Adventures in Sweating

The Muddy Buddy is this Sunday! I am both extremely nervous and extremely excited. I have no doubt that it will be a tough race, but once I am in it I know that I will commit 100% and it won't be so bad. It is the unknown of it that is wigging me out. For those who don't know, it is a 6ish mile race where you ride a bike for half of it, and run half of it, with obstacles in between. It finishes in a giant mud pit.

To properly train, I've been amping up my workouts. Lots of arm strength exercises (pushups, weights, resistance tubes, boxing), I started running again (I hadn't really since the Bastille Day 5K), and the other day I rode Fuzzy's mountain bike for the first time (we are going to bike more tomorrow, so I can get more comfortable on it.)

Last week, I went with my friend Claire to her personal trainer. I had never been to a personal trainer before, so I was scared. Claire assured me that it wouldn't be hard, but instead it would be a lot of fun. I wasn't so sure, but I was ready for the challenge.

Uh, yeah. Sprints, planks, hurtles, sprints, burpees, pushups, sprints, lunges, planks, hops, pull ups, leg throwing leg exercises. It was HARD. But it was awesome. I can definitely see the benefit of having a trainer--I did WAY more than I ever thought that I could, and it really helped having someone say "ok, Erica, only 2 more!" and things like that. It was the hardest I've ever worked out. I feel like I rocked some things, and bit it on others, but I did the best I could, and I am proud of that. Sometimes I could barely catch my breath, but I never gave up. The ab work was my strongest segment, and we ended on that, so I left feeling like a badass. The rest of the night, I was jelly, however. And adorably, Fuzzy and I bought each other the exact same dinner that night (Delicious Gaztro Wagon. So dangerous...so close to our apartment.)

Friday I woke up not too sore and I was like "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!" I was all proud of myself and feeling good. I bragged to Claire that I was proud of myself for having it not kick my ass.

And then Saturday came along.

And I could barely move.

Oh, how waking up was difficult. Oh how walking was difficult. Oh how lifting my arms was difficult. Oh how I HAVE BOXING AT 11AM ON SATURDAYS.

Oy.

The following things were against me. 1) I couldn't move a single muscle in my body. 2) There were only 2 other people in class, so I had nowhere to hide. 3) The other 2 guys are both amateur boxers.

Fortunately, my teacher (not the sub) likes me and we have a great rapport. I told him about my training session and he told me to listen to my body and what I needed to do, but that he was going to try to push me and the 2 dudes as much as he could. He also decided that the first half of the class was going to be on the clock: 2 minutes shadow boxing, 1 minute off (3 times), 2 minutes heavy bags, 1 minute off (3 times), 2 minutes jump roping, 1 minute off (3 times.) No breaks. Oh my God. Then it was defense drills with the amateur boxers and they weren't hurting, so they were going all out, so therefore I had to, too, or I was going to again be punched in the face. Then we went back to back to back passing around a GIANT medicine ball using only our upper bodies. I did a really great job of sweating all over the ball and then dropping it. Real nice. The walk home took all my remaining energy away, so all I could do the rest of the day was sleep and drink beer. I mean, it was ALL I COULD DO. Well, I guess later, we went for a walk, I switched to vodka cranberries and Fuzzy made the most amazing fried chicken I have ever eaten in my life, so it wasn't all terrible.

Speaking of sweat, I am sweating more now than ever before. My hands are sweating, my legs are pouring, I am changing clothes a couple times a day and carrying towels with me daily. In boxing, I develop a nice puddle on the mat everywhere I go. I'm like the Pigpen of sweat. It's ok, though, I am used to it. Just a part of what makes me so special, right?

I've been on 2 runs this week, and they were a lot easier than I expected, so I feel like I am in good shape for Sunday. I will be doing the harder run part of the race, and Fuzzy is taking the harder bike part. Working out and eating healthy organic veggies is making me feel so much better mentally and physically, but I have to say--this week it was a really nice surprise to put on a skirt that was tight since I bought it and have it fit perfectly. Not to be a big giant cliche here, too, but I also tried on my skinny jeans that I had grown out of, and I am happy to say that those fit again, too. Since I am approaching my 2 week bikini vacation, that is a real nice feeling.

Real nice.