The College Jock and Her Eight Man Crew
Apr 15th 2008
Claudia DainOn Writing!
I know rowing looks relaxing. Done right, the execution flawless, it’s almost like watching swans gliding over a lake. But it’s the most grueling sport I’ve ever seen. Every muscle in the body, from the neck to the feet, is at work at top speed; it’s cardio at its most relentless. At the end of a 2000 meter race, at least one rower hangs his head over the side of the boat and throws up. At least one.
In order to prepare for this sport, they train 6 days a week. They lift weights. They run stairs. They run long distance. Because I went to USC, the 
stairs my crew ran were the LA Coliseum stairs. Those are some mighty stairs. As their coxswain, it would have been good form, a show of team solidarity, if I’d run the stairs with them. I did. Once. And by once, I mean one flight. Gasping, I decided then and there that I’d be more useful timing them. Everything in crew is timed, everything measured. So, I stood (or sat) at the bottom of the stairs and shouted encouragement (or derision, as needed). The guys needled me, teasing me about not running.
Sticks and stones…
They weren’t too hard on me because, hey, it was an eight man crew training with two other eight man crews. And I was the only girl. Six days a week and the only girl in sight. But that’s another story.
What work-out won’t you do? What form of exercise feels just right? Have you ever run stairs?
69 Comments »
69 Responses to “The College Jock and Her Eight Man Crew”
Buffie on 15 Apr 2008 at 6:03 am #
Claudia — love that picture of some of the crew! Their thighs must be made out of steel. But that little guy looks a bit out of place.
Anyhoo . . . My favorite type of exercise is swimming. I have loved that since I was a little girl growing up in Florida. Stairs, they are just not my thing. I wouldn’t un up any unless there was a hot guy waiting for me at the top! LOL
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 6:25 am #
Claudia, I am beginning to think you had WAY more fun in college than I did.
Buffie, I like how you think! I might run a few stadiums myself, if Hugh Jackman would stand at the top. Heh!
One exercise I won’t/don’t do is the stair master. I’ve done it before, but hate it. The steps are always too big for my short legs. It’s just NO fun!
Btw, has everyone got their taxes in? I need to wog out to the mailbox myself today.
Margaret Garland on 15 Apr 2008 at 6:48 am #
My taxes were e-filed for the first time and were accepted by both fed and state. Hooray! I’ll get my $300 depositied in a few weeks. E-filing is the way to go, folks.
One of the things that I would never do, even when I was able, is jog/run. Hmm. I don’t recall the last time I heard somebody say they were going jogging. This is not a sport for those of us who are too amply endowed up top. It’s painful watching some young girl running with her boob flopping up and down like she had a dying chicken under her shirt. Ouch Been there.
I like swimming and walking. My dog is my reason for walking. Altho, she’d probably like swimming too, I think the rec center might object. So picky. The embarrassing truth is I don’t exercise very much. Shame on me. I have good intentions, but you know where is paved with those.
Margaret Garland on 15 Apr 2008 at 6:51 am #
Claudia, rowing is great to watch but it has never looked like a day off. Even from a distance, you can see those muscles working. And the hours that must be put in to achieve that smooth fluidity is something I can’t imagine. You just know these guys are dedicated to their sport.
LOL You were a wise child to realize timing them was the way to go.
Susan M (formerly Susan K) on 15 Apr 2008 at 7:32 am #
I believe that all forms of exercise are evil and will avoid it if I can. If I had to choose the one exercise I wouldn’t do it would be running/jogging. Truly hate doing that!
SuzyQ on 15 Apr 2008 at 7:45 am #
I was up until 2:00 this morning finishing my taxes, and they are done and e-filed. Whoo Hoo! I agree with Margaret - e-file is the way to go and you do get your money a lot faster!
Back to exercising - I’m with Susan (the new Mrs. M), I hate exercise. I only run when chased (and that’s only if I don’t want to be caught - wink wink) and why do stairs when there are elevators! I guess the only form of exercise I do enjoy is dancing, and my mind still refuses to think of it as such.
