Week 6: Uphill Battle

Monday morning at 5:30am, I met my host brother in the yard for an early morning run. If you know me at all, you know I hate getting out of my warm bed for the sole purpose of exercise. But for some reason, I had agreed to not only go on a run at 5:30am, I had actually agreed to go on an uphill run at the crack of dawn. Not my best decision. So we walk for a minute to warm up and then the uphill battle begins. It started off well. I was keeping pace and wondering why I hadn't brought my ipod. Then the mountain began. I don't know what strange shift of the universe encouraged me to partake in this early morning torture, but there I was falling slowly behind, turning beat red and wheezing like a 90 year old smoker. We finally reached our destination and I almost passed out. My host brother was not even sweating. Then again he is 20 and a physical education teacher, but he should at least be sweating. Sheesh. So I whined and writhed as my inside slowly calmed down and then we started back down the hill. Of course, coming down is always easier and I had never been so happy to see the end of a run. Not only did I finish a solid minute after my host brother (as if that wasn't bad enough), he then proceeded to quote Forrest Gump by saying "Corre Kate Corre!" (For those on the short train, "Corre" is spanish for "run".) Ridiculous.

Later that morning, I had to hike to a school. Yet another uphill battle that left me sweaty, exhausted and practically begging for someone to put me out of my misery. The soreness I experienced the next day is indescribable. I had never felt so sore in my life. AND I got a cold from running in the chilly morning air. AND my paid for month at the gym is up and I don't have the dinero to pay for another month until payday next week. So I am having a bit of an exercise fail. But I told my host brother by Friday I should be feeling better and we should go for another run. Not at 530 am...but getting out there and doing it is what matters. We shall see how it goes.