Marathoning.

The first week ended on Friday and I spent the weekend reading and recuperating. On Friday night, I was keeping my brother company who was reading but scared of being left alone even with the cats. I was on my stomach, playing with one of the aforementioned cats, and I promptly fell asleep. Completely unconscious. At some point, I vaguely moved my body over on top of a blanket since the carpet was itchy but I did not actually go to my own bed or into my room even. I just fell back into deep sleep. Later, around 3 am, I stumbled to my own room, changed into something resembling my pyjamas and sort of tumbled back into some sheets. During the week, I hadn't felt tired or particularly exhausted but getting only 5 hours of sleep a night and working out pretty intensely taxed my body.

Speaking of workout: I've decided that I will finally run a marathon. I'm already running a mental marathon with law school and so I think the concurrent effort and distraction of training for a physical marathon - or a triathlon would be perfect. My mother ran the NYC marathon - with pneumonia and a 104 of fever, and I want to run it as well - partially to see if I can beat her time - partially as a way of beginning a tradition. Physically, I'm built as a long distance runner - at least that's what 11 years of running cross-country and not track have molded my body into. I'm better at maintaining a longer pace and speed - tennis operates on a similar level. It might only be spurts of energy - but in contrast to track, at least in my opinion, tennis also requires one to have a long-distance mentality. If played well, tennis matches are not short affairs. They're not really supposed to be. 

Anyway, to return to my main point. In order to prepare for a marathon, I got this workout program called the "Insanity Workout". People, this is not false advertising, it really is insane. Shaun T is a pretty awesome guy and a great motivator. I do better when I'm challenged and in contrast to other workouts I've done - and I've done a lot and used a lot of videos - this is one of the best. One of the best things about it: no weights, no extra machines or anything. Just my body weight and my willpower. I can feel my body changing and I can tell that it's working. How? Well, I have hip and knee problems. I've always had them; I remember once back in 5th grade while I was studying in Italy, crying in the morning in sheer pain because I couldn't put any weight on my feet. They just hurt. My grandmother took me to the pediatrician, the podiatrist, a chiropractor. No one could explain it - most of the time they gave the explanation that it was just growing pains. Maybe they were, but later in high school I would suddenly start limping. Excruciating, shooting pains would dart from my heel through my knee to my hip and then disappear minutes later. No explanation.

If you place your hand on my left hip while I'm walking, you will feel my hip 'pop'. It has never seriously bothered me, except for a few occasions. When that happens, I cannot lift my knee up high otherwise I risk popping my hip and that causing pain. There's a move called running sprints in which you're in a plank postion and basically lifting your knees to your chest - sprinting while in a push-up position, essentially. When I first started, I couldn't lift my left knee to my chest, the most I could do was push it off the floor - otherwise, I would run the risk of engaging my hip too much and popping it - and it hurt. Now, one month later and in the recovery week - I can lift my knee without any worries or pain. My hip still pops and my right hip has started popping too - but I can feel my muscles getting stronger and my strength increasing. It feels awesome - and maybe only slightly insane.

Also, there is something to be said about the feeling of being bathed in sweat. It feels gross but worth it. It's a sign that I worked hard and that I finished it. That I succeeded.

I just finished Month #1 of the Insanity over the weekend- and I'm now in my Recovery week. On Monday, Month #2 begins. I can't wait.