Margaret Garland on 15 Apr 2008 at 7:54 am #
Susan!!!! You just got married! What the heck are you doing here this morning? You should be on some Caribbean isle. Sleeping in (or not), drinking rum drinks while lying on a white sandy beach.
Tell us all about the wedding. We were thinking of you and offering up a toast.
Susan M (formerly Susan K) on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:18 am #
We couldn’t afford to take a honeymoon yet so we both headed back to work today.
The wedding was beautiful. No bloopers. Well unless you count me pulling out a kleenex from my bodice to wipe my nose during the prayer.
I’ll post in the forum sometime today and tell you guys all about it. I don’t want to hog the blog today.
Freshechelle on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:20 am #
The hot guy cancome down the stairs to come to me. The only thing getting me to run up those stairs is a knife-wielding maniac. A gun would get me to run, I mean it’s not like I’m going to out run a bullet. I use the Stairmaster only when I’m feeling guilt after going on a bender at McDonalds.
KH, enjoy your wog to the Post Office. Come to toward the light of early e-filing. I’ve already got my refund in a CD at the bank. yeah, I’m braggin’.
As you for our anti-exercise bunch, have you seen the hot male bodies at the gym? They are inspiring. Hire a trainer and your paying one of them to touch you and it’s not as immoral as Elliot Spitzer’s transactions.
Susan M (formerly Susan K), congratulations! Thanks for sharing your pictures. You look like a princess.
Caren Crane on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:27 am #
Claudia, you just HAD to bring up exercise, didn’t you? Here I was enjoying the crew stories and - BAM! - you ask about exercise. I’m here to tell you, you have destroyed a fond daydream I had about rowing. I have, apparently, the perfect build for women rowers (I was told this by my one athletic and highly reliable sister - the other two are NOT athletes, though they are reliable *g*). So, I’ve harbored this picture of myself as the sort of person who would have rowed had she had the opportunity.
Then you had to go and talk about the running. Up many flights of stairs, no less. Dream ruined! Now I’ll have to smudge over that part when I think of it, since there is no way I could ever be a runner. I can do some damage on the rowing machine at the gym, though. *g*
As to my favorite exercise, I adore yoga (and have no time for it, ironically), but only in classes. I used to do aerobics, but always hated it. I enjoy walking, but only with company. Exercise = another excuse to talk!
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:49 am #
I just wanted to make sure that you goddesses realized that the crew pictured is lined up the way they are in the boat. Coxswain, that tiny guy, at one end, the Stroke (always the biggest guy) right next to him, on and on in order of seats.
The reason I point this out is that, ooooooeeee, isn’t the size difference between the rowers and the coxswain amazing? I do like a big, strong man. I sure do.
elsiehogarth on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:49 am #
My favorite form of exercising is walking. I walk 2 miles every day except Sunday. I need my rest. Then I need variety because I’m a lazy excersizer so my favorite exercise tapes which I alternate are: Richard Simmons Sweatin’ to the Oldies, Gilad-Bodies in Motion and Belly Dancing. Every now and then I’ll do a ballet, yoga or belly dancing class at the high school.
Buffie on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:51 am #
Karen — the dh and I efiled our taxes back in January, so we have had the refunds in the savings account for a few months. I wish we could have spent it on a nice family vacation, but the dh lost his job in January so we are holding it for household expenses. Hopefully he will find a job soon!
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:53 am #
Now, since I’m the one who brought it up, I guess I should talk about boring exercise.
Won’t run stairs.
Won’t run, period.
Swimming bores me.
Walking is great, especially if I can talk to someone. (Caren?)
Yoga, I’ve been wondering if I should try it. Hot yoga. I just can’t imagine getting in a room to get miserably sweaty, but it’s supposed to be great exercise and good for flexibility. I’d love to be more flexible.
Taxes? That’s so totally on DH’s shoulders that I barely register when tax season comes. For hero definitions, that tops my list.
