Were you athletic as a kid?

[Duck on Wheels]

I was a klutz, and afraid of getting a ball in my face (first because I couldn't see it, later because my glasses would break). I could ride a horse .... sorta. And a bike .... sorta. I was good at swimming, but never in the competition sense. Like Trek420, I enjoyed learning life saving and swim instruction. Never a racer, but I could do all the strokes beautifully except butterfly. Senior year in HS I finally got an A in PE --I taught the non-swimmers til they all passed their beginners' swim test so they could graduate, even had a football star in "my" class. More recently I've been hiking (tour orienteering in the Summer, berry and mushroom picking in the Fall). Biking as something more than transport is very new to me, as of last year. Now going-on-60 I don't expect ever to be fast, but I do have some endurance in me and it feels good to stay in shape.

[tygab]

this is an interesting question... in my family I was not considered athletic - even now I don't know if they think of me that way. I am small and thin, and I have to struggle for every muscle I have. So this has been a long road for me to 'prove' I can be. Now here's the rub.

I have *always* loved sports. I listened to the St Louis Cards games while I did my schoolwork, and watched the Illini in basketball, football, and occaisionally other sports. I played soccer both as a kid and again on HS (but on the boy's team, we didn't HAVE a girls team). In HS I almost never got to play but I still had fun. I also ran track one season. I was decent at that but didn't enjoy it. I also played Little League as a kid (stuck in the outfield and always last to bat). I should also mention that I took ballet for many years as a kid (and enjoyed it), and I rode horses for many years as a kid (and loved) that. And I fancied myself a bike racer on my Schwinn 10-speed, but back then bike racing was hardly even a sport, and certainly not one for girls/women.

My sisters were both pretty good competitive swimmers & had the right build for that. They swam from grade school to high school (one even swam in college). My brother was a good competitive track and cross country runner going to state several times (lean like me, but tall too). My parent's weekends often revolved around swim and running events. I never won anything in sports. But to be fair my parents remained supportive of my events, and they carted me lots of sport related places too.

In college, I did Tae Kwon Do, and managed to stay on the women's ice hockey club for a season (yeah I was mostly a bench warmer).

Post college, I took up skiing, hiking, kayaking, and now bicycling.
None of those were sports that anyone else in my family did/do with any regularity. But they were all sports I loved and still do!

As an adult, my sibs have gone on to run lots of marathons, and my parents have gone to some of their marathons as well. When I started riding last year, prepping for the long distance event, I finally felt like I had a foot in the door to talk with them about stuff... and now hopefully will continue with tris and so on. And I still love pro baseball and football, and now pro cycling.

So, I think I am pretty athletic, with all the sports I have tried. I've had fun in almost all of them, even without being great at most of them. Several sports I've stumbled upon in later life I thought I could have become pretty good at, had I been exposed to them earlier in life. Now, I guess, I find sports that require persistence more so than skill to be right up my ally.

[tattiefritter]

Complete tomboy here! Where I grew up it was predominantly boys so I played lots of football (soccer to the American gals) and lots of running around and boisterous games. I've ridden bikes since I was about 5 years old, I remember jumping off large ramps on my bike as a 7 year old (where did that bravery go I wonder). I used to love all sorts of sports at school and was always one of the first to be picked for teams.

I had a gap from about 14 years until 17 years old where I didn't have a bike, then I saved up and bought my very first mountain bike - a rigid purple muddy fox with....canti brakes (the innovation of the time). It was a 19 inch frame (I now ride 14 or 15 inch max) and miles too big for me but I loved it, even used it to cycle to work when I was doing my Post Grad course. It got stolen from my parents garage when I was about 23 years old.

I was heavily into martial arts (another Tae kwon Do person here) from about 20 to 24, basically until I moved to the place I am now. I had ignored any exercise from age 18, basically from entering uni, and it was obvious from my waistline. TKD gave me back the love of being fit again.

At 28 I bought a good quality mountain bike (a 17 inch frame so still too big) and I haven't looked back since. Like the OP I had no problem picking it up.

[Mimosa]

I sorta got forced by my parents when young because I am astmatic and they thought it would help with strengtening my lungs. And of the years I got accustomed to sports and now I can't live without

[Kimmyt]

My brother was very asthmatic when he was young and my parents got him into martial arts, which was the best possible thing for him i think since he was always the little short fat kid b/c of the prednisone for asthma/allergies. He is still seriously into martial arts. I'm trying to get him over to the dark side of taking part in one of the sports I do so that we can talk shop. He expressed vague interest in kayakking which would be cool but i have a feeling he won't get into it b/c of the cost of equipment. Tried to get him to go running with me, but he said no on account of the asthma. He still gets attacks pretty frequently.

K.

[chickwhorips]

when i was a kid i considered myself athletic. now my definition of athletic has changed.

as a child i would bike around nothing serious, swim in the lake, played softball, basketball, volleyball, kickball, football, and loved PE. once i was out of school i didn't do much in my first few years of college. then i started doing aerobics classes with my friend and liked those. then i moved here, and now i consider myself athletic. i now run and bike. i am addicted to cardio, where before i wasn't. hated cardio with a passion. to much work, let me lift weights instead or do short bouts of it.

to answer your question: i was an active child, having fun, but not athletic by how i consider the word athletic now. either way, i don't think it helped me get comfortable with cycling or running. my first time out doing either, i thought i was going to die and never sit down again or walk. took me a while to get comfortable on my bike.

[East Hill]

No!

I learned to swim because my father got elected to some position on the Norwalk, CA parks commission? We got free access to the [what I assume was the high school?] pool. My father had been a great one in his youth for rambling all over Lancashire and Chat Moss, so just because he had six children was not going to stop him from rambling in the US.

We used to get hiked up and down mountains and up roads and down roads every weekend! If it wasn't hiking it was visiting museums.

I hated softball. I was nearsighted and couldn't see the ball. I have a vague recollection of riding a bicycle when I was young, but haven't a clue where the bike went to after I was around 13 or so.

PE consisted of various sports--football (soccer), tennis, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, etc., and dancing!

I always got top marks in the various forms of sport, but I think it was more enthusiasm than ability.

No, I was not athletic.

East Hill

[silver]

my mom says that she can't believe that I do anything athletic now since I would do anything to get out of PE growing up.

I've never been too athletic. but I've always dabbled in things a bit.

I played soccer in 7th and 8th grade, but I wasn't any good. I once kicked the ball towards the wrong goal.

I learned to swim at the Y as a child.

In my teens I occasionally took long bike rides (maybe 10 miles )

I did aerobics classes in my 20's.

Then at age 36 (5 years ago) I commited myself to exercise. I began to do weight training and to run. I ran 7 marathons. lost 40 pounds and came to LOVE exercise. But I broke both of my feet, one at a time.

When I broke my right foot (2nd), I went to the bike store and bought a road bike.

I'm an ectomorph body type. tall and thin. I should be a good athlete, but I'm not. I'm not coordinated, I can't build muscle. I'm not flexible. I took to running and cycling well, but have never been fast. I didn't have much trouble getting comfortable on the bike. I had a little trouble learning to clip in but not too much.

Everytime I've tried to get faster wtih running I've gotten injured, but I think that I still have potential to get faster.

One thing that I've noticed in tri's is that the people who swam competively when they were young are the ones who really excel there. The ones struggling are the ones who are picking it up as adults. I can swim, but I cannot swim fast.