Racing

Yesterday I talked about how much fun exercise in general can be. Today I'm advocating for the potential fun competing in a race holds. Now I know some of you are going to say, "I totally sucked at sports all through school. There's no way in hell I'm going to start competing in anything now." Before you completely write this off keep an open mind and read this article and then my take on it. If you still aren't convinced then I guess you're one less person I have to worry about beating in a race!

My take on Su Reid-St. John's 5 reasons to do a race:
1. It gives you a goal: I've always been a goal oriented person. I need something to strive for and accomplish in order to feel like a complete person. Luckily my parents recognized that at an early age and signed me up for little kid track, which turned into soccer and basketball and softball and a million other athletic competitions, not to mention academic competitions. For those of you who aren't naturally this way, signing up and paying those god awful fees to run a probably longer than you've ever run distance should be enough to get you going. It also makes that weight loss/getting into better shape goal more realistic because as Ms. Reid-St. John stated, you need to be at a certain level of physical shape in order to be competitive.

2. It's an excuse to take time for yourself: When I trained for my first marathon it was my last semester of college complete with 21 course units, a senior honors project, applying for real jobs, substitute teaching, and trying to spend as much time with friends I would soon be parting. I was busy enough without tossing 18 mile runs (at one time) into the mix. However, I found that taking that time for myself was the best thing I could have done to cut down on the stress from that semester. And since then I've run a number of marathons while carrying on my still ever busy life and it's only made it easier. There's something meditative about performing the same physical action over and over (once you get past the barely able to breathe or move feeling), not to mention getting out into nature.

3. It allows for built-in girl time: Or guy time. Or more generally friend time. If you're training with others (as I often do) it gives you a significant amount of uninterrupted time to bond. Having to occupy significant amounts of time that can often become quite challenging at times promotes deeper conversations and necessitates encouragement. I'm currently training with the bf for the San Francisco marathon (his first) and it's probably done as much to strengthen our relationship as anything else.

4. It's an excellent way to see the country (or the world): I've mostly ran races in my own backyard but I've never been to San Francisco so I've become really excited about exploring such a neat city in a different way.

5. You come away with an awesome feeling of accomplishment: There is no way you can enter a race and not come away feeling changed. Most of my races have consisted of marathons, which for me is a much more emotional, mental and physical experience than say, a 5K but at the same time has very similar effects on finishers. You cross that line knowing you accomplished that goal you set out to do and that's the feeling that turns you into a racing addict! Los Angeles has a really cool program called Students Run LA, which trains "at risk" students in the Los Angeles area to run the LA Marathon. Now even though I run those crazy races now there's no way I would have even thought about doing it as a teenager so I can only imagine the accomplishment those amazing children must feel crossing the finish line.

And if I still haven't convinced you to run a race there are also many races designed specifically for the fun factor that combine other activities in with the race such as The Great Urban Race or http://warriordash.com/ amongst many others.


Crossing the finish line of my first LA Marathon

Exercise

In my post yesterday I mentioned exercise as a way to improve your mood and up your fun potential. However, I also know that the word "exercise" comes with a stigma for most people. Some associations people have with "exercise" are sweating it out on a treadmill, lifting ever so boring weights, an unused gym membership. I actually googled "percentage of gym memberships that go unused" but was unable to locate any seemingly accurate data. I'm guessing it's huge, though, based on my own unofficial data collection. Myself, I HATE gyms! So I don't go to them. Instead I do "exercise" I enjoy and because of that I stay in great shape (Well, I'm getting back to the great shape... we'll use good for now.). The key to enjoying "exercise" is to only do physical activity you enjoy! Rocket science, I know. I'll be expecting my Nobel Prize next round. Not only will you enjoy the time you spend "exercising" but it's also been shown that a positive attitude improves weight loss. Here's my extensive list of fun "exercise" (I wish I had time for all of these.). I'm sure everyone who really wants to enjoy their workout will find something on here.

