Archive | June, 2010

Run Aborted

19 Jun

So do you guys remember a post I did a while ago about fears of running outdoors?  Well, apparently, someone in running heaven has decided I’ve reached that point in my journey where I MUST  face all of my running fears NOW!

Two weeks ago, I had my first near miss with a car.   UGHHHHHH!  DC DRIVERS!

And, today, as I’m running on vacation in Connecticut…incident NUMBER TWO!

When I left the house, my aunt made a joke to the effect of “don’t call me to come pick you up”.  I giggled and headed out.  Within the first half mile, I realize I forgot to bring my pepper spray.  I immediately got nervous because even though this is a really nice neighborhood, I haven’t seen ONE person running since arriving yesterday.  I take for granted how many people run in DC.  Because even though I DON’T really run alone, I know that if I did, there would be tons of people out there to make me feel safe.  Apparently Connecticans haven’t seen the running light.  So I felt kind of uneasy but decided to continue.  However, I only put one of my earphones as a precaution.

First thing noted…damn it, there are a LOT of hills in CT, which might explain why no one runs there.  Second, my leg has retreated back to that weird pain on the top of my foot, which I haven’t felt since I got off that dreaded treadmill.  Not sure why it’s starting to act up again…ugh.

I knew it’d be a quick run.  Literally, just needed to get out there to justify the cherry pie I was going to be eating for dessert.  Is that snickering, I hear?  Plus, I am a punk and yeah, not getting lost in an area I don’t know well.  So was thinking 2-3 miles at most.

Anywhooooooo…as I was heading back, about .5 miles from the house , I saw the HORROR…

OK, this isn’t EXACTLY what I saw…not even close.  More like…

but…times TWO, and without an owner in sight.  I considered if I could just run in place until the owner came out to get their big s$$ dogs!  Then, I considered if there was another route to get back to the house…but I thought, it’d be much worst to get lost (in the approaching dark) than to risk getting mauled by a pair of boxers.  So I decided to just stop running and cry call my aunt to come pick me up.

It’s 2 hours later, and they are still joking about it.  And if that wasn’t bad enough…it was discovered that the boxers were enclosed in an invisible fence.  So had I kept going I would have been safe.  Instead, I stopped short and sweated out the only workout clothes that I packed, for a 1.5 mile run waste of time.

Womp…womp…womp!

An anonymous black girl who despises unattended dogs, especially when they ruin my runs


On the road to recovery…

17 Jun

I got up this morning, and fought my way out of bed and to the park to join my group run.  I hadn’t seen  my run dawgs in about 2 weeks and I was sure I was getting my butt kicked.  As a result, I spent 25 minutes hoping it would thunderstorm. It NEVER did!

I won’t go into a long sordid story about how I was partnered with a newbie runner that fed me her dust for 3 miles straight, or how my obliques and lower abs felt like Satan was taking a smoke break on them.  The short version is, it was difficult!!!  I did a little over 3 miles in 28:45 minutes, then at the command of my body, switched to intervals for 1.5 miles (alternating sprints 150 meters/walk 100 meters) for a total miles 4.55 in 47 minutes/average pace 10:23.

I can live with that!  I also went to Ballet tonight.  Jeez!!!  The preparation for this new job is KILLING my body.  However, it’ll all make sense when I step in to teach my first class.  Those students have NO idea what’s coming their way.

In other news, my favorite trainer, Miss Angel Stone AKA my girl crush, is having a great discussion on her blog, Fit and Hungry, about why African-American women don’t statistically exercise as much as their fairer skinned counter parts.  The discussion has stemmed from an interview she did on the founders of BlackGirlsRun.  It’s  a cool post.  So when you get a chance mosey on over there and chime in.  Then come back here and play with me, Ok?!

Toddle-Loo (I don’t think I’ve ever wrote that out, and am sure it’s not spelled right, but you get the point!  If not, it’s synonymous with Laters! )

An anonymous black girl who despises having abs that look much stronger than they really are ={

Ouchie!

