Getting Exercised

Heart racing...

Face flushed… 

Breathing hard… 

Wait... what do you think I'm talking about?

What?!?!?

OMG!!! You people! Get your minds out of the gutter!!!

lol

OK, so maybe I'm the one with the dirty mind. 

Actually, I'm just happy and relieved.

Why?

Because finally, finally, finally, after what seems like forever, I can start exercising again.

Typically, I exercise every day. I go to the gym four to five times a week - aerobic stuff, mostly. I also walk almost every day, much more on the days I didn't go to the gym. And I take the stairs whenever possible, park far away when I go shop, and so on. I have a lot of energy, I guess. :c)

So the past year has been hard to take.

I broke my ribs in early March of last year - the day I got this crazy job, in fact, which is certainly an omen if ever there was one. As I found out the hard way, they can take a looonnnggg time to heal.

For nearly two months, I could do nothing at all. Simply breathing hurt.

After that I could do some walking, but the few times I tried to return to my old pace and duration I paid the price.

I finally, finally got the all-clear to resume working out at the end of November. I dutifully signed up at the gym - two of them, in fact, one near my home and one at the office where I work the first week of December.

I started slowly; I knew it would take a long time to get back to my usual levels. But even after only two-plus weeks, I could feel my system beginning to respond.

So naturally I then came down with the flu.

For over three weeks.

I was so sick my hair hurt (and I only wish I were kidding). Needless to say, my newly-established routine was in shambles.

But last night I packed my bag for the gym, knowing both that I felt well enough to start again and that I will be able to continue for more than one or two days a week.

I did about 1/2 of my usual routine, in terms of both length and intensity. I know enough not to overdo it now. (A hard lesson to learn, I can assure you.) I was pretty peaked at the end, and I'm a bit sore at the moment. 

But it's the good kind of soreness.

I know it will take about two months or so to begin to see results. That was the case on other two occasions when I had to take an extended break (for foot surgery and a fractured ankle), respectively. I don't really notice a change for 8-10 weeks… and then my metabolism seems to go into overdrive. Hopefully that will be the case this time. And of course I'm curious to see how my body responds in light of the changes it is going through right now.

For today, though, it felt great to work off the stress of a day at work, start to catch up on my huge backlog of music magazines (hello Mojo issue circa November 2011!) and to listen to my favorite workout music to get the blood flowing. Live shows always work; my workout playlists feature a lot Springsteen, Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket, The Clash, and lots more.

I'll wrap it up with a few songs from some of my music to sweat by. See you all at the juice bar!

***

Santana, circa 1970:

Pearl Jam, from the last show of their Binaural tour in Seattle, November 6, 2000:

I was at this show! One of my Top Five, for sure. They consider it one of their best too.

And lastly, The Boss:

There are still folks who don't realize he wrote this! He gave it to Patti Smith (who does a GREAT version of it) because he felt it didn't fit on his Darkness on the Edge of Town album. He also gave away "Fire" to the Pointer Sisters for the same reason. Not many artists would a) willingly give other artists a surefire hit, or b) be able to produce material as good as, or even better than, those songs. But Bruce could. :c)