Is picking teams still a ritual in gym classes anymore? I hope not. I loved gym class when we cross-country skied, skated, square danced, or played with the giant parachute. But, any sport with a ball made the less-than coordinated kids want to hide, shrink into themselves, or wish with all their nerdy hearts that being beamed up by Scotty was a real thing. Dodgeball was particularly cruel; I was more than distressed when my own children recently came home from school announcing their love for this sport for young terrorists in training.

So, when the gym teacher got to the part in the curriculum in which projectiles must be hurled in the guise of “team sports” I hated gym. Two of the sportiest kind of boys, usually the ones who hit the most home runs in little league the previous summer were appointed team captains. They then took turns picking team members from the class, starting with the most coordinated, and ending up with me. Me, because it would have been rude to pick last the girl with cerebral palsy who walked with crutches. She was always second to last. Invariably, the “captain” would roll his eyes and say, “All right. I guess we have to take her.”

So here’s the thing: if there was a category in the senior superlatives in our yearbook: “Least Likely To Be a Gym Teacher,” they would have picked me first. But gym teacher I am and have been for thirteen years since I earned my first license to teach Zumba in 2011. Zumba for kids and adults, Yoga, Spinning, Bootcamp, Water Aerobics, Aqua Zumba, TRX and personal training are all disciplines I have under my belt. I look back in wonder and more than a little amusement that this is where my life-path led me. It’s just ridiculous that the kid whose sneaker would fly up in the air when she attempted to make contact with the bouncing pink rubber kickball would end up teaching people how to enjoy moving their bodies. But that’s what I do.

The thing I love the most, the thing that’s been with me the longest, the verb that I associate with myself most besides “sing” (I am a trained and in-training classical singer) is: RUN.

This blog is “See Jen Run” and I intend for you to do that via video, but I’m not skilled at videography yet. I’m learning. Right now, I want to share my training journey for running my first ultra-marathon. Ultra is any distance above the 26.2 mile marathon distance. I have 1 marathon and 22 half-marathons to my credit, plus several 10k’s and more than a few Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trots.

I haven’t picked the race. I haven’t picked the distance yet. But I’m doing it.

You’re also going to See Jen Lift. In 25 days, I’m going to the NY Ladies of Iron competition here in NY. Powerlifting is not something the little kid from grade school gym class would ever have imagined herself doing.

Another thing you don’t imagine when you are a hopeful little kid is getting divorced. But this is my reality. And, had I not learned and taught all of these fitness modalities, had I not been very strong in my body, had I not been able to pick things up and put them down and run long distances, I don’t know where I would be right now.

My career that I never planned on gave me a great gift: friendship. My friends from the gym, clients past and present are my truest and most supportive friends. There is something special about the shared experience of a group fitness class or a personal training session that you can’t find anywhere else.

Stick around while I get better at this blogging thing. I hope I can inspire you to lace up. You’ll be surprised where you’ll end up.