May Reflections: Hair and Running

HAIR

Another updo with two daisies.

Last month was my 1-year HHCJ anniversary. It's strange but I didn't celebrate it with any bells and whistles. In fact I didn't really celebrate it at all! Last year when I started this journey I felt like a year was a long way off. Now that it's been a year I'm wondering where the time went.

In general I'm content with the progress that I've made. My continuing goal is to maintain healthy hair. I'm not obsessed with length, although I do want to continue to retain length. However, I doubt I'll do any further length checks.

I'm still figuring out what my hair likes and how to cope with my hair given my schedule restraints. I mentioned in the post Henna Application 2, that I wanted to try washing my hair every 2 weeks to cut down on manipulation. I don't like it. A clean scalp is important to me especially with all the exercising I do and 2 weeks is simply too long.

Now I want to try washing my hair with my twists in. (Check out Week 50 hair for more info) So this weekend I will wash and deep condition my hair with my twists in. When I apply my kimmaytube leave-in I will unravel each one individually, detangle, and then apply product.

On Tuesday of this week I did a "quick fix" because my hair needed some attention. I rinsed my scalp with a cheap conditioner really well and then applied my Aussie quick fix deep conditioner while I showered. My twists were still in the whole time. I rinsed it out and then applied my kimmaytube leave in, my Qhemet Biologics moisturizer and some coconut oil.

Since my hair gets very frizzy, I retwisted the perimeter of my head just so I would look presentable. I loved the results, my hair felt and looked great.

Overall, I'm trying to spend less time on my hair without sacrificing the health or appearance of it. I've learned to love my hair and how to manage it so that it's not only healthy, but also looks great too. I'm so happy I had the courage to embark on this journey because it's given me much more confidence in rocking my natural hair.

RUNNING

The conditioning program I started back in March has been going well. While I don't always get every, single, run in during the week and weekends I feel good. I feel like I'm still in shape, taking care of my body and am ready to start training on July 1st.

I've also already signed up for my second marathon in October! (more on that later!)

I've learned so much from when I started running in 2009 until now. I've gone through injuries, life-changes, and everything in-between, but I've stuck with it. I'm still running and still enjoying myself.

My goals for the future are to try trail running and ultramarathons! I plan to run my second marathon in October and the Seville marathon again in February of 2013. After that I want to concentrate on trying some trail running (smaller races at first) and then some ultramarathon training.

My over-arching goals are to stay fit, stay healthy, stay injury free and to continue to enjoy running! For the blog there's much more updates, thoughts and goals to come!

Week 46 Hair

I haven't done too much with my hair these past months. Like the above pics show I've been sticking to the basics: twists and puffs. During the week I have my twists and I either pull them back into a bun, pin them up or do a combination of both.

Tomorrow, or tonight, I will take out my twists in preparation for my wash. I do this at the end of the week before a wash to aid the detangling process. Currently, I wash my hair every two weeks because of time restraints. This will be week three since last weekend was super hectic.

I did recently purchase some headbands just to spice up my 'dos. I've been doing the same styles and just popping one of these on for some flare. I love headbands and flowers!

If you don't know this youtuber, BlakIzBeautyful, then check her out. She also has a website, kinkycurlycoilyme.com. She hosts tons of natural hair gatherings as well as provides tips, tricks, and inspiration for naturals. 

Jenell also has a shopping service for those naturals (like me) who are abroad and can't find their favorite products. She shipped me the headbands, 2 bottles of coconut oil, jojoba oil and another container of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. 

I also wanted to try some African black soap so she shipped me two bars. I paid for the products, the shipping costs, as well as her fee, which you can find on her website. I live in Spain and my products came in less than a week with all the recepts included in the box. It was great.

My sister (yay for sisters!) also sent me the Aussie Moist shampoo and its  3-minute miracle. I've used the shampoo once and have yet to try the other product. I think I'll probably use it more in the summer when I need a "quick fix." I start my training over the summer and the heat here is intense. So I will need it to protect my hair so that it doesn't dry out, especially since I sweat a lot.

Here are the products I got from BlakIzBeautyful and my sister.

This weekend I have another Henna treatment. This will be the second time so I hope the process goes faster. I definitely like how my hair looks and feels afterwards even though I don't enjoy the long process.