Health & Fitness Matching Contest - 1 Results - Fall 2017 • Millikin University

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

Benjamin Maynard

deep breath
in through the nose
out through the mouth

Lane Casper

bright and early morning
warm coffee
yoga       calming

Mackenzie Martin

favorite part
about yoga
namaste

Kalli Farmer

arrow down

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

arrow down

favorite part
about yoga
namaste

 

arrow down

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

top quarter champion

 

TOP half Chamption

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

 

bottom quarter champion

the spinach
the pizza and I:
staring competition

arrow up

hiking through
the woodland park—
kicking dusty pebbles

arrow up

the spinach
the pizza and I:
staring competition

arrow up

hiking through
the woodland park—
kicking dusty pebbles

Georgia Martindale

walking carefully
spring breeze
post-run

Mackenzie Martin

ran a mile
I deserve
ice cream

Kalli Farmer

the spinach
the pizza and I:
staring competition

Mia Klek

 

TOP half champion

arrow down

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

 

 

CHAMPION
 

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

 

 

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

arrow up

BOTTOM half champion

anxiety flutters in my chest
gym full
of athletic men

Lane Casper

trying to stay focused
gym babe struts by
concentration lost

Austin Taylor

shaky legs push
through the final rep
drowning in my sweat

Austin Taylor

counting with each breath
beads of sweat
drip down my back

Masha Kostic

arrow down

anxiety flutters in my chest
gym full
of athletic men

arrow down

shaky legs push
through the final rep
drowning in my sweat

 

arrow down

shaky legs push
through the final rep
drowning in my sweat

top quarter champion

 

BOTTOM half champion

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

 

bottom quarter champion

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

arrow up

sweat dripping
body trembling
one more rep

arrow up

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

arrow up

sweat dripping
body trembling
one more rep

Mia Klek

arms tired
push through
one more set

Lucas Chatterton

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

Alex Pratt

long practice
nap time
nope     conditioning day

Alex Herrera

© 2017, Randy Brooks • Millikin University. All rights returned to authors upon publication.

Reader Responses

breathe in
breathe out
can't touch my toes

Benjamin Maynard

deep breath
in through the nose
out through the mouth

Lane Casper

bright and early morning
warm coffee
yoga       calming

Mackenzie Martin

favorite part
about yoga
namaste

Kalli Farmer

 

 

These might have been the toughest pair for me to compare because they were so similar and I love the feeling that I get from both of them. The feeling is warm - like its going to be a great day. However, I did really like Kalli's, because the humor added something special. While my kukai was much more positive about yoga and the upcoming day, Kalli's narrator was just ready for yoga to be over. It was honest and refreshing. I think that because of the starkly different viewpoints that the narrators in the haiku had, it is clear to see why these two haiku were close in votes. Mackenzie

this was my favorite pair out of the haiku tournament that we had. I appreciate that they are both about yoga and they both have that sort of calming element, but in the end the coffee one is the one that wins it for me. I like that one more because of the fact that it says "warm coffee" and not "hot coffee." I don't like drinking coffee when its super hot and I like to wait for it to cool down a little bit so I can drink it faster so I like that this coffee in the haiku is the perfect temperature for me. Lucas

 

 

 

 

hiking through
the woodland park—
kicking dusty pebbles

Georgia Martindale

walking carefully
spring breeze
post-run

Mackenzie Martin

ran a mile
I deserve
ice cream

Kalli Farmer

the spinach
the pizza and I:
staring competition

Mia Klek

 

 

I liked that these two haiku were compared together because I think they take on similar meaning. In both, someone had just finished a workout and now the choice is to either eat something unhealthy, like pizza or icecream, which essentialy would defeat the purpose of the workout in the first place. Or to eat something healthy like spinach that would actually be beneficial after a workout. I think both haiku are humorous and show a struggle of working out that many people have. Kalli

I like this matched pair because I can relate so well to both and both are humorous. Whenever I workout, I think I tell myself I can eat whatever I want because I worked out. On the flip side of that, I also tell myself to eat healthy after a workout, but then a pizza or dessert is calling my name. I like the personification of the spinach and pizza both staring back at the person forcing them to make a decision. Both haiku were well written and very enjoyable. Austin

Both haiku are kind of silly and when they were both together in the matching contest it was kind of funny because they both feel like they were meant for entertainment. Both haiku seem to me to be about a struggle with the person's self by not being able to touch their toes, or trying to make a decision between a healthy meal and an unhealthy meal. I could relate to the second one because after a long practice and conditioning it is very tempting to take the easy route to order pizza and not cook. Alex H.

