Thursday, January 13, 2011

Following the Dogs Uphill Makes My Burning Calves Scream for Help

I have been so very busy these past few days, helping a family member with a variety of tasks. Making a contribution, so it is all good.

One of the tasks I have taken over for her is walking her two dogs. Since my son and his wife live halfway up an incredibly steep hill, I can either walk down and then back up, or walk up and then back down. I choose to do the up down option, and while I thought my legs were in pretty good shape, OMG!! I walk the dogs one at a time, since one is under a year old and wild as a hare, and both trips give me cause for some serious breathing and some real thinking about the condition of my body.

I definitely need to stretch before I begin walking the dogs. By the time I have gone three blocks straight up, my poor calves are BURNING with pain. I take some small consolation in the fact that I must be getting rid of some serious calories with all this pain. My heart is racing, I am out of breath, and I am wishing the dogs were not quite so eager to get to the top of the hill, which feels like a mountain by the time I get to the top. This morning, in the midst of my pain, I reveled in the reality that each step is moving me closer to health, and for that I am grateful.

Bring it on.

4 comments:

  1. Oh yes, definitely do the stretching thing next time. I know I for one am really bad about not stretching before and after a workout, and boy oh boy do I ever pay for it. Way to go on that exercise though, Digger! You're doing great!

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  2. Oh, I feel for ya. I would probably die from exertion half way up the hill.

    But keep going, sounds like great exercise! and congrats on the two pounds down on the challenge.

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  3. I have a bad right ankle, a left knee with a torn ACL, a right knee that makes creaky/crunchy sounds that mean I probably getting me some obesity-for-decades arthritis there, plantar fasciitis, and a numbing-below-the-left-knee-if-I-Walk-Fast issue.

    But, I do my walks. I can't do them as fast as I'd like, but I talk to my body as I walk and tell it to get healthy, adn tell my legs and feet to hang on and just keep moving and heal..I talk healing to my own body. :)

    It may be weird, but hey, the brain is a mysterious thing and who knows?

    Let's keep walking...and stretching!

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  4. Princess,

    You are so good! Walking with all those challenges. That is great. I like that you talk to your body, probably because I do the same thing...lol. I know people in the pool probably think I am nuts sometimes when I say things like "25 percent, baby" or "Oh, yeah!" or whatever I need to say to motivate myself along as I do my workout.

    Don't forget to also listen to your body. Take care of yourself.

    And yes, the brain is indeed a mysterious thing and a wonder to behold.

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