Does anyone remember that asinine game, called Red Rover? It seemed all my gym teachers loved to torture us, I mean, force us, I mean, let us play this game as a special “treat.” Oh sure, some kids that got all excited and couldn’t wait to play. Me, not so much. And to up the fun even more, the teacher couldn’t just let us count off to get the two teams, she had to do the whole “captain” thing. Inevitably I’d be picked last or close to it, which really didn’t bother me all that much, as I was hoping not to be picked at all.
Once the teams assembled, I tried to get on the end of the line. Being the skinny, geeky kid, the other side always ran toward my arms. At first I’d try to hold tight so the opposing runner couldn’t break through my arms, but quickly realized it was better to just let go and avoid getting my arm broken. And in the off-chance, the other team actually chanted, “Red Rover, Red Rover send ‘Shar’ right over,” dread filled me as I ran over and get stopped every time:( I wonder who even made that dumb game up. My daughter tells me they still play this disturbing game at her school too. Luckily she’s a bit more athletic than I am. Why, I have no idea. It’s not even remotely fun.
Next to math, phys ed was my least favorite subject. Maybe if I’d put more effort into it back then, I’d be better at exercising now, though. I mean I want to look good and be healthy, but when I try to exercise, something always thwarts my attempts. Recently I started a running program (those that know me can stop laughing now). I got this app called the Couch to 5K. You alternate walking and running until you can run 5 kilometers. I downloaded it to my iPhone. It’s really pretty sweet in that it tracks your route, speed and tells you when to walk, when to jog and most importantly when to stop!
The first time I tried it out, the girls wanted to come along. About half way through and a mile from home, my youngest stopped dead right in front of me during a jog segment. I couldn’t stop and ended up tripping over her and landing on top of her. She scraped her leg and I banged up my knee. I ended up carrying her home. Day 2 went without a hitch, but on Day 3 the app crashed in the middle of my workout and I lost all my data. Then today when I tried again my iPhone died. So much for the tracking data. On the upside, I know I did better today and wasn’t quite as winded when I made it home. Maybe I’ll actually run a 5K someday. We’ll see…
Undaunted 
We played Red Rover nearly every recess at my grade school when I was growing up. I was a skinny girl so usually didn’t get picked until last. It just made sense that you would pick the strongest for your team first. I still tried hard though. I was and still am very competitive and I was not going to let my size or the possibility of a broken arm stop me. The worst injury I received on the playground was a chipped tooth from a much older boy elbowing me and a badly scrapped knee from the old-time merry go rounds that were so much fun.
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I used to love the old-time merry go rounds. Haven’t seen one of those in ages!
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I’m doing a Couch to 5K app, too! I started with that, and then I found this Zombies Run 5K trainer for Joel, so I started doing that with him. The first week, you only run 15 seconds at a time. Way more my speed! We’re doing The Color Run in South Bend in October if you want to join us….!!!!
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That sounds like a blast! FB me the info. I bet I could drag Em along. She’s been training we me. A couple of my co-workers did a color run this past weekend and had a lot of fun. The 15 seconds at a time training plan sound more my speed too!
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Agreed. Crazy game but I was pretty athletic so I probably loved it. The whole “captain” thing is stupid too. As for running, I do it because I need to and I have trained myself to endure the suffering for the sake of maintaining this 45 year old body. I couldn’t do it without my iPod shuffle though.
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All the boys in my class seemed to love it. I am starting to get into the running thing. I walk a lot during the summer, but I was hoping by stepping it up to a run/jog I could eat more ice cream and not gain weight:) At 43, it seems like maintaining my weight is harder than ever:( I long for my early 20’s where I could eat whatever I wanted, not exercise and never gain an ounce!
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Welllllll, as a PE teacher, LOL, I have to say that Red Rover is a terrible game. That said, I was one of those idiots that loved playing it in elementary school. It’s a wonder we didn’t have dozens of broken arms and dislocated shoulders. Hope your exercise program works out for you. Nothing like good old walking to keep you healthy.
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I hope I didn’t offend the PE teachers out there:) I’m glad you don’t make people do Red Rover. That one along with the one where you through a ball at the person to get the out (dodge ball?) should be retired! I do walk quite a bit in the summer. In the winters though, too cold, I’m definitely a fair weather walker!
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