Barely Bearing

This Friday I embraced a new wave of experience, one that quite literally could have flung me into deep waters had it not gone smoothly. I went sailing. On a sailboat. With sailors from the university sailing club. In fact, I might just be joining this group for competitions, or regattas, as these water sport competitions are apperantly called.

How did I manage to get into sailing, you may wonder. Well, I was having a text conversation with my friend Nolan, which led to him telling me about his travels with the sailing club he had joined this semester to different cities for regattas. I expressed interest in sailing, and he provided a way to join.

All I did was go to a meeting last Monday, fill out a form, do a basic swimming test at the pool last Wednesday, and go to the lake on Friday to test out the water. And it was cold. It was around 35 degrees outside plus wind chill, plus cold water being splashed onto my body. Those sailboats don't block the water waves much. I mean, I wasn't expecting to be that close to the water. I could literally stick my hand right into the water. All I've ever been on are a couple of cruise boats and a couple of motorboats, so I was subconsciously expecting protection from the waves, but sailboats are on such a smaller scale!

Only 3 people fit comfortably on the boat I went on (called 'The Gurth'). I was a crew member, a guy Randall being the other crew member, and this guy Ben was the skipper (the main dude). There is so much jargon that was thrown at me that I'm sure I'll eventually remember. I now know that the ropes are called lines and that they control the two sails. How exactly they control it is difficult to figure out. There are way to many lines to trace. I was in charge of the 'jib line' which controlled the direction of one of the sails. It had a name, but all I can remember it as is the not main sail. Initially I got to connect the not main sail onto the boat. I simply snapped a few buttons to connect to a wire.

Being out on the lake should have felt more liberating. I blame the bad weather and my runny nose. I didn't feel the cold too much until about halfway into the sailing adventure, the whole adventure totaling to about 4 miles. What was really fun was that we sailed under a huge bridge. Every now and again Randall would take the camera he had brought out it's pouch and snap a few shots of the water, or of Ben or me. I'm surprised he wasn't afraid to ruin it, cause apperantly turning over a boat happens fairly often.

We ended up having a bit of a mishap near the end of the sailing trip. It was not due to my novice inabilities, however. As we were nearing the port, skipper Ben told crew member Randall to untie the line that held the not main sail, but he accidentally untied the line to the main sail. Not good. In fact, the main sail almost landed straight on my back. It fell right behind my back, however, and it was like a huge sheet had been thrown over my head. Eventually, Randall retied the line for the main sail and had that up in running. But by that time we were headed too long in the same direction and were a few seconds away from hitting the side of the port. There was nothing to do but brace for impact. So the Gurth hit and then we assessed damage, which wasn't all too bad, considering it won't affect the performance of the sailboat. It looks horrid, like a gnarled tooth right at the front of the boat. It gives it personality, though. Sort of like a pirate with pointy, misshapen teeth. It's lived a little.

So finally, we parked the sailboat. Or whatever the term for boat parking is. Then began the dismemberment of the parts. Taking down all the sails and untying lines took so much longer. Or maybe it was a false perception due to the shivering.

I felt a bit wimpy in comparison to the rest of the sailing club members. They took the cold weather like champs. I was barely able to bear it. Right after I got off the Gurth I was chatting with the Vice President of the club and I asked "Where is the warm?" wanting to go sit by some heating system and dry off. He told me "The warmth is in your heart. We're sailors." Until the sun starts shining brighter, a sailor's life is not for me.

Glowing Energy

Yoga. The practice to control the mind and body. The union of self and the Supreme Being. A course of physical and mental disciplines to achieve liberation from the material world.

So, I did yoga. I followed a 30 minute video of my sister's. The lady had a really calming voice and there was a lot of stretching, which was relaxing, but beyond that I didn't feel much liberation, control or union. It must come with time, I suppose. I feel like the exercise value of yoga is very minimal but it would be an excellent warm up or cool down after running or cycling.

It was a bit odd towards the end of the yoga video. The instructor lady was telling me to relax all the different parts of my body. "Relax the spot between your eyes, relax your tongue." The lady was drawing attention to two body parts of which I am very rarely self aware. It was difficult to figure out how to relax them. If you really focus on your tongue, it feels so awkward and weirdly place in your mouth. At least for me. Perhaps because I have a permanent bottom brace, or because I have an odd imagination.