Aerobics classes
Baby-sitting (Not exactly a registered "exercise" but you'll get plenty of it chasing kids around playing.)
Backpacking
Basketball
Bicycling
Canoeing/Kayaking
Dancing (Surprise exercise!)
Dodgeball (This might not be for everyone due to gym class nightmares but I believe they're using softer balls these days.)
Gymnastics
Hiking/Walking
Hockey
Hopscotch
Jumping rope
Kickball (Coed kickball leagues are the new bars.)
Paddle boarding
Pilates (Hard as hell!)
Pole Dancing
Rock climbing
Running
Skiing
Snowboarding
Softball (Baseball too for those of you who are more hard core.)
Soccer
Softball
Surfing
Swimming
Tai Chi
Wake boarding
Water skiing
Yoga

Another benefit of many of these activities is that they're team activities so it's a great way to meet new people and/or have a support group while "exercising." There's nothing like sweating it up with others to max the fun potential. One place to find teams/partners for fun "exercise" activities is Meetup.

Any I left off you really enjoy?



Now here are some peeps having a good time "exercising"

Combatting Sadness

It's challenging to have fun when you're sad. I know this because I get sad. We all have our moments. Luckily I don't get sad very often and when I do I have a pretty easy time getting myself out of the funk. Some things I do:

Sing and dance loudly and wildly: There's just something about acting goofy and movement that gets the blood flowing and puts smiles on faces (including others if you don't do this in private).


Me having a dance party with a million other peeps

Exercise: Again, the blood flowing thing. Surfing does it best for me but soccer, running, and yoga are also big winners.


Sometimes ice skating does the trick

Watch TV or a movie: Living vicariously through others can do wonders. Especially if they're funny others.


I've seen this movie more times than I should admit.

Play with animals or babies: Kids can work too if they aren't acting crabby as well. The total joy they express when being with you should even rescue the biggest Scrooge in us all.

Talk to a trusted friend: Luckily I have many of these so I can split up the problems amongst them so no one gets sick of me.


Some of my very bestest friends from back in the MI and their babies that cheer me up!

What do you do to pick yourself up when you're down?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Baseball's by no means my fav sport but it ranks pretty high as one of my fav sporting events to go to. Whether it's the majors, minors, or little league. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the sport as was pointed out to me at a baseball game this weekend. What's so magical about going to a baseball game is that it screams summer. That's pretty much the main season of the sport so almost every game you go to is accompanied by warm weather, maybe a light breeze, sunshine or the cooler summer night air, beer and tremendous amounts of happiness. Everyone who goes there is having a good time no matter your reasons for attending. And so in honor of the start of the summer (even though technically it's still spring and it hasn't even gotten all that warm here) here's my top ten list of how to have fun at a baseball game:

10. Chat with your neighbor. It's a great way to casually catch up with family and friends.
9. Admire the aesthetics of the stadium. More and more of the new stadiums are incorporating amazing amenities into their stadium and many of the old ones hold a historical appeal as well.


Not my fav team but definitely my fav stadium

8. Check out the players' butts. This probably appeals more to the women (and gay men). I'd also advocate keeping it geared toward the adult baseball players but there is much to appreciate if you can do this.
7. Sing loudly to Take Me Out to the Ball Game
6. Drink beer. This may only be allowed at major and minor league games, check with your local little league prior to intoxicating yourself.
5. Eat the delicious baseball snacks, which reminds me that I've never actually had Crackerjacks at a baseball game.
4. Bring your kids. They may pass out cold before the 5th inning like a little dude I saw on Saturday but they'll never forget going to a game with the 'rents.
3. Take a date. It isn't usually too loud to get in a good conversation, less pressure because you can always talk about the game, and if he/she really sucks you have a game to watch.
2. Keep score yourself. This isn't my cup of tea but it is others'.
1. Watch the game! Duh!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Sometimes I think I worry too much. But I'm starting to learn that the amount of time I spend worrying is insignificant compared to most. I also have to pat myself on the back because when I do worry it's very rarely over the small stuff. I started thinking about this today at work when some co-workers were freaking out about a detail concerning a special event fundraiser we're putting on. This happens every single time we have a special event. Certain people have mini panic attacks about minute details that in the past have always worked themselves out easily and for the better. Meanwhile I kick back and have a lemonade (occaisionally spiked). This might be due to the fact that I'm not a detail oriented person (Give me at least a week to notice a new haircut or even the shaving of an entire beard.). While in some instances this might be seen as a negative, in this case it works to my advantage since I spend much less time worrying about nothing (And leaving me free to worry more about the big stuff. Not!). As a sidenote, I also think it's wrong for people to try to push their stress onto others. But in honor of it being TGIF and not sweating the small stuff cuz hey, it's the weekend here's all the fun I'll be having this weekend instead of sweating any stuff:

- Celebrating a friend's graduation!
- Going to Dodgers Stadium (one of my fav LA locales) to watch my Tigers whoop on the home team!
- Going to a birthday party!
- Running 10 miles!
- Surfing!

