Ah, Day 31. The first session of my Bellydance II class. I am feeling it. It's funny, most people (primarily annoyingly athletic people) just laugh when I say that bellydancing is a great workout. Y'all, if you don't believe me, do this: Stand up straight, shoulders back. Pull in your abs as you tuck your pelvis under (aka, tuck your butt). Slightly bend your knees so that you are about four inches down (while standing up straight with your shoulders back, abs pulled in and pelvis tucked under). Now, stay like that for five minutes.
Are your thighs dying yet? If you're really not feeling it, put your arms straight out and hold it. Or better yet, put them over your head so that your palms meet. Five minutes.
Now walk while pulling up first your right hip and then your left hip. Faster! And you better still be standing up straight keeping those arms in position with your abs pulled in and your pelvis tucked under AND your knees slightly bent. I dare you.
I've been more out of breath and sweating harder from dancing for five minutes than most times when I run. I may be slow, but I'm packing 50 extra pounds with a lot of it up top so I do breathe heavy and sweat when I run. You should see the sweat stains on my hat. It's sort of gross in a kind of awesome way. Bellydancing works your legs (particularly your quads and your calves), your bum and your abs. You also need to have decent strength in your arms and shoulders.
I did realize that all my running has strengthened my core so much until I was doing torso exercises last night. I looked like a snake sliding side to side.
On to Day 32, a running day. Forty-five minutes this morning and I ran every damn minute. I also hit my first bonk. I'm so proud.
It was cold this morning (it's still only 55 degrees heading into the afternoon) but thankfully not raining. It had been overnight and it did again this morning so it was damp. I definitely need a headband for over my ears. As usual, I did a lot of mental work to start out when my mind and body were clamoring with "let's stop and walk now." I had forgotten that my iPod was glitchy on Monday; Chip, the voice in my Nike+ that lets me now how long or far I've been running and my pace wasn't working. I had to reboot the thing over the weekend and I'm guessing that was the cause of the problem. I decided to switch to the female voice, which I don't like, in an effort to reset it so it would talk to me. She told me I was beginning my workout when I hit the button, so I thought it was working. I would be wrong.
I used to do the Galloway method of walking for X minutes then running for X minutes. But I rapidly came to hate having to check my watch all the time. A minute feels like forever when you're watching the clock. I got the Nike+ which unfortunately doesn't chirp off the minutes (I'm not ready to buy a Garmin yet) but does tell me where I'm at (time or distance) at certain intervals plus my pace. (Unfortunately it does it in kilometers when I'm doing a K distance race, but that's another gripe for another time.) I've stopped wearing a watch when I run unless there's somewhere I have to be at a certain time. I've apparently come to rely on my Nike+ for mental cues.
Worst yet, it wasn't telling me the pace I was running at. Usually you push a button and the display pops up plus Chip tells you the info. So I had to push different buttons but so that in addition to the display coming up it would skip a song or go back or change the volume or what have you. Growl, snarl, etc.
My iPod did save me when I bonked, which came at 37 minutes and some odd seconds, and even before that when I was constantly checking my time. (I bonked because I didn't eat my usual granola bar before heading to the track.) I had reloaded my iPod over the weekend and as opposed to Monday it hit on a lot of the new stuff I added. When I bonked, just a few seconds later the lady came on to tell me I had four minutes left to go. I thought "Yay! She'll count down the four minutes and congratulate me when I'm done", like it supposed to. And then the theme to Josie and the Pussycats came on. It was fabulous. The lady said I had three minutes to go, and the theme song from Ally McBeal came on. I knew I would be able to run out the time. The lady said two minutes. I was enthuastically mouthing the words to the Ally McBeal song. I calculated I would finish at exactly my starting point. That was cool. I would do this.
And then the song ended. And the lady didn't say anything. And I was still running. Y'all, bitch didn't tell me when to stop! Bitch squared! It was 19 SECONDS after 45 minutes that I stopped. Evil iPod lady!!
I showed her. I rebooted that sucker when I got home and switched it back to Chip. Chip better come through for me tomorrow, I'm telling you.
The bonk was odd. I've never hit that wall before when my mind was going great but my body went, no, we'll be stopping now. I've stopped because my brain talked me into it, and I've stopped from serious pain (when I tied my shoes too tight). Not this. It was literally like hitting a wall. Tomorrow I will be having a granola bar pre-run.
By the way, have you noticed that Clif Shot Bloks have a "cut here" at the top of the packaging? I took a pack to work today, predicting (correctly) the headache I would have after I ran. What genius thought up this packaging? Who the hell carries scissors with them on a run?
A mystery to ponder on my next run, I guess. Get ready, Chip!
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
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