The things we do in the name of health!
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
Yesterday it was pouring rain when I walked out the door for boot camp. Coming down in buckets, the rain had me already drenched by the time I got to the park. But even though the sky was that dull, steely gray color, and the wind was strong and cold, there was no lightning so we (that is, half the class- the other half being normal enough to see the rain and choose to sleep an extra hour rather than exercise in bad weather conditions) stuck with it and carried out our circuit training in a surprisingly cheerful manner. After a brutal 45 minutes of slogging in the rain, our trainer kindly wrapped up the session a little early because of said rain and we poured off the pools of water that had accumulated on our mats before heading our separate ways. As I walked up the stairs to the condo my shoes were squelching and leaving a flood of water in my wake; my clothes were so soaked through that my skin was completely wet underneath them! It’s all about building character:) (major love for Calvin & Hobbes right now). I was a cold, shivering, drowned rat of a mess- and I loved it. If it had just been me on my own, contemplating an early morning run and then seeing those kind of weather conditions, would I have still gone for that run? I’m about 99% sure that I would not have. Being held accountable is a huge part of the equation for me. And because I do end up enjoying it so much, I purposely put myself in positions of being held accountable to fire up that motivation.
But my exercising in ridiculous weather conditions is nothing compared to the following story:
Utter Discrimination
Recently the media has been all over the case of one woman who, after cutting her hair for cancer research, was fired from her waitressing job. Naturally, this has caused the public to become completely outraged. There are so many things wrong with this blatant and unjustified discrimination! There are plenty of men who have shaved heads and are respectable professionals; some people cannot prevent hair loss for various reasons (and will sometimes consequently shave their heads); lots of women now are shaving their heads in a perfectly respectable and professional manner; many people with a head full of hair look entirely unprofessional and unkempt; and this is for cancer research. I’m thoroughly disgusted by the restaurant that fired this woman on such a ridiculous basis. What about trying to help people in need? And what about the freedom to express yourself by the way you present yourself to the world?
Tell me your thoughts! Have you ever done anything really crazy for health reasons? What were the consequences? Was it worth it?
Aw, I love Calvin & Hobbes! It is, of course, ridiculous that that poor waitress got fired. Hopefully she got a better paying job somewhere else.
LOL I did one of those downpour workouts once, too! I was on a three-mile trail, and it started sprinkling at the quarter-mile mark. By the half-mile post, it was pouring. I was wading through water up over my ankles, but determined to finish my three miles! I gave myself extra credit for having to wear those heavy, rain-soaked clothes. 🙂
Good for you for sticking it out, Exercise Warrior!
You are so hard core for doing boot camp in the pouring rain!
man wasnt that boot camp AWESOME?
and awesomely hard, I know, but theres something about rain slogging that we ‘grownups’ (yes I am using the term loosely) just dont get a chance to do often enough.
sore today?
M.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”
Maybe we all need to change the name of our blogs to, “The Great Near Death Experiment!” Apologies to Charlotte 🙂
Dr. J
wow i haven’t heard that story but that infuriates me… what is wrong w/ this world???!!!
awesome job on that challenging workout 🙂 way to go!!
Charlotte- me too. No doubt there’ll be a big lawsuit with all that.
Cammy- that’s so awesome! Very satisfying.
Running Knitter- hmm, hard core or crazy? There’s such a fine line… 🙂
MizFit- you’re so right! And yep I could feel it in my calves a bit the next day.
Dr. J- I think that would be completely necessary to change our blog names to that! (in HONOUR of Charlotte:)).
Loveofoats- thanks! And the world is a ridiculous, ridiculous place.
Though I’m way to cowardly for Boot Camp, I’ve gone running in the pouring rain before, and I always feel GREAT afterwards. It’s never as uncomfortable as I think it’s going to be and I love the feeling of smugness I get from it.
And I’m with you on the restaurant discrimination–what jerks! Hope the negative publicity hurts their business.
Good for you, Sagan! The Bag Lady has to do her cow checking in all kinds of weather, too, and has slogged out to the pasture in rain, snow, sleet, hail…..gosh, she sounds like a postal worker! It does make you feel virtuous, doesn’t it?
And as for the woman who was laid off from her job for shaving her head; PERSONALLY, it wouldn’t bother me to have a wait-person with a shaved head – no hair in your food!!!! 🙂
Crabby- its funny how much MORE likely I am to get outside and be active in bad weather than in really nice weather!
Bag Lady- good point! Hair in food is definitely not appetizing.