I promised a friend that I'd work out EVERY DAY in some form or fashion, even if it meant just walking for 20 minutes and documenting it. So, I'm doing this. Here's how it's going:
1st day, June 2nd - Thought about working out and how I was going to do this with a painful knee. Not sure how I injured my knee, but I need to see a doctor, I guess.
June 3rd - Went to gym and got on treadmill for 7 minutes.. Yay...small steps.
June 4th - Went swimming. Knee hurts too much for treadmill.
June 5th - Nada.
June 6th - Swam. So crowded I had to share a lane with someone. I felt self-conscious about just floating around in the water like a leaf with a guy in the same lane who appeared to be training to swim the English Channel, so I stepped it up a notch. Wanted to stay out of his way and NOT meet up with him at the end of the lane. People don't look good with swim face...mouth agape trying to get air into your lungs, hair all akimbo, and sometimes things dripping out of the orafices in your face....just best to avoid being forced into a conversation. Had a pretty good workout.
June 7th - Got balls-y today and took an Aqua Fit class. Here is where the action happened!
Surely the low impact nature of the water would help me, and my knee, get back in shape! HA!
First of all, those little old ladies in their swimming caps kicked my ass with their superior, self-congratulatory knowledge of the underwater moves, moving their legs and arms underwater like they had any business doing that! Their frustrated expressions directed at me when I got in their underwater swim zone and bumped their leg...or whatever.
Second, it was tough! Do you know how hard it is to stay afloat while not looking like you're drowning when every limb and flexible part of your body is going in several different directions at once, at the mercy of the waves created by these women? It's like trying to look stone sober after you've had several cocktails, 6 beers and three or more shots...can't remember, lost count. The expression on your face is completely in denial that the lower half of your body acts like it's hiking up the side of a bounce house, set up on the top of a floating dock in a wind storm and if it weren't for that back of the chair that you're holding on to for dear life, everyone would be on to you. But your expression says...no one is the wiser.
Knee hurts really bad now and I am having trouble raising the glass of juice to my lips in order to take the handful of anti-inflammatory pills needed to keep the pain at bay. Me and my hot pad are taking the next two days off.
June 11 - Back at the gym, doing arm exercises. Five minutes on the row machine, a few reps on the seated row, overhead press, stretched on the stretch trainer and then into the saunahhhhhhh.
June 12 - No gym today, but cleaning out my closet and washing every article of clothing I own. Going up and down the basement stairs counts as exercise, right? Hoping to be back in the saddle tomorrow!
Glad to see we had the same experience with aqua class - I also foolishly thought yoga would be easy, it's just stretching, right? I have tried to stick to this exercise plan: I do one complete sun salutation in the morning, just to get my body moving, it's not all smooth and pretty, but my body gets the point, I walk the dog (Dixie) every day (or night as the weather gets too hot) and then a couple of times a week I throw some free weights around. I gave up on the gym. I do like taking exercise classes when I can find one that fits my schedule, meaning, I don't have to go out of my way to get there, or heaven forbid, wait. And if I have a particularly strenuous shoot, I try not to move for several days because everything hurts. Stick with it and your body will adjust, amazing things our bodies, I think it is really one of those use it or lose it things, just don't use it too much, that I think is the wisdom that comes with age.
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