Thursday, September 01, 2005

Ice Bath

Sorry this isn't in my other blog Marissa, I'm not feeling too philosophical tonight. But, I do feel like blogging like a madman, so here I am.

Yesterday night I was pretty down when I wrote. Here I am though, and things are looking up a lot more, so you get the rebound blog tonight, hooray.

School today was pretty fun business. Physics is going to be a really good class once it warms up I think, right now it’s merely ok. Most of the class was still finishing the worksheet from yesterday because they didn't get it, so we didn't get much work. We got one new worksheet, and I got that done so I had about 40 minutes to do nothing. So, I did nothing, it was fun. I'm pretty afraid to take naps in high school yet, so I kept myself awake. I'm sure I'll break that habit soon. Olsen (The teacher) is one of the funniest guys around. He doesn't try to be funny, and he's pretty lame, and that’s the cool and awesome part. He's got a mullet, it’s amazing. But its not like a white trash mullet, it’s just a mullet. He's always got a sort of dazed look on his face, and doesn't talk very much or very fast. It’s just the little simple stuff he says that's so awesome, it’s great. He's a really likeable guy, even though he's slow at everything. He's a stud muffin.

World history turned out pretty good today, I really like MJ. Me and Jason decided that we were going to call him MG because he's a gangster, but that probably won't happen. Andrew told me he was a loser, so I wasn’t looking forward to the class, but he's ended up way cool. We split the group into "tribes" today, and had 15 minutes to set up a government and a culture, and all agree upon it. Then we had to go up in front of the class and he'd ask us questions. It was pretty fun business, and a real clever way to get to know other people. It was definitely as good as Alsop's whole "line up in order of birth without talking." thing we did in 7th grade. I really wish teachers would do more of this 'get to know each other' stuff. I think its pretty fun, and that’s most of the fun of high school anyways, the other people. We totally got our butts kicked today though in world history. We all walked in, and the class managed to get it 97% segregated. All the guys on one side, all the girls on the other. And now that’s the permanent seating arrangement for the term at least. Crazy talk eh? No flirting in that class... unless it’s with Jason.

Band was crazy talk today. The really awesome thing about high school is that we've got 6 trombones, and they're all pretty good. I'm easily the worst one, but I think I like it that way. Junior high we never had enough trombones, and I was usually the best one, I had to lead. That meant that I had to know what I was doing, which I didn’t do most of the time. With all these other guys it’s really easy to pick stuff up from them, and follow for now. I'm not good at sight-reading, and it’s nice to kinda learn the tunes off of them. I'm doing a ton better than I expected to though, and I'm happy about that. Doc made me improvise 4 measures of solo today, and I'm pretty sure I bombed it, but the fact that I did it makes me happy. Playing that stuff is really really fun. I'm liking it a lot.

English was great, I read all day. 20,000 leagues under the sea. I'm not sure if that’s the book I want to do my book project on or not, but it’s pretty interesting to read for now. It's always interesting to read old books, like ones from back in the day. They are a lot different, and aren't really written the same. The language is still the same, but just the styles are a lot different. But I'm learning from it, and its fun and interesting, so I'm liking it. I really like to just sit and read, it’s relaxing and lets you just be in your own bubble. I don't read enough, but I like it.

So, now to the actual fun stuff. After school I went and ran cross country again, and I'm getting really excited about it. There are a ton of cool people on the team, and it's going to be great to get back into shape. I'm considering trying to break a 5 minute mile this year. I think I can probably do it. We ran 4 miles today, pretty slow, but 4 miles nonetheless. It was pretty laid back, and we all moved as a team.

After we got back, the whole team was super excited because today we got to do ice baths. They talked about it like it was some sacred ritual that would make you run faster, jump higher, and look better. So, I was excited about it. Now, thinking about the words "Ice bath" you can pretty much guess what it is, but it just didn't really click for me.

