Orbital Velocity

Day 29: Racquetball

The great thing about yoga and walking is that they require zero gear. (No, you don't need a yoga mat. Nor do you need straps or blocks. They're all optional upgrades.) Same with push-ups, sit-ups, jumping-jacks, and other calisthenics. I'm always pleased with myself when I find a healthy activity that can be done nearly anywhere, costs nothing, and requires no commute time.

So I decided to take up racquetball.

While talking with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, the topic of exercise came up, and we somehow discovered that we both loved racquetball, but hadn't played in years. I gave my racquet away a long time ago, but -- as luck would have it -- he had a spare, left behind by an old roommate. And it turns out the closest YMCA, just a mile-and-a-half away, has two racquetball courts, and are currently running a promotion of three free guest-passes. My friend even provided the balls. All I had to do was fish my old, rarely-used sneakers out of the closet, toss some shorts and a t-shirt into a bag, and head to the gym.

It was a blast. By the end, I was red-faced and short of breath, with heart pounding -- and it felt great. I forgot just how fun the game is. My friend and I are evenly matched, and he's highly tolerant of my being very much out of shape. We had such a good time, we made plans to play again. And then I invited another friend to play soon, with whom I've also had that it's-been-forever-since-the-last time conversation -- except this time we're actually going to make it happen. Just like that, I have two racquetball partners, and I'm planning to get a gym membership, for the first time in my life.

Something I noticed, which I hadn't anticipated, is that looking forward to playing racquetball is making me more inclined to exercise, so that I'm more ready to fully enjoy the game. So, not only is the game itself a great way to improve my cardiovascular health; it's also a motivator.

Another benefit: I'm inspiring friends to join in an activity that improves their fitness, too. If we collectively get into the habit of playing racquetball, we'll each improve our chances of reaching orbital velocity. I've gone from lying in bed idly fantasizing about creating exercise videos, to writing about my journey to become more fit, to publishing my writing so others might benefit from it, to directly influencing friends to join me in an effort to get more exercise, just in my first month!

I also had another major victory on my path toward improving my conversion ratio. I found a developmental editor for the novella I'm working on, and I've been preparing a draft for him to review. A writer I follow on Twitter retweeted a post from another writer, saying her editor husband is accepting new work. I jumped on the opportunity, he glanced through the draft I sent him, and he agreed to work with me. I plan to get him a cleaned-up draft within the coming week. Exciting stuff!