SheridanLA on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:56 am #
I am working to convince myself that walking is my new fave since I will be doing LOTS of it this year…. and wogging. I more want to complete a 5k (then my friend has coerced me into the Camp Pendleton Mud Run this year.. a 10k with mud, tire obstacles, walls.. and Marines to guide you through. I am thinking of playing the “damsel in distress” card at least once so I might flirt shamelessly
My consistent one has been cycling. I am not a racer, I just go to enjoy the sites, be with friends and struggle up hills so I can be a kamikaze downhiller.
If I am in the right mood, or with the right people, then I enjoy a lot of things. It is best if I start doing something THEN realize what great exercise it is. Admittedly, being more fit has helped make things more enjoyable - strenuous hikes on trips, spur of the moment climbs, long walks meandering through streets in beautiful cities, etc.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:56 am #
Susan M, welcome back from Wedding Weekend! Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your wedding with us.
DH and I couldn’t afford a fancy honeymoon either. We went camping for a week in Sequoia for our honeymoon. It was bliss.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:58 am #
Sheridan, you nailed it. Being fit makes doing the stuff I really want to do more enjoyable; like walking all day in London, where Goddess KarenR is now!
SheridanLA on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:58 am #
On another note. I nominate the team photo for the FROs.. oh my..
I thought cyclists had nice bods - I had NO IDEA about the rowers!!! I mean cyclists have great legs, but scrawny tops.. those guys are just all around yummy! I shall have to pay more attention when they are rowing though Marina del Rey as I pass them on the bike path. I think that is the USC team.. or UCLA.. I get them confused (I know.. a travesty to those who went to either - apologies)
I shall be working with visions of rowing teams dancing through my head today.. weeeee!
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:01 am #
Buffie, not only are their thighs made out of steel, but their arms, their backs, their shoulders….
Is it hot in here?
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:04 am #
Oh, Sheridan! To confuse UCLA with USC? For shame! LOL
Marina del Rey is UCLA. So now when they row by, you can shout out, “Go, Bruins!” and maybe the coxswain will look over at you and wave. Hunky rowers can’t look, at least not until they can look without moving their heads. Refer to original post. *G*
Buffie on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:08 am #
Yes, Claudia, it getting a mite warm in here!
SheridanLA on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:09 am #
see? a travesty.. ok, now I know. I shall stop and ogle now and then and cheer for Bruins just to get the attention of the rowers. Course, if I was really smart I would head down there early to watch them unload the boats and get in.. more of a view that way.
hrm. methinks I need to research a practice schedule…
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:10 am #
Sigh. Claudia, you lucky dog, you. Had I only know of crew when I was in college, my life might have made some very different turns!
Buffie, good luck to you and the hubby. I’ll keep fingers and toes crossed he finds a GREAT job and soon!
And yes, my dears, you’re absolutely right and I need to walk toward the light and efile. The thing was, I have an accountant and I wanted to go the form before he filed it . . . not saying I don’t trust him, but hey, I like to know what’s what and it’s just easier to see when he puts it down in all of those neat boxes.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:14 am #
KarenH, heck yeah you should go over the form after the accountant. How do you think Madonna got her bajillions? Not a penny comes in or out of her account without her knowing about it. I find that truly admirable. She’s not a star who’s going find herself bankrupt in five years from either other spending or under tracking “her people.”
And neither are you, you Big Star, you.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:15 am #
And, yes, crew did change my life. It was An Experience.
Nicole Jordan on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:29 am #
I’m a lousy swimmer… when I was a kid I hated the way I looked in a bathing suit and my aerobic conditioning was awful. Now I do a short aerobic routine regularly alternating with weights and resistance bands. Good thing, since I spend most of my day sitting on my tush in front of my computer screen.
Susan, the pics of you were gorgeous!
And Buffie, we goddesses will be keeping all body parts crossed for you and your hubby!
Alice Audrey on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:52 am #
Sometimes I get out of my chair, turn around, and sit down again. Does that count?
