Taking the First Steps

I finally started training for the overnight! Here’s how things have been going:

On Monday I made my first efforts to actually WALK. It was a beautiful day: sunny, with gorgeous blue skies, not terribly cold, but a bit windy. Fox and I walked about 0.8 miles from his home and then came back the way we came, for a total of approximately 1.6 miles – a 10th of what I need to be able to do in 85 days.

I would have been able to go farther if it hadn’t been for time constraints and the difficulties I had when we were going uphill for the second half of our walk. The exertion caused me to breathe more heavily – that was fine, I would have been surprised if that hadn’t been the case. My nose was stuffed and I had no way to clear it, so I was forced to breathe through my mouth and cope with post-nasal drip. The resulting discomfort hampered my enjoyment of the walk; I learned that I should always carry tissues. A decongestant might not hurt, either.

On Tuesday I walked 2.8 miles in a loop near my house, despite being rather tired. I had to push myself, my muscles and joints hurt, and I got a blister on my heel. I was struck by how far a mile is when one has to walk it, especially if one is in pain. However, I think I found a relatively healthy balance between pushing myself to complete the walk and knowing my limits; I took breaks as necessary.

I took off from walking on Wednesday and Thursday. My plan on Wednesday was to give my blister time to heal. On Thursday I thought I would walk – but the weather was gross, so my only walking was the trek across campus.

Week 1 of training for the Out of the Darkness Overnight

On Friday I decided to do some strength training with my fitness ball. It comes with a workout guide including instructions and illustrations for:

• Ab Crunch – central abs
• Oblique Twist – central abs, obliques
• Jack Knife – central abs, obliques, lower abs, lower back
• Pelvic Raise – central abs, lower abs, glutes
• Outer Leg Lift – outer thighs
• Push-Up – central abs, chest, shoulders, triceps
• Opposite Arm / Opposite Leg Lift – central abs, lower back
• Hover – central abs, lower abs, lower back

I am a beginner, so (per the instructions) I did 12 reps of each of the exercises above that are in bold. I tried, but was unable to do, the Hover. Balancing on a giant ball is hard.

Most people “fall off the wagon.” Apparently I fall off the ball!

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