Big Quads

I used to be small. Not teeny, but thin, with strong, wiry legs. Then I discovered rowing and winter training.

Last summer, I learned how to row--not beautifully, mind you, but the basic rudimentary mechanics have been acquired.

Last fall, I entered a regatta. I came in last.

This winter, I decided I needed to add speed to my rowing. So I joined an indoor rowing class, and starting to workout on a rowing machine. I joined a weight training class. I ran stadiums weekly.

Over the course of the winter, my 2k splits dropped over ten seconds. My VO2 max increased. I have muscle definition in places I didn't know there were muscles. And I have BIG QUADS.

My height hasn't changed. My sock size is the same. My cotton t-shirts pull across the shoulders, but I can still wear them. Jeans, however, are a different matter.

I don't generally wear tight jeans. But when I pulled on my favorite pair of soft, worn-down Levis, they came up over my knees...and stopped.

Seriously. I could not get the pant legs up over my quads.

I examined my legs carefully. There were certainly some bulges that I hadn't noticed before. Like that bump just above the knee toward the inside of my quad. And, most noticeably, the quad itself was HUGE! It poked out several inches from its old, runner-defined status.

How had I missed this? And what was I going to do about my jeans?

After trying the old 1980s high-school trick of putting the jeans on soaking wet in a full bathtub and then letting them dry--like shrink-wrap--on my legs (and they still didn't come up over my quads), I considered  my options. I could slit the seams, take them somewhere to get altered, or just throw them away.

I glance down at my big quads again and decide that jeans are not in my future. I will wear shorts from here on. Sweatpants. And an occasional skirt if work demands it.

Overall, though, there are worse things than Big Quads. Like life without rowing.

I fold up my jeans and pile them up. I head to my computer and type in "CRAIGSLIST":

"For Sale. Cheap. Comfortable jeans. Skinny legged inquiries only."

I sigh, resigned to the next phase of my life. I used to be small. Now I am small with Big Quads. I am a rower.