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:01 am #
Alice, getting out of the chair definitely counts. When I think of all the exercise I get just from taking potty breaks…I’m practically Olympic material.
Emmiebee on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:09 am #
Oh, how I hate to run. So undignified. Please, just take my purse Mr. Mugger, don’t chase me for it. Even way back in collage, when I was in the best shape of my life on the fencing team, I could only run about a mile, although I could fence for 3 hours! Much more running than that, and I would throw up. Not so pretty.
I just bought an elliptical cycle on the cheapo from Craigs’s List. It is pretty cool, actually- very easy on the knees. About 20 minutes with the i-Pod blaring seems good to me. Oh and I love Yoga- but, it is FUN and makes me feel GOOD, so it can’t really be exercise, right? Hand weights in front of the TV a couple of times a week just help tone a bit.
I guess you have deduced my strategy- I will only exercise if I can convince myself that I am not exercising! Because, you know, I really hate exercise!
-Emmiebee, sofa spud
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:13 am #
Claudia, I hear you — I really, REALLY need to up my exercise quotient. In fact, I may go to the gym right now. If I wait to do it in the evening, I don’t make it.
So, Claudia, do you have any pictures of YOU and THE CREW? I wanna see!!!
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:23 am #
Oh, Karen, I wish I did! Those photos are long gone, and I only had two or three to begin with. Who was going to take a picture? We were all too busy doing the sport to bother with it.
How about a word picture?
We wore sun gold shorts and dark red t-shirts (USC colors). They were tall and fit and I was short and wore a stop watch around my neck and one on each thigh, the megaphone was attached to my head by straps. I had calluses on the inside of my wrists from the ropes (gutter! please!) LOL The ropes attached to the rudder, of course. I also had a callus very low on my spine from where I’d bump against the wood rail at the start of each stroke. When those oars hit the water, whoosh, the boat surges.
ct009ct on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:44 am #
I occasionally opt to take the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator, but RUN upstairs, NO WAY! Is that even healthy? LOL.
Like elsiehogarth, I like belly dancing. I take a class twice a week. I haven’t lost much weight, but it’s shifted (I’m shaped like a girl again). I enjoy it, so like Emmiebee, I don’t think of it as exercising.
The hubby and I go dancing 2-3 times a week, yes it’s fun, but we go so often for the exercise. I know hard to believe, but true. The hubby had to have a by-pass in his left leg about 5 years ago (they talked about his losing his foot), and the movement of dancing has made a big difference. He only lost a toe. Yeah! Anyway it’s something we always loved doing.
Our taxes went out the old fashioned way (mail). I got them out Saturday. We always wait til April, cause we almost always owe. But this year we get a refund from federal, woohoo, It’s like we found money in our pants pocket!!!
ct009ct on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:51 am #
Oh, I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS to Susan. Lovely pictures!
Julia London on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:58 am #
the exercise I feel right about is couch surfing. The one I hate (and am doing) but hate hate hate hate hate it is running.
Yet every day I get up and wonder if I could maybe go a little longer, and there I go again, like the dufus I am.
But today my sport is cleaning closets.
Sandy "Snik" White on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:59 am #
I am in process of taking my health more serious. Better food choices, walking and portioning have all become a part of my daily habits. Counting calories to a point, to make sure that I am getting enough to prevent my body from storing the food, all part of daily routine. The exercise portion of this has been slow going.
I don’t run. I jiggle at a brisk walk, running would be like that jello mold on the commercial but in the sense that it wouldn’t stop, so we’ll stick to a brisk walk. I won’t do stairs, at least not en masse. I do love water aerobics and they are by far my favorite. I even love doing laps…as a fat girl, water is my friend.
I am getting a bike tonight, so I will be doing a nightly ride with my daughter. Hopefully there will be less of me soon. So far I’m down 7lbs and 4 inches. I’m gonna keep on keepin on…but you know, without running.
Sheridan LA on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:08 am #
uhm.. Claudia.. you left out the descriptions of the rowers.
