Do any of you that were overweight your entire life have a "nemesis sport"? The one thing that gives you the most cringe-inducing memories from high school PE class? Well, for me, that was volleyball. I remember quite vividly the humiliation of playing volleyball at 250+ lbs in high school, and the verbal torture going on from the other girls when I couldn't run fast enough to get to the ball, etc.
So yesterday, I'm at a BBQ with friends, and they had a volleyball net. And before I know it, I'm dragged into a volleyball game. And frankly, I was filled with dread. I may RUN now, I may hike and lift weights, but I still don't consider myself "sporty" in any sense.
ANYWAY - game started badly, for me (turns out that not touching a volleyball for the past 15 years will hurt your serving abilities...who knew??) I immediately went back into that "fat girl" headspace ("UGH, why am I even TRYING this, I SUCK, I have NO athletic ability, they should just sub me out for someone who can play"). At one point I think I said, "Dear God, I'm having fat girl in high school PE flashbacks".
But then someone gave me a serving refresher course, and I started getting into it. And soon, I was lunging for that ball, returning shots even when they were far away from me, etc. Turns out, I CAN play volleyball, at least passably. I no longer necessarily make an idiot of myself every time I participate in some sort of athletic endeavor. And what's more, I was a little sweaty, but I don't recall getting seriously out of breath at any point, including running after the ball when it went out of bounds (which used to be TERRIBLE...Sarah and I tried to play tennis one time when we were heavy, and we'd have to walk to get the ball, walk back, and we'd still be winded).
We ended up playing a close game to 25 points and...Sarah and I won. So take that, PE flashbacks!
NSV - Volleyball
