Me, My Career and a Stripper Pole

When I was first making this list, I briefly considered adding "Take a poledancing class" as one of the to-dos. Hell, it seemed like everyone and their grandmas are doing it and it's definitely something I wouldn't do on a typical day. But after that thought passed, I realized that there are lots of other things I'd rather do than to learn how to work the pole. (For example, shoot a rifle.) And honestly, that's not my kind of sexuality. My kind of sexuality is more like "Wow, did you memorize that whole encyclopedia? That's freakin sexy." Haha, just kidding. Kinda.

So when I got an email from one of the top editors last week that they needed more people to be in a photoshoot for a story about a woman getting the nerve to take a poledancing class, my initial reaction was to laugh. And I did exactly that in my reply. But I also said, "Sure, I'll do it." Why?...Why not? I believe that when an opportunity presents itself, you take it (as long as it's not illegal, anyway).

To be honest, a part of me thought I was just going to stand there and look pretty, while the subject of the story was the one who had to do all the pole work. Wrong. We got to the S Factor studio where we were all lead to a very purple room with shiny poles and mats. After a warm up that involved Pilates and yoga-like core work, I found myself learning how to do some moves that I'd be embarrassed to even recreate ever.

And then came the pole. At this point I was beyond concerned about looking ridiculous. (I mean, would you be if you smacked your ass in front of your coworkers 5 minutes into the class?) I was just concerned about flying off the pole and looking idiotic. But turns out, it's not impossible and I managed to do a few, um, rounds.

So there you have it. My intro to the stripper pole, in case all the backup careers fall through. Pictures, you ask? Hell no. But if you look out for next next month's issue of the magazine, you might see me in the background.

30-Minute 5k - Almost There!

I wasn't supposed to run this 5K. I signed up several months ago expecting the pain in my left ankle to be gone by June and here we are in June and it still isn't fully healed. I even got to the race course late (thanks to MTA's weekend service and my need to pee) and decided to skip walking the 5K altogether and do the 3K walk later that day.

But turns out the 5K race just started when I got there and the lady at the booth said I could walk the entire thing.

Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, maybe I'm just impatient, but when I got to that race course the thought of walking while everyone else was running became ridiculous. 3 miles is a long freaking walk.

So I started running. I think I ran for 10 minutes before I started feeling some pain so I decided to walk the rest. I walked to the finish line where the clock read 30 minutes and something seconds.

I'm still not sure how that's possible, but hey, that's a pretty damn good time for someone who hasn't run since January.

I am icing leg as I'm typing this and hoping everything's OK tomorrow. If it is, then I'll be signing up for another 5K in July or August and maybe actually show up on time.

Oh, and if you have the funds, please donate to the YAI Network who hosted this race. They're a non-profit who hold several programs for people with disabilities and their families. Picking this race wasn't a random decision for me -- it's for an organization that truly deserves support for all the great things they do.