Have you heard? It’s time for the Olympics! I told myself I would not get involved this year. If I watch, I’ll get interested in people. I’ll get invested emotionally in events that permit very few winners. Inevitably, I’ll see heartbreak. I don’t need that right now.
And yet, I found myself staring at cyclists pedaling up a winding road in the rain. I can’t seem to look away. If I’m around a TV when coverage of the men’s or women’s marathon is on, it will be hopeless. I’ll be hooked for sure.
I look at the athletes, and I wonder about them, about their lives. What brought them to this moment. What their expectations are. What their routines are like. Gazing at a close-up shot of a female swimmer who had medaled before, I marveled that she looked like … well, an ordinary person.
There was a shot of her parents, and they looked like ordinary people, too.
So I keep wondering. Were there any klutzes among those athletes who paraded into the stadium in London
I guess I’m thinking about this now not only because of the Olympics, but also because of recent news coverage of the proposed ban on large sodas in New York City , another episode in the seemingly endless saga of America New York
Thank goodness for the limits of the budget in this case, I think at his image on the screen. I don’t even know why he scares me so much. I don’t live in New York
He isn’t … right? Bad memories die hard. I was running on a treadmill as I watched him; I was feeling good, a welcome blessing after a few difficult weeks in mid-June and early July. I’m a pretty active person these days; I do things I never used to think I could. I go into sporting goods stores with no self-consciousness or timidity. Still, the thought of gym class makes me want to curl up in a ball in the corner. (I seem to be full of puns today.)
It’s not that I spent the first 25 or so years of life being sedentary. I have glowing memories of playing with my cousins on my grandparents’ sprawling property in rural Idaho
Only, in spite of those fun early activities, I had a huge problem. I was a klutz, and even worse maybe, I knew I was a klutz. I couldn’t manage anything involving a ball. It didn’t take many ball games on the playground or in elementary school gym periods to realize I was the worst player I was ever likely to encounter. I developed a deep conviction of this, that I was hopelessly flawed, that for some reason I was doomed to look and feel stupid trying unsuccessfully to do what seemed easy and even fun for everyone else. Once the conviction took hold, it got reinforced easily. In high school, I was the only student in my PE class to receive a grade of C for the golf unit. Yeah, I am hopeless at golf. Just like dodge ball. And basketball. And softball. And volleyball. And on and on. One particular talent I did seem to have—well, I don’t know if you could call it a talent or more of a magnetism. Balls of all kinds seemed drawn to my head. If I’d been braver, I could have used this gift in soccer.
Looking back at the whole of my gym class experience, I have to admit that it wasn’t THAT BAD. I mean, everyone in all my gym classes always knew, as I did, that I was the worst player and nothing but complete klutziness could be expected of me. Still, I can’t remember anyone actually being unkind. For the most part, I went to school with good kids, and they didn’t make it a huge issue. The only person who was truly cruel to me then was me. I thought horrible things about myself, and I let them hold me back from getting involved in activities, from taking part and having fun. And now, as a “grown up,” a “runner,” a “marathoner,” I still fear the phrase “mandatory gym class.”
Again, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect there are others out there like me. I was lucky to finally discover running in a way that opened it up to me … from running two minutes and then walking a bit, to the huge accomplishment of running two miles consecutively, to participating in my first 5K. All I wanted going into the 5K was not to finish last. I came in solidly in the middle of the pack. But you know what? Whoever came in at the tail end, if they had a good time getting out and being active, they have nothing to regret.
I’m grateful now to have an active lifestyle, and I support good health and fitness. But I also know that gym class for me was a deterrent from an active future, not a boost toward that goal. I know when I get upset at the media and the topic of combating obesity (which sounds like maybe we should just beat our jiggles with a stick), I’m interpreting what I hear through my own experiences and perceptions. I may be coating all the messages with guilt and encouragement of self-hatred that isn’t really intended. Still, I wish some of the messages could come across a little differently, offering hope to other klutzes that fitness can be achieved even with limited hand-eye coordination. If there could be a little more positivity, a little more “you can do it” and a little less “why in the h*** would you drink that when you know it’s bad for you and eventually you will cost taxpayers money by making bad choices like ordering a Pepsi.”
Very well said! Mandatory gym classes are not the answer to combatting obesity--I should know!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! Don't get me started on this one. Working in different schools over the years I was on the battle field when it came to "healthy meal choices" in schools. What many school systems did was put food in good and bad categories. They took out soda cans, juice bottles and gatariad out of the school machines that were only on for sporting events.Thought Gatoraid is good to use to replace electrolights lost while playing games. All parties could only have healthy foods. Try having a Valentine party with apples, popcorn, and pretzels. No more special treats for your birthday. The fitness piece was also very much out there. The last school I worked in had an after school running walking club. Three days a week the staff and the students would run/walk after school. I have found over the years that kids get the exercise part. It is sad that I've had students as young as first grade who won't eat ice cream at school and tells me "Mommy and I have to exercise in the morning before we eat." I've had 5th graders that think you haven't run hard enough until you make yourself sick. I've caught many students skipping lunch over the years. My students as young as 3rd grade are hyper aware of calories, fat, protein. Etc Terms that I never knew at their age. Too much is seen as a bad thing. The messages that these young kids see in the media, schools, parents attitude contribute to how they see themselves. The talk is always about being active and watching your weight. Instead of labeling food as good and bad people should focus on what the food does for your body. The same way exercise should be looked at. They should be told you can have all foods and exercise in moderation. Children should be taught to take cues from their body. They also need to know that you can be too skinny or exercise too much. They need to know that there are consequences to not treating and giving your body what it needs. Your body needs a balance of good foods, exercise, rest, and yes even chocolate. It's the taking care of what your body needs is what should be stressed.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Olympic Athlete it is proven that many of them are training so hard that it will cause injury later on. I think it was the gymnast, Kim Z or Kerri S who hobbled on her final vault to medal in the sport a few years back. They shoot them up so they can't feel the injury and train them all the way through. The training for these girls is relentless. Coaches watch everything these girls eat etc. If you have ever read the book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. It gives an inside picture of what gymnasts and ice skaters go through to get to the top. When you stare at the Athletes on the screen yea, there lives can look like they have it all together but you really don't know what they have and are going through to reach Olympic level. You see pictures of happy families but for every one of those there are many families that have broken families because of the stress put on these families. You never hear about the girls that don't make it or die in the process. Training if not done right can and will kill. I know when I look at these Athlete that so many times what appears to the world on the outside is what the inside has gone through.
P.S. My junior high teacher called me Grace because I was oh so graceful. Not!!!!
Her is the trailer to Little Girls in pretty boxes. Haven't watched it but read the book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chg1K3xxDtU&feature=c-shelf-119
ReplyDeleteI once read an article about a school that offered a number of various activities that kids could choose from during PE. No "you must play this sport." The success of the students was measured by devices they wore that indicated their heartrate. The goal was to keep your heartrate in a certain zone over a specified period of time. I really like that idea.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea, too, much better than the approach I was familiar with in school.
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