drilled into me

Ok, so I'm going to have to admit just how much of a marching band nerd that I truly am. I'm not saying that being in a marching band makes you a nerd, to the contrary. The respect that was afforded to me on the campus of Ohio University when I was in the Marching 110 was amazing and I gained non-nerd status at the time. However as time has gone on, I've reverted in my ways and rejoined the ranks of being a nerd. How you ask?

As any person who marches knows, you always start with your left foot so that the downbeat is always made when that foot hits the ground. It was drilled into me so much that its hard to get that out of my head. Throughout my years of marching (high school and college makes 7 years plus the 3 that I was the assistant band director when I was in California makes it an even 10 years), one thing that has always amazed me is how people can get out of step and not know that they are. For me, its just too hard to walk out of beat and just as hard to not hit the downbeat with my left foot. And tonight was no exception.

I was at the gym tonight, on the elliptical trainer, groovin' to the beat. I've stacked my media player with tons of fast paced music that keeps my feet moving at a substantially higher rate than they would if I were not listening to music. But what I noticed tonight made me accept my marching band nerd-ness. I found that no matter what, I was always trying to keep in sync with the music, just like when I marched. Not only that, but I would alter my cadence to ensure that I was getting my left foot to come down on the downbeat! It just felt wrong to have my right foot coming down when I knew that it should be my left. It must be all those years of Pete Ulrich drilling it into my head that left foot = downbeat.

So thanks Pete, you've managed to make my workouts a head game as I attempt to synchronize my feet properly to the music. And I'm probably the laughing stock of the gym as I make that transition because I know I'm not graceful and look as awkward as a middle schooler trying to kiss a girl for the first time. But hey, at least I know I'm a nerd and can live with it, even be a little proud of it because I am a white guy who's got rhythm, in some elementary form...