This Was A Bigger Deal Than I Knew...

Yesterday, I drew the line in the sand and made the decision that today was Day One...a new beginning to reclaiming my fitness...the point at which I would head back to the gym and begin my do-over of the past fifteen months.  And I did.  And it was hard.  Really hard.  But it was also a much bigger deal than I anticipated it would be.

Physically, I wasn't nearly as bad off as I was the first time I stepped in a gym four years ago, despite the fact that I now have one new titanium knee and one old bone-on-bone arthritic knee that's getting its own titanium upgrade in four more months.  That was a big surprise for me.  In all fairness, I am nowhere near as fit as I was when the knee problems forced me out of the gym back at the end of 2013. But I'm also not nearly as out of shape as I was my first day in a gym in 2011. Those two and a half years of workouts had some residual effects on my body. They also left an imprint on my brain.

I wanted to get on an elliptical today at the gym to be very friendly to my knees while I did my cardio workout, but they were filled.  So I went to the exercise bikes and was able to raise my heart rate enough to hit my own cardio range while I pedaled for half an hour. My knees did surprisingly well, especially the new one.  The old one balked and squealed at me, but I ignored its whining and went right on pedaling.  Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and do what you have to do, and today was one of those times.