Strength Training...

It pains me to say this... I mean, it REALLY pains me... but I'm trying to build muscle again in my leg.

A few things led up to this...

First, I'm getting really tired of favoring one leg over the other. I'm also tired of being "nervous" while going up or down stairs.

However, I noticed that when I went up some stairs last week, my leg felt a little stronger. Hmmm... maybe I need to be doing something to take advantage of this "new found strength???"

Last week, I mentioned this to someone and they said, "Why not put your stationary bike in front of the TV? Maybe that'll force you to ride."

Then on Saturday, my brotherinlaw calls me up and does his best to convince me to get my butt to the gym. (No... I'm not ready yet... ahem!) But it still got me to thinkin'...

So with all of those forces at play, I moved the bike into the living room. And looked at it...
a long time...

I thought, "Well, if it doesn't kill me it'll make me stronger. Or both."

I then hopped up on it. Now, I don't know what I can do... so I figured I'd just pedal and see what happens. I thought, "Hmmm... maybe I'll ride for 30 minutes." (Insert laughter)

Well, here's what happened: After a minute, I was already looking at the clock wanting to know how long it's been... "Only 1 minute! Geez Louise!!!" The next minute wasn't any better. In fact, it felt worse. I could feel that pain throughout the entire quadriceps muscle... and it was not happy!

After a few more minutes, I'm feeling it in my knee. Believe you me... that sucker was swearin' at me! I pushed and pushed and now I'm at about 8 minutes and thinking, "My gosh... this is ridiculous how weak I am... how winded I am... uuugh." And the crazy thing was my OTHER knee started hurting, too. Awesome.

I decided to end it at the 10 minute mark. I know... not much... but I challenged myself and I felt better for accomplishing that. Baby steps.

I have since ridden 3 more times. Today, my knee/leg is pretty sore... so I'm giving it a break. I'm still riding at 10 minutes, but I've noticed it's not as bad as the first ride. Maybe things are getting better...

You never know what you can accomplish until you decide to hop up on that horse, huh???