I woke up yesterday with my legs really hurting. After like three minutes on the elliptical machine the day before, my legs were more than just a little strained. As soon as I can walk again - I'm gonna kick that elliptical machine's ass!
So, I got up at like 7, got breakfast and was on the road by 8. The Aqua Aerobics class was at 9. I forgot just how bad morning traffic in this town can be - I got to the gym at 9:02. Lesson learned. So, I poked my head in just to see what the class looked like: the class looked like 3 old ladies on pool noodles. I don't know if the class was late or what but I didn't see any aerobics.
To counter this, I jumped on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I didn't go hard or fast. I just hoped that walking would ease the pain in my thighs. And, it did. For a while.
I then lifted some heavy things. I love lifting heavy things. I want to lift many more heavy things. I want pecs and guns and and and elbows and ... ?
By the time I was done lifting, my legs were starting to tighten up. I kept getting up and walking between sets of lifting, but that didn't seem to help much.
I jumped in the shower and headed to the pool. The lanes were open. I haven't swam laps in a couple of decades. When I was a kid, I was chubby, but I could swim like a fish. Yesterday, I swam more like a buffalo. Actually, my swimming more resembled water-boarding. I need a lot more work. I made two laps in about 25 minutes. I had octogenarians lapping me on both sides. I will work to get better.
I moved to the hot tub and that finally loosened up my thighs. I stayed there until I raisined up. Showered and went to lunch - Indian Buffet, yum! I controlled my portions, but it wasn't easy. By the time lunch was done, I was gimping along. By the time I went to bed, I was using the cane. I'm surprised I got any sleep.
My legs are better this morning, but they still hurt. I'm taking the day off. I think I'll go back tomorrow. I think I just did too much too fast. The scary part is that I felt at the time I wasn't doing enough. I guess going from 0 to 25 with flat tires will do more damage than intended. Thankfully I didn't try to go 0 to 60!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Just keep swimming ...
A few weeks ago my doc told me to find a swimming pool. I have to exercise. My knees and ankles have taken a big hit from the gout (btw - I'm 30 days into the 60 day treatment that should cure the gout permanently and haven't had a problem since I started!) With the damage I've gotten from the gout, normal exercise is really tough. The doc suggested water aerobics, swimming or even just walking in the water - there's resistance there with less impact.
I started looking around. Most area public pools (Socialism at its finest!) have been closed. Great. The few that are open are scary expensive. One in Seattle charged $5 for a hour session and $4 for a shower! Even at $5 a session, three times a week, that's $60 a month. The YMCA is nearly that expensive and they, too, have fewer facilities and most of them in Seattle - I'm a suburbanite. After looking at that, I decided to look at Bally's - my ex-wife and I had memberships for years. We paid our dues long after we stopped going, but we had memberships! Bally's had a web special. The high end was $30 a month and I can go to any location nationwide - not that I'll be going to gym's all over the country, but the option is there. (The low end, one location only, was $21 a month - not bad compared to the public pool above.)
I joined. I'm out of work, sitting on my ass - I might as well go to the gym. I might cancel my WoW subscription to cost justify half the gym membership. But, $30 a month seems like a pittance to pay for better health. My meds cost me $180 for 3 months and that's after insurance. I get the weight off, I can drop the meds, too.
Today was the first day. I got a free session with a trainer, who proceeded to kick my ass! In all seriousness, he ran me through a reasonable routine that I will likely adopt, with the exception that I want to do most of my cardio in the pool. He put me on an elliptical machine for three minutes and my knees are still wobbly. The cardio made me want to die - the weight training, conversely, felt awesome! I can see how someone could get addicted to that. Also, even though I was there at a less busy time, that gym had one amenity the last Bally's I used did not: lotsa hot chicks! Yow! I wanna lose weight just so one of them will look at me!
