Climb for the Cure

Yesterday, I participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Climb for the Cure. I had never done anything like that, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but we were climbing up and down the south end zone of the OU football stadium. I'm guessing there's about 150 steps to it. They had three options: twice, five times or eight times. I thought we'd just be able to decide as we go, so I decided I'd do five for sure and then shoot for eight. I had no idea how hard it would be! Well, we had to decide before we started because we lined up according to the distance! Eek! Three-quarters of the way up the first time, I couldn't believe I had committed myself to eight (of course!)...it was so hard! My legs were burning, my lungs were burning...it was much harder than I expected. Well...I did all eight! My legs were shaking after and I couldn't really breathe (my throat was constricted), but I did it in 17 minutes.

I got to see Nick for about two hours after (he's studying for finals!), and my legs were shaking as I was trying to drive to his place. The weird thing is, I had to take two flights of stairs to get back to my car, and my legs didn't feel too fatigued, but I couldn't straighten my leg in the car, whether on the clutch or the gas pedal, without uncontrollable shaking! It made the drive...weird.

And today, my calves are so tight I can barely walk! I was supposed to run 3 miles today, but it quickly became apparent I probably wouldn't. Anytime I sit for any extended period of time, I hobble when I try to walk again. I rearranged my weekly schedule so today was a rest day and decided to walk two miles instead. I hoped walking would help loosen my calves a bit. It did while I walked, but it doesn't seem to have had any long term effect on them...Cross your fingers I can run tomorrow!

On a side note, today was supposed to be my first day of the eat smart, exercise intensely, lose weight thing. As sad as it is, I didn't remember until I was leaving work after 5 p.m.! Horrible right? The good news is, I didn't eat horribly! I had two pieces of chocolate at lunch instead of one and then Randy brought a bag of this new type of chip to our afternoon meeting. Seven of us split it, but I'm sure I had more than the nine-chip portion...and I went back for seconds! I'm telling you, I didn't even think about how I was supposed to be eating right...even after a co-worker wrote down the calorie content because she's watching her calories! Guess bad habits die hard...fortunately, I'm starting off pretty well. :)