It will not be necessary for you to kiss my feet. Bowing and scraping will not be required. You don't even have to call me "your highness". Not that I would complain if you did...
Just hand over the Starbucks gift card. *looks expectantly at Coach Bekah*
Maybe now's a good time to explain how I became The PlankMaster. You see, last night's FAST workout was just like any other FAST workout.
We did our warmup to the cemetery and back, and then we headed to the track for our workout. The workout consisted of 4 x (400m half-marathon pace, 100m recovery, 400m half-marathon pace, 100m recovery, 400m half-marathon pace, 100m recovery, 400m 5k pace, 100m recovery). Got all that? Basically, it was half-marathon pace 400m repeats with a 5k pace one thrown in every 4th repeat. Fairly tame as FAST workouts go... although my fellow FASTies were not so lucky - the 5k and 10k runners in the group, which was everyone except me, had to run their 400m repeats much faster.
This would have been a great workout if not for two things: (1) the sun was hot and beating down on me relentlessly and (2) my Garmin was dying quickly. The heat really started to get to me after the 2nd set of 400's - I felt overheated and lethargic. I made it through a 3rd set, but I just didn't see myself being able to do a 4th set. And then as I was stopping for water after the 3rd set, my Garmin died completely. I took that as a sign to stop my workout. I had logged 5 miles for the night, and that was okay with me. And after cooling down a bit and getting some water, I felt much better. I cheered on the rest of my FAST teammates as they finished their workouts and watched my husband run the fastest 400m of the entire night (4:56 pace!).
My workout data - the 400m fast laps highlighted in blue (lap 19 includes a recovery jog - I forgot to push the lap button)Then the fun really started. Coach Bekah had a good (read: torturous) core workout planned for us. We all got out our blankets and beach towels and spread out on the grass for some crunches and bridges and all that fun stuff. And then she presented a challenge. Whoever could hold a plank the longest would receive a $5 Starbucks gift card....
And eternal glory.
*rubbing hands together* Oooooo, I loves me some eternal glory!
And so the timer started and we all got into plank position. Everyone was looking strong. The competition was fierce.
30 seconds ticked by...
...and then 45
And Coach Brad, who had so generously volunteered to be the timekeeper (I think he did this mostly to avoid having to hold his plank for longer than about 30 seconds), told us "You've only been holding for 10 seconds!" And so I glared at him in an evil sort of way.
And then people started dropping off. Niki. Tim. Kristi. Kris. Caleb. They were dropping like flies!
Soon it was down to me, Kelly and my husband, Matt. We had been holding for over 2 minutes.
Kelly was looking visibly tired. Matt was starting to shake. I gave them both dirty looks and willed them fail.
Soon, Kelly gave out.
It was down to me and my husband. The competition had suddenly become much more significant. Whoever won this would be King or Queen of the house. Whoever won the Starbucks gift card would not be sharing it with the other. This was a competition for eternal glory and SO MUCH MORE.
I looked back at Matt, who was shaking like crazy, but still managing to give me dirty looks. Hmph. At least I wasn't shaking. No, I was steady. Calm. Unruffled. I could wait there all day if I had to.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
And then he went down.
And victory was mine!
Turns out I had held my plank for nearly 3 minutes. And I felt the effects of that immediately as I tried to stand up and felt the extreme tightness in my lower back. Yeeeeeouch! Small price to pay for eternal glory, right?
As for my husband... he has challenged me to a rematch with side planks. I'm not as good at those, so it's quite possible he will claim victory in that competition. And then we will just have to agree that we are equally awesome and celebrate by splitting a Frappuccino and a blueberry scone at Starbucks.
All Hail The PlankMaster!
Peace. Love. Train.
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