Racewalking

It's not near as easy as it looks. If it looks easy, that is.

I've always been intrigued by racewalkers, and after we saw an Olympic competition on TV early this morning, Sean and I decided to give it a try. I thought, "If Billy Crystal can do it in When Harry Met Sally, surely I can, too."

I couldn't see how I looked, thankfully, but I'm sure it was pretty ridiculous. We tried it off an on for maybe a mile and then finally just gave up. It's incredibly different from regular walking and just incredibly difficult altogether. Maybe next time.

We're both pretty sad to see the Olympics come to a close. The Olympics have always been a cause for celebration in my mind, and I can vaguely remember watching the 1996 Olympics when I was just a kindergartner. I had this awesome Barbie and tried to make her do all the same moves the gymnasts were doing on TV...

Of course, I wanted to become a gymnast, but Mom and Grandma both told me I'd bust my head. I got another gymnast Barbie instead (she came with uneven bars!). It's a close second, I guess.

So, from 1996 on, if the Olympics were on TV, I was watching them. Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London. I remember screaming at the TV when Michael Phelps was going for all those golds in Beijing, watching the USA women's volleyball indoor team religiously, watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh dominate the beach volleyball scene, and wondering why in the heck Usain Bolt slowed down at the end of the 100 meter race in 2008. (He redeemed himself in my eyes this year).

This time around, I was lucky enough to have some time off to watch events during the day, including but not limited to:

Women's rowing

Men's canoe slalom

Equestrian

Men's and women's beach volleyball

Men's and women's indoor volleyball

Men's road cycling and time trial

Men's and women's synchronized diving

Men's and women's platform diving

Men's and women's soccer

Men's and women's gymnastics

Men's and women's swimming

Men's and women's athletics

Men's heptathlon

Men's trampoline

Men's and women's weightlifting

Men's and women's water polo

Men's shooting

Men's tennis

And a whole bunch more, I'm sure. But there's something about it that's just magical. It makes me drop everything I'm doing and leave the television tuned to the Olympic station for nearly three weeks, screaming like crazy, trying to cheer on US athletes even though "portions of this broadcast have been prerecorded."It just does that to you.

So when 2016 rolls around, you know where I'll be...parked in front of the television cheering on team USA!