I don't glisten...I SWEAT!
I fondly remember being at the cabin and having Brian and Julie, my brother's-in-law family (making them my "shoestring" family") up for a nice fall evening and Brian making us laugh and snort with his rendition of the Saturday Night Live's "I don't sweat...I glisten". Brian has great comedic timing and is one of the best story tellers I know.
I've always thought that was such a great saying, and sadly one that doesn't apply to me in the least. One quick lap around Princeton Avenue will get a single stream of sweat running down the side of my cheek....and a mile? Forget it, it's over! For some reason or another, the sweating gods have given me the deep end portion rom the pool of the perspiration gene. In a weird "in my dreams" sort of way, I was hoping that my ability to sweat on demand would change since I would be living at sea level here in Seattle that my excessive sweating might be different. You know, it's easier to breathe (which it is, I might add) and therefore I won't be taxing my system as much. Well, dear readers, that very wet side of my life hasn't changed a bit. Not that it's gotten any worse, luckily it hasn't. But, it has definitely not improved either. Nope, I still sport the totally flushed skin, red faced, unmanagable hair look, film of perspiration located everywhere I have skin. I'm afraid if someone were to photograph with a flash, I might reflect too much of the light and just be a big bright blur.
Now, I like running and exercise, for many reasons, one because it helps my body look good, but I certainly am not expecting to attract any Prince Charming in the actual process. Sometimes I see cute guys and think, "this is really killing your cute appeal, Derek, and probably not impressing anyone". But, since that's just one reason I exercise, I just keep going. I've had to come to the realization that Yep, I think I'm stuck with it.
Fortunately in my life, I don't have the problem of sweating in everyday activities, sitting in a chair, taking a flight of stairs, etc. That other type is a whole other kind of sweating, and one that isn't necessarily any easier to deal with from day to day. I guess I have hyperactive sweat glands, but ones that only really over do it when I'm really exerting myself. There are a lot of people out there who have a whole different kind of sweating problem than I.
The funny thing is, even though I'm sweating like a pig when bouncing around a gym or whatnot, it doesn't mean that I'm more or less tired than the jogger next to me. Comments have been made to me like, "you look exhausted", and "don't you think you need to take it easy?" It's sort of funny, because it's when I really get my blood pumping and the sweat pouring that I get more into my groove and rhythm of what I'm doing. Growing up dancing at CDT was proof of that more than anything. I would sweat, people would stare, but I was always dancing and keeping up just as well as the person next to me. Same goes in an aerobics, kickboxing, spinning, whatever class. I've just learned to be polite and bring a sweat rag to keep it to myself. So, if you happen to see me along the path, sweating up a storm, I'll just look at you if you're one of those "I just ran a 10K and I'm slightly damp around the temples" and cuss out the sweating gods when you're not in earshot.
The reason I bring this up is because I've happily found what thousands of other Seattle-ites have been enjoying for almost 30 years now, the Burke-Gilman trail. It's a bike and pedestrian committed path in urban Seattle that runs about 17 miles or so from Redmond (Bill Gates-ville), down like Washington, and along the shipping canal to Ballard. I live a mere half block off it, making it hard for me to ignore and making it easy for me to get motivated to get out and participate. Most people run or bike, and since I don't have a bike yet, I run. I'm a mile's jog from Gasworks Park, offering great views of Seattle from Lake Union, and I'm mile's run from a nice stretch of path with trees that are honestly eighty to a hundred feet tall above me. I love that even in Seattle, you can still feel you are in the woods. The trail is what is left of the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad. When the need for rails decreased, the city of Seattle decided to use those paths as pedestrian/bike paths. Seattle has 90 miles of dedicated bike paths throughout the city. I love it, and it reminds me a lot of the hundreds of miles of bike paths through Cambridgeshire and East Anglia.
Here are some pics (again, none that I've taken, it's much easier to just steal others photos from Google Images) of the trail.
