It’s funny isn’t it, I always imagined that if ever I established a regular exercise schedule and raised my base level of fitness a bit, from there on in I’d skip through life feeling energised whilst I glowed with vitality. As I watch the scene play out in my head, of the fit and healthy me going about my daily business, I don’t even look like a version of me I can recognise.
I’m usually wearing a dazzling white shirt, matched only in it’s brilliance by my dazzling white smile, and I’m tanned and wrinkle-free with hair that behaves itself. Oh yes, and I’m usually gliding along with fluid easy strides, collecting admiring glances as I go, at the way I’m dripping with good health. Hmmm.
Cue the sound of needle scratching across vinyl, right?
The reality is, pushing my body to reclaim a level of fitness which should have been mine all along means that most of the time, something hurts. At the moment, there is nothing graceful or fluid about my movements at all. Before I’ve even taken a step I wince in anticipation – for any of you who’ve ever suffered from Plantar Fasciitis you’ll empathise with that feeling of a constantly bruised heel which means the first few steps hurt – I have it quite badly in my left foot which gives me a bit of a lopsided gait every time I set off walking.
Once I’ve got the first few steps out of the way and my foot stops hurting quite so much, my legs kick in with a reminder of all the squatting and star-jumping and jogging on the spot which has become a regular part of their new normal, and especially after I’ve been sitting down for a while it takes me a couple of minutes to properly shake off all the stiffness and persuade them that moving is a good idea.
And right now, I’ve picked up a bit of a sore shoulder which is giving me hell. It started off as a small protest from the muscle in my upper right arm which was objecting to the new regime…lets face it, the only time it’d been required to lift a fat arm above my head in the last few years was when I went to grab a bag of cheese balls off the top shelf in Tesco. It’s hardly surprising that the kettle bells came as a shock, and now my shoulder has got in on the action too and gone into lockdown.
It amuses me no end to think that colleagues in the office who obviously know about my plans to complete a 90km trek up a mountain must look at me and think how the actual fuck is she going to pull that off when the trek from her desk to the printer appears to hurt so much??
When I’m out walking, once I’ve got the first couple of hundred yards under my belt, everything settles down and nothing hurts, not even my knee these days but I can’t help wondering will I ever get to the point where I can just get out of a chair and start moving without shuffling like a fully-paid-up wrinkly? I’m only fifty years old, although I guess in terms of the way I’ve abused this body over the years it’s probably older on the inside, you know?
I’m still clinging onto the fantasy in my head…I mean, I’m never going to tan, and as the fat in my face is slowly disappearing, what’s left behind has already started its slow descent south. I’m probably going to end up looking like a Shar Pei puppy, and as for having hair that behaves itself, well don’t even get me started.
But you know what, I’ll happily offer up all that in exchange for being able to walk with a spring in my step…that bit I’m hanging on to. In the short term, all this exercise malarkey is going to get me over that mountain. But longer term, I just want to walk like Zebedee 🙂
You really make me laugh and I can relate. I have been running and going to the gym for years but everytime I try something new/run further some new muscle ache emerges. I’m afraid the sore muscles and other accompanying aches are here to stay for a bit. I would recommend a good physiotherapist, a regular massage and a cup of Epsom salts in a hot bath (this one is also great for a good nights sleep) after your gym sessions.
keep on moving forward, you are doing great.
Mo
Guess I’d better get used to them then eh Moira! Thanks for the encouragement…it really helps 🙂
Fully paid up!!Hah! In the year or two that this posse rides, there are going to be kinks & hitches (and –?) so, we learn to deal with injuries like EVERYONE engaged in a wt-loss journey.
[sigh] mine currently is a v.lightly strained mcl (knee). I am the most compulsively compliant patient EVER.
Aw I hope you knee gets better at warp speed Fleury…didn’t you know aching is the new black 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Dee! Greetings from North Dakota, USA again!
Once upon a time, my trainer thought it would be fun to do weighted squats to the song Sally Up by Moby. When the song said “up”, we stood, when it said “down” we squat and hold. The next couple days, I surprised myself with all the involuntary exclamations I made while trying to do normal things like walk or sit down to pee.
Eventually, (I can’t really believe I’m going to say this) your body gets used to the torture and actually starts to like it. You may even reach a point where you push yourself just for fun (gasp!). If you have the inclination, a massage is a wonderful tool to help work out some of those kinks.
I love reading about your adventures and am cheering you on!
Ah thanks Michelle, truly all those voices in the cheering section are what keeps me going! A massage might be the way forward, that’s an inspired idea ?
I personally think that massage on sore muscles is horrible torture. When I did my “12 days of hell” intense exercise leading up to my 40th birthday, I capped it off with a massage that was a birthday present from my husband. I asked the lady for a gentle relaxation massage. I got a deep tissue mauling. So much pain. I was trying to slide off the opposite side of the table to get away. I was sore for days. And the lady told me (mind you I was planning a birthday cocktail party that night) that I should probably avoid alcohol for a while because she’d released lots of toxins from my muscles! Arg!
Great! I remember I once had a massage at the Thai school of massage and I thought they’d transport me to heaven and back. On reflection I definitely went down not up!!
Dee: I think the “slow to start thing” is just how it goes with exercise. I have been a runner for many years (I am in your age group, btw) and I always feel like I am shuffling along the first mile or so. Think of it as warming up, which all the exercise experts are big on. 🙂 Also, in case you don’t know – an over the counter foot brace to be worn at night will help a lot with the plantar fasciitis. It sounds to me like you are doing GREAT! 🙂
A foot brace, really? I should look into that, I’ve never heard of such a thing but it doesn’t half hurt sometimes! Thanks for the encouragement ?