Frozen Hair

Would you want to go outside with wet hair if this was the view from your front door?

Last semester I developed a fitness plan to help me get in shape. I did a 14-week running program that built toward being able to run 10km. Each week I completed 3 runs, which I supplemented with swimming 3km/week by going for swims 2 or 3 times.

When the program finished over Christmas Break I was a little lost. Where to next? Right before I left BC I did a boot camp training session with my older sister, Kathryn. It was very challenging and showed me that I still had a long way to go in my quest to get fit. It also left me with very sore muscles so I decided to give myself a week off to recover and develop a new fitness plan.

Somehow that "week off" stretched itself to two weeks. Besides playing intramural volleyball twice I haven't worked out since returning to Ottawa. Why is that? Well while I was home over the holidays the temperature in Ottawa took a severe drop. The weather I hate has returned, that is the weather that causes my hair to freeze if I go outside with wet or damp hair.

This is a problem because after I work out I need to shower. I'm not one of those people who can have a good work out and still look, or smell, good afterwards. A shower means wet hair which equals frozen hair if I go outside. This factor has sucked away any motivation I would have otherwise had to go to the gym or go swimming.

How do I overcome this obstacle?  Well the answer is probably much more simple than I seem to make it in my head. I just need to suck it up, grit my teeth and bear it. Or use a hair dryer. (But I don’t like hairdryers because they make my hair go straight-ish and frizzy.) Or hang out on campus until my hair dries. That is the least appealing option since last semester my schedule made me spend more time on campus than I would've liked and my hair also takes a ridiculously long time to dry.  Regardless I need to pick one of the above options and get my butt to the gym.

Growing up in BC frozen hair was never an issue so I got accustomed to going outside with wet hair year round. That is not possible in Ottawa, especially not for the next couple months. It may be trivial but I like wet hair - frozen hair not so much.