Buff and Shiny

So, would you guys think it would be totally crazy for me to get involved in bodybuilding? Wait, wait! Before you declare me officially bananas (... go, bananas! go, go bananas...) let me explain my rationale. I have three perfectly good reasons for wanting to become a bodybuilder:

1. I want to be super buff and manly-looking

2. I want to walk around with impossibly shiny skin

3. I want to sport an artificial tan 15 times my original shade.

What? You're not frantically nodding in agreement and reconsidering your whole career in order to become a bodybuilder too? Oh darn. All those high school persuasive speaking skills are obviously not so useful...

No but seriously. I do want to take up bodybuilding. But fret not! I don't want to become buff, shiny, and alien-like. I just need to find a way to build muscle fast during the off season so that next season I can train for the half-marathon with a much stronger body.

See, the half-marathon is next week. And although I've been training for a few months already, this whole training schedule has only made me realize how weak I am for an athlete. If I want to start participating in these high-intensity races, I'm gonna have to step up my game. Even if I never win, I want to at least reach my full potential. Right now, my legs are just too weak. My lungs can carry me for miles on end... I've yet to find a distance where my breathing gives out. My legs on the other hand, although they function for the entire duration of the run, are nowhere near the pace they need to be. Seeing as how I have pretty long legs, I should have a really competitive pace when I'm in shape... but that's just not the case. Uphills especially kill me. My pace diminishes so much it looks like I'm back in pathfinder formation waiting for the next "left flank" command from the drillmaster. I realize that I'm top heavy, which means that I have a higher ratio of body mass in my torso than on my legs and arms... Which makes me disproportionate in running (hello all Chicken-Legs Club members. Welcome.) Which is exactly why I need to figure out a way to build muscle in my lower body fast, so that I can become a little more proportionate and improve my pace.

Bodybuilding would do exactly that. It would make me slimmer on the torso and heavier on my arms and legs... all while strengthening my core. I'm also pretty sure that it would help me avoid injuries such as the shin splints that are giving me such a hard time right now, since one of the factors that aggravates shin splints is certain muscles of the legs having weaker counterparts. Yes, I've been doing my research. I'm serious about this marathon thing. If I ever reach this goal, I'm going for a triathlon. That would be AWESOME with a capital A, W, E, S, O, M, and E. But that's like 10 years down the road, lol.

All I know is, I really need to get stronger. And I mean normal strong, of course. I'm not gonna get all into the world of bodybuilding and start competing and stuff. That would be going a little too far. I'll just go as far as toning. When I'm toned enough, I'll stop.

So I'm gonna start looking into gyms around the city to see if I can start bodybuilding when I come back from vacation in February.

You might as well start calling me Elisa Schwarzenneger (sp? :S)