Dress Up and Show Up

Today was my first trip back in to the gym since a couple of weeks prior to the surgery. The first hurdle was in the bathroom this morning, getting my running shoes on. I loosened the laces, and gingerly pushed my foot down in to the shoe. Much to my amazement, they felt fantastic and provided much needed support that running around the house barefoot doesn't give. Once at the gym, I headed over to the elliptical and dialed in an easy interval workout. Almost immediately, my right quad fired up and began to ache. I was reminded to really focus on being balanced by the burn in my right leg. The recovering foot cramped, stung, whined and generally started to complain at me within minutes of starting the workout. I wanted to quit a dozen times, but didn't. I kept reminding myself that the pain I had endured prior to surgery was much worse (and different) than the pain I am having during recovery. I kept checking my posture in my reflection in the glass, and struggled to stay symmetrical. The good news is this mental game kept me so busy I wasn't clock watching. With a few minutes to go on the clock, I knew I had beat the first challenge workout. I wandered (wandered? heck...limped) over to the free weights and pumped out a few sets to make it an honest workout. I left the gym jubilant, revived, and very happy I stuck it out. It's great to be back in the saddle again!