Running weather has come to our campus. Every time I step out the door of my apartment, the air is that perfect balance of warm and cool. I hear the birds singing my name, telling me to grab my tennis shoes and just do it: make like Forrest Gump and run to the other end of the campus and back. I look around and the peer pressure is on.
The sidewalks are filled with students, their eyes overflowing with enthusiasm and focus. They must have just started their run because there is no way their perfect strides and bright smiles can last that long. I cannot help but wonder whether the people I am seeing are truly on their daily run or whether they are phonies. Yes, I said phony. The birds don’t sing at everyone.
You may refer to them as spontaneous runners, but I say “meh.” They are the folks who think that running one mile a month makes them a regular exercising champ. I think not. They may take a seat on that couch they have been sitting on in their spare time for the past 3 weeks while eating Captain Crunch.
I will admit that I am being a bit hard on some of my fellow students. Some may be starting their New Year’s resolution a little bit late. Or, maybe they are victims of being in the wrong place and around the wrong friend at the wrong time — and said friend forced them into their sneakers and dragged them into a pace just above walking.
With all that being said, there is nothing wrong with doing a little bit of exercise to expel some of that college student stress, or even tone the calves up a bit. Short public service announcement, gentlemen: ladies like strong calves and it is now shorts season. Time to step your game up, eh?
Seriously, we all could use more positivity this time of the semester. Exams will be here before we know it and that means chronic snacking, stressing and sitting. The best relief for this is being active. You might as well tire yourself out now by getting in shape so that when exam week comes around you actually have the energy to smile while running. I am going to assume you run.
Instead of coffee, I have resorted to a morning run and a banana or two as my energy supplement for the day. Plus, it makes eating that slice of cake at the end of the day that much more satisfying and less guilt-ridden. Taking advantage of beautiful days cleanses the soul; cleanse the soul TWAMPs, because the book in your face is sucking something happy out of it.
Jillian Bates is a Confusion Corner columnist who appreciates a nice, strong pair of calves when she sees one.