So besides my description of exercise, I have some good news. I finally have Swayze, my bike from the 70s, up and running once again. He's been hooked up to the bike rack the past couple of weeks with a flat tire. The poor guy has been missing out. As it turns out, on Tuesdays there is a huge community bike ride around campus. I might take him out to that to make up for the weeks of neglect and to celebrate his healing. And other good news: I took the train Friday and had no major delays as last time (I had a 4 hour delay a couple of weeks ago and had to wait, drenched from the nonstop rain).

Back to my exercise description. The yoga was not the introspective and meditative experience I had looked forward to, but I did walk away glowing with energy and a better attitude towards the day. To be honest, I've been in a bit of a slump, or ditch, or any other depressing metaphorical comparison that may come to mind. Yoga helped me get through that day. Maybe it did help control the mind, causing it to produce an inkling of happiness and a bit of energy.

Stretch It Out

A four day weekend has just ended. What a rare thing to experience, and all thanks to wondrous snow. Thursday early morning it began, and did not end until late that night. The whole town was blanketed with the white snow, closing the school for two days.

This altered my work out plan for Friday, seeing as the REC center was closed. But I worked something out last minute, and coerced my ex-dance major friend, Alyssa, to teach me something. So we had a 30 minute session, with lots of stretching then some unchoreographed dancing around her living room.

The stretching was very relaxing. I'd done most of it before, since I had taken a dance class back in High School (it's so nice to say that: 'back in High School'). Honestly, stretching become a big habit for me. I made it a goal to stretch every morning after the dance class had ended, a habit which ended sometime in the past 6 months. I would feel the urge to stretch in the middle of conversations or class, and would look rather silly. It's just so relaxing. Even writing about it, I've had to pause and pull on my arms and roll my shoulders. The power of association.

Alyssa did show me some real painful stretches, but pain leads to an even higher sense of relaxation. It really makes me want to do yoga, which I plan on this next week, so wait to read about that.

Besides the Friday dance session, I went to a Turbo Kickboxing class at the REC last Monday, and a Glutes and Guts class Sunday night (Valentine's day). Kickboxing is basically just bouncing around, punching and kicking the air, but it's so much fun! And the Glutes and Guts was pretty intense, but I pushed through it.

Well that about wraps up my weekend. Although there was a lot of running in the snow, which could count for some kind of exercise. And a few friends and I were building a huge fort, making snow blocks out of big plastic tubs, so that could count as lifting weights. And Saturday I went to a dance. Definite cardio up in there.

Step by Step

Week 3. I will be keeping this post shorter than the previous 2 due to a lack of reading and a surplus of procrastination. For tomorrow a whole Shakespeare play has to be read and I've been cramming that dense reading into my noggin. There have been some odd side effects: poetic, old-timely speech. All of the sudden I'll start speaking as if I'm a Shakespearean character in the play.

But enough of homework, and onward to my exercise this week. I had planned on joining with my friend, Liz, and going to the more elite athlete's gym for some tennis, badminton, and the like, but she 'rolled' her ankle playing indoor soccer Thursday. It didn't come as much of a shock to me, knowing how intense of a player she is. This girl is pure muscle, one of those gym junkies.

So I quickly came up with a new plan after hearing of Liz's ankle. As it turns out, I couldn't come up with anything too original on such short notice and ended up deciding on going to the classes I went to a couple weeks ago. But, being caught up in catching up with Erika (a best friend), I came in a few minutes too late for the Core Body Express class. What a bummer.

And then I waited for the next free class: Abs & Back. While waiting, I did an abs warm up, using a machine, and a few leg machines. The ones where the legs are kind of flailing back and forth. 45 minutes later, the class began. Although it is only a 15 minute exercise, it is a dense as reading Shakespeare; just as much blood was pumped as brain juice this weekend. On a side note, tan people wear sweat so much better than the pales. We pale people just turn red and look flustered, while the darker skin merely shimmers more.

After the 15 minutes of the slightly painful abs and back strengthening, I still felt I needed to push myself. Perhaps it was a feeling of guilt for having missed the Core Body Express class that spurred me on to the track. Either way, I run all around that sucker. A whole dang mile and then some. I was really wanting to quit after a couple laps, but I decided to approach the task with a 'step by step' mentality, which helped so much, not only for that run but for reading the Shakespeare. Step by step, I will run, and word by word, I will read.

That mentality has been a goal in my mind, a theme I truly wish to see prominent in my life. Thinking into the future, into even the step after next, can potentially cause so many negative things. Worry, fear, anxiety.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Mathew 6:27 & 34.