Exercising disasters.

I've had a few in my life and I've been meaning to document them for some time. And, so, here they are in chronological order.

This first occasion happened probably after my junior year of college. I believe it was spring and I was back from BYU. So, I'm running in my neighborhood and am feeling anxious to the point of complete desperation. I have to use the bathroom so badly. I probably hadn't been running consistently and my body wasn't liking it. I'm nowhere near my home and absolutely have to get on a toilet. The only home I can think of to stop is the Scalia's. So, it's Saturday morning and I knock on their door. Of note is the fact that I haven't seen or talked to Meg since Senior year of high school, and even that year or all of high school we didn't talk a ton. Though, of course I did grow up with her, and our parents somewhat keep tabs on each other. So, there I am knocking on the door, and who answers it? You guessed it. Justice Antonin Scalia in his bathrobe. He doesn't know who I am, of course, and I try and mumble out some sort of explanation. His wife appears behind him, recognizes me, and ushers me in. So, I rush to use the restroom. Luckily, I'm ushered to the restroom off the kitchen on the main floor, and not the restroom off the Justice's office, which we frequently used when I was over playing. It was an incredibly embarrassing experience needless to say, and of course the duration of my stay in the bathroom was not short. It was nice Meg happened to be home from Amherst, so I could catch up with her a bit, and not feel so much like a complete idiot.

Has anybody ever fallen off a treadmill? I have. It happened about 4 years ago. I was running at the gym and I think I wasn't feeling well and tired, but I was forcing myself to do it anyways. Is that common in marriage? So, when I fell/tripped, I was pushed back and rammed into the wall which is right behind the treadmill. The gym where I worked out, while anybody can work out in independently, is used mostly for sessions with personal trainers. All the trainers came a running, because when I hit the wall it was loud. I was very embarrassed needless to say; however, I don't think I realized that it's an uncommon thing. People don't just fall off of treadmills. I kind of thought they were overreacting. I totally got a burn on my thigh because of it though, and I think I even still have a scar. Of course, I got back on the treadmill after it happened. Can't get deterred from my workout!

I am a good rollarbladder and I love it; however, I've had some scary situations surrounding this activity. I really just need to be safe and actually wear some protective gear, but of course I don't. About 2 years ago, it was right after Christmas and I was home for winter break from Vegas. I went rollarblading in the neighborhood. They were new rollarblades and I was trying them out on my regular route, which includes the very steep hill in front of the Scalia's home. Since they were new rollarblades I was being extra cautious at the top of the hill. I remember thinking as I proceeded down that they felt just fine and not much different than my old pair. I let off the brake a little bit. Bad idea. I got going too fast, and totally fell hard, and skidded. It's not too often that a grown person will feel fear, but I remember as I fell I was scared because I knew it was going to be bad, and I had been training hard for a 1/2 marathon, which I was scheduled to run in less than a week in Phoenix. It was, but not as bad as I thought. I immediately pulled apart my already torn pants to reveal a very badly scraped knee. It hurt for a week or more, but I still was able to run the marathon. I even got myself home somehow immediately after.

I've had another near death (this more recent one, I really thought it approached death) experience with rollarblading. I went down a different hill in our neighborhood (the one leading to the Johnson's) and was holding my legs steady, was applying the brake, but was still going too fast; so I thought I'd start to transfer my weight between legs, so I was actually skating. Bad idea. I was able to hold in my core though, and I didn't die. I feared for my life though. There's nowhere to rollarblade here that is easily accessible. I miss Vegas. Vegas neighborhoods are all new and don't have hills. There are just gradual inclines, so you get your uphill workout in.

This last experience doesn't involve me, but I'm going to share it, and I don't think the person will mind too much. So, I hear about this from a family friend who I actually stay with when I am in Phoenix for my 1/2 marathon. She tells me how she ALWAYS has a really difficult time with needing to use the bathroom when she runs. I didn't understand the severity until she explains what happened the last time she ran a marathon. What's funny to me is that this doesn't make her not run. She continues to do it, because she's just that kind of amazing person, who won't let little things get in the way of being happy and accomplishing amazing things. So, she's in the last 5 (?) miles of her marathon and she starts needing a restroom desperately. I ask her what she does and assume she'll say she had to stop at a portable. No. She doesn't. Does she stop running and walk the rest of the way? No. She keeps running! She had trained so hard, and she doesn't want to influence her time! And the story goes like this...Probably at about the last mile she just can't hold it anymore and she just goes. It's coming. She's running. It's still coming. She crosses the finish line. It's still coming. We aren't talking pee people. Her husband and kids meet her at the finish line. It's running down her legs. Her husband takes one look at her and takes her heat absorbsion thing and she finds a restroom. I couldn't believe the story. What a woman!

On another occasion I went rollarbladding in the middle of the day in late August in Vegas. I thought it had been getting a little cooler at that point in the summer! It wasn't. I think I nearly died of heat stroke. I don't think I've ever felt so sick in my life. I was alone, in the middle of new roads with construction, which were the most western roads in the valley. Almost no cars were passing, and the cars that did, didn't seem to think a girl sitting on the side of the road could be dying.

And that's it. Not incredibly exciting, but maybe they were entertaining. My workouts these days are including the treadmill (I've just been walking at a 4.5 on a 3.0 incline for 30 minutes), the elliptical for 30 minutes, push-ups, sit-ups, stretching, yoga twice a week, runs down to the river on some days, and some independent cross-training. I somewhat miss my classes at 24-hour, but doing it on your own works fine too.