So you won't see any "check-ins" at the gym from me this week. My training has become much like covert ops. Sneaking around to different gyms at odd times so that I'm not seen by anyone who knows me. Why, you ask? 2 reasons...embarrassment, and the misconceptions of the public. Let me explain...
Thursday night I re-aggravated my injury while lifting at the Y. After trying to limp around, and then becoming unable to put weight on my leg, it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to get out of the Y on my own. As staff there, I know that only means one thing...going out in an ambulance. If only my husband had been in town. I would have had no problem laying on the weight room floor waiting for him to come carry me out of there. Leaving the gym in an ambulance is embarrassing enough when you don't work there...being staff makes it 10 times worse. So, I'm not looking forward to walking back in there and facing the funny looks, and having to tell the story over and over again. I got hurt. It happens to the best of us. Let's move on.
As for misconceptions, I think everyone from my mother to my trainers thinks that I am crazy and over-doing it. The last thing I want to do is set a bad example for my clients and class participants, so I really need to clear this one up. I have NOT done anything that my doctor's have not said it was ok to do!!!! In other words, if they told me to stop doing something, I have. It's why I haven't worked abs in a month - even though it's killing me not to!!! Every time I have been told to limit or eliminate a movement, I have. And when it has been time to add it back in, I have done so cautiously. I just happen to be dealing with a very tricky injury, with ever-changing symptoms.
Thursday night did seem to be the breaking point, and I was told 2 things that I didn't want to hear...
1. You need to take the next few days off. "off?" I said. Yes, off. Completely. No workouts. Period.
2. You need to back off your level and intensity of activity and gradually get back into this.
OK, number one was really hard to swallow. Friday was easy, I was in no shape to work out, the pain was still too intense. Saturday wasn't so bad either, I spent a lot of it in the car, and I went to a posing workshop, so I at least felt productive that day. Sunday, however, was the killer. I set my alarm with every intention of getting up and doing my cardio. I planned out my meals in my head to make sure I could get a lift before the gym closed. Then I got out of bed, and my leg was screaming at me. Apparently, my body has a better time following directions than my head does. I took Sunday off as well. It wasn't easy. and today I feel like a lazy bag of ****, but I'm not in pain this morning. Maybe there is a trade-off here.
So number 2 was a little easier to hear, but will prove difficult to deal with in the long run. With less than 9 weeks til show time, I don't have much wiggle room, so the training must keep rolling. My training schedule is 3 days of one cardio and one lift, with 2 cardio sessions on day 4, then repeat. And repeat. And repeat. The classes that I teach have nothing to do with my training schedule and don't count towards any of those 14 workouts per week. It doesn't matter if I teach my normal 4 or if I'm subbing a lot and end up teaching 10, I still have to hit those other workouts to keep moving towards my goal. When I teach, it is also more difficult for me to pull back on or monitor my intensity - because I am there to give the class a good workout and that's where my focus is. Training on my own gives me much more control over intensity and speed of movement. So, for the next week, you won't see me teaching classes. My body needs that extra time to recover and needs a break from the extra stress and pounding. Plus, my mom said to slow down, and you can't ignore mom right?
And, just so people don't get the wrong idea, you probably won't see me lifting or doing my cardio either - because I'll be sneaking around to do it!! NOT because I'm not listening to my doctors, but because I don't want to give people the wrong impression and accidentally become a bad example.
It is important to listen to your body. I am, even if it doesn't appear that way. While I am MIA the next week, know that I am thinking about all of you, and hoping that you are training just as hard as ever. I'm hoping that when I resurface, I will be back stronger than ever. In the meantime, pay no mind to that person in the corner dressed all in black with their cap pulled down low!!
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