ultimate workout

today the weather was nice again - around 70, sunny, not too windy, beautiful. so i dragged my lazy ass away from my desk and forced myself to go to the gym. the ambitious, committed, motivated bobby (and unhappy and bitter bobby) is gone since the weekend tournament ended. actually, he disappeared the moment we parked in the lot by the taekwondo dojang where we weighed in. and now it takes a monumental effort for me to get up, go out, work out, and not be lazy.

well i had to decide what to do because treadmill sounded awful, jogging outside was nice because of the weather but was potentially a 3 mile commitment i didn't want to take on, and i felt too antisocial to try to go and meet people to play racketball. in the gym locker room, as i was going over all of my unhappy options, i saw a guy putting on running shoes (cleats, actually) and grab a disc. just as i got up the nerve to ask where he played ultimate, he left out the door.

i decided to go for a jog and went past the field where they play ultimate frisbee, and i had another stupid moment of deciding whether i wanted to actually go play ultimate, or just forget it and take the familiar and boring jogging route. i took the jogging route halfway, then decided i hated just jogging and instead, i ran toward the frisbee field. another reason to do that was that if the people weren't playing a game, i could just cut my run short and go home.

but when i finally got there and talked to some people, i was reminded of how great of a socializing and exercising tool ultimate frisbee is for people like me - unconventionally athletic (though who defines football as conventional, anyways?) and socially awkward. we fit right in with the ultimate frisbee crowd. and there i remembered the two times i played ultimate for the social benefits and not just fun or exercise - once on a ACSL field trip with my high school math teacher and the biggest nerds from all of NC's best high schools, and once when I was rushing phi sig on a george's island jaunt. and this time i felt similarly welcome, with my adequate disc handling and slightly above average physical fitness gaining me attention where my social skills would not. maybe. and it's great to think that i can now forego the horrid mindless routine of the treadmill, erg, and elliptical, and even slightly more interesting jogs around the base and the occasional racketball game, for addictive, track-of-time-losing games of ultimate frisbee. plus i lost 3 lbs (of water) and gained a slight tan.

and coming back to the office, i felt i could let myself have some candy (because i'm still feeling the residual anorexia from cutting weight) and therefore went to the atrium cafe to buy yogurt raisins, peanut/m&m mix, milk balls, and chocolate covered peanut chunks. the salty sweet chocolate nut snacking brought me back to the good old days at vision robotics, where the exact same food would have been free. i miss the zone bars and starbucks mocha drinks, but i can still buy my memories back once in a while.