What happens is we go into this little dingy room off of the weight room. There's an ice machine in there, a sink, one of those beds they have in doctor’s offices, and a metal tub on wheels. It probably holds about 75 gallons, I don't really know. Any whom, you put a hose on the sink, and fill up the tub. All the while you are shoveling a ton of ice into the water.

Now, for some reason this all seemed really elaborate to me. Like it was a super super complex and super cool process, and that this tub was special. Nope. It’s just a tub with a bunch of ice water in it. However, the whole team regarded it with reverence, so I did too.

...and then we got in it.

Good crap. The tub fit 2 people at a time, and you had to kneel in there for 10 or 15 minutes, depending on what you wanted to do. It came up to my waist about, just a little below it. It was honestly the coldest thing I've ever done. 15 minutes, kneeling there motion-less in water that couldn't be more than 40 degrees.

As soon as you get in everything underwater hurts. It felt like my toes were getting attacked by some sort of mongoose. After about minute two I really wanted to get out, but I was determined to ride it out, and stay in there. So, 15 minutes later, me and nokesy got out. Standing on numb legs is really crazy. You can feel em, but not really. Walking is a very dangerous and difficult thing to do. My legs were 100% red, it was pretty ugly. I’ve never seen human flesh look that red. It felt like it was a bunch of frozen meat you were getting out of the freezer. Pretty dang gross.

Sometime later I regained feeling in my legs. Word on the street is an ice bath is supposed to make it so you're not sore anymore, and makes your muscles cooler or something. Yeah, it didn't work, I'm sore. Not amazingly sore, but still sore. So, I spent an extra 2 hours at the school, and froze my butt off for no real reason, but it was still pretty fun, and I enjoyed it. Plus, it makes a really cool story to tell on your blog that a whole 2 people read.

That being said, its time to move on. Drama is getting a lot better. I actually talked to Jenny last night after I blogged, and we kinda worked things out. The last words she said to me were:
"ur dumb, and now I'm going to bed" But it’s still an improvement. I'm happy about that. It ends up she has to move back up here pretty soon, and she's really upset about that. She's convinced that once she moves up here I'll never talk to her again. What is with all these girls pointing out the fact that I'm socially retarded all the sudden? Can't we just give me a break?

And, I talked to hope today on the phone (That’s right, phone conversation with a girl). That was good, and made me worry about her less. So, she's not crazy, that is good news.

So, life is mostly on the up and up, I’m excited about this. Tomorrow night I'm either going to a football game, some sort of shindig, or setting up a new Jolene. I'd definitely like money from Jolene, high school is expensive. But things are going to be good any whom. Life is going to move on rather nicely I hope. My foot sure hurts, but that'll go away like it always does, and in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy having a good nights sleep. G'night everybody.

1 comment:

riss. said...

Its ok, I enjoy reading this blog too. And you seem to be doing it a lot too. Good job.

I'm glad things are looking up.

Physics is going to rock. When i was like, 12, my brother sat me down and explained the the concept of physics in its entirety. I've been excited to take it ever since. I love to look at things in an analytical way, and i think its going to be fun.

naps...haha. go ahead and try it. risks are fun :D. and mr olsen is hilarious. its gonna be kickin.

Band sounds fun, but Dorchestra is better!!! lol. just kiddin.

English is going to be fun! Its managed to stay my favorite subject despite 3 not-so-good years. Now, I'm way excited for a good teacher. Do you have Ward or Stevens? I've got stevens and the 500 pages i'm reading is Les Miserables and The sun also rises by hemingway. I'm excited. lol. Maybe I'll read Gone with the Wind again....hahahaha.

BTW, i think i'm gonna do cross country. Alex keeps buggin me about it. So i'm gonna run some this weekend, and see how it goes...

In MJ's class, its divided Bennion vs. Ike. its pretty funny. I sit by Levi. its gonna be kickin. haha. I like that word.

Ice baths....sound fun...-ish.

you need to tell me about jenny because i know like, nothing about her. And good for you. Phones are a good way to talk to people.

you definitely should have come to the party instead of the football game. haha. oh well.

--marissa