When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had a decision to make. I was signed up for the Diva Dash 5K, but I hadn't counted on it being 32°F out on March 23rd. Also, there was a blizzard in the forecast.
On the other hand, I had already paid and I knew there would be a nice tech t-shirt involved. I had plenty of time to get suited up for the cold and go, so I dragged myself out of bed, bundled up, and headed out the door.
I had plenty of layers on, especially once I put my new shirt over my jacket. It make me look very...fluffy. I snagged a free coffee from one of the vendor displays—largely for the warmth—and lined up to get on with my first run of 2013.
As always, my plan was to run as much as possible and walk when I needed to catch my breath. My running isn't much faster than my walking, so it doesn't make a lot of difference either way.
The good news is that the chronic foot problems that I was suffering from all last year seem to be gone. The bad news is that my asthma is as bad or worse than ever. By the end, my bronchial tubes were cursing me and I really should have brought an inhaler, but I didn't.
I walked most of the last mile because I was well and truly exhausted. At the end, I somehow mustered the energy to run the last little stretch toward and over the finish line, but I was actually a little afraid I might pass out.
When I finally looked up my race time it was 42:31.1, which I thought was very satisfactory under the circumstances.
Amped up by the relative success of my run/walk, I decided to do the boot camp class at my office last night.
Yeah.
Here's the thing: I have about two months or less to get in shape to be on stage moving around and singing with my band for four-hour stretches. I need to get in better shape and not just because it would be nice to lose a little weight before I start performing.
So boot camp was super hard and I had to stop and rest way more than my younger and fitter co-workers (except when it came to wall sits—turns out I have strong quads, or as I like to think of them, powerful thews). I aggravated the elbow that I injured weeks ago shoveling snow. I had to modify the jumping jacks because they were hurting my ankles and even then I couldn't do full minutes of the wimpy kind.
However, I didn't give up. I made it through all 45 minutes of the class, playing the theme from "Rocky" in my head when I needed encouragement. I thought it was possible that I might die and I had to go back to my desk and work for a while afterward because I wasn't sure I could drive at first, but I made it through.
Later that night I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. and slept for ten hours.
My company offers boot camp twice a day all week long and I am definitely planning on going back. I'm also ready to start yoga class again at my favorite studio and I'm looking forward to resuming my daily walks with the dog as soon as the snow melts off the sidewalks.
I always feel so much better when I'm in better physical shape, but it's hard for me to maintain an exercise schedule, especially related to outdoor activities. All I can do is start over and see how it goes.
As you know, I have been an overexerciser in the past, and I'm confronting aging in a rather difficult way. Suddenly, plyometrics made me throw out my back. Shoveling is giving me tennis elbow. My standing desk makes my lower back ache, even though it relieves my upper back pain. I have to modify certain yoga poses because they hurt in a way that feels dangerous. It totally sucks. But I'm with you -- I keep reframing and telling myself doing anything is better than doing nothing, and I want to be mobile and active well into my senior years, so suck it up, right? You can do it!! But do take your inhaler. No need to end up in the ER!
Posted by: Rita Arens | March 27, 2013 at 10:30 AM