Hello Old Friends! It's been a while....

That title sounds like the beginning of a cheesy 80’s song doesn’t it (Acutally, I think it is!)?  Well for me today, it was the recurring theme for my workout.  With the swelling in my ankle down after 3 weeks off (OMG seriously!?!?!), my food for the week taken care of (Thank you again to My Fit Foods) and feeling like a sloth sitting on the couch, I made my goal for today to officially get back in the gym. 

I decided to go during my lunch as I am not back in the routine of getting up early yet. All morning while I was doing my work for my full time job, I had my workout music blaring in the back ground.  Hello old friend #1!  Thanks for getting me pumped up and motivated. 

At the stroke of noon, I mixed up my usual workout drink of water and glutamine (tastes like cherry), grabbed my music, slapped on my shoes and was out the door!  As I was walking to the clubhouse in my condo complex, I started sipping my drink. Hello Old Friend #2!  The taste was immediately familiar. 

All of a sudden in my head it was 2006 and I was getting ready for my figure show.  It all flooded back in…the hard work, the dedication, the motivation, the exhaustion, the sweat, but mostly the desire.  It is the type of desire that drives a person to do their very best and leave nothing on the table.  It is the type of desire that drives a person to all ends of the earth and enables them to jump over or mow down any obstacle in the way of their goal.  At that moment I knew I this was going to be a HARD but GREAT day back.

As I walked into the workout room I saw that no one was there.  It was just me.  No one was there to distract me. No one was there to steal the equipment.  No one was there to make sure that I got every set and rep done.  No one was there to keep me from slacking off.  I was completely alone and on my own.  It was all me!  I took a moment to scan the room and take inventory:  Elliptical, treadmill, bike, free weights, benches, universal machine, and stability ball.   Hello Old Friends #3!  Oh my I have missed you. 

Finally, I took a deep breath, turned on my music and went to work.  Mostly, I took aim at my chest and my triceps.  Since my ankle was feeling good I added some basic cardio intervals.   However, my abdominals were feeling a little bit jealous so I pounded on them for a bit too.  After I had sufficiently punished myself with weights I started to walk towards the door and paused at the bike (boy do I miss spinning).  I got on to see how it worked and how it felt to ride.  Well, it must have felt good and familiar because before I knew it 10 minutes had passed.  It felt so good that I could feel my body craving more.  And even though I had not done ANY activity in 3 WEEKS (Man I was SUCKING WIND!), the more I pedaled, the better I felt!  Unfortunately, after those 10 minutes I had to call it quits so I could get back to work.   And just like that 55 minutes after I had walked into that room, I was walking out.  My goal for today was met!

Mentally, I feel awesome.  Physically I am toasted.  I believe that my muscles do each have minds of their own.  Today I could feel them shaking in what I am going to describe as FEAR (in reality it is FATIGUE).  Tomorrow I am positive they will be screaming at me in ANGER (in reality this will be SORENESS).  My response to them is this…..Bring it on!  I welcome the pain!  Change does not come without some degree of mental or physical pain!

Monday Motivation.... 
You are only ONE workout away from a good mood!