I can’t stop sneezing. Seriously…I have just sneezed literally about 20 times in a row. It was so insane and violent that my mom had to come find me and ask me if I was okay. I don’t know what happened…all of a sudden, after I worked out in my parents’ basement, I started sneezing as I was wrapping up my stretches. And I couldn’t stop.
I just sneezed again for good measure.
I think it’s over. I hope it’s over. That many sneezes in a row is really painful!
Uh oh…maybe I’m allergic to exercise!
I have been really active over the last few days. I got a cycling trainer for Christmas, so after I wrestled with the really terrible instructions and got it set up, I biked for an hour. Now my bottom is paying for it. I am really sore!
Today I met up with G and we went biking. We were going to go ride on a trail, but it was closed due to the ice storm that hit a few weeks ago…trees were down, etc. So instead, he gave me a little lesson on beginning skills I will need to begin mountain biking. I learned how to lift my front tire off the ground. I practiced hopping over speed bumps and jumping curbs. I didn’t realize how much it worked my forearms until I got off my bike…now my arms are sore too!
After I got home, I relaxed a bit and got my bike set up on the trainer again. I was going to ride for about 10 minutes to warm up for a run, but I tried and immediately had to get off — my bottom is really really sore. I am going to have to give the bike a rest for a few days. So I got on the treadmill and went two miles. I know it’s not far, but that’s my plan…start out small and work my way up to the Country Music Half Marathon in April. I’ve done that race before, and it was a blast. So today, it was only two miles. I’ll run again tomorrow and Thursday, and then Saturday I’ll probably go five miles. Wish me luck — I’m gonna need it. 
I have kinda decided that instead of envying people who have the luxury of a personal trainer to hold them accountable, why can’t I be my own personal trainer? I know what I need to do to get in top form…I just need to be accountable to myself. I think it will be hard, but I’m going to give it a shot. Tonight I pictured myself introducing, well, myself to…er…me. “Meet your new personal trainer.” Imagine one of those really bad split screen scenes from an 80s movie or something equally cheesy. That’s what I’m talking about.
Tomorrow I’m meeting up with several old friends for a Christmas reunion lunch. I haven’t seen my very good friend Girl J in a year! That’s way too long. We met in college and were roomies with M and Boy J in a fantastic apartment for a year. Anyway, it will be great to see everyone.
BTW, I’m going to try the DL method of referring to my friends and associates and just use their first initials. I’m not exactly sure why, but this way perhaps I can prevent any crazy stalker myths from coming true because of my blog. Maybe I will take the time to come up with secret codenames for my friends that only I know. That might actually be a fun exercise…hee hee. I know lots of y’all bloggers are already doing these things, but as forward-thinking as I am when it comes to stuff like gadgets and earning frequent flyer miles, I can be a little slow when it comes to stuff like this. 
Okay…I’m going to eliminate the pile of eight Kleenexes I’ve managed to destroy while drafting this post and go take a Claritin-D! Something has made my allergies go insane…it’s awful!!
I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and work as a 
Hey, at least that you got a good abdominal workout from all that sneezing *LOL*. Seriously sounds like mold allergies (esp. if you were in the basement of your parent’s home).
I really admire the fact that you are starting with the training for the Country Music 1/2 marathon already, considering it is in April (long, long ways away). Hopefully, your knee won’t cause too much trouble this go ’round. Believe me, I sympathize, I have chronic patellar tendonitis, which FLARES with all my running. I am running the Kaiser Permanent 1/2 in San Fran in Feb…I have only recently started with my 3-4 mile T-H runs and 5-6 Sunday runs….At least you will get to focus on speed work before your 1/2.
Oh…and the DL method is the way to go. Unfortunately, i still have friends that refer to me by my full first name in their blogs *LOL*…kind of defeats the purpose.
Yeah, it’s either mold allergies or I’m actually sick. Or maybe it’s both. My allergies always flare up when it rains, so that would point towards mold. But I felt pretty crappy today and took a fat nap and currently have a headache. I’m not sure what that means.
Good luck training for your race! I’m sure you’ll be fine. And speed work for me consists of seeing how fast I can skip to the next track on my iPod — seriously, I’m happy just to finish a long-distance race. I won’t be breaking any records for time.