place. I was from Missoula, Montana, and the climate was drastically different. I couldn't even stand to be outside long enough to get to the swimming pool. While it was amusing to see people putting chains on their cars at the slightest skiff of snow, it just didn't make up for all the bugs.
You get the idea.
I gained considerable weight while living there. That's what happens when you're a kid who fears the outdoors for melting. It must be how the Wicked Witch of the West felt when it was raining. "No, dear, you can't go play outside right now, unless you want to DIE!"
When I moved to Chicago, I remember that we had to buy the "Husky" size pants for me. It was unpleasant. The nice thing, though I didn't really appreciate this at the time, was that the PE program there was actually pretty good. Between that and playing Baseball (that's another story), I was whipped into a reasonable kind of shape soon enough.
In particular, I remember that we had to run a mile in 10 minutes. It was not optional. This may sound pretty easy to many of you, but I remember that it caused considerable stress. The last thing I wanted to do was somehow fail PE. How embarrassing.
We had trial runs, and I don't remember exactly how they went, but I do remember that they stressed me out. The success of this little athletic endeavor was far from assured.
The day we had to do it, I tried my hardest. I remember I would run for a while, then walk for a bit. Apparently nobody bothered to tell me that it would be fine if I just ran a little slower, but didn't walk. As I neared the end, some people shouted and encouraged me on. I crossed the line and collapsed in the grass. My time? 9 minutes and 49 seconds. Yes, I remember it exactly.
Why bring it up now? Monday evening, yesterday, I ran 5 miles in 43 minutes, which was a slight improvement over Thursday's time of 44 minutes. The last year hasn't been the only time I've had to get back into shape, but it has been the most successful. I didn't even have anyone threatening me with poor grades. At least, not because I couldn't run fast enough.
That's quite an accomplishment! :)
Thanks, I guess dreams really do come true!
I guess I just need to start dreaming about moving. . .
Congrats! But, I thought the term "husky" was only used for boys clothing?
I know this sounds strange and I'm sure you're not anywhere near my dinosaur age of 27, but sometimes I think as you get older, you realize it's sort of "now or never" with fitness, and it might as well be now, because why spend your 20's and 30's wishing you had gotten your shit together and be 40 trying to slim down. That whole idea just doesn't sit right.
Oh, I think I need to make an "about me" page.
"Husky" was indeed used only for boy's clothing, but it seemed appropriate at the time since I was a boy. Still am, sort of. More or less.
(Most people make the same mistake, even once they meet me!)
I've passed the dinosaur age of 27, I'm afraid. I turn 29 in eight days. Someone told me that long distance runners can actually get better with age, something I'm really happy about, because it means I can actually continue to improve. I'm very glad I did it as early as I did, even if I wish I had done it years ago. Better late than never, to be cliche.