Shake What Your Mama Gave You!

In the same way that I was right about bloggers being self-involved, I was also right about one other thing:  All runners are masochists.

In my journey of self-discovery (a pretty way to say "my quarter-life crisis"), I got addicted to working out.  Now, I have never been a traditional athlete by ANY stretch of the imagination (unless you call running away from the ball a sport), but I have always been active.  One thing I swore up and down that I would never be able to get into was running.  Here I am, in my mid-twenties, signing up for local races.  What happened?

First, there was walking around my neighborhood in a leisurely way.  Strolling became brisk walking until last fall when my husband and I joined a gym.  As it began to get colder outside, I opted for the treadmill at the gym over my walks outside.  Treadmills led to Zumba and consequently to kickboxing, vigorous elliptical workouts, Turbo Kick and eventually to running.  I had no idea as I was doing all of these things that I had been conditioning my body and building my endurance up to this point.  I went for a jog one day before work (since I hate going to the gym after work) and I actually kind of liked it!  Weird.

Make no mistake, I am not a marathon runner, but one day when I was feeling particularly "beige," I thought, Maybe some day I'll run a half marathon.  I figured before I started that route, though, I had better build up to it slowly.  At that point, I began researching local 5Ks and other races.  I plan to participate in three of them between now and mid-December.  I suppose at that point, I'll bring my workouts back inside, but until then, I am going to enjoy every mile until I get bored with running.

As a former dancer (hence, the title of this page), I never imagined I'd really get into other forms of working out in the way that I have.  After 16 years in the studio and onstage, I took a three year hiatus during college.  Upon graduation, I returned to my hometown for a job and called up my old studio to see if there were any teaching positions needing to be filled.  Oh, Mama giveth and Mama taketh away!!!  I danced and taught for one more year.  However, it didn't take me long to realize that although I was still able to do most of the things that I had been able to do in my prime dancing years, I was having to work much harder to accomplish them.  After that year, I decided to wipe the rosin off my shoes and retire gracefully.

I will always love dance, but now, it will be on my own terms.  As I have no plans to pursue a career in a studio, I have opted to enjoy the practice in the privacy of my own home (where only my poor husband will be my audience), recreationally, or as a critical spectator.  Just because my body is out of practice doesn't mean that my mind is!  I still know all of the technique in my head enough to point out other people's faults, you see.  However, I imagine age will only magnify this issue for me in the future:  the mind and the body do not seem to operate in perfect synchronization.

From dancing to walking to the gym, my workout routine seems to have come to another milestone in the forms of running, kickboxing and PiYo.  (I have a tendency toward the "Yo" part, but will take the "Pi" any ol' time!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for fun ways to mix up a workout?  What do YOU like to do?

Finally, a question for all the lady runners out there:  How do you keep your undercrackers from riding up your butt when you're trying to keep a pace?