Monday, Monday

Did I not say I was obsessed with YouTube?

Monday morning, 6:30 a.m. I am out the door to go running in a sleeveless top. Now that may not sound too outrageous, but trust me, I am a person who almost always wears a jacket. Even in high humidity St. Louis I was running in a jacket.

Despite my high intensity Sunday I felt okay. A little achy in the legs, so I took it slow. Monday mornings are always slow.

What really impressed me (I know I am nuts) is how sweaty I got. I guess in cooler weather I don't sweat as much, and of course my wicking layers absorb it away from my skin. Here, since there were no layers, my arms were slick with sweat even before I went into the house. (Also in cold weather, I tend to sweat after I stop running and go from the cold outdoors into a warmer place.) I realized later that maybe my sunscreen layer made my arms more slippery than they would otherwise have been.

Later on Monday, after work, I didn't want to go to Pilates. This wasn't just my typical resistance to ab torture, which I usually overcome. I was thinking more of how hot the Y was going to be after the warm weekend. I wasn't sure if I could survive the combination of heat and torture!

So instead I went back to my parents' house to walk on the beach. Obviously walking is no substitute for Pilates, but at least it could fill in for the cardio I like to do before or after Pilates class.

I knew the tide was going to be quite high in the late afternoon. Even though I got there when it was on the way out, not too much beach was available yet. Luckily I was wearing Tevas, so I could walk in water, and I don't mind climbing!

My walk down the beach almost ended prematurely when I was walking on a low log (only a couple inches off the ground, for heavens' sake) and unexpectedly slipped. I lost my balance, banged onto the log (ouch), then slid into the wet sand. Several profanities escaped my mouth as I fell! But I crawled to my feet, brushed some of the sand off of me (and luckily the side that got wet was not the side with my cell phone or ipod in the pockets), and evaluated myself for injury. Battered, I decided, but probably not bruised. And after a few minutes I felt fine, although still damp.

I only went as far as White Rock because going past it would require some serious log climbing. I'm not opposed to that, but I also saw ahead of me a rather shady looking guy who may have been camping out on the beach. I didn't want to pass him, so I turned back.

By the time I got back to the cabin the tide was out a bit further, leaving a good portion of walkable beach, so I turned around again and took another trip to White Rock and back. This one was a lot quicker, I thought, although there were still sections of sand that were very soft, slowing me down but undoubtedly working my legs in a good way.

I don't know if it was the morning run (coupled with the Sunday run), or the evening beach walk, but when my alarm went off Tuesday morning before 5 my legs ached so much that I decided not to go to the Y this morning. I felt if my legs didn't get even a bit more rest I might just run them into the ground! Maybe I just hadn't had enough sleep for them to recover, because by 7:00 they felt much better. So I walked to work, figuring that the trips to and from work, Starbucks, etc., could substitute for the cancelled workout at the Y.

I am going to the Y tonight, for the elliptical and yoga. Tomorrow morning I am thinking of running the Yankee Doodle Dash route to check it out. Actually it is almost identical to my usual running route. Well, it covers the same territory, anyway. If I actually go to the start line and run it from there, I'll make it longer than 6.2 miles, and I might not have time for that in the morning unless I leave extra early. So I'll have to play it by ear.