 

 

 

 

anxiety flutters in my chest
gym full
of athletic men

Lane Casper

trying to stay focused
gym babe struts by
concentration lost

Austin Taylor

shaky legs push
through the final rep
drowning in my sweat

Austin Taylor

counting with each breath
beads of sweat
drip down my back

Masha Kostic

This match was by far my favorite out of our matching haiku contest. First of all, they are so alike in the sense that they are set in a gym and both people are looking dreamily at the other good looking, fit people. Furthermore, they both contain a good sense of surprise with the last line. We aren't sure what the main purpose of the haiku is until we read that last line. Finally, I think it is so funny to compare the reactions that each person has. In the first, the person is anxiety filled and nervous about seeing so many good looking men. In the other, the person completely loses all concentration and can't help but be transfixed on the "gym babe". Overall, I think they are very well written. Trey

I found this pair to be extremely challenging when voting in the matches. I thought both haiku have their special line that really made it special. For the haiku on the left, I loved the exaggerated line “drowning in sweat”. Obviously, there is no such thing as drowning in your own sweat, but that exaggeration made it known how much that person was sweating, and to put it the way it is I thought was very smart and flowed very nicely. I also liked the imagery in it. I could easily see someone on a weight machine with their eyes scrunched and their teeth baring the final rep as are as it is. I could see their legs shaking and struggling to push the weights out. I could see the sweat dripping from his eyebrows into his eyes and he couldn't wipe them or else it would make him lose his focus. It was easy and it came naturally for me to see all of that stuff from the haiku on the left.

With the haiku on the right, I appreciated the line “beads of sweat”. Just imagining beads of sweat it such a different way of looking at sweat, but at the same time it makes total sense. I would never compare beads to the drops of sweat on my back, but the way it is used in this haiku, it definitely works, and it brings the whole haiku together. I also like how it states that the person is counting each breath. For me, that means they are finishing up whatever they are doing, almost like it's a final countdown until they are done, which makes these two very similar and easy to compare. But I think both haiku flowed very well and painted a clear image in my mind, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mia

This was my favorite matching pair because they were both very detailed and focused on the senses. I thought that they matched together very well, seeming like they were written for each other. Georgia

 

 

 

 

sweat dripping
body trembling
one more rep

Mia Klek

arms tired
push through
one more set

Lucas Chatterton

sweat
rolls down my face
I walk into the gym

Alex Pratt

long practice
nap time
nope     conditioning day

Alex Herrera

I think these two haiku make a perfect matched pair. It seems like they were written to be read side by side. I really like how the endings are “one more rep/set.” I can almost imagine two people at the gym, thinking the same exact thing in their head as they try to push through their work out. To them, it may seem like they are the only person struggling, but they don't know that the other people at the gym are thinking the same exact thing. Maya

I like this matched pair of haiku because of the feelings they both describe. I imagine being almost done with your workout, can't move your arms above your head, but you still have one more set to go. It takes every ounce of determination and self-motivation you have in your body to even raise your arms above your head for that last rep. You don't want to move, you want to be done, you think you can't even do one more rep, let alone one more set. You tell your buddy you can't do it. He says yes you can. After a long pause you dig deep, take one deep breath, lift the dumbbells, and absolutely crush that last set. Ben

I enjoyed this pair because they are both similar to each other but also different from each other. They both have the same message, motivating yourself to push through the pain to complete the workout. Although they have the same message, reading both gave me a very different feel. I know from experience the difference between how tired you are with one set left versus one rep left. I also enjoyed this pair because if you read the haiku talking about one more set before the haiku about one more rep, they follow in a line that almost makes one longer poem. Alex P.

I liked that these two used such similar language to invoke the emotions of the reader. Both haiku draw on past experiences of being so unbearably tired and unable to continue with the workout, and how someone might say to themselves, "Just one more," when they become this tired in the gym. The last lines in both haiku are almost identical expect for one word, and that struck me as interesting. It shows just how relatable this situation is, because two people in our class wrote almost the exact same haiku about this experience when working out. I thought this pair was the most interesting because of this. Lane