14 Jun

Is it possible to break an abdominal muscle?  Wait!  Are you laughing?  Stop it!  This is serious bidness…

Last Wednesday I went to the gym with a friend.  We did about 30 mins of cardio (running on a treadmill, my favorite thing in the whole world…NOT!!!)  When I got to my thirty minutes, of running in place in pure  HEAT (WHY IS IT SO HOT IN GYMS) I was ready to jump off that damned torture device.  She decided to move to 30 more minutes on the elliptical, so I headed for weightlifting.  Started on the legs.  I did the usual machines, though all the machines in her gym are souped up versions, I guess to justify the $90 a month membership fee.  Then headed downstairs to work on arms and abs.  Actually, I don’t really do much in the way of abs at a gym, as I work on abs everyday.  But today decided to try the incline bench.  3 sets of 15 sit-ups on about a 45 degree incline.  Actually wasn’t that hard…so I moved on and started arms.

They had these machines, I think they were called “Rock-Its” or something like that.  They really didn’t feel to be working much but I thought it was super cool that as I worked, the machine moved.  So I kept doing it, trying to go faster and faster.  It was sooooo fun and reminded me of a ride at an amusement park.  When I realized that I was having way too much fun and was doing virtually no work, I moved to working on my pecs and triceps.  This, as usual, hurt.

Anyway, my friend finally came downstairs and asked me to help her with ab work.  I totally stole some exercises with the ball from my sessions with my trainer.  However, I hadn’t done some of that stuff in a while, so there’s a good possibility I didn’t do it right and even though I felt NOTHING while I was working with her, the next day my abs were SCREAMING!  Actually, first it started in my chest that night.  Any of you that have had kids know what it feels like when I say the soreness “felt like my milk was coming in”.  For those that don’t know, trust me, it hurt like HELL!

The, next day, I went to class and tried to do my ab workout and stopped dead in my tracks.  I couldn’t do ONE crunch.  My students were looking at me in sheer disbelief.  Very embarrassing when you are requesting your students to do 48 crunches and you can’t do one.  Now one might say, “sounds like to got a good workout.”  However, the fact that 4 days later, I still can’t sit up without rolling on my side…probably NOT so good!  It literally feels like I’ve had a c-section.  And even though, I don’t know what that feels like, I’m sure this is how it’d feel.  Needless to say, I’ve gotten very little exercise since.  Tried to convince myself to get up on Saturday and go running.  Then realized that I rely a lot on my core when I run and I just didn’t feel the need to experience that pain.  Tomorrow, I’m supposed to go to spinning…and am afraid, I might die.

Has anyone ever experienced this?  And, more importantly, what do I do to make it better?

I want my mommy, NOW!!!!

Near-death experience…twice!

7 Jun

So this is not a joke, I was almost taken out during my run on Friday and I am just getting my nerves up to speak about it! Well, actually, I got my nerve back ten minutes later BUT I have just been working ALL weekend.

I’ve almost been hit by a car about 3 times in my life, so you’d think I’d be used to it by now.  But not so much.  Long story short: End of my run that was going super well.  Actually finished 4 miles in 38 minutes, which in 75 degree weather is GREAT, at least for me.  The last part of the run, the dreaded hill, was trying.  So I put on my headphones just to take my mind off it.  I realize that people say you shouldn’t listen to music so much that you aren’t aware of your surroundings, and I wasn’t.  I am a big chicken and run pretty defensively.  I always look around, head up, volume down enough to hear bikers calling out, or cars honking, or dogs coming behind me searching for lunch.  And the crazy thing is I saw the dumb a$$hole. (more…)

My mind is telling me yes, but my body, my body, is telling me NO!!!

1 Jun

Against all odds, I got my cutie patutie up and went out for a morning run with a friend of mine.  I’m calling her Black Girl Swim from now on as she is embarking on a journey to complete a triathlon and has NEVER swam before.  Soooooo super proud of her and looking forward to her being in a pool without 30,000 flotation devices.  I am not exaggerating, I have pics, which I very well plan to use as blackmail one day =P  While I will never share her enthusiasm for a TRI, mainly because I don’t swim in waters I can’t see under, I will do what it is I do, and support my girl…FROM LAND! (more…)

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