Hola, comrades!

[Ophelia Swims]

My name is Kelsey. I'm a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher who recently (May 2012) earned her master's in special education. As the job title might imply, my days are full of movement and I'm one of those obnoxious people who can be cheery at 7:30 AM without the judicious application of caffeine. My nerdy interests include: reading EVERYTHING, from the literary canon to sci-fi/fantasy to comics to education magazines; most of your standard geek media; writing (novels, short stories, dabbling in poetry); and creating the perfect playlist for any given event/media/moment in time. I like running, yoga, and swimming. I have also been known to hit the dance floor from 10 PM to last call. (Maybe not as impressive as it sounds--last call is around 1:45 AM. Thanks, Boston.)

 

NF's very own jofalltrades was my college roommate, which is how I ended up here. See, when you're around kids all the time (or humans, really, but that's another story), you really start to grasp the importance of getting up and moving around. Last year, I changed teaching jobs to one where my lunch break coincided with my kids' recess, and all of a sudden I wasn't running around anymore. My job still entailed a great deal of movement, but there was no more tag and significantly fewer spontaneous dance parties. I was miserable! Part of it was the whole transition to a new job, but I missed the consistent exercise.

 

In May, I decided to go back to running, something I hadn't done on a regular basis since high school. Previous attempts were thwarted by shin splints and hamstrings tight enough to make yoga instructors go, "Um. Let's... let's work on that." I did cross-training with a combination of workouts from the Nike Trainer app and the Yoga Studio app for an entire month before doing more than walking. (I really don't do well with run/walk programs because I remember cross country practice and have that in my head as the standard.) About 6 weeks ago, I started playing Zombies, Run! and racing against myself as well as the zombies. Did I defeat the shin splints? No! This time they're in only one leg, though, and I am much more flexible from stretching every day. Also so much stronger from a little cross-training. I could sell tickets to a vaguely defined gun show...

 

This particular community appeals to me because I can make myself accountable for every day! I run three times a week (followed by 15 minutes of stretching). On my off days, I do between 30-60 minutes of yoga and 15 minutes of strength training, except for my "rest" day, which is just light yoga focused on building flexibility. The routine has been working really well for me--when I'm home. I'm about to head off to Australia for two weeks, immediately followed by a four-day road trip to Canada. I'm psyched for both trips, but I know I won't be able to stick to my usual schedule and that I'll need help transitioning back to it. I've been feeling so much better that it would be a shame to lose it, plus I signed up for the Superhero 5k in October!

 

Oh, I guess I should put something in about nutrition. I eat real food as much as possible, don't let myself buy junk food except for the occasional ice cream, and I don't like sugary drinks (including juice, unless it's in mimosas). I should work on getting more protein in my diet and sorting out the fruit:veggie ratio, but I don't want to make any huge dietary plans until I'm done with my summer traveling. I'd also rather not lose my ability to cosplay Joan Holloway.

 

So here is me! I won't lie and say I'm not usually this verbose. Long posts on forums, my friends, is what you do with a BA in English.

[JessOfAllTrades]

Ohai roomie.

 

PS I like how you make it sound like I'm famous. <3

[Ophelia Swims]

Ohai roomie.

 

PS I like how you make it sound like I'm famous. <3

 

You are famous in my heart!