I hope you all have a great weekend and please share what you do to keep from sweating any stuff.

Everyday is a Holiday

In college, my friend (and roommate and PTC sister), Anne, somehow had access to the most random holidays ever (she had CIA access or something).


Here's the magnificent Anne, back and center!

Apparently I'm too far removed from my undergrad days (tear, tear) since I don't remember what any of them were but I do know they were fun. And we made them even more fun. Again, I don't remember what we did but knowing us it had to be fun. And so I found a website called Holidays for Everyday. You know, just in case anyone needs an excuse to party. Today happens to be Blue Jeans Birthday! Yep, Mr. Levi Strauss and Mr. Jacob Davis received the patent to what we all fondly know of as blue jeans. Not sure how Mr. Davis got shafted in the deal ('Course I just might not be cool kid enough to know about Davis jeans?). In honor I am wearing blue jeans to work... and I didn't even know about this holiday until 5 minutes ago. Happy Blue Jeans Day everyone! Oh, and this entire week is National Bike to Work week so I hope everyone is enjoying a bike ride to work (I would be if I had one and didn't need my car for work this week). Tomorrow in particular is Bike to Work Day so if you didn't know about this before you now have enough notice to participate in it.

Heads up: This website isn't updated for the 2010 but you can do the math (or have someone else do it for you).

Best. Game. Ever!

It's called the Question Game. And pretty much if you don't like it you suck at life. It's difficult to describe so I'll make the attempt but if you don't get it you might just wanna ask me to come over and play with you.

Here are the steps:

1. Pass out sheets or scraps of paper and writing utensils to all playas. If you use whole sheets of paper you can simply keep reusing the paper until you run out. If you use scraps you'll probably need one each round. Either way is just as good as the other as long as we're being green about things and not wasting any trees.

2. The first person to start the game chooses someone else in the group and makes up the first half of a question using that person's name. For example, "Why does Bob...?"

3. All players write that on their sheets/scraps of paper and then finish the question so one person might write, "Why does Bob wear his sneakers to bed?" or "Why does Bob have a name with only two letters in it?" The idea is that everyone finishes the question in a different way and the more creative the better.

4. All player then fold their paper up and throw it into a pile in the middle of the table (or floor or grass or whatever surface you're gathered around).

5. When everyone's paper is in the middle everyone then grabs a different one and answers the question as creatively as possible. So for example if you got "Why does Bob have a name with only two letters in it?" you might write, "Because those are the only letters of the alphabet he ever learned." Again, be as creative as possible.

6. All players then once again fold their paper up and throw it into a pile in the middle of the gathering space and when everyone's paper is in the middle everyone then grabs a different one (sometimes you might get one that you've written either the question or answer on but it's okay).

7. At this point everyone reads their questions and answers but there's a technique to this. The person who originally picked the person whose name was used reads his/her question and then the person to the left (or right, it doesn't really matter) of him/her reads his/her answer and this continues on until it comes back around with the original person reading his/her answer.

8. The game continues with the person whose name was used choosing a different person to write about and this goes on until everyone's name has been used.

This game is a guaranteed massive hit! Seriously everyone I've ever played this with has absolutely loved it. It often turns dirty and picks on one another but it's all in good fun. And it's a great way to break the ice and get to know new people. Big shout out to Stephanie who taught me this game and thus, has turned me into the life of the party!

Fun in Traffic

I'm a fan of the dance party. Anywhere. Anytime. And car karaoke. So a lot of singing and bouncing takes place on the seats of my car (that sounded so wrong). Honestly I have a lot of fun in my car. I'm probably quite biased on this topic as my office is 3 blocks (2.5 if I take the alleyway entrance in) from my apartment. The concept of rush hour in LA is slightly foreign to me. And I'm trying to keep it that way. I'll be going back to grad school round dos in the fall at UCLA, which on a good day from my apartment is an hour drive... one way and on a bad day upwards of two hours... one way. If I did that five days a week I'd spend 5-10+ hours per week just driving to and from campus. That doesn't even count commuting to my fieldwork sites, libraries, and other fun stuff. This would up the potential for all kinds of badness I won't get into (not the point of this blog). It certainly doesn't need to be spelled out to anyone who's spent any amount of time stuck in traffic how much of a downer it can be. Moral of that story, I'll be moving to reduce time spent in traffic. But in the meantime I've spent significant time stuck in Atlanta traffic when I lived there and do have to drive places for work (on the non-profit's limited dime and time) and fun and have discovered some ways to keep your sanity if you have no alternative but to hang out on the freeways. And keep those other fools from going postal on you.

