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Sweaty Betty

I may have been a little overzealous with my commitment to exercising today... only time (aka tomorrow) will tell.

I went with a friend to Bikram Yoga today (hot yoga) for the first time. I've always really enjoyed yoga and pilates, and been interested in hot yoga so when the opportunity arose, who was I to say no?  It reminded me a lot of when I first started cycling- an element of being uncomfortable when you're first getting started. Hot yoga means sweating... lots of sweat. And for someone who doesn't really enjoy sweating buckets and buckets, it was an interesting experience. But I was able to get 20 consecutive days of classes for $20, so I hope to make it 3-4 more times to get my money's worth and also decide if I really like it or not. And now I know more of what to expect going forward.

Then after some smoothies and girl chat, I came home, traded out yoga pants for running pants and hit the ground running, literally. I was supposed to run yesterday and today but I was too sore from my run on Thursday, so I did the longer of the 2 distances today- 4 miles. I ran outside, along the greenway near my place, since it was cool out today.  Today I learned that Crabtree Creek is really smelly with stagnant water right now, and that I am a horrible gauge at distance.  My time is no where near note worthy, nor did I run the whole thing by any means.  And I started being really hard on myself about that today, but then had this realization:

I preach to my students and friends that they need to be kind with and to themselves, but this isn't something I've been practicing.  Yes, I made a commitment to completing another half marathon. And I'm diving into this training after almost 2 months of no intensive cardio (I was getting in 3-4 miles of walking a day, which is more than I get during the traditional school year). I've never been much of a runner. So why am I being hard on myself when I need to walk? And when I'm impatient with my body when my legs feel like concrete? I need to be proud with what I am accomplishing and be kind to myself when I struggle.

So that's my goal for this week- is to be and speak kindly to myself this week as I continue to learn and grow and challenge myself in new ways.


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