The Back

Well, I'm pleased to report that since Wednesday's adventure with sciatica, things are looking up. I was sore the rest of the day, but that was to be expected. I woke up yesterday feeling pretty good, and I had a fantastic run (26 minutes without stopping, go me!!) that made me loosen up and feel even better. The rest of the day I felt fine except for occasional twinges in my beleaguered nerve that had me gasping in fear and then relaxing as a mere two seconds later, they subsided.

Today, things are even better, though I didn't have such a great run. I claim exhaustion--I worked out at the gym on my own this morning, doing many of the exercises M. the Reasonable has shown me recently: elevated push-ups, hanging rows, step-back lunges, sideways lunges with a 10-pound medicine ball. M. made a point of checking up on me to see how my back was. He was delighted yesterday when I texted him that I was feeling much better, but he's still concerned about ongoing issues, as am I. Still, I completed all of my exercises today without pain, and M. even took some of his own personal workout time (off the clock) to help me stretch again, which was very nice of him.

So tomorrow, I run again, and on Sunday, I get a day off from pounding the pavement. I don't want to be completely lazy, so I'm planning to go to another yoga class at the gym. We both agreed today that getting more stretching in my life isn't a bad thing.

On Monday, it's back to working with M....and also our monthly weigh-in and measurement-taking. I was weighed yesterday at Planned Parenthood and I was two pounds down. I was disappointed until I figured out that hey, they weighed me wearing jeans and boots, whereas when I weigh at the gym, I'm in running leggings and no shoes. Plus, I had pasta for dinner on Wednesday night.

So I'm hoping I'll be below 170 on Monday, though Auntie Flo is on her way and she does have an annoying tendency to turn me into a camel each month...even G. never bothered weighing me when I said the magic words ("I have my period.").

The most important thing is that I feel good--my muscles are starting to come back to form. Today in the shower I leaned down to soap up one calf (my foot was propped on the edge of the tub) and nearly swooned in delight at my own muscles. I even discovered tonight that under my belly fat are some pretty nice little ab muscles coming into their own. Mom notices a difference in my overall silhouette, and I know that the number on the scale is really only a superficial indicator of how I'm doing.

I'm enjoying working with a trainer again--I think I need the interaction and guidance sometimes. And M. knows what he's doing and has been really great about helping me through the back issues this week. I think once the nerve recovers from it's recent pinching (I'm pretty sure it was a muscle spasm that caused all this, but then, I'm not a doctor, nor have I talked to any about this), I'll be back on form and I look forward to kicking some more ass at the gym. Namely, my own.