After the death march through sexy momma town (I kid!) we went back to the trainer's area and I jumped on their scale. They actually had a scale that could weigh someone my size - impressive! It was bad. 461 is the number. I knew I was back up to 450, but that extra 11 hurts. The edema on my legs is really bad. But, I'm doing something about it, so, hopefully that number, and the edema, won't be around for long.
As a treat, I showered and jumped in the jacuzzi! Oh man! That's worth $30 a month right there. I might go now and then just for that. I think the group of old Asian women in the tub thought I was Godzilla - they left at speed - but once in the water I just could not think of a reason to care about what they thought!
For breakfast I had my diet standard: bananas & soy milk, today with some raisins and a little Splenda. Yeeeeah - that work out burned through that jazz. By the time I left I couldn't send a text message because my hands were shaking. I went to a local favorite Chinese restaurant and had Chicken and Snow Peas. The lunch size portion was perfect! I didn't eat the rice but I ate the soup - egg drop. The price was right, too. In all, a good first day on the diet.
Dinner tonight is BBQ chicken, light on the sauce and salad. Breakfast tomorrow will be the same bananas & soy milk - but I think I will add a Slim Fast bar on the way to class; my first aqua aerobics - at 9 AM! Wish me luck!
I started looking around. Most area public pools (Socialism at its finest!) have been closed. Great. The few that are open are scary expensive. One in Seattle charged $5 for a hour session and $4 for a shower! Even at $5 a session, three times a week, that's $60 a month. The YMCA is nearly that expensive and they, too, have fewer facilities and most of them in Seattle - I'm a suburbanite. After looking at that, I decided to look at Bally's - my ex-wife and I had memberships for years. We paid our dues long after we stopped going, but we had memberships! Bally's had a web special. The high end was $30 a month and I can go to any location nationwide - not that I'll be going to gym's all over the country, but the option is there. (The low end, one location only, was $21 a month - not bad compared to the public pool above.)
I joined. I'm out of work, sitting on my ass - I might as well go to the gym. I might cancel my WoW subscription to cost justify half the gym membership. But, $30 a month seems like a pittance to pay for better health. My meds cost me $180 for 3 months and that's after insurance. I get the weight off, I can drop the meds, too.
Today was the first day. I got a free session with a trainer, who proceeded to kick my ass! In all seriousness, he ran me through a reasonable routine that I will likely adopt, with the exception that I want to do most of my cardio in the pool. He put me on an elliptical machine for three minutes and my knees are still wobbly. The cardio made me want to die - the weight training, conversely, felt awesome! I can see how someone could get addicted to that. Also, even though I was there at a less busy time, that gym had one amenity the last Bally's I used did not: lotsa hot chicks! Yow! I wanna lose weight just so one of them will look at me!
After the death march through sexy momma town (I kid!) we went back to the trainer's area and I jumped on their scale. They actually had a scale that could weigh someone my size - impressive! It was bad. 461 is the number. I knew I was back up to 450, but that extra 11 hurts. The edema on my legs is really bad. But, I'm doing something about it, so, hopefully that number, and the edema, won't be around for long.
As a treat, I showered and jumped in the jacuzzi! Oh man! That's worth $30 a month right there. I might go now and then just for that. I think the group of old Asian women in the tub thought I was Godzilla - they left at speed - but once in the water I just could not think of a reason to care about what they thought!
For breakfast I had my diet standard: bananas & soy milk, today with some raisins and a little Splenda. Yeeeeah - that work out burned through that jazz. By the time I left I couldn't send a text message because my hands were shaking. I went to a local favorite Chinese restaurant and had Chicken and Snow Peas. The lunch size portion was perfect! I didn't eat the rice but I ate the soup - egg drop. The price was right, too. In all, a good first day on the diet.
Dinner tonight is BBQ chicken, light on the sauce and salad. Breakfast tomorrow will be the same bananas & soy milk - but I think I will add a Slim Fast bar on the way to class; my first aqua aerobics - at 9 AM! Wish me luck!
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