August 2004 Archives

What was it they were saying to the track runners, before the gun, instead of “take your marks”? It sounded like they were saying “recipe.” Did you see the poses struck by two or three of the female long-jumpers before they took off on their run-up? Somehow they flung their arms and/or legs and/or head out in different directions as a way of positioning themselves for take-off. They looked really cool (and funny). I'm trying to find a picture. I got really tired of hearing people sound sniffy or downright hostile (like this guy, probably a couch potato, who seems to have nothing but complaints all the way around) toward gymnastics as an Olympic sport on account of judging errors. I find gymnastics inspiring to watch. Seeing the gymnasts demonstrate physical skills I can’t imagine having makes me want to push myself to gain skills and strength, even if I don’t get very far. The Olympics on TV provide the only chance I have, as far as I know, to watch gymnastics. Just because the scoring isn’t perfect, that doesn’t mean the whole sport should be tossed. I enjoyed watching gymnastics so much that I’m planning to join this gym next month, when my current month at the boxing gym expires, in order to see if I can learn to use some of this equipment. It’s taken me a long time—about six weeks—to figure out how my new job schedule is affecting my workouts. I get up most days at 6:00 and work from 7:30 to 3:30. I like these hours because I have so much daylight left when I get home. I can goof off or do chores for a while and then go to boxing at 5:30. But I’m so much more tired at that time of day, after getting up so early, that it’s hard to work out. I usually slack off and go slowly, not pushing myself to work hard. It’s still a lot harder than I’d work if I were not in a class but just at the Y by myself or doing a bike ride. The fatigue of simply being awake for 12 hours by the time the workout starts shows itself in my feet and ankles, which ache from jumping rope, and in my endurance when hitting the heavy bags—I just want to drop my arms and sit down. Neither of those problems occur on Saturday morning workouts, when I’ve had nine hours of sleep. It seems that on weekdays, I’m getting enough sleep to feel rested throughout most of the day, but little enough so that I’m more tired than usual at the gym. I’m not sure how much to just adjust my expectations versus try to push harder. It’s hard to push hard when my feet and ankles ache. In preparation to try the Crossfit gym, I’m trying to push a bit and to maintain good form on all the exercises, so that when I try Crossfit I feel at least somewhat up to speed.