Dance Parties and Karaoke: Bring your favorite CDs or ipod with you or tune to your fav station and rock out. If you keep the windows rolled up no one can hear you (they may wonder what you're doing, though). If you roll them down and are on the 405 you could start the world's largest dance party.

Books on Tape: Saved my life in Atlanta. Although I'm not an audio learner by any means and have no recollection of anything I listened to.

Bring Friends: This opens up the carpool lane. And you get to chat with peeps you like. If you're carpooling with randoms make new friends.

Eat: I know doing anything other than driving is frowned upon but if you aren't moving and can multi-task even slightly you should be able to pull this one off.

Make Phone Calls: Again, frowned upon and in some states (such as California) illegal without appropriate hands free devices (which I find more distracting than actually holding the phone) but if you have those it's a great time to catch up with far away peeps.

Make Up Stories in Your Head: I cannot be the only one who does this.

Visualize: For those of you who Secret it up or even for those who don't there's plenty of scientific research to back up the benefits of doing so. Make it full of the good stuff!

What do you do to stay sane in the car?


Best bro ever driving us through Death Valley with no AC! He didn't even need these tips!

Case of the Mondays

In honor of Mondays and anyone who has a case of it I have a plan for those of you who catch this every Monday and would really like to squash it into a tiny little pulp and then drink it... or force your worst enemy to consume it. I'm Making It is a plan to take control of your life and live out your dreams. I'm a self-help advocate simply because I suck at sitting around waiting for life to happen. Although, I'm learning that that isn't always a bad thing and could use a little more of that in my life (hence I'm slowly becoming a yogi over the years). But in addition to my obvious need for self-growth and development I've found that many of the activities in self-help plans are fun! It gives me activities and projects to look forward to. One thing you'll quickly learn about me is I can't breathe in monotony. And for those of you who find theory challenging this offers a concrete plan to follow. I haven't yet tried it as I'm reading/working on The Artist's Way (more about that in a later post) currently but I may incorporate this as well since neither seems to take up much time. And really we're worth this time anyway. And so again I encourage you if you have a chronic case of the Mondays to try something new and become a better and more fun version of yourself (which is already pretty freaking awesome in my opinion).

One-handed

I currently have one working hand. My left one. Which is a bit unfortunate being that I've spent the majority of my life (up until Wednesday) right handed. The fortunate part is that I've been asking the powers that be to allow me some more creativity in my life and word on the street is that using your non-dominant hand more stimulates the cross firing of neurons in the brain, thus expanding one's creativity (that was my attempt to sound like a physical scientist rather than the social scientist that I am). So yea to more creativity, which is super FUN! Once you get over the frustrating part that is. Only having the use of your non-dominant hand requires those cross firing neurons to provide immediate creativity. Amongst the highlights: Had to figure out a way to fasten my bra (roommate to the rescue), open a passenger side car door from the backseat and get out while my friends waited in oblivion on the sidewalk (combo of the left hand and head) and put my hair in a ponytail (had to use the right hand as a support mechanism and it still looked like I had a 3 year old do it). I'm highly entertaining myself but it's also exhausting because it takes double time to do everything, not to mention the extra brain power exuded from the cross firing neurons. It's also made me quite thankful that my injury is probably just a bad sprain and should be mostly back to normal within a week to ten days. I'd probably go postal if it were broken or worse had to be amputated (Which was the suggestion by the guys on my soccer team who were around when I did it... and the boyfriend. Not sure what it is about men wanting to cut things up all the time.). It's also led to a lot of admiration for those who don't have the use of all their limbs, particularly Bethany Hamilton, who's a professional surfer after losing an entire arm to Jaws. As a surfer I actually spent a paddle out attempting to do it with one arm and it's doable, although exhausting. And I can't even imagine the pop up, particularly on the size of waves she rides. A-MA-ZING! So in honor of my injured right wrist/hand here are my top five favorite fun things I enjoy doing with when it's fully functional:
1. Surfing (and it's supposed to be such a beautiful weekend)
2. Soccer (dang doctor said no sports where I could further injure it until it's
healed)
3. Yoga (well, I guess I can do the hands free poses but I really love downward dog)
4. Cooking (it's possible but only if you want to starve to death)
5. Writing (I s'pose I could use this time to learn how to better write with my
left hand but it takes way too much time and it hurts after 15 minutes)


My new hero!