This pic is near my apartment
This one is right in the middle of campus, making UW a very accessible school for non-drivers. Luckily I just walk to school, but nice to know I could bike if I wanted to.
I've always thought that was such a great saying, and sadly one that doesn't apply to me in the least. One quick lap around Princeton Avenue will get a single stream of sweat running down the side of my cheek....and a mile? Forget it, it's over! For some reason or another, the sweating gods have given me the deep end portion rom the pool of the perspiration gene. In a weird "in my dreams" sort of way, I was hoping that my ability to sweat on demand would change since I would be living at sea level here in Seattle that my excessive sweating might be different. You know, it's easier to breathe (which it is, I might add) and therefore I won't be taxing my system as much. Well, dear readers, that very wet side of my life hasn't changed a bit. Not that it's gotten any worse, luckily it hasn't. But, it has definitely not improved either. Nope, I still sport the totally flushed skin, red faced, unmanagable hair look, film of perspiration located everywhere I have skin. I'm afraid if someone were to photograph with a flash, I might reflect too much of the light and just be a big bright blur.
Now, I like running and exercise, for many reasons, one because it helps my body look good, but I certainly am not expecting to attract any Prince Charming in the actual process. Sometimes I see cute guys and think, "this is really killing your cute appeal, Derek, and probably not impressing anyone". But, since that's just one reason I exercise, I just keep going. I've had to come to the realization that Yep, I think I'm stuck with it.
Fortunately in my life, I don't have the problem of sweating in everyday activities, sitting in a chair, taking a flight of stairs, etc. That other type is a whole other kind of sweating, and one that isn't necessarily any easier to deal with from day to day. I guess I have hyperactive sweat glands, but ones that only really over do it when I'm really exerting myself. There are a lot of people out there who have a whole different kind of sweating problem than I.
The funny thing is, even though I'm sweating like a pig when bouncing around a gym or whatnot, it doesn't mean that I'm more or less tired than the jogger next to me. Comments have been made to me like, "you look exhausted", and "don't you think you need to take it easy?" It's sort of funny, because it's when I really get my blood pumping and the sweat pouring that I get more into my groove and rhythm of what I'm doing. Growing up dancing at CDT was proof of that more than anything. I would sweat, people would stare, but I was always dancing and keeping up just as well as the person next to me. Same goes in an aerobics, kickboxing, spinning, whatever class. I've just learned to be polite and bring a sweat rag to keep it to myself. So, if you happen to see me along the path, sweating up a storm, I'll just look at you if you're one of those "I just ran a 10K and I'm slightly damp around the temples" and cuss out the sweating gods when you're not in earshot.
The reason I bring this up is because I've happily found what thousands of other Seattle-ites have been enjoying for almost 30 years now, the Burke-Gilman trail. It's a bike and pedestrian committed path in urban Seattle that runs about 17 miles or so from Redmond (Bill Gates-ville), down like Washington, and along the shipping canal to Ballard. I live a mere half block off it, making it hard for me to ignore and making it easy for me to get motivated to get out and participate. Most people run or bike, and since I don't have a bike yet, I run. I'm a mile's jog from Gasworks Park, offering great views of Seattle from Lake Union, and I'm mile's run from a nice stretch of path with trees that are honestly eighty to a hundred feet tall above me. I love that even in Seattle, you can still feel you are in the woods. The trail is what is left of the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad. When the need for rails decreased, the city of Seattle decided to use those paths as pedestrian/bike paths. Seattle has 90 miles of dedicated bike paths throughout the city. I love it, and it reminds me a lot of the hundreds of miles of bike paths through Cambridgeshire and East Anglia.
Here are some pics (again, none that I've taken, it's much easier to just steal others photos from Google Images) of the trail.
This pic is near my apartment
This one is right in the middle of campus, making UW a very accessible school for non-drivers. Luckily I just walk to school, but nice to know I could bike if I wanted to.
posted by D-Rock at Friday, September 22, 2006
1 Comments:
What a neat trial!
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