World of Pain

I’m the type of person that loves to workout. I don’t feel like myself if I don’t. Nothing gives me more joy than a good, challenging, physical session. I’m all over anything that requires me to push myself and test my limits. Not every day mind. I do look forward to those recovery days in between the tougher sessions, when all I have is a warm-up and some stretching, but generally I’m a whore for the tough workouts. The only thing I find is that I’m unable to train without a goal. Something specific I’m aiming towards. I just have no interest in working out for no good reason. There needs to be a reason.

That being said, I have given myself a bit of a break lately. When I got back from my pace-making tour of Europe, almost 4 weeks ago, I decided to rest my weary self or rather my body demanded it of me, when I picked up my jet-lag with a twist illness. But even prior to that, in order to get myself light and fast for the racing, I had stopped lifting weights. Honestly, its been a good 2 months now since I entered a weight room, let alone lifted a weight.

But the road racing season is about to kick off again here in Atlanta and because my friend Mike and I did pretty well in the couple of races we ran in last year, we’ve decided to put in some mileage and give them another go this year. And since I’m always on the hunt for a challenge and a reason to workout, this is the perfect excuse. So yesterday, after a 2-month hiatus, I returned to the weight room. And when I tell you every muscle in my body is crying out in pain right now, I mean every muscle in my body, IS crying out in pain.

I DO NOT have full range of motion in any of my muscle groups. Not my neck, not my shoulders, not my pecks, not my stomach, not my ass, not my saddle bags (that area between the top of the hamstring and the glutes), not my hamstring, quads or calves. Nothing. I hurt like a mofo. I feel like a crash victim and I’m walking around at a pace much slower than my norm and in a style, which is very reflective of Frankenstein. It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand. I need to lower myself very slowly onto any type of seat. The car, the toilet, the office chair, all of it. And once down, don’t get me started on trying to get myself back up. Stairs are also proving a nightmare, up or down, it doesn’t really matter, all of it hurts.

I know my pain is temporary and once my muscles re-adapt, I’ll be just fine, as long as I can survive the rest of the week. It’s amazing the damage a few squats, lunges, bench press, step-ups etc.... can do to a body. But on a positive note, cos we should always focus on the positive, Wednesday, I get to do it all again, so Thursday my pain should be much worse. Good times ahead.