Something New

Last week I picked up a pedometer, so I could start trying to keep a more accurate tally of exactly how far I was walking on a regular basis each day. I tracked it for two whole days, and then forgot to attach it when I ran out the door Saturday morning to pick up my daughter from the ER. I spent the better part of the weekend hovering over my daughter after her first seizure in seven months. It's not that she needed me too; rather I needed to. I wanted to erase her pain and disappointment. She had passed the magic deadline and had a driver's license in her sights; I knew this was going to hit her hard. I could remind her that there was a time when we counted days between seizures instead of months, but while I knew she was thankful for how far she had come, like any other 24 year old, she still wanted the independence her own vehicle could provide her.  So I stayed near in case she needed me, and provided the little comfort she allowed me to give.

Monday morning, as I headed out the door to work, I went to find my pedometer to start keeping track again, only to discover that at some point during my prolonged absence on Saturday, my puppy had managed to find something new to play with. I added pedometer to the list of items I needed from the store and headed to work. After the sedentary weekend, I decided to fit in a few extra walks throughout the day. By the time I got home from work, Charlie was still not feeling her best, so instead of heading to the gym, I decided I would simply take Hines for a walk and then try out my new Kettle weight. I didn't expect to get a great work-out, but at least I would be able to work some of my muscle groups and that would make me feel less guilty about staying home.

I ripped open the package, and popped the DVD into the TV. I moved the furniture to give myself room to move, and then waited for the work-out to begin. It started nice and easy with some basic stretches. I was a little surprised, because I really had just expected an instructional video. Here is how to do exercise A, B, C, etc....instead, I realized it actually was a full work-out video routine incorporating the kettle. The first few moves seemed easy enough, but as we started into multiple repetitions, I found myself starting to breathe heavier very quickly. Ten minutes into the routine and I was huffing and puffing! I was frankly amazed, and was slightly relieved when the instructor pointed out that even seasoned athletes had difficulty in the beginning with these routines because they worked the body in a much different way than the other more traditional cardio routines people were used to.

I had to adjust my reps on certain exercises and fore go an exercise that pulled my back, but overall by the time I stopped, I had gotten in one very good work-out. My guilt was completely gone, and I was pleasantly surprised that I had found something new and challenging to turn to. The routine had worked all of my muscles and my heart as well.  The only down side that I could see was the slight fear that until I learned the routine by heart, my klutzy gene might strike, and in one of the many swinging motions involved, I would lose grip of the weight and fling it into the TV. (Mental Note: Always work-out in front of the TV my husband was lobbying for me to replace!)  This wouldn't be my every day routine, but it was definitely going to be a go-to routine on days that I had less time for my work-out or on days where the gym just was a trip too far.

The world seemed just a bit brighter, and once again I found myself calmed by a work out. It's taken me 46 years to get wise, but I'm finally figuring things out.