The week after I got back from BlogHer '14, I started training for the Longview Half-Marathon. Which is tomorrow.

And tomorrow there is this:

JACKSON:

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM SATURDAY TO
MIDNIGHT CST SATURDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL HAS
ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW... WHICH IS
IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM SATURDAY TO MIDNIGHT CST SATURDAY NIGHT.

* LOCATION...ALL OF NORTH-CENTRAL MISSOURI AND NORTHEASTERN KANSAS.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION AFTER DAYBREAK ON
SATURDAY. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY BEFORE
TAPERING OFF BY LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...A GENERAL 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED
ACROSS THE REGION. ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS MAY BE POSSIBLE ALONG
AND SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

* IMPACTS...ACCUMULATING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES WILL RESULT IN
HAZARDOUS TRAVEL ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW...SLEET...OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.

And I really, really, really hate being cold.

However. I followed a for-me really hard training program for four months. I only missed one of the training runs in all that time. I ran thirteen miles twice. I ran fourteen miles twice. I ran tempo runs. I ran sprint intervals. I ran up the hills and down the hills, and dammit, I am running 13.1 miles tomorrow come hell or high water (which, you know, could happen).

My plan is to pretend to be Rocky training in Russia. The little angel advised me to wear a lot of lotion. The polar vortex was supposed to wait until November 16 to start. It did not listen.

So, um, wish me luck? I'll be the one wearing 30% more clothing than everyone else and paying absolutely no attention to the 20-degree rule.

Collapsing on the stairs after finishing a jog. In the humidity, the sweat forms like an internal dropper is pushing it out of my arms, my legs, even my hands, before it slides away to plunk in perfect circles on the cement. In the first few minutes after I plop down, all I can do is breathe and sweat and regulate my heartbeat back down to normal. 

I seldom think of sweating as an action, but in the thickness of Missouri's August, it is. Cicadas strike up the band and then stop as quickly as they started while I sit and sweat. Drink some water. Sweat some more. I become aware of a breeze I swear did not exist on the hills, but here it is, lifting just the edges of the leaves, sweeping across my skin until slowly, the bubbles stop forming and the rivulets slow. I can feel my heart slowing, too: crisis averted, she's not moving so fast any more.

My daughter is sick to death of summer and excited about school. She's tired of the pool, tired of barbecues, tired of the back deck, tired of the top down. I find myself clinging to these things and my favorite time of year and even the sweating, because sweating means I could be outside without a jacket, all day long if I wanted.

My breathing normal, the sweat dried enough to allow me back to the keyboard and the chair and the work, I reluctantly haul myself off the front step and walk back into my life, instantly forgetting the feeling of my skin touched by air.

---

I thought this post in my head the other day, and then I forgot all about it, and then I realized I really should write it down before I forget it again.

A few weeks ago, I found a blog post about a woman who did 300 sit-ups a day for 30 days and her abs looked totally different. I have no intention of doing 300 sit-ups every day, but there was a time when I could, and my core could use a little, well, tightening. So I wrote down the sets and thought I'd try doing them a few times a week to see what happened.

Hubris was mine. I was born with strong abdominal muscles. Even when I was completely out of shape as a child, I could always do more than the required amount of sit-ups in P.E. or for the Presidential Fitness Test. Sit-ups have always been my place to shine. No problem, I thought, to this 300 sit-ups business. I just need to get back in the groove.

I did the sets on Friday around noon. They were hard, I won't lie, but I was able to finish them and pick my ass off the floor afterward. Friday was totally normal.

Saturday, I woke up and was unable to lift my legs. Apparently, there is a muscle here:

I can't even tell you. It's like exactly where my legs connect to my torso. FIRE RAGING FIRE. Do my abs hurt? No. Do my upper thighs hurt? No. Hips? No. Butt? No. JUST WHATEVER THAT IS.

I went to bed last night in fear, because anyone who has ever worked out too hard knows the agony that is the TWO-DAY SORE. It's like your body saves up all the worst of it for the SECOND day after you overdo whatever it was you overdid. I woke up this morning and had to lift my legs with my arms to get out of bed, because there was no way I was going to flex whatever attaches my limbs to my body. I winced my way to the bathroom and found myself massaging analgesic cream into areas of my body I never thought I would and pounding Advil. About an hour ago I made Beloved go for a walk around the block with me, because even though I did not in any way wish to move, I know if you don't, the stiffness mixes with the TWO-DAY SORE and it's all downhill from there. I would like to be able to walk without looking like there is a pole up my butt by 2013.

So I can do my sit-ups again, because anything that brings the pain like that must work like gangbusters! Only this time, maybe I'll build up. Apparently, I'm not 17 anymore. Aging can suck it.

PS: I got the scientific drawing above from the Lloyd Release Procedure, which looks scary. I'm fairly certain I violated copyright law. I'm not exactly sure where to find safe anatomy images. I checked Wikimedia Commons and got nothing. Same with Flickr. Ideas?