There are days when I work out when I feel immortal, invincible, strong.<\/p>\n
Today was not one of those days.<\/p>\n
Oh sure, I got in my swim. Did a good one, too. I’m glad I did it and even feel slightly smug I got my lazy butt up at 5:30 in the morning to do it. (Normally, I don’t have <\/span>to do this, but I’m teaching all day today).<\/p>\n I don’t feel all godlike and rarin’ to go. Nope. I feel creaky from being on my feet all day yesterday. I feel achy ’cause today is Arthritis Hell (sleet, cold… blergh). Nearly scalded myself trying to get the shower hot enough to have the heat seep into my bones and joints a bit.<\/p>\n Today’s workout is the bleak reminder of the “negative” reasons why I work out. Oh there are plenty of positives. It often feels great<\/span>. Many days after a workout, I feel all tough and energized and all that smack. But a lot of why I do work out is to postpone the day when I can’t<\/span>.<\/p>\n I’ve had arthritis and creaky joints and all that crap since I was quite young. A wheelchair by the time I’m fifty would have been a very real proposition if I didn’t work out and stretch and what have you.<\/p>\n And then I think how lucky, how astonishingly and amazingly lucky I am. I have something I can do<\/span> something about. I don’t have a disease where I can’t<\/span> move. I have never had an injury that couldn’t be fixed. Yeah, I hurt an awful lot of the time. But I can still swim. I can still lift. I remember the mind-boggling frustration of being on crutches for six measly weeks when my got my ACL and a meniscus repaired, and what that did to my outlook for that short time. If that had been permanent? I don’t know if I’m mentally tough enough to handle that with any level of grace. I used to think I was, but after actually experiencing<\/span> a relatively minor incapacitation for a short time, I’m not so sure.<\/p>\n So every yard I swim and every pound I lift pushes back that day when “can’t” becomes a reality. I don’t like to think about that. It’s a scary proposition. But it’s also rather real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are days when I work out when I feel immortal, invincible, strong. Today was not one of those days. Oh sure, I got in my swim. Did a good one, too. I’m glad I did it and even feel slightly smug I got my lazy butt up at 5:30 in the morning to do … <\/p>\n