It does sound uncomfortable, but you have to admit, it was a great view
Michelle on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:18 am #
I used to love to run in high school and college, then came three kids and a progressively bigger chest, running became painful. I tried all the sports bras and even bound myself with an ace bandage (too much work). Low impact Jazzersize was sort of fun, but couldn’t stick to it. Now I walk and recently took it up again, only this time with my DH. We’ve both enjoyed the alone time and are seeing benefits. Yoga is the one I hate. I get dizzy with all the moves that are head down.
Emmiebee on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:23 am #
Claudia, you just inspired me to do a one-hour Yoga Today lesson. Now I have noodle arms, but feel pretty good. I AM off from work today, so, no, my co-workers are not snickering at me. At least not about Yoga.
-EB
Emmiebee on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:37 am #
Oh, Susan M., I wanted to mention that you looked like a princess in your wedding gown. What glorious hair! One of the goddesess may just need to use you for inspiration for her next young heroine
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:40 am #
Woooo, Claudia! I’m getting hot from your description of the guys, the ropes, the surging boat . . . . woooowheeee!
Sheridan LA on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:43 am #
Emmie.. way to go on the yoga. I wish I could get to classes more, but alas, the local studio and my work do not mesh well schedule wise.
Karen.. nice session at the gym! I always forget about the rowing machine… yesterday and today’s topics might remind me. Course, I wonder how I could arrange for the rest of the crew…
Suzanne Enoch on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:48 am #
My favorite form of exercise is listening to KarenH talk about the exercising she does. And nodding my approval.
Okay, and walking.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:30 pm #
The goddesses are exercise queens! Well, most of them. The rest of us shout encouragement from the stands. Hey, somebody has to be the cheering section.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:38 pm #
So, Sheridan, you want a description of the rowers. That’s tough. How to describe layers of working muscle (as opposed to the weight lifting kind that looks bulky and just for show) covering tall, long legged men?
They start off rowing in sweatshirts over t-shirts, and as practice continues and they get hot, the clothes come off. By the end, they’re down to their shorts. They row without shoes, by the way, since the shoes are fastened to the bottom of the boat. By the time we’re back at the boathouse, they’re in shorts. Period. Even their feet are muscular.
The seats are on rollers, so with each stroke of the oar, the seat rolls forward and back, the thigh muscles clenching and bunching, the calf muscles straining.
Back muscles, abs, biceps…all working hard at getting that oar through the water with as much force and as much finesse as possible. The trap. muscle strains to keep their heads erect and perfectly still while the rest of the body is working at maximum capacity.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:46 pm #
Bodies working that hard need air, so their jugular veins are extended, their chests pink, their nostrils flared, their breathing loud.
During the race, the Stroke will whisper hoarsely at the Catch, when he’s closet to the coxswain. “Time?”
And I’ll use the stroke watch on my leg and time the stroke from the catch to the release, which tells them how fast they’re rowing.
He’ll ask on a gasp of breath, “Where are we?” And I’ll tell the crew we’re three seats down from Cal and four seats up from Stanford, our position in the race measured by seats. I’ll call for a Power Ten, in three strokes, two strokes, one stroke…and then they’ll pull as hard as they can for ten strokes in a row, which I’ll count out.
They’ll groan at the end of it, and keep rowing. We’re only two seats down from Cal now and we have open water between us and Stanford.
Ronlyn on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:49 pm #
LOL…I love it. As for what I won’t do: Mama won’t run. Unless there is a man wtih a gun chasing me, I won’t run. And even then I’d probably hide, not run.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:54 pm #
The boats are close to each other, with only inches between oar tips, and the Cal boat calls for a Power Ten to try and regain those lost seats. Stanford calls for a Power Twenty to close that open water. And so I call a Power Twenty. Can’t lose momentum now. Have to keep their spirits up, have to give them open water, have to let them see that they’re blasting by those seats.
“How long?” the Stroke asks, his arms bulging with muscle and distended veins, his neck red.
I tell the boat how much farther they have to row, where all the other boats are.
