Getting back to business....

I arrived home last night around 8:30 pm, and was back in my gym this morning by 8:00 am. It was time to get back to business. I somehow managed to maintain a limited routine while I was away, but I knew I needed to hit the gym as soon as possible, and start the business of getting back to life as usual. The only difference in today's routine and previous routines would be that I had my daughter home to join me as my work-out partner.

The good thing about working out with my daughter is she keeps me smiling throughout the routine. The bad news about working out with my daughter is she is twenty something years younger than me, so her stamina, pace and abilities are at a different level. None the less, she is another skinny girl trying to get healthier, so despite the difference in our ages and abilities, we are still a good match for each other.

We hit the elliptical machines first. I had not been on one for over two weeks, and thought it would be a good way to push myself. Little did I realize it would feel like I was starting all over again. After a short five minutes on my machine I was struggling. I was kicking myself, because I had just told Chelsey we needed to stay on for thirty minutes, and I couldn't imagine how I was possibly going to make it for the full time. I don't know if it was the stress of the past few weeks or simply the fact that I had curtailed my work-outs, but I had definitely lost my stamina. I glanced over at my daughter. She was moving at a pretty swift pace and barely seemed to be breaking a sweat. My instinct was to push myself faster, but instead I started repeating over and over to myself, "Slow and steady wins the race, Slow and steady wins the race.." If I was going to make it to thirty minutes, which seemed to seriously be in doubt, I had to pace myself.

Finally somewhere between the 20 and 24 minute mark, I realized I had stopped struggling and was feeling good. I wasn't focusing on how much longer I had to keep working. I wasn't watching my speed. I wasn't comparing my score board to my daughter's. My endorphins had kicked in. I was going to make my thirty minutes and I was moving faster than a turtle's pace. I smiled happily to myself, and then caught sight of my heart rate flashing at me from the statistic screen. The number 199 was blinking at me. I thought to myself, that can't possibly be right, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, "What if it is?". I looked over at my speed. I was moving along at a 4.2 pace. The prudent part of me decided I had better slow things down again. The machine was probably just wrong, but no need to find out the hard way if it wasn't. So I slowed my pace and my heart rate, but continued to the end of the thirty minutes.

Chelsey hopped off a few minutes after I did, and we headed to the weight section. I had struggled with the elliptical, but I felt right at home with the weights. I even found myself in the instructor role, as Chelsey had never worked out with free weights before. I walked Chelsey through each of the exercises, and pondered to myself how in a few short months, I had reached a point where I felt confident enough in my abilities that I could pass along the benefit of my experience to someone else for a change. Getting back to business, while a little bumpy at first, had proven to be just what I needed to start my weekend. I left the gym a little sore, a little worn out, but feeling happy and satisfied.