Did you know it's hot outside at 5:30 in the morning?
Today when I got home from Adventure Boot Camp, I pulled my ponytail holder out of my hair and splashed sweat all over the bathroom. Literally. My hair went from bone-dry to just-out-of-the-swimming-pool soaked in an hour.
Gross.
Sorry, I hope you weren't eating or anything. You better finish, because I'm going to continue.
It baffles me that women actually left ABC this morning with dry heads and dry clothes. How is that possible? I was essentially born with sweat beads on my nose; my mother has told me numerous times that I've had them since I was really little. I can't keep a head of styled hair for more than 2 minutes if it's hot outside.
Sweat + freshly straightened but naturally wavy hair = HOT MESS
After a few conversations with my friend, a fellow sweater, I've been trying to convince myself that heavy sweating just means my body is uber-efficient at cooling itself down. I don't think I believe it. I just continue to see it as a curse and a reason I can't just exercise at the drop of a hat.
Speaking of exercising ... I don't know if there's anyone I envy more than the gentlemen who workout on their lunch breaks. Oh the luxury! If I could count on being able to get a workout in, take a shower, primp, and return to work with a dry head of hair and a normal colored face (instead of beet read) ... I don't know what. I certainly think I'd exercise at lunch. What better way to avoid spending money eating out?
******
So that was a wild tangent! Let's return to fitness, shall we?
- I don't think it's possible to go back to sleep after ABC. I tried it yesterday on my Fourth of July holiday. I forced myself to stay in bed until after 9 a.m., but I'm not sure how much rest I got. This doesn't bode well for my two vacation days next week. More morning hours to enjoy the sunshine, I guess. One positive note about going to bed after the workout -- BOY was I relaxed! After stretching, working out, and stretching again, there wasn't a moment that I had to shift because I was uncomfortable. Three cheers for that!
- Yesterday was a plank-tastic mess at ABC! Plank this and plank that. Blech! I switched from modified planks on the stairs to the bench to the low wall ... ugh! We did some today, too. All of them sucked. Okay wait, not all of them. I actually attempted a few of the exercises from the ground and they didn't go so badly. One was a "spiderman push up." You do a push up and, while you're lowering yourself, you bring one of your knees out to your side to meet your elbow. One of the modifications ABC Linda offered was to do the full push up, then bring your leg out. So, I did modified push ups (from the knees and SO not all the way down), holding onto dumbbells instead of hands on the ground, then did the leg left after I finished each push up. Not bad, not bad. My hips and core are strong, so that helped.
- I saw improvement in my push ups today. I also paid a lot more attention to where my arms were and to holding my whole body tight to help ease the strain.
- I don't like partner exercises. We were supposed to do one today, and it required putting one foot on your partner's back and doing a squat while she held plank. I chose to do the squat on my own using the stairs. Putting my weight on someone like that is not my idea of being nice to others. How awful! I'm not sure what the benefit of that particular exercise is, but maybe one of my ABC readers will pipe in. So anyway, I don't like partner stuff at all, I guess. Whether it's partner push up/handshake things, the wacky squats described above, or running with a buddy, they all make me really uncomfortable. It's a matter of me slowing someone down ... again, something I've dealt with my whole life.
- I'm pretty sure that gym class is the most traumatic, life-altering experience a person can go through. I'm seeing more every day how it has affected me. Sad.
- My legs ... are NOT sore! Wheeeeee! In fact, they feel stronger. I take bigger strides now and can feel the muscles all over my legs (and my glutes) doing the work. I like it. =)
- We now have the option of running for up to a half hour every day before ABC starts. For every lap we do, we get entered into a drawing for $50 off our next ABC. I'm not so much into the raffle part because, unfortunately, $50 off is just not enough of a discount. This girl cannot afford ABC, which is why I'm glad I won a gift certificate. Anyway, the running -- it makes me happy. I'm eager to do it. So far I've just done one lap (approx. 2/10 mile) each morning. But, I'm running the whole thing ... no walking. AND, I'm going to add another lap on, maybe tomorrow. Eventually I'm going to see how many times I can run around without walking. I'm only afraid I'll wear myself out before ABC even starts. Hmmm ... Thoughts?
13.1 miles is a really long way. Will I make it?
The course is hilly. Will I die?
The cut-off pace is 16 minutes/mile. Will I be cut off?
Meh.
My friend, Liz, commented on the last post and suggested I take the course for a test drive before the big day. Yes, it's 10 months away, but I'm still anxious to try it. I'm afraid to go alone, though. Afraid to go alone and doesn't like running with other people ... what a pickle! Maybe if my volunteer co-runner just took it at my pace the whole time ... Hmmm again ...
So there. Anyone have comments on sweating, ABC, or the Half Pig, please pipe up.
Thanks for reading!
Your updates are like my pre-Week 1s or whatever for running. I've been reading them as my warmup to try out a half-marathon in October. I would be taking it slower with a 5k or something but a friend from out of town is flying out special to see me and run a half-marathon so I figured I'd better hold up my end of the bargain.
ReplyDeleteI am not a long distance runner at all. The longest I've ever really run at once is a mile or two in gym or track. Even for the 400, I only ran it once in track and that was as a part of the fat man's relay. I guess I was the anchor for that one.
A week or so ago I tried running at the track for the first time in probably 10 years. Along with the awful memories rushing back when I touched that cushy stuff, I was terrible. I couldn't run two laps at once. Mostly it was pacing but some of it was stamina. I went back today and ran two miles after some better pacing and stretching.
Here's to both of our hopefully successful attempts at a half-marathon in the near future.
Oh oh oh! Yay shout out. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm totally serious when I say you can totally do the half marathon! (And Zach (above) can too!) I get super excited when people pick up running! You've got plenty of time to train for it and should you come across any set-backs, plenty of time to recover from those as well. Definitely run or walk the course beforehand, at least the hilly parts, so you know what to expect (do that next year). At this point, you could even drive the course, just to check it out, although maybe not completely direct due to one-way streets ... I'm not sure how the course goes as it follows driving signs (if that makes any sense) and so you might have to piece it together while in a car. However, if you want to run/walk it, someone else could run/walk with you (if you let them) or they could always bike it with you. Or do it on a weekend afternoon when there's lots of other people out just for safety's sake (some of the course isn't really in the safest area ever). But driving it first will give you a sense of this.
To answer the questions in your blog post: no you will not die. Yes you will make. No you will not get picked up for being too slow. By May of next year, you'll have been training so much so that your time can improve, plus the sheer adrenaline rush of race day will help. And if you walk? So what! Throw some running in there as well and you'll cross the finish line just like everyone else ... except you'll get a medal and be able to say you did a half marathon. :)
* big smiles! *
Oh and I sweat like crazy too, so annoying. I complain about it a lot and in the summer, especially, my hair is constantly up because otherwise I, too, will eventually get the "I just went swimming" look. Sick! So I feel your pain on that one.