Weight, weight, don't tell me.

Last May I joined the local gym so I could loose my pregnancy sympathy weight. Our youngest child was 10 years old by then, so I figure it was time.

Back in 1998 I damaged the meniscus in my left knee while playing a variation of volleyball. Then in May of 1999 I completely ruptured my ACL in that same knee. It was repaired very well by a surgeon, but it has never been the same. The amount of strenuous exercise had been pretty low from 2000-2012, and I guess my metabolism has slowed down some.

Pounds started adding up, and my knees started aching worse and worse.

So I hit the gym. I met with a trainer a few times, learned how to use the equipment, discussed my diet and got into a routine. For quite a few months I was a gym rat. 5-7 days a week I alternated between upper body and lower body workouts. I increased my cardio workouts and got up to an 8 mile run on the treadmill. I was making some serious progress considering I hadn't even run a mile since about 1993 when I was a senior in high school.

Then some issues started to crop up. While jumping rope, I aggravated my foot and ended up with planter fasciitis. I started physical therapy for that in early January and ended up having to take a break from lower body workouts for 2 months while a huge knot in my calf was worked out and my foot pain subsided. That was all corrected by shoe inserts for my lack of pronating arches and better calf stretching to relieve knotting.

Getting back on the running has been slow progress, but I ran three miles last week and two miles yesterday so I hope to continue to improve there.

Then about three weeks ago I woke up to severe pain in my left chest. Not a heart attack thankfully, but after 3 days of constant pain and tough nights trying to sleep, Amy took me to the doctor. Turns out that the cartilage between my rib cage and muscles was inflamed and I needed to take some pretty strong anti-inflammatory pills to get rid of it. There is no known cause as to what happened, so I didn't do anything wrong and there is no way to avoid it again, but still, it set me back a few weeks on doing upper body workouts.

Getting healthier is killing me! :)

I am now working on getting back to the gym regularly and alternating my workouts again. My original goal was to get my body weight from about 195 down to 185 or so. Problem is that I gained so much muscle that I am now about 205, but I carry my weight much better. 185 is no longer realistic.

I'm not going to worry about what the scale says. Frankly it doesn't know shit. :)

What matters most is that now I can run a few miles and not pass out. I can lift more than ever before. I can do 40 push-ups in one set instead of over the course of a few days.

Next week I will be turning 38 and despite some set backs from injuries I know that I am in better health as an almost 38 year old than I was at 36. Maybe by the time I am 40 I can run a marathon or a half marathon. Last Summer, Amy and I took a 42 mile bike ride, and with any luck we will surpass that this bike season.

Speaking of which, it is almost time to get those bikes ready. Tighten the gear cables, check the brakes, and of course, grease those squeaky wheels, because the wheel keeps on spinning.