Monday, November 17, 2008

Undone by Bowling

People, I'm a highly trained triathlete. I can swim, run and bike. I am in Good. Shape.

Reasonably.

Comparatively speaking.

So imagine my surprise when last Thursday my office decided to treat us worker bees to a few hours of bowling, and I learned that: I have no leg muscles!

Apparently? Bowling is nothing more than a prolonged series of lunges, all on the same leg. Over and over and over.

So of course, I woke up Friday having pulled, strained, sprained or otherwise damaged something in my hamstring. Sort of up near my butt. (Or maybe I sprained my butt. Sigh.)

I'm still trying to train for the Fredericksburg Blue-Gray Half-Mary on December 14. Which it turns out, is like four weeks away.

I was up to 9 miles a few weekends ago, but got very little running done in the past three weeks.

So, on Saturday morning, I put on my anti-anxiety cap, and wandered out to meet a new group of runners: the C&O Trail Snails, who bill themselves thusly:
Do you love running on the C&O canal towpath? [Yes!]
Are you more motivated when you know you will be running with others? [Most definitely.]
Are you happy to be running and not so concerned about your pace? [Err, I'm working on this one.]
Have you had trouble finding a group to run with that is not overly
competitive? [Hells yeah.]
I was there promptly at 8 a.m. on a rainy HOT (global warming) muggy November Saturday morning, and ran 7 miles with another woman who is a solid 11:30 min miler. (And hello, we turned out to be the FAST ones in this group. Woot. My kind of group! Although I do recognize that this might probably not be the best training for me. On the other hand, is always being LAST good for me??? I think not.)

By the end of 7 miles my butt/hamstring thing was screaming. I ended up limping to the car. And then limping to StarCrack where I had my usual decaf skim latte, and where the following convo took place (let's hope) in my head:

oh, don't those "petite vanilla scones" look cute! And small! And they're only $.75!! Or, three for $1.95. Might as well get three, I'll eat one here and give two to NOD when I get home.

Well, maybe I'll eat two. After all, I'm in PAIN.

You know what? You just ran 7 miles girlfriend! If anyone deserves a Petite Vanilla Scone, you do! NOD can get her own damn breakfast!
And before you could say Bob's yer uncle, I had consumed

640 CALORIES



They don't call it StarCrack for nothing.

Still to come:
A complete report on how my nutrition plan is coming along, plus updates on spinning and swimming, strength training, and not-heart-rate-training.

I can hardly wait.

(P.S. Everyone please stop blogging so I can catch up.)

17 comments:

Rainmaker said...

Saturday was indeed a humid. Holy crap it was messy for a run. Glad to see you kept cruising along though - as I had a route time with the change in weather.

Bowling...wow, I haven't done that in at least 5 years. :(

Matthew K. Tabor said...

Bowling is best executed when you push the ball out, let it fall back, and let it fall forward - no real muscle required. Think of it this way...

A bowling ball is heavy, and swinging that amount of weight away from your body is unnatural and a strain on certain parts of you. The idea is to keep the ball close to your center of gravity - that way your leg muscles or midsection doesn't have to 'pull' back against the ball to keep you balanced.

Rhythmic walk, free swing and a slight knee-bend when you're releasing the ball at the line [which is a cushion for that forward momentum] = pain-free bowling.

21stCenturyMom said...

You know the other name for a skim, decaf, latte? A Why Bother. Bwahahahaha.. See? You needed those scones to make the drink worth the effort!

Use a roller on your broken ass. Any kind of roller - a soup can- whatever. Just roll it out!

Susan said...

You're a hoot! :)

David said...

Yeah, but only 150 of those calories were from fat!

P.S. It's good to see you back and crackin'.

ShirleyPerly said...

Yep, gotta watch out for those so-called leisure activities: bowling, golf, fishing, gardening, etc. You can do more torso twists and squats than you've ever done in a year doing them.

Cool that you found a group to run with!

Vickie said...

Ooh, that dreaded butt thing. Probably did strain a hamstring. Heat, tennis ball, and ice in that order.

MJ said...

We missed you! Good to see you back. And hey, we're right at the same pace - maybe I should join the group (tho I'm not back up to your mileage yet). The maple scones are my nemesis there, but the pb/choc krispie treats are also evil. But soon, sf nonfat gingerbread lattes, yay.

LBTEPA said...

Crikey. that's a lot of calories (DO NOT WORK IT OUT IN kj! You will faint)

Anonymous said...

Yes, even tiddly winks exercise muscles you didn't know you had. But seriously, I am biking a lot. I am 50 and got into around four years ago. As a kid I loved biking and I have just rediscovered it!

Judi said...

Bowling is so fun Jeanne. Usually your arms get the workout tho!

Anonymous said...

That's an interesting point about bowling being all about lunges...I haven't been bowling in years, so I hadn't thought about it like that. Might be a fun way to get in a leg workout, though, rather than going to the gym! :)

Rich said...

So why is SBUCKS stock falling?

Anne said...

I'm so glad it isn't just me. We did a bowling team=building exercise at work and I pulled the same muscle. Felt so freakin' old every time I released that ball and tried to get back up. According to Matt T., we just don't know how to bowl. Sad for me, when you consider my dad was the Conneticut State Champ in the 1970s.

We also think a like when confronted with scones.

Nora said...

What I'd like to know is, anti-anxiety cap? Where can I get one?

Jade Lady said...

I just went bowling today for the first time in years! I'll wait to see what aches I have manana. Glad you were able to find a group to run with!

peter said...

I was wondering how those C&O Snails were going. You're actually training just right for building your aerobic engine to be most efficient at the B&G HM. At least, according to my recent training. Ask Rich how that approach works out. But there's nothing like running with folks who think you're fast. When you get in with real fasties, it's not so much fun, you just gotta hang in there and hope for mercy. As for the calories, that's why we run. It's s'posed to be a net-zero game, so after seven, don't be startled by the numbers.

Bowling, what's that? Is that related to golf?