Back to the Gym...

Yesterday was a big day for me...

I returned to my gym.

This was my first time to walk through those doors since April. It was my own "right of passage" that I felt I needed to accomplish in order to be on my way for recovery.

The first thing I wanted to do was to figure out how strong my leg is. Earlier this year, when I was training, I would do various leg exercises to strengthen my leg muscles. Knowing that I'm not allowed to do any sort of "knee bends," that limited me in some respect.

I sat down on the leg extension machine... in the past, I would usually put 60-70 lbs or more on it. The least amount of weight that it would take with a pin in it was 30. Well, I tried it... and I barely got the extended.

I'll be honest... it shocked me.

I then pulled the pin and I figured that just moving the bar up and down was about 15 lbs. I did one set... and my heart was speaking to me big time. I know I should have been prepared, but it really was working on my emotions to know how far back I am in my conditioning. Even a year ago, when I first started training for a Half Marathon, I could at least do 50 lbs.

I did a few more sets... and all the while, I kept thinking, "My gosh... I've got a lot of work ahead of me." And so, by the time I got off the machine, I was determined to put it all behind me. The past is the past... what's done is done... and I can't compare myself to my old body. This is what I've got to work with, so I might as well make the best of it.

I then went to another machine and worked my hamstrings and calves, and then decided to head upstairs - bikes and treadmills.

Plopping down on a "sit down bike," I set the timer for 20 minutes. I then started it up... and biked. It was a very odd feeling - letting the knee go in the "bicycle" motion. Halfway through, it was starting to hurt, but not too bad. I pressed on... and finished with 5 miles! That felt like a big accomplishment to me.

I then headed over to the treadmill... set it for 20 minutes and a bit of an incline (I'm a man of routine). I walked and walked... by 10 minutes, I was feeling pretty tired. I almost quit, but figured I'd go for 12 minutes. After that, I felt good enough to go another 2... and I just kept doing that. Sure enough, I made it to the 20 minutes... 1.10 miles!

And that was it... I couldn't go anymore. I went down the stairs, and came home. I was done. But I felt really good... and I was able to accomplish something I haven't done in a long time.

Today? I'm pretty sore... but I'm hoping to maybe go back in a few days. For the "moms" out there, I'm not going to overdo it.

So I'm on my way... one small step at a time.