Ice Skating!

My daughter wants to be an ice skater when she grows up. She loves getting on the ice and jumping and spinning and seeing how fast she can go. To that end, she takes both private and group lessons. During her private lessons, there's a public session that I can participate in.

So on Friday afternoons, I get about 45 minutes to strap on a pair of skates and see how fast I can ice skate and work on crossing one foot over the other.

I am becoming more fascinated by speed skaters - it's like running, but on ice! I'm not worried about seeing how elegant I can look, and I don't want to be a hockey player, but long track speed skating? I could TOTALLY do that!

Ice skating: it's fun. I enjoy getting to do it once a week.

Why I Run, Part V

Why do I run instead of ride my bike or ice skate or take aerobics classes or something else? It's a good question, and one I don't have a super-good answer to, just a bunch of little reasons:

• Running doesn't take a lot of equipment - just shoes and some clothes you don't mind getting sweaty.
• Running is easy - you can just go out the door.
• Running takes me into my neighborhood. I get to say hi to people I see who are out walking, and I love seeing the Chinese grandparents doing Tai Chi in the schoolyard in the early morning.
• Running is easy to squeeze into my schedule. 
• Running can be a kind of meditation - I can concentrate on my breathing and not think about much, or let my mind wander.

Which isn't to say that I also don't like to hike sometimes or go for bike rides or ice skate when I'm able. But running's easy to do, and I like that.

Why I Run, Part IV

I am not immune to vanity. I wouldn't call myself vain - I don't wear make-up regularly, for example - but I do color my hair and I'd be lying if I said that one of the reasons I run wasn't to keep off that little bit of stomach fat I can get when I'm more slothful.

And in the near-term, we're going to Mexico in 7 weeks. And there is a dress that I want to wear - a dress that I have owned since before I was pregnant, a dress that still looks good, but it pulls across the hips now in ways that it didn't used to. If I could shave an inch or so off my hips before we leave? That'd be awesome.

I run to keep myself looking good.

Why I Run, Part III

When I got pregnant, it was a revelation. I've always skewed intellectual - I like reading, I've got a math degree in part because math disciplines my brain in good ways, and big thick history books can be interesting. But pregnancy made me realize that my body is also a big, huge part of who I am and there are systems that work! And work well! And that's pretty cool.

I'm getting older - I'm 37 for anyone out there who's curious - and there are systems in my body that aren't working quite as well as they used to. Nothing serious, but things are a little off. There are hiccups where things used to run smoothly. My nails are getting weird ridges and I have extra freckles, for example.

But exercise! Exercise makes things run smoothly again. When the NYTimes reported that regular exercise makes your cells better able to regulate themselves - they likened it to housekeeping - that made a lot of sense to me. I clean my house once a week, and I help my body keep itself clean and working right by running 3 days a week.

I run so that my body works right.

Why I Run, Part II

You know that little voice in your head? The little voice that tells you that you should be doing x, y, and z? The one that, in my head anyway, likes to beat me up for not being a better person, whatever its current definition of better is.

When I'm running regularly, it is so much easier to tell that little voice to SUCK IT. There is no cause for me to beat myself up, that I am a good person who does what I need to and that no, I don't need to conform to all of society's standards that may or may not work for me.

In short, running makes me less depressed.

Why I Run, Part I

I've never been the most energetic person in the world. I like looking for shortcuts, and easy ways to meet your goals is a good thing because it makes you more efficient. I've also always been a big fan of sleep (helllllllloooo, 8 hours a night!).

But there came a time a couple of years ago when I did want to do more. Being a working mom is nothing if not tiring, and I still want to do things like see my friends and make new ones and maybe have a hobby or two.

My husband had been bike riding in the mornings and had nothing but good things to say about exercise and how it gave you more energy. At the same time, a friend wanted to run a half-marathon and was looking for someone to train with. Well, hell, I thought, and pinged her and started running. And lo and behold! There was the energy I had been looking for.

When I stopped running regularly (though I've always continued to run sporadically - and no, I didn't make it to the half-marathon), my energy levels went down accordingly. Then it gets hard to run because you don't have the energy, but without running, you don't have the energy. Classic Catch-22.

So here's one reason I picked up running again: so my ass wouldn't be dragging all the damn time.

What I've Been Reading

I have SO MANY OPEN TABS. Closing a few.

A history of Germany meddling in Greece

Two articles about Greece, and how it's going to take at least a decade for their economy to recover -- and that's the best case scenario.

I've recently stumbled on The Beheld, an intellectual beauty blog, if there is such a thing. Radar interviews its author, Autumn Whitefield-Madrano.

Why $852 quadrillion for a death star is WORTH IT.

If you aren't reading Do the Math (about the physics behind alternative energy sources), why not?

Life Magazine's best pictures of the year from 1936 - 1971.