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I was born fast. I walk, talk and think fast, which is just as well given the number of sticky situations I’ve had to talk myself out of. It’s my contention, though I have no scientific evidence to back it up, that there are two types of people, those who are fast and those who stand on escalators. I mean what’s that about? Are they waiting for instructions? Don’t they realise how short life is?
I know not if my obsession with speed is a result of nature or nurture, but my father had no tolerance for circumlocution and demanded speed in both word and deed.
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It was the speed element that attracted me to athletics. I was bullied as a child and needed to be nimble My biggest claim to fame, as I never get tired of telling you, is that I represented my area in the Mini Olympics. We won the trophy for best effort and paraded it around the estate to much acclaim. Unfortunately, we moved house soon afterwards, but I could certainly have been a contender and given Usain Bolt a run for his money….of course, we didn’t have men in women’s sports in those days!
Once the fitness bug bit it never left me and I joined a gym as soon as I could afford it. I remember after I’d been about 2 years in the very first gym I joined, one of the trainers told me that when he and the owner first laid eyes on me they made a bet on how long I’d last, wagering somewhere between a week and a month. I wouldn’t blame them. I was a punk then and trained in white clown makeup, with my grey hair standing on end.
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Training has been the only constant in my life, something that's kept me semi-sane. When I’m sad, bad, happy or mad, I work out, and I don’t mean sitting around on weight machines while scrolling on a mobile phone. I reckon those machines were invented because gyms couldn’t sell memberships to an empty room. No, I mean high-energy functional exercise; pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, squats and burpees, moves that come in handy if you have to run for your life.
I was going to post photos of me climbing rope and doing chin-ups but I reckoned I’d make you all jealous. So I didn’t!
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Posted in response to @galenkp's Weekend Experiences prompt asking 'What do you consider to be the best find or discovery you have made in your life and why?
Photos are my own
If you have told us this before, I do not remember it.
I loathe gyms. I loathe exercise machines. I loathe sit ups and push up and chin ups and especially squats. But you do you woman. I'll stick to Tai Chi and leisurely walks in the woods. Those keep me sane.
Me too
Youth is wasted on the young!:)
Tai Chi is for wimps and old people:) Way too slow! Plus, you have a bad memory.
It's dancing! It's peaceful and I feel very content! Like I'm gliding through life! I feel my energy expanding and contracting and downright flying around me! My balance has improved tremendously and, as easy as it looks, I am much much stronger in every part of my body than I was less than two years ago. It exercises every single muscle and joint and organ and molecule of the body! None of this grunting and moaning and focussing on this or that muscle group. No counting! I hate counting. No injuries! I especially hate injuries.
I took all sorts of exercise classes for years. I had to drag myself to them. I did enjoy swimming, but that took way too large a part of my day to squeeze in.
What's this about a bad memory? It is very difficult to remember Tai Chi sequences, which I am just starting to be able to do. So Tai Chi is excellent for memory. Oh wait I get it - I don't remember your telling us about the mini Olympics.
Tai Chi is for champions.
I don't grunt, groan, count, concentrate on one muscle group or sustain injury. I jump, run and climb, But I was only kidding you. Tai Chi is fantastic if only I could get to grips with it. I did it for a year but couldn't get any of the moves right so I left, a failure! Same with aerobics and dancing, both of which I hated.
I was on a swimming team once upon a time, but these days I worry about people urinating in the pool:)
I worry about the chemicals in the pools, and have pretty much stopped swimming, except for dips in natural waters.
I do not jump, run, skip or hop! Nothing high impact for me. I will do short climbs up hills, very short.
After a year and half of Tai Chi, I have finally started to be able to remember the forms, after much work on three seconds at a time. Slow going, yes, but very enjoyable once I get them.
If the shoe fits wear it, finding enjoyment through being hyper active not for me, prefer quiet walks in the bush or silently moving through forests. Always on time but never at great speed !LOLZ
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When it gets bad I have to take something for it.
Credit: reddit
@deirdyweirdy, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of joanstewart
(2/8)
To each his own, but please don't tell me you're one of those people who stands on escalators:)
All depends on how busy the escalator is, or how fast I wish to exit a Mall, damnedest places I detest, that's when you witness high speed with me....
Hahaha, hell is other people and those malls seem to attract the most devilish.
Fast march in and out, really not a place I enjoy mostly take stairs if they are available.
Nice reading, enjoyed the story pretty much. You had a precious Dad!
Hahaha, precious is one way of describing him. There are many others:)
😄
Not me :))
While the gym culture came a little after my time, I always exercised. My daughter took it one step beyond that. She became a professional break dancer. That career is finished, but she is never far from workout machines.
You have said before that your body is in great shape. This explains it :)
As always I looked forward to reading this and was not disappointed.
Breakdancer? Well, that's certainly...um...eh...unusual!
I know, I know, as I said before, I've got to stop repeating myself.
Well, yes, unusual. Not girl dancing. Athletic dancing. She was so good she toured the world. Worked with some of the biggest names in show biz. Not something I would enjoy. Not something I could ever do. But she had a distinctive--unusual--form. Even had a contract at one point to have a movie done about her life. Yup. Unusual :))
That's one movie I'd go to see! When I lived in Amsterdam, a group of breakdancers would put on a show right outside my door every day. It was fantastic. I'm always amazed at what those guys can do.