Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Three minutes and ten repetitions?



“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, sure or with three minutes on an arm cycle and ten reps pushing with assistance on a slant board; optimism at its finest.

Whew, that was exhausting!

And to think I used to go to the gym for an hour and half a day, five days a week, just eight years ago, while in my fifties and about five years ago, still in my fifties I walked an hour around the neighborhood, with my cane switching back and forth due to my Ataxia, and even less than two years ago I did a half hour of floor exercises and then an hour in our pool for aquatics and a slow swim.

Gosh, how did I let this happen?

De-conditioning is the downfall of many of we, the chronically ill and with ills that we think prevent us from accomplishing what we know in our heart of hearts should be possible.

I was always an active child, I ran, faster than some boys, I played sports, like soft ball, as a catcher at the age of ten, took one in the throat from my fifth grade teacher, a great pitcher and even broke my finger playing touch football at the tender age of twelve a throw from a childhood friend. I horseback rode, I figure skated, I swam; I played tennis, not well, played ping pong and pool, pretty good. We, Hubby and I, bicycle rode, with our sons in seats on our bikes, on twenty-one mile round trips when we were both in our late twenties… I pushed their baby carriages for miles and miles around town and got back my pre-baby figure in just six short weeks, back to one hundred and three and even just ninety pounds, after our second son. I had gained forty pounds with my first and fifty pounds with my second son.

As an adult in my forties I raced walked three miles in forty minutes.

This is so unlike me to let this just happen, but being gun- shy with the heat sensitivity that sure plagues my brain, even now. It was the cause of me having to go back on IV steroid therapy after those six months of trying so hard not to do this, back in June of 2011… And I was not only exhausted I was very warm. Hubby did not hear me request for my bottle of club soda, yes I said club soda, and it has stomach soothing things in it like bicarbonate that plain water does not, but it is carried in our refillable stainless steel bottles, Hubby can drink tap water, while I cannot.

It gives me queasiness, and it is considered perfectly acceptable city water, which is tested yearly and we receive the reports, all tax payers do.

The idea today was to try for a total of fifteen minutes and to say I was disappointed is a vast understatement and angry at myself too.

It felt like torture for that way too short time and embarrassing small snippet of exercise?

But the good thing is; I did it!

And I will definitely be going back.

I napped this afternoon; I told you I was tired, another not like me happening.

And that miniscule stretching of my body’s abilities, which caused warmth, and not in a good way, well, it has caused a great thirst to come over me that I cannot seem to quench since I cannot seem to stop drinking more and more club soda even now as if I came back from a long trek into the desert.

My neck brace is on now too, but it has been on and off me for months, years.

Sharon was there to help once Hubby got her and before I needed help on that slanted board with transferring, this time it was easier with my wheelchair arm and leg support off, but I still felt like a dead weight and my pushing on the contraption is not evenly smooth yet…

Soon, and someday, I have oddly enough of a good feeling about this, and for my quote above, is to me to be my inspiration and the fact that I started with that quote, which is much, much older and wiser than I is significant!



On that note a very good one that I do hope, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share those overages with you know who and we will too!



And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

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