I was so close to not going to Bulldog this morning that I even almost drove by the Pound instead of parking! It all started when I woke up...almost every hour on the hour last night. I finally fell asleep just before the alarm went off. The dogs wouldn't allow for any snooze time though. But even as I was up, I was planning: If I don't go today, I can go tomorrow and then try to go Friday, even though it will be really hard for Friday. Or maybe I could go tonight and then Friday. Or maybe just tomorrow and then hang it up for this week. I could go back to bed for an hour and then get up and work out at home....So many options that would have led to a missed Bulldog today and probably only two sessions this week. But then I saw "kettlebell" online in the workout for today and I was lured in once again.
But as I drove to Bulldog, I felt twinges of pain. I don't know what blog etiquette requires with respect to t.m.i. -- but I'm a pretty straight forward gal when it comes to talking about one's body. I have a cyst that is not small and it's pushing on some of my internal stuffing. It can turn and twist and cause a lot of discomfort. So the twinge before a workout didn't seem like a good sign. I tried to focus on singing Aha's "Take on Me" (laugh if you will, but that guy was hot in his 80's jeans!) and ignoring the pain. But I did think as I drove up to the building, "Hmmmm, no one knows I made it this far..." kettlebell...kettlebellllllllllll....whispered the wind. Or maybe it was Juanita. Anyway, I parked and went in.
I warmed up but took it easy. Then the lifting session: front squats (my worst lift, I think) I have no max for this yet, so Gio recommended 5 x 55lbs, 5 x 65lbs, and 5 x 75lbs. It was not easy, but I did them. Thanks to my fine partners Mary and Laura! But the pain got a little worse. I acknowledged it, but moved on to the workout:
3 rounds of
30 kettlebell swings (American-style [overhead] not as fun as Love American Style, but pretty close)
30 kettlebell sumo deadlift high pulls
15 lunges with kettlebell (15 each leg)
15 sit ups with your friend the kettlebell
I tried to sneak by with a 20lb kettlebell, but Gio wasn't having it. 26 lbs.
The first round was already pretty killer. If my form were better on the swings and sdhps, it would probably not be as tiring. But it was what it was, and I made it through the round.
Halfway into the second round I started to feel a telltale warning cramp. When this happened before, a few months ago, I thought I could push through it. I did push through it then and wound up in pretty bad shape, missing two days of work and a couple weeks of Bulldog. This time I completed the second round, and I knew that I probably could have completed the third round. Not quickly, not easily, