Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Back from the Gym

BYU-Idaho: BYU-Idaho Center &emdash; BYU-Idaho CenterHey there, I just got home from the gym!  This morning I went to the track here at the good old BYU-I center.  It's a nice indoor track and I like exercising there.  I am on week 5 of my Cto5K (Couch to 5K).  This week is a big step up.  Day 1 in the week, you walk 5, jog 5, walk 3, jog 5, walk 3, walk 5 (the first and last 5 minutes are warm up and cool down).  That was Monday and today was Day 2 for this week which is, walk 5 (warm up), then jog 8, walk 5, jog 8 and then on to the 5 min cool down.  On Friday it will be walk 5 (warm up), then jog 20 with no walking and then a 5 min cool down - I am scared...but excited.  This does not sound impressive to people who are runners, or naturally athletic or under the age of 25.  Maybe this doesn't sound impressive to anyone...but it is a big accomplishment for me.

I remember a different life when I was an athlete.  Most of my friends don't know that I was a competitive swimmer for the majority of my young life.  Actually...I still hold records at a few swim clubs in Utah, which is kind of a fun thing.  You know, one of those things where you show your kids and they ask if that was really you or just someone who had your name.  I wonder why it is so hard for them to believe...oh yeah...I have a different life now and do not look or act like an athlete.  I remember when I was in college and I would jog.  I didn't have to slowly and gradually get myself in shape enough to run for 30 minutes...I could just do it.

But that was a different life, a different season. 

For the past several years I have had some health problems that really have prevented me from getting into a good exercise routine.  (Maybe someday I can talk about that - it might be healing...I wonder).  I would get so mad at myself that I just didn't seem to have enough will power to make it happen.  I began to think of myself as pretty much an unmotivated slob. Eventually I realized that it was not just a matter of my mental inability, but that there was something physically wrong, a few things actually.  I am in the process of trying to get better physically.  I have mentioned before that since June of 2011 I have had 2 major surgeries.  Both of these surgeries require a long recovery period and I have been told it takes at least a year to feel like you are 100% again after these procedures.  So...I am only 8 months out from the second and the fact that I have actually begun an exercise program and have been able to stick with it and not fall apart is pretty exciting for me.  I wonder if I will ever really be 100% again and honestly, I don't even know what that would be.  I am now in my late 30s and I don't even know what 100% for someone at my age and stage is!  I don't know if I will ever again feel like I have the energy to get everything done.  Maybe that is OK.  Maybe I am just in yet another season of life, but this one looks and feels better to me than the season of physical illness I have been passing through.  For now, I'm just glad that I can say that I am just home from the gym - tired, but happy.