Yes, I said it, running. Running isn't so much running in my case, but more of a combination of walking, jogging, trying to breathe and also not black out at the same time sounds about standard. It's not glamorous, that much is true. The only person that actually looks magnificent doing it thus far is Amanda, my roommate, whom seems to glide on the surface, instead of galloping like a herd of horses, or me. But nevertheless, we'll use running in the context, but you get the picture.
How it all began at this point is more of a gray matter, than black and white. My (newly) 50 year old mother was smack talking about completing half marathons at her age and doggin' me on my "has-been" status in the land of athletics and so that, in addition to my new lifestyle, my awesome friends and our bucket list item of running in the Disney Princess Half Marathon, we hit the pavement.
Interesting "sport." Looks way cooler than it actually is. I still suck at breathing through my nose, as we discussed, and can't turn my mind off long enough to enjoy any other scenery than approx a foot in front of me. I mean sometimes I stare at my feet in fear of perhaps tripping- which I've manage to do down an entire flight of stairs and OVER a hurdle in my lifetime, so my horrors are warranted. But I cannot even begin to explain the feeling of crossing a (legit) finish line.
On a quite important side note- the feeling you get when you cross a finish line is irreplaceable. I swear to God I hope that wasn't beginners luck or just because I actually "finished," but it was cool. The picture than Brian was able to snap though, not yet (and hopefully ever) released to the social media world was beyond amusing to everyone but me. It looks like I was being chased by a Colombian drug cartel with several members chanting my name while holding knives and large automatic weapons. I also may look like I ran 31 miles versus the actual 3.1, semantics.
The Beat Goes On.
So it's April, still fairly crappy outside until the last few days it seems. The running has dwindle as well. The treadmill is AWFUL- especially the one "provided" by our apartment complex, which has randomly shut off on Amanda before in mid run. Hilarious. But we did do something last week that has once again sparked my curiosity, ignited my motivation and pushed on.
We went to a spinning class.
Spinning was instantly painful in ALL of the wrong areas. Not two minutes into peddling Amanda and I exchanged a "we're screwed" glance. Once you start you're not allowed to stop until the class is over. You walk in, get your heart monitor wet, and strap that puppy up under your breasts, and sports bars, as the flamboyant male instructor pointed out. The shades go down and the lights get shut off. The disco lights, strobes and house music start playing. It's pretty much like clubbing on a stationary bike. Think about it. The paper attached to your bike instructs where your heart rate should be for the remainder of the class, and the RPMs glare at you, egging you on as well. For 25yr old age group our instructor said to be in the 80-85% heart rate zone to burn fat, which granted my rookie status, my sexy physique, my screaming butt/crotch pain and my nerves, I was pretty sure I was more borderline heart attack range, than having to worry about not exerting enough.
After the pop-singing instructor and some of his favorite "jumps," which consists of intervals of standing up with intense resistance, then sitting down quickly and repeating, the hour actually went by fairly quickly. It was a weird sense of accomplishment when the bike read I had burned 982 calories in a mere 60 minutes. It didn't feel like I earned that one at all- especially after photo finish shot in the archives that probably didn't burn half of that. But alas, we did it, another notch in the excercise belt for 2011.
Onward and upward...
May 14th marks D-Day for the first 10K for us. Should be a riot, I think? I'm not sure if I got in over my head yet, but the goal of finishing still remains, competitive or not. My mom and aunt should be coming to town to walk/jog it as well, so as long as I finish before them I'll be content. (Kidding- kinda.) The 5/3 run is rumored to be a fun one, complete with a celebratory tent at the end of the route for everyone to enjoy each other, refreshments, snacks and a sense of accomplishment.
Here's to hopefully another GREAT finish line snapshot...
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