I hate re-habbing after an illness or injury, I really do.
Thing is, I wind up having to do it from time to time. Last year this time, I was flying high from being allowed to walk after an ACL and medial meniscus repair. God, being able to go where I wanted without the crutches felt so damn good, especially after the tedium of the endless leg strengthening exercises I had to do every damn hour. I’m lazy. Gimme a good hour in the weight room three times a week any time over that nonsense!
I’m rehabbing right now. I had the flu last week and didn’t work out because, well…
The flu? Not “bad cold” but the flu? You go down and you stay down until you can get up without feeling dizzy. If you can work out, it’s probably a nasty cold. The flu knocks you on your ass.
I was able to swim half a mile Saturday. That’s okay.
I swam 1000 today. Wednesday, it’ll be 1100, and on until I’m up to a mile again. Yes, I’m rehabbing a little slow, but I’m weaker than American coffee right now. I could beat myself into the ground, but I’m not going to. If I were training for something specific I’d consider it. If my energy levels bounce back sooner, why, I’ll be swimming that mile sooner. That’s okay, too.
The only serious thing I’m doing is making sure I push myself some at each workout — enough so I get a benefit, but not so much so I’ll hate it and quit. It’s the not quitting part that’s important. It’s the not letting a break in routine cause my natural sedentary tendecies to win out and let me get depressed and weak and ill again. It’s real easy for me to talk myself into not working out, I’m sorry to say.
I know there are plenty of people who want to be all hard core. That’s cool. They should, and enjoy it. But you don’t have to do that to get fit. You just have to be consistent and push yourself some more each time — not necessarily a whole lot, but some.
I’m trying to decide what the weights should look like tomorrow. I know I won’t be able to do what I’d been doing before I got sick, but I’ve no idea how much I really should scale back. I’m swimming half the distance, but I don’t think I really need to go back to half the weight I’d been using.
I’ve got to work on a project that’s due next Monday. It’s going really well. I was reviewing it and realized I’d put more into it than I thought I had. This made me really happy! So, it’s really a matter of writing a section, getting some pics for it, then going over it with my Editor Eye.
Heh… It’s amazing how a few workouts improve the mood. If I owned a drug company, I swear I’d do everything in my power to discourage working out, ’cause it’d likely put me out of business.