Antsy

When I go to sign into my blog and Firefox doesn't autocomplete the address, I know it's time for a new post.

So, running with my vibram five fingers has been going well and I can now run on concrete with no problem. The only problem comes from reverting back to old tennis shoes or thinking I can take on the world without checking to see if my muscles are on board. As a result of some misunderstandings between various muscles/ligaments and I, I have a relatively bitter knee and foot, but now that the Farm Man 5K is over, I'm taking a month off from running to heal up and hopefully start running properly again someday. Speaking of the Farm Man, it was a 5K with obstacle course that Team Running (which I have decided to call Anne, Kyla, Teresa, and I since we do these things together) went to. It was pretty fun and I organized a group of boys/staff from work to go, and I liked having them there. It was nice to be the me that I am outside of work and not have to worry about whether we had everyone or not.

All this to say that I do all my physical activity that isn't in the rain or on gravel in my fivefingers. This, in turn, has made me an instant spokesperson for the shoe and I regularly get stopped and questioned by total strangers. Anne says this is good for my social skills. I say this is good for Vibram.

Also in the world of fitness, a few thoughts on the elderly at the gym. They are hilarious. First, the apparel. My experience is that there is no middle ground. They either come in dressed exactly how they would for casual Friday: jeans, button up shirts, etc., or they are dressed from head to toe in very serious workout gear. Such as the matching track suits with coordinating stripes, the sweatband on forehead and wrist. In surprising numbers, they kick my butt in many ways, from the treadmill to the weight-lifting class.

My renewed favorite thing to do is what I call "dragon biking." It's an exercise bike with a computerized screen that shows you an pretend course and adjusts the difficulty to correspond with the picture of whatever terrain you're biking on. Well, it also has a feature called "chases" where you bike around trying to get certain colored coins and then catch the dragon that matches. It sounds easy until you realize that some dragons are stationed on top of pyramids and you have to bike to them. I tried to convince Kyla to come with me to do this, but until I explained the concept thoroughly she thought I would be dragging her to an actual class where the instructor shouted mythical commands like, "PEDAL FASTER! DRAGON AHEAD! GET THAT DRAGON!" You understand why we are friends.

Team Ingrid (apparently I now refer to all groups of people in teams) went to renew our love of Ms. Michaelson, who did not disappoint, as usual. Guggenheim Grotto opened and I'm glad they did! Although the teenyboppers behind us were unable to understand their Irish accent and loudly told them so, they had some good stuff to perform.

I'll end this long, kind of boring blog with a quote from work.

[Student with limited social skills has returned from a home visit. I am in the med cart dispensing meds. Student is known to be funny at times, awkward at others.]

Student: Ms. Kate, wanna know where I've been?
Me (thinking he'll tell me about his home visit stops): For sure!
Student (attempts some sort of catwalk strut): I been bringin' sexy back.

P.S. I'm ready for an adventure.

No combination of words

I miss these people and this day.