Just a Kid Havin' a Good Time

This kid is absolutely phenomenol! And a great reminder of the dreams I had as a child that I've let get away. I have no problem being inspired by a 6th grader. As adults we often let our passions and what makes us happiest slip away in the pursuit of mortgages, 401Ks, time shares and white picket fences. When really what would make us happiest is coloring outside the lines, singing at the top of our lungs in the car, and dancing amongst daisies.


Some childhood dreams live on!

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I started writing this post explaining the reasons behind my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and erased it because I realized it isn't going to make anyone feel any better (especially me) to relive it. And also everyone I love is relatively healthy and happy at the moment so it can't be the worst day ever. So instead I'll offer solutions for all of us if we ever again have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. That way we'll leave feeling a lot better about our days and ready for some fun!

1. Dwell on the good stuff (and there's always good stuff): I mentioned a prosperity journal is one of my first posts. If you're more electronically inclined The Prosperity Game has one that's easy and fun
2. Breathe deeply
3. Take a walk in nature
4. Get rid of something weighing you down: an article of clothing you never feel good in, dishes you don't really want to eat off of, a toxic friend if you want to go big
5. Watch funny videos on youtube or read some textsfromlastnight (Best. website. ever!)
6. Participate in your favorite exercise activity: while any exercise is good for those enorphins if you really enjoy what you're doing it's going to have an even more powerful effect on your mood
7. Spend time with your loved ones
8. Play a game
9. Create something(anything, art, a new bookshelf, paint a wall)
10. Volunteer (often doing something nice for someone else also benefits you... reminder to self.)

If you have any to add please do so!

Sunshine

Not a day goes by that I don't appreciate that I live in a place that has sunshine and clear blue skies something like 375 days a year. This isn't meant to rub it in ya'lls face who only have this five days a year (shout out to the May snowfall in Michigan this weekend) but to remind us not to take things for granted. I grew up with a Great Lake as my backyard, yet spent much of my childhood yearning for residence in the NYC or California (careful what you wish for). It's only recently that I've begun to appreciate the beauty I had every day of my childhood and it's been a good reminder to appreciate the beauty of now. Seriously, whenever I get one too many parking tickets, someone is mean to me, or I have a hangover I think to myself, "But I live in southern California," and I'm instant better!

So in honor of warm, sunny days here are some fun things to do in them:
1. Surf (if you live somewhere with real waves)
2. Go fly a kite
3. Kick, throw, shoot some balls
4. Roll down a hill
5. Take pictures without the flash or cloudy day setting
6. Run through a sprinkler
7. HAPPY HOUR (outside)
8. Go on a bike ride
9. Scavenger hunt
10. Walk barefoot
11. Have a picnic
12. BBQ
13. Paint, draw, sculpt, write in nature
14. Skateboard
15. Take a nap under a tree

Feel free to add your own!!!


My fav sunny day activity!

Thank yous

This was the other inspiration for my new blog: http://thxthxthx.com/. Leah Dieterich writes thank you notes to everyone and everything and her blog is dedicated to those notes. I love this because in the past year I've become a big fan of keeping a gratitude journal and it's made a huge difference in the way I view the world. But Leah's is way cuter than mine. So in honor of Leah and her way cute blog here's my thank you note for the day:

Dear Legs,
Thank you for having the strength and speed to run the absurd distances I ask of you. And for doing it even when Brain doesn't always agree with it.
Love, Mandy

Back at it Again

I started a blog earlier this year about the people in my life (emphasis on crazy) but realized that while writing it I often have other things to share that don't directly relate to people. And most of those things related to the concept of fun (Funny how that's a concept.). And one that a lot of people have trouble with. I don't have this problem and actually consider myself to be so good at fun that I went to graduate school to get a Masters in it (aka Recreation Administration). So this blog will highlight all of the joy and fun life has to offer. I hope it provides some inspiration for all to find, create, and appreciate all that is good, beautiful, and happy in life.