amy's back...

I've been an athlete my whole life. Actually, let me rephrase that. I was an athlete for my whole childhood. Maybe even into early adulthood. It started with Reid Townsend. My BFF. He lived just around the corner on Rodney Rd. I would walk to his house every day asking if he could play. We did alot of Star Wars figure stuff, but mostly we played ball. There were other people involved now and again, but always Reid and I. We played baseball, football, soccer. I could hang with the boys too. I could hang with them when we raced on field days at Fairview Elementary. I played YMCA soccer for years. Attended baseball camp as an 8 year old...one of only 2 girls.

In junior high, I started lacrosse and field hockey. Oh, field hockey...my long lost love. I loved it more than I can say. I was good. I was part of a team. I was in great shape. SO much of my identity came from my abilities as an athlete. Especially in high school. I ran track for a year. 400m hurdles and the 4x100 (until some teammates stole my purse, then returned it with some sort of urine in it...I quit after that). Field hockey really did it for me. It made me confident. Surely people would like me if I could run fast and dribble a ball around people. I never sat the bench. When I tried something sporty, I could do it. I could do it well. When the hockey season was over, I struggled. I needed that high, that rush. I got a bit of it from church basketball. Church basketball...can you believe that? We were intense. I loved it. All of it.

In college, things changed a bit. BYU had no field hockey. I hadn't played soccer for a long time (my HS didn't have it for girls back then...WAY back then), so knew playing for the BYU team was not even a remote possibility. I resorted to flag football and rock climbing. I stayed in shape. I stayed thin. And I stayed confident in my abilities.

I'm not going to say that motherhood did me in. It didn't. My laziness did. I got out of my rhythm. Over the last decade, I have gotten heavier and farther away from the me I used to know. I didn't lose myself. I have remained confident. I am happy with the me that is me, I just wasn't an athlete anymore. I figured I could go to the rec. center and do the elliptical machine and try to maintain my weight, but I wasn't an athlete. I'm 37 years old. I just assumed my glory days were gone. It made me sad. A little. But it was just a fact.

Those days are not gone. I AM an athlete...even at 37 years old. :) I have lost 40 pounds as of today! I realized on my run this morning that I am strong. Maybe stronger than I have ever been. I have endurance. I have speed. I am still an athlete. I can be for the rest of my life, too. I want to RUN. I want to push myself and get stronger. I want to stay in close contact with Amy from 1990. I love her. I've missed her. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see a little of her again. :)