We clear Cal’s boat and have open water. Stanford is a full boat length behind. Twenty strokes until the finish line.
Fifteen. Twelve. Power Ten to the finish. I bang the sides of the boat with the wooden dowels that connect the ropes to the rudder, pounding out the Power Ten, making the wood ring with it like a primitive gong, shuddering the wood so they can feel it and focus the blade hitting the water at my rhythmic banging.
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:56 pm #
Woowwww, is it hot in here or it is just Claudia exuding Memories of Testosterone! Lady, you make me wanna ROW!
Suzanne E, it’s true — I talk exercise 5:1 to actually doing it. That’ll give the old ear muscle a workout!
Sheridan, valid point: my rowing experience wasn’t nearly as ah, COLORFUL, as Claudia’s. It’s just not the same without the men. Next time, I’ll close my eyes and pretend they’re all there. That’ll get my heart rate up!
Sheridan LA on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:57 pm #
*applause*
Claudia, that was well worth it! All I have to say is “oh, my!” and fan myself a bit.
any WHY are you not still cockswain again??? I think you would have to pry me out of that boat with a crowbar.
Hunky athletic men aside, it sounds like a really cool thing to do.. and something that would require a lot of concentration and analysis. I have actually never heard this much about the sport before… rowing was not that big in Texas.. at least not that I ever heard of…
*sigh*
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 12:57 pm #
Something else I’d never do for exercise. Row. I’ve seen how hard it is close up! Count me out.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 1:02 pm #
Sheridan, I’m glad you liked it! LOL Boy, that was a trip down Memory Lane. I’m doing a bit of self-fanning, too!
As to why I stopped doing crew, that’s Monday’s blog. *wink*
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 1:04 pm #
Seriously, it was a big responsibility being a coxswain. The coach meets with the coxswains before every practice and every race, telling them how he wants the boat to row, the race to be run. You’re like the captain of the ship, all decisions are yours, though you work very closely with the Stroke.
Yasmin on 15 Apr 2008 at 1:16 pm #
In high school I got stuck with the Cross Country Coach for a PE teacher. We had a park adjoining our school. She would make us go all around the school, aroung the park through the side streets to get back to the school all in 8 min. You had to keep a contant run otherwise you wouldnt make it. The first few times i didnt make even though I was in marching band and was use to walking quite a bit. She would lock up the gate and you would have to go back and through the office and only get half vredit for that date.
Sabrina Jeffries on 15 Apr 2008 at 1:36 pm #
I hate exercise, but it does make me feel more energetic, so I do it. I walk on the treadmill and type on my computer at the same time.
The only exercise I ENJOY is swimming. Really love swimming. If I had a heated pool in my backyard, I would swim laps every day. And then I could have cabana boys, huh!
Sheridan LA on 15 Apr 2008 at 2:08 pm #
Sabrina, you walk and type at the same time?!?
I am in awe.
amy1242 on 15 Apr 2008 at 2:39 pm #
I always wondered how those rowers stayed so in sync and uniformed. I used to canoe with one of my friends and honestly, when she was in the back doing the steering it was like two drunks out on the lake for a spin. Crap! Too late, I thought of taking cocktails out there with us for happy hour! Now I go out with my kids so, no happy hour for me anymore. Gotta set a good example. (Amy…going for mother of the year……again!)
amy1242 on 15 Apr 2008 at 3:00 pm #
I was a jock through school and did all the sports offered to girls at that time. We ran steps EVERY DANG DAY! Now, at 44, I hike and wog (thanks again for that word Julia!), and coach 5th and 6th grade girls volleyball. I still love to play basketball and softball when I get the chance, and I’m still on a volleyball league (although we don’t win much anymore). It’s been 6 years since I’v run a marathon or half marathon, and honestly, I don’t miss it at all. Running was always a chore to me, I just don’t have the body for it. Wogging Rocks! I’ll stick with wogging!
doglady on 15 Apr 2008 at 3:18 pm #
I was very athletic in college. In grad school I walked 4 miles a day as part of my singing regime. Walking is great exercise for singers. Since I retired, however, my exercise days have been few and far between. I know I need to get back at it, but I really do HATE exercise. I am part of the “I will run if chased by a knife wielding madman!’ crowd.
