Bleacher Creatures and the Treadmill with Hills - Jane

Greetings, fans! :)

Sorry we were both out of pocket last week - as Mitzi said, we had camp coming out of our ears! I was banished from VBS (Vacation Bible School) because of my sudden eruption of fever blisters (which I still haven't determined if they were from stress, the amount of acid in my body because of all this exercise, or lack of sunscreen). So I managed to fill the days with lots of WORK (end of year review time), and sneaking in a last-minute dinner with David, Heather and Claire before their big move to Texas! But I digress.

Yesterday was a bleacher workout. We did EVERYTHING (including pushups) on the bleachers (except the Auburn something, which was basically sprinting around the track in between sets of running the bleachers). (Okay, I just had to remove my last comment - something about an ad for TrainStrong and bleachers!) And yes, it included more hopping. I realized during the workout that the step is probably only 14 inches, but by golly when you are trying to hop up the step and land on both feet, it feels like three feet! You wonder if you will slip, fall and ruin the thousands of dollars of dental work your parents paid for. I guess that is what motivates you to get your bum up the step!

Today was dubbed 'long run day', and we ran the famous (or infamous?) Cochise. For those of you unfamiliar with the Vinings area terrain, it is a LARGE HILL. Mind you, half the time I didn't see it because my head is down and all I can focus on is trying to breathe, and tell myself to ignore the signals my leg muscles are sending to my brain, and keep pushing my body out of the comfort zone. You know how after you run about a mile your oxygen/breathing equilibriates? So that NEVER happened. For just over 40 minutes. I would come down a hill, only to have the trainer tell me to go around them, and run back up. But I remember I'm paying them to do this, and I want my money's worth, so I do it. I haven't run that far (four miles? Maybe a little more?) since February. I'm sore all over, so it's hard to tell if my nagging injury is still there - see prior blog for 'orchestra' of pain.

Did I mention the odor that now pervades my car? Eau de locqeur reum - I got a good whiff of it this morning, as I had neglected to remove my workout clothes from the trunk. When I popped it open to grab my shoes - sort of the same reaction I had after eating those WOW potato chips (are those even still on the market?). I finally broke down and bought those sneaker balls to bring the stench of the shoes down a notch or two (and I think Sheila mentioned that she heard vinegar might do the trick?). I think I need to throw some in the trunk (sneaker balls, not vinegar).

And just like Mitzi, I want to do this again. Watch out. You can get hooked on this stuff!