5 miles, 91 degrees and black girl hair...

So today was my second attempt at 7 miles. I didn't get up early [big surprise] so I was forced to run later in the day. I checked the hourly weather schedule several times today trying to figure out when things would start to cool off only to learn that it would never cool off. Ever. So at 7:15 I laced up and head outside to run. I forgot to charge my watch so instead i used the iMapmyrun app on my iphone which tracks your route/pace/distance. When I headed out it was 91 degrees so I knew Id have to run slow. I didn't really track my pace and pretty much just ran to the music. The first song that came on my iphone was Young Jeezy's My President is Black [Sidney Poiter, what dey do] followed my several of my favorite Beyonce tunes. This certainly helped. Unfortunately, my biggest mistake was heading out to run without a water bottle. When I got to three miles, the heat started getting to me and although I figured i could run 4 more if i really dug deep, I thought it would be better if i went inside and got some water. When I got home I drank a bottle of water and then hit the treadmill to finish up my run. While on the treadmill, I felt pretty good and did a 1.5 miles before stopping because I realized I was running over the time I allotted and needed to get back to studying since the bar exam is in 8 days. Even though I didn't hit seven, I feel good about my run and learned a valuable lesson to always remember to bring a water bottle with me on longer runs. The run def left me with a runner's high and me realize how much I really love to be outside running.

Now to the second part of my host --- this black girl hair running thing. According to the CDC, 80% of African-American women are overweight. Now there are probably a lot of reasons for this phenomenon, but I'm sure at least ONE reason has to do with hair. Now I'm not going to write a long post about the politics of black hair, but what I will say is running/working out was a lot easier for me when I wore a weave. A lovely, glorious, wet-me-down-wavy, blow-me-out-straight weave. When I had a weave, I'd rinse my hair out in the shower, let it air dry and not really worry about my hair bc most of it was sewn up anyway. I took my weave out about a month ago and since have been trying to figure out the best way to whip my hair back and forth [shout out to young willow and the pinkett-smiths] and remain physically active. For now, I've stuck to the wrapped hair, scarf, baseball cap technique and it seems to be ok. I've done the ponytail/bun thing but i hate the bump i get in my hair so I only stick to that when im close to getting my hair done.

To be honest, today was also a great running day despite missing my mileage goal because my hair stayed great after too. I washed my hair yesterday and let it air dry and woke up looking like Mufasa from the Lion King. I've been trying new products on my hair to see what I like and I think i found a good mix. When I blew dry my hair today and flat ironed it, it came out super smooth, and soft and i was dreading sweating my hair out during my run. I wrapped my hair super tight today, but on silk scarf and then a baseball cap and when I got back and showered my hair was fine. Looked great. I like to call that a black girl victory.

Anyway, if anyone's interested in trying new products, I shampooed with Joico shampoo and conditioner, used the Shea Moisture deep conditioner masque which i kept in my hair with a shower cap for about 45 minutes, and then used moroccan oil when i blew my hair out and flat ironed. I use a Sedu flat iron and a Chi blow dryer. The Shea Moisture deep conditioner masque is truly awesome, my hair felt so conditioned and soft and its a great curl definer as well.

My hair got super curly while I left it in, so I may use it as a leave in conditioner from time to time. I don't typically like to do my own hair but I'm very happy with the results and considering that my hair still looks good after my run through hades + harpo from the color purple might as well be my cousin, I thought I'd share.

If you have any product suggestions or tips on dealing with your hair and running/working out a lot please share! I get the itch to weave up daily.

-Nash