Smart and determined people can change!

I meant to share this with you guys before. My ex-boyfriend and I ran the marathon this year and he forwarded his blog entry to me shortly thereafter. I think he meant well, but it pissed me off.

"While on the computer, I also checked to see if T.O. (unlike 2002, she’s the only other person this year that I know that ran) finished. Sure enough, she did real well. What’s odd is that if you asked me ten years ago whether she and I would end up running a marathon, I would have laughed and said 'No Way!' I had pretty much given up on running while I was in Japan, and T.O.s incidents with softball* and lack of enthusiasm for ice skating** led me to believe that she would never be one into athletics. Which goes to show you how much smart and determined people can change themselves."

* In September 1993, a month after I arrived in Japan, I played in a Kyoto City Hall softball tournament, dislocated an ankle during the game, was hauled off in an ambulance, and ended up with a 6-week cast and 2 months of physical therapy with a bunch of elderly people. I haven't had the guts to play softball since.

** During the 1994 Winter Olympics, I was glued to the TV set watching the figure skating competitions, so Adrian surprised me with a birthday present of ice skates seven months later. (Sheesh, just because I liked watching figure skating didn't mean I actually wanted to try triple jumps and spins . . . .) Anyway, I was stuck with this expensive pair of skates, so to make the best of a really awkward situation, I agreed to sign up for a 4-week ice skating class at a local skating rink in Osaka. It was me and a group of three-foot high children going around in circles and falling down. I hated it.