Gardening is one of the few forms of exercise I get.
I would love to be in better shape and have thought about getting a bicycle. I loved bicycling when I was young.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 3:46 pm #
Amy, you ran stairs every day!? Yikes. That sounds like pure misery. (I’m not very peppy on the exercise chant, am I?)
Walking, which is all I do, keeps turning up as one of the best ways to exercise of them all. Easier on the joints than running, good for muscle tone and bone density, plus you can do it anywhere! Of course, DH would insist that what I do is stroll, not walk, but I have shorter legs than his. I’m walking as fast as I (comfortably) can.
You mean it’s not supposed to be comfortable? Huh.
Paula M on 15 Apr 2008 at 3:58 pm #
Exercise? I think I’m more in need of a cold shower after reading about Claudia’s exploits with the rowers!LOL I can’t abide running( my knees won’t take it and I can’t see the point in pounding the streets.
I love swimming but don’t often get the chance to do it. We all (dh, the boys and I) have bikes and I am determined that we wiol get more use out of them this summer.
Loved the Photos Susan M, hope that you and your DH enjoyed the day.
amy1242 on 15 Apr 2008 at 3:59 pm #
You’re right, Claudia. Walking (or strolling *g*) is much better for you. I had a running “accident”, which is why I stopped running. I wish I would have stopped way before I did. It seemed like the quickest and easiest way to lose my baby weight. But I pushed it. One 10k too long.
Paula M on 15 Apr 2008 at 4:05 pm #
Forgot to mention a very good friend of mine ran in the London Marathon at the weekend, I don’t yet know what time she did it in as I haven’t spoken to her yet. She spent the last year 18months training for it,I really do admire her and she was raising money for a Breast cancer charity
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 4:11 pm #
I know someone, well, not really as he’s the acquaintance of an acquaintance, who blew out his knees running and now does hot yoga and he claims he’s just as fit as he was from running.
I’ve got to try hot yoga someday.
Yeah, someday.
Sabrina Jeffries on 15 Apr 2008 at 7:24 pm #
What’s hot yoga?
Yes, I walk and type, Sheridan. It’s the only way to motivate myself to actually DO the walking. *G*
Oh, I forgot I used to bike a lot. I’ve always liked biking. In grad school, I went a whole year living off-campus without a car, and I biked everywhere. Great exercise!
ladydawgfan on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:35 pm #
I love to swim, and would do so every day if I could. As for exercises I avoid, jogging is one of them. I don’t jog. Never have, never will. My boobs are just too durned big, and I don’t fancy two busted kneecaps and two black eyes from the effort!! And oddly enough, I have never been able to do sit-ups, even when I was skinny and even with someone holding down my feet. Go figure!
ladydawgfan on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:37 pm #
BTW, congrats Susan M. All brides are beautiful, but you were especially so. May you and your new hubby have many happy years ahead of you.
Claudia Dain on 15 Apr 2008 at 9:56 pm #
Just in case you read this, hot yoga is 90 minutes of yoga in a very hot room. You sweat profusely, but your muscles are so warm that you can flex to do things you normally couldn’t do. And the flexibility lasts after the lesson is over. Heart rate is up from the heat, too. The first few times you go, according to my sources, if you can stay in the room for the entire 90 minutes, even if you don’t move a muscle, you’re a stud muffin. The heat is supposed to be really hard to take, until you get used to it.
Karen Hawkins on 15 Apr 2008 at 10:02 pm #
I’ve done the Bikram yoga and it’s AWESOME. Sweated a gallon, but managed to get bent into poses I never thought I’d be able to do. And when it was done, I felt like a limp noodle. I honestly loved every minute of it, though.
The Goddess Webmistress on 15 Apr 2008 at 11:52 pm #
Just a quickie test. I’ll be gone in a flash!