Rocking the Bright Orange Socks....

The storm had broken, and the sun was shining again. I had a good day at work, and I was ready for a better work-out. I reached into my drawer to grab some socks and a pair of Chelsey's neon orange footies caught my eye. Something came over me; I reached in, grabbed them and threw them on my feet.  I wasn't sure exactly what drove the decision, but I felt like the socks reflected my mood. I was ready for a technicolor work-out.

Chuck was on his way home and ready to "set the pace" for me again. We agreed I would head to the gym first and hit the weights until he was able to join me for our walk. I started out strong. I pushed myself to add repetitions to my exercises. I finished my entire routine and added some extra leg exercises since Chuck was still not there. I finished up with my sets of Ab exercises and then headed out to wait for him to arrive. I didn't have long to wait, and we set out quickly down the walking path.

I had apparently inspired him to push me even harder after my last blog entry, and he took off at a brisker pace than the day before. He strategically complimented me after only a few short steps on how great I was doing at keeping up with him. Whenever I showed the slightest tendency to lag behind he plied me with another compliment, and like Pavlov's dog I would pick up the pace again.

Not quite halfway through the walk, I realized that I was going to have to take a pit stop along the way. I had not planned well. Chuck pointed to the nearby woods with a laugh, but I wasn't that desperate, and told him I'd wait for the 7-11 that was just a little farther down the path. I raced ahead and hit the ladies room while Chuck plopped himself on the sidewalk waiting for my return. He may have been sitting, but I decided I could multi-function and continue the work-out even as I made my pitstop. Instead of slowing things down by papering the toilet seat, I would simply hover and work my legs out a little further in the process.

I was in and out in a flash, and we were back on our path. Chuck continued pushing us down the road, and I continued to keep pace though my legs were starting to feel the effects of the increased pace and added exercises. We were three quarters of the way through the walk when Chuck glanced down and noticed my socks. "Nice socks," he remarked with a little laugh. "What possessed you to wear those?"  

"I knew they would inspire me to work harder," I replied, and I was right. I was rocking the orange socks, and I was rocking my work-out. A few minutes later, however, I started slowing down. Chuck reached for my hand to pull me along a little faster, but I had the wisdom to tell him I needed to back off just a little. I was starting to feel a pull in my back that wasn't simply the ache of a great work-out, but a potential harbinger of another problem. My heart was still feeling neon orange, but my body was not cooperating any longer. I struggled through the last hundred feet and made it back to the car without causing any additional problems. I glanced down at my socks and smiled. They had done their job for the day, perhaps a little too well, but so had I.