Don't think about it, Be about it/ Brick hair

I almost thought my way out of it...but I didn't.

I woke up refreshed and alert at exactly 4:10am. When I looked at the clock, the first thing I thought was wow this is early enough for a swim before spin. I went through the required motions in my head : go to closet find bathing suit, put bathing suit on, pack bag, be sure to grab good goggles, grab cycling shoes, don't forget extra underwear, grab hair stuff , get big bag to accommodate hair stuff .

After thinking it through , I decided to go for it. But before getting out of the bed, I had to think through it again... and exactly what would I do. Would I do swimming drills or endurance- just swim laps? Would I run after spin -to make it a true brick? Well after 10 minutes of thinking, I decided that if I didn't get up I would think myself out of working out. This is exactly why autopilot works for me. If not, I over think everything. Just get my butt out of bed and go put on my bathing suit, grab my stuff and leave....as quickly as possible. Don't think about it... be about it.

The hair .....
so my 1 week old relaxer is still quite lovely. I'm missing the ease of braids, but I am glad that hubby is happy. Funny - I never knew he didn't like the braids while I had them :)
So I put conditioner on my dry hair and then put on my swimming cap. This is said to protect the hair from the chlorine.

The swim...
Good not great. I am learning that for almost everything, I need a warm up of roughly 10 minutes before I get my stride. I swam for 40 minutes but the first 10 were tough. I had trouble getting my rhythm. I felt really winded after a few laps. Then it kicked in and I felt like I could swim all day (slowly of course). I still have a ways to go before I feel completely ready for Danskin.

The hair...
So I ran upstairs to get ready for 6am spin...took off the swim cap, towel dried and put on a baseball cap and a scrunchie.

Spin...
I worked really hard today. I pushed my resistance as high as I could maintain. Josh poured it on today and the music really kept me going . He played a little mix of Rihanna, Beyonce, Sean Paul, Bon Jovi...definitely better than 60 minutes of trance. My quads were burning and I was certainly reaching my upper limits of heart rate zones. My target heart rate is much higher than what the charts say (165 vs 140) and today I was pretty close to 188 on some of the climbs. But it felt good and I feel like I am getting stronger. One great tip I learned -- is to add hovering to my standing work. Hovering is when I am in an aero positioning and my bottom is hovering over the seat without touching it. This is an excellent way to fire up the quads, glutes and hamstrings without using the momentum that can come from standing.

The elliptical....
I decided to do the elliptical -- because all of the good treadmills were taken and I didn't feel like walking downstairs. I did 15 minutes of high intensity (165-180 rpm, level 6) running on the elliptical. For the last 2 minutes I cranked it up to 200 at level 2.

The hair
I washed and conditioned, and slicked it back into a ponytail. It worked and I think the pre swim conditiner helped minimize damage/dryness . Products used: Giovanni direct leave in conditioner . Thanks Michele --it works like a charm!

So all in all , my first brick went well. Nutrition and energy were a bit tough though. I didn't eat much during the day (1 protein shake and 1 protein bar) and had a slight binge when I got home-- but on all good stuff..egg whites and grilled chicken, and toast. I also had a wonderful 100 calorie desert (1/2 cup of whipped cream sprinkled with shaved almonds). The only downside to the day was that I ran out of energy pretty early. In fact needed to take long, long nap after work .

Fresh hair

$100 bucks for a fresh relaxer on Saturday. Will I swim on Monday , oh no. How about Tuesday ..hmm I don't think so. Maybe Wed... Yeah maybe Wednesday:)

one time rant , I'm in ... now what about my hair

I don't like limits of any kind and sickness - makes me feel limited. Lucky for me, I don't get sick very often. If I do get sick, I suck it up - try not to complain and move on. Usually I'll take available medicine to get rid of symptoms and move on. I'm not a fan of resting. Of course this is not healthy , but it is also a statement of how prideful I can be. I need to be more vulnerable/humble in this area. Well now I have no choice.

ONE TIME RANT
So I went to the doctor a few weeks back to make sure everything was ok. I found out that I had low white blood count ..and it has been steadily declining. My doc wanted to do more tests and confirmed that I have Lupus and Sjogrens syndrome. I don't want to go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that I know now why I am tired. Because of this I will need to rest. Also - my knee pain is probably due to the Lupus. This could be why it still hurts. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I COULD HAVE HAD SURGERY FOR NOTHING....:0 . Also my doc said that I should consider working out less , since strenuous workouts can negatively impact your immune system. AAAARRRGGHH
ok - it is out. Time to move on.

I'm in....
So I made it in to register for the Danskin triathlon. Registration closed in exactly 12 hours. I was convincing someone to sign up at noon on opening day and she couldn't get in becase it was closed. Wow! 5000 slots filled in less than 1 day. So now I need to beef up my training. I'm really struggling to get in everything by working out at home. Also I'm going to spend some time coming up with a serious training plan. I also need to start swimming in March but of course the problem becomes....what to do with my hair. I've had braids the last two years during triathlon training season and that worked great. This year...hubby says he likes my hair the way it is. Of course he does. After all I get it done every two weeks like clockwork. I got it done yesterday and didn't workout today - because I didn't want to mess it up. Shallow and slackeresque...I know.

I need to start swimming very soon and I need a reliable hair solution. I'll try next week to swim and then see if I can make it home to blow dry , flat iron and then get the kids to school on time. Sounds tough- but I'll give it my best.

No Excuses -- hair and all

Yesterday – I saw Melisha.  Now Melisha is not just any hairstylist, she is the most in demand hairstylist on the Eastside of Seattle. She is usually booked for weeks – even months and it took me 1 month of waiting before I was able to see her.  How was she?  Very good. When I left – my hair looked shiny and sleek and it was bouncing and behaving.  My daughter even commented when I got home that my hair looked beautiful.  And beautiful it was. 

 

So the 30 day challenge that I made yesterday morning was weighing on my mind as I sat in the chair getting the final flat iron smoothing.  As I sashayed out of the salon ( 60 dollars lighter), with the wind blowing through my tresses, I thought… I can’t possibly take spin tomorrow and sweat this out.

 

No Excuses – hair and all.

Well – this morning I got up and headed for the gym. Already accepting that I would have less than 24 hours of perfect hair and that I all but wasted my time and money at the salon.  

 

Today’s class was intense and wonderfully hard. Of the 60 minute class, we spent  45 minutes of straight hill climbing with no recoveries. And my clothes and hair had all the sweat to prove it.  When I was done I did a quick arm and ab workout and then dashed home to take the kids to school.  When I left the gym – my hair was a wreck.

 

The amazing thing is that when I got home , my hair was dry and actually looked quite good. By the time I got dressed – it still  looked pretty good.   All in all – I did nothing at all and it looked quite pretty good.  So yesterday wasn’t a total waste – in fact my hair is still bouncing and behaving.  And best of all – I am on track with my 30 day challenge…   

 

Although I think it might be too easy and  I need to add “lose 6 lbs” to my challenge.

 

J

LL Cool J and pincurls

Back to normal today . I am still on East coast time so I was up at 4:15 and out the door by 4:45. I started my workout with 40 minutes of weights -a pretty tough circuit with little to no rest between sets. I’ve learned a ton about the most efficient way to work out from a few sources and I’ve tried to implement the tips that work best. With regards to weights and cardio – starting my workouts with weights is more efficient than starting with cardio. It takes your body 15-20 minutes to begin to burn fat from cardio . Rather than wait- I do weights first at a pace that gets my heart rate up – that way I get double the impact.

So here is what I’m doing these days: 12 reps of dead lifts (50lbs), 16 reps each leg of leg raises on a bench (44lbs), 20 calf raises, 16 squats with abductors (50lbs on shoulders), 20 calf raises, 12 hammer curls 15lbs per arm, 15 shoulder raises (30lbs). I do this circuit 3 times without resting more than 15 seconds. I got this workout from my man LL Cool J. Yes we go way back and from time to time he passes on good tips . Ok so not really … but I did get his workout book for valentine’s day from my hubbyJ. In addition to the great pictures , there is some pretty good advice in the book . I learned about super sets , the power and need for heavier weights and working past fatigue with lighter weights. I really want a more sculpted look so I’m going to be adding more weights over the next few weeks.

So by the time I finished the 3^rd set , my heart rate was quite elevated. Then it was time for spin class. My legs are still fatigued from this morning’s class. I got the sense that my instructor was on a mission to take people out today… and she was enjoying it. The class was incredibly hard today (high cadence hills) and people were dropping like flies. I thought I saw her smirk a bit , as one by one people packed it in. Not me… though. I was like bring it on! It felt so good and made me realize that I love spinning perhaps a little more than I love outdoor riding. I can be totally focused on me- my breathing, my pace, the power in my legs, my position etc. While I love riding outside – I am usually thinking about the rain, the cars, the bumps in the road, etc. Today was totally inward focused and I loved it.

After spin – I did 30 minutes on the elliptical – super fast 176 at level 6. Then I did abs, stretched and went home to take a special little boy to kindergarten. 2 hours 15 minutes in total workout..

How’s the hair? I tried pin curls during the workout at the suggestion of my friend. It worked really well overnight but couldn’t stand up to my workout. After working out I looked like a shaggy mop head. I ended up having to use my flat iron to get a few curls. I’ll keep trying.

What about my hair

When reading the article - why some black women skip the gym http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4613831.html -- and in talking to my friend Lois, we could both relate to the hair issues. For sistas, messing up the do is a big deal and a big waste of money. What's a girl to do?

You can either
a) tough it out by wearing a scarf while you work out (looks funny but holds the hair in place). Pro here is that it works if you wear your hair wrapped - it'll be pretty flat afterwards. Con is that it gets pretty dry from sweating. conditioner can help
b) Tough it out - by daily washing, blowdrying or flat ironing. Wreak havoc on your hair if you don't condition well.
C) Get a weave . I've heard this works well
d) Get braids (which is what I did and I'm very happy). See picture

Whatever the decision - it has to be thoughtful so that you set yourself up for success. Also you have to want a healthy body a little more than you want perfect hair. Unless of course you get braids. This is my 2nd time doing it and I really like it this time. I opted for invisible braids ( 1 person 4 hours) instead of individual box braids (2 people 10 hours). It looks good after- even after swimming.