easing myself back into the saddle
As I mentioned in my last post, I forgot to ask the neurosurgeon what physical activity would be safe for me with my herniated discs. I hadn’t really exercised at all since December 15, when I took a Pilates class that nearly killed me. It was only a 30-minute class and I spent about 15 of those minutes sprawled on my mat, in tears from the pain. The combination of the pain and just not knowing what was wrong with me (and, yeah, the laziness that the holidays always inspires in me) made me stop exercising altogether.
I’m assuming that jogging is out for awhile, as the impact could be too harsh, and with my left arm kind of weak and my neck only comfortable in certain angles, that limits what I can do. But I wanted to do something because I want to keep my muscles limber so that when I can jog and do yoga and Pilates again, I won’t be starting all over. I figured that riding the stationary bike would be a good solution.
Today, I dusted off my workout clothes and climbed onto the stationary bike armed with my iPhone and an unwatched episode of Hoarders on Netflix. I did a fairly low-key 30 minutes on the bike at various intensities and cleared almost 7 miles in 30 minutes. It felt so SO good to sweat again.
Here’s me, trying to take a picture of my post-bike glow while not being a creeper in the locker room. Please note how the new haircut will not be contained.
After the Great Race, I got it into my head that I wanted to do the half-marathon for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May. I bought a training app a few months ago and nervously looked forward to January 9th, 2012, when I would start my training plan. Well, that’s today, and I think it’s safe to say that I probably won’t be better in time to go from 5k jogger to half-marathon runner by May. This bums me out. But it’s just not meant to be this year. So, my new goal is to 1) heal, 2) run the Great Race 10k in September, and 3) run the half-marathon in May 2013. Think I can do it?
January 9th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Can you do it? Of course you can. You are a bad.ass.
January 10th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Fuck yeah, you can do it. I am scared of marathons, so your more gradual plan makes me feel better, since this is all about me. And a 10k in September is nothing to shake a herniated disc at, my friend. Heal up and feel better.