Category: Fitness

“Mom, you’re just too good for me.”

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I swear to God my son just said that to me on the tennis court. I swear to God. This is the happiest day of my life. The best thing anyone has ever said to me.

Okay, okay, I’m a little competitive. I take a lot of (too much?) joy in beating people at tennis. I know I should be a bigger person. I should hit the ball gently to a 12-year old. I should hold back. But, God help me, I love to win.

The game was kind of crazy because we played Australian – or is it Canadian – doubles. The two of us against Chris, but Chris’s adding was getting a little funky. It was deuce and he’d say it was 15-30 – that kind of thing. He wanted to sit out. He dozed off on the bench, watching us play. Well, he wasn’t watching. He was dozing.

Hayden and I kept playing. The game was 3 to 0 in my favor. And he said that ill-fated line. “Mom, you’re just too good for me.” Oh God. I can’t tell you how good that felt. I asked him if he minded if we put that on my gravestone. I felt the endorphin rush.

Then he came back. It was 3 to 3. And it was game, set, match point; we were playing to 4 games.

Hayden served. It was deuce, add in, deuce, add out.  It was deuce, add out, then he double-faulted. I hate when anyone double faults, but in this case, I took the victory. It tasted sweet. I’m just too good.

Rattlesnake Mountain

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We hiked Rattlesnake.

Maybe a fourth of the way up, Charlotte discovered a shedded snake skin stuck to the trunk of a toppled tree. Hayden peeled it up, like a nametag off a suit jacket. He made us all touch it. So yuck.

We arrived at the parking pull-off around noon and I think it was about 3:25 when we returned. Or else it was 3:52. I’m fairly beat now. And will likely feel it tomorrow.

In terms of endorphins, I think I hit them about 20 minutes into the hike on the way down. I was by myself. I felt a rush of well being as I watched my kids holding hands in a tunnel of light ahead of me. You know the kind of yellow light in the middle of green trees on a late summer day. Very nice. Very Hansel and Gretel. Heartwarming.

But then a stick and leaves were thrown. The girls broke into a fight. Catherine threw some kind of handful of seeds or leaves at Charlotte, to make it look like it was raining. And Charlotte took offense, said something nasty like “You touch yourself!” And Catherine said, “I was only making you look pretty.” And Charlotte said, “Without that stuff falling on me, you’re saying I”m not pretty?” in that kind of head-wagging way.

The endorphin buzz was lost somewhere in there.

But that’s what I get, hiking with 9-year old twins, a 12 year old, a 5 year old (Izzy, Kristen’s daughter), a 30-something year old, (Ben, Kristen’s boyfriend) and the husband with Parkinson’s.

I worried that the climb would be too difficult for Chris and Izy. But Izzy was only carried briefly on Ben’s shoulders.

Chris managed pretty well. Unlike our hike up Coon Mountain last week, when he was nearly last at the end of the hike, Chris, this time,  finished towards the front. With the help of a walking stick. And grit.

Searching for Endorphins

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 First Run

The first day, less than a week ago, Deirdre, the girls and I ran to the little 1888 school house. Since then, we’ve talked endlessly about just how long it is from our house to the school house. 

We started around the garage, ran past the five humongous Newfoundlands at Shami’s.

And we ran uphill to get to that road. Deirdre said, “Going up hill, take small steps.” She said,  “Don’t worry about your upper body at all. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.”

Second Run

On Saturday, we ran again, just me and the girls and Hayden. We ran to the schoolhouse, lay on the grass and stared at the Adirondack mountains. We watched the clouds. I was exhausted.

I love the school house. I love the grass, the broken fence, the tree, the yellow lyme schoolhouse. I love laying or sitting in the grass. Watching the kids do gymnastics. Every which way you look, there’s beauty.  A farmer’s field, a newly paved black road.

As we lay on the grass, Hayden said, “Hey there’s Jeff Kelly.” Jeff’s a writer, a jock, and my brother in law Jeff’s best friend. He is a natural athlete and flirt, told me I looked beguiling. I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand. He laughed.

He said he thought the run from our house to the school house was 3/4 of a mile. That made us feel good. He ran backwards as he talked to us, which made me feel lik he could run circles around me, which wasn’t a good feeling because he’s at least 15 years older than me.

Third Run

Yesterday, I said, “I’m gonna go for a run,” to Chris. 

“Okay, I’ll go with you,” he said. I made an ugh noise. Like, Please don’t. But then quickly said, “Okay, but you’ll have to keep up.” 

Chris was huffing and puffing. The previous day, he’d said the school house was 1/4 of a mile. “Now, do you think it’s farther?” I asked as he ran behind me. He couldn’t get the breath to answer. (But then when we reached the beach, we had Debbie drop us in the middle of the lake and we swam back to the beach, probably over a mile.)

Today

I found a good stride.  For the first time I ran farther than the schoolhouse. Hayden ran with me. We made it to the road, Lake Shore. 

Hayden had just bought a pair of red Asics running shoes. He calls them “sexy.” He told me to take longer steps. I liked running with him. I especially liked when we hit the fields of flowers at the Stable Inn. We each took a different path as we ran through the field.

We waved at each other across the black-eyed Susans and Queen Ann’s Lace. There was a smell of pine. I felt really good. I think I found the endorphins.