Gidds
Contributor
This is probably going to sound whiney but I will try very hard not to whine. I need help finding a fitness activity. I appreciate all suggestions in advance.
Some background on me (which may or may not be helpful):
EIA since age 5, fairy severe for awhile i.e no running around or other fun little-kid activities. Walking, nordic skiing and some biking as a small child but not much else. Never exposed to organized sports as a child. No upper-body strength. Around 9 or 10 it became obvious that I have some sort of knee problem, as my patellas are turned noticably inward and running has always been very uncomfortable. Always failed Presidential Fitness tests in elementary school :frown:
High school: Saw the movie "The Mighty Ducks" and decided inline skating was for me then picked up hockey. Very involved in ice hockey and strength training during high school overlapping with when I was trained to dive. Got even more into strength training when I started throwing javlin and putting the shot in field events. For track I used to run about 20 miles a week for general team workouts as well as lots of strength and agility training. At about that point in time I started getting NASTY tendonitis in my legs from ankle to knee and found out that I have pes planus (feet flatter than a duck, quack quack) and got custom orthopedic insoles. The guy who made my insoles said there are 80 year olds with feet in better shape than mine! Had to quit track though because of being an eager young upstart who would not let my poor tendons rest. Really never able to run since then.
College: Still played hockey for two years then got lazy. Did some sea kayaking. Walked to school a lot.
Grad School: Got really really lazy. It's hard to be active when you are expected to get good grades and work in the lab 40 hours a week.
I took up biking because there are trails behind my house but my bike is broken at the moment and I can't fix it myself and of course can't afford to have anybody else fix it. I like walking but doing so in the woods here in the summer involves either being eaten alive by ticks and mosquitos carrying various communicable diseases or wearing tons of DEET which will kill you AND the bugs. Sometimes I walk along the road but the fumes get to me at times and the drivers here are crazy. I have a slideboard but the floors in my apt. have a 4" slope. Tried jogging again and got tendonitis again. Strength training at home bores me to tears. I have been swimming fairly regularly at the university pool but it is usually crowded (which makes me uncomfortable because I am not a strong swimmer) and they have just closed it to the public until classes start in a couple weeks. Can't afford to join a gym and I am far too shy to do that anyway. Not overly safe to inline skate around here. Outdoor activities are my preferred mode of fitness but they are difficult in the summer humidity and then of course it gets disgustingly cold in the winter. I was thinking about trying to get into a spinning class offered for students at the university during the semester or maybe getting a stand for my bike even though I hate stationary bikes. At least I could watch movies while going nowhere. I was also thinking that jumping rope might be sort of fun and a useful component of some fitness scheme.
Ok ranting done. Any suggestions for some sort of fitness activitey for me?
Some background on me (which may or may not be helpful):
EIA since age 5, fairy severe for awhile i.e no running around or other fun little-kid activities. Walking, nordic skiing and some biking as a small child but not much else. Never exposed to organized sports as a child. No upper-body strength. Around 9 or 10 it became obvious that I have some sort of knee problem, as my patellas are turned noticably inward and running has always been very uncomfortable. Always failed Presidential Fitness tests in elementary school :frown:
High school: Saw the movie "The Mighty Ducks" and decided inline skating was for me then picked up hockey. Very involved in ice hockey and strength training during high school overlapping with when I was trained to dive. Got even more into strength training when I started throwing javlin and putting the shot in field events. For track I used to run about 20 miles a week for general team workouts as well as lots of strength and agility training. At about that point in time I started getting NASTY tendonitis in my legs from ankle to knee and found out that I have pes planus (feet flatter than a duck, quack quack) and got custom orthopedic insoles. The guy who made my insoles said there are 80 year olds with feet in better shape than mine! Had to quit track though because of being an eager young upstart who would not let my poor tendons rest. Really never able to run since then.
College: Still played hockey for two years then got lazy. Did some sea kayaking. Walked to school a lot.
Grad School: Got really really lazy. It's hard to be active when you are expected to get good grades and work in the lab 40 hours a week.
I took up biking because there are trails behind my house but my bike is broken at the moment and I can't fix it myself and of course can't afford to have anybody else fix it. I like walking but doing so in the woods here in the summer involves either being eaten alive by ticks and mosquitos carrying various communicable diseases or wearing tons of DEET which will kill you AND the bugs. Sometimes I walk along the road but the fumes get to me at times and the drivers here are crazy. I have a slideboard but the floors in my apt. have a 4" slope. Tried jogging again and got tendonitis again. Strength training at home bores me to tears. I have been swimming fairly regularly at the university pool but it is usually crowded (which makes me uncomfortable because I am not a strong swimmer) and they have just closed it to the public until classes start in a couple weeks. Can't afford to join a gym and I am far too shy to do that anyway. Not overly safe to inline skate around here. Outdoor activities are my preferred mode of fitness but they are difficult in the summer humidity and then of course it gets disgustingly cold in the winter. I was thinking about trying to get into a spinning class offered for students at the university during the semester or maybe getting a stand for my bike even though I hate stationary bikes. At least I could watch movies while going nowhere. I was also thinking that jumping rope might be sort of fun and a useful component of some fitness scheme.
Ok ranting done. Any suggestions for some sort of fitness activitey for me?