X-TRAINING AND THE BIG DAM BRIDGE

Hi all! Just thought I'd give a little update...

The training process involves running (or running/walking for me) 3 times a week. On Sundays and Wednesdays, I am supposed to do cross-training. This can vary, sometimes I will go to the gym in my office building, and do the elliptical and bike. But the last thing I want to do is go back to work (yeah, I know I'm not working, but I'm going to the BUILDING).

Another possibly little known fact about me. I will buy exercise videos and very rarely if ever use them. So what are the chances, one might wonder, of me actually buying an exercise BOOK and using it? Well, here's your answer. About a year ago, I bought the book Smart Girls Do Dumbells, which I found by doing one of my favorite hobbies... searching different topics on Amazon.com. (yes, I know, I'm a nerd! ;) ).

So I decided to give this book a try. I have to say, in the short time I've used it, I think it's pretty good, but will have to give a complete recommendation in a month or so. It has easy-to-do exercises that focus on an area of the body... different arm and leg exercises, precisely. Then you do one ab exercise and one stretch. It has different combitions of daily exercises, for 30 days. I had decided that since they weren't that hard, I would just do them everday (which is what the book recommends). Couldn't hurt, right?

Well, I was about into the 5th day, and it was a leg day. One of the exercises was a calf raise, specifically an upper calf exercise. I will say that it hurt A LOT to do, but I just thought to myself, 'this has GOT to help with my running.' Was I SO wrong!

I could barely walk for about 3 days. I had to skip out on my Thursday run last week, because on my Tuesday run.... let's just say that I made it to the Washington Monument from my house (2 miles), but had to pretty much walk most of the way home. I couldn't BELIEVE how bad it hurt! I would stop and stretch, which didn't help at all. They would just cramp up... It was miserable. Plus the fact that I had to walk 1/2 a mile to work afterwards...

So the moral of this one is... if you are training to run a marathon, DO NOT, I repeat, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT do any excerise where you will be so sore that it will hurt you to walk. Because if you can't walk, your REALLY can't run!

Not to worry, I got right back on track, did my 5 miles on Saturday. The coaches call this a 'break,' because we did 7 miles the Saturday before, and will do 8 miles next Saturday. Had to do it on my own, because I am home in Arkansas for a week! Woo hoo! Sore, sore legs, but if feels good...

Oh yeah, and by the way, people in DC complain about the humidity SO MUCH, that they caused me to have a slight amnesia when it came to it being worse in Arkansas. I really had myself convinced that the humidity in DC might be worse than down here. COMPLETELY WRONG! I was drenched with sweat before my first mile, and never get near that bad running in DC. So there, I've been cured of that little case of amnesia. Gotta love the heat in humidity in the South.

I ran a path that goes by Murray Park (it's right down the road from my sisters house), and goes up to the Big Dam Bridge. It's the first time I've seen it close up. (I saw it at night with my sister and parents, how they have lights on it that change colors, might have been just for Christmas, I'm not sure). How pretty! For those of you who don't know, the Big Dam Bridge goes across the Arkansas River, and is so named because it is directly over Murray Lock and Dam. I remember going to field trips to the dam in elementary school, so it's cool to go back there now.

Anyway, the Big Dam Bridge is the nation's longest pedestrian bridge (built for that purpose), spanning about 1 mile across. It links 25 miles of biking and hiking trails in Little Rock and North Little Rock (for those of you who may not know, the Arkansas River separates the two). Definitely a must see for you non-Arkansans who find yourself in the area... check it out here: http://www.bigdambridge.com/.

So, here is my little mini-update. This would be my third set-back, the first one was when my inhaler ran out, and I missed a week of training (because my doctor's office took FOREVER to refill it). The second one was a very sore knee that I could barely walk on. I missed one day running (a Thursday) with that. It's amazing what stretching and a little ice can do! I ran 7 miles the next Saturday, and my knee felt BETTER afterwards!

The good thing about these set-backs is that they have been very minor, very easily overcome. It just makes what I'm running for even more poignant. Because they in no way compare to what cancer patients have to deal with. Believe me when I say that I use that for inspiration, because I really do.

Have a blessed day!
Mandi

P.S. I will be adding pictures of the Big Dam Bridge later on, after I take them! (or you can go to the website http://www.bigdambridge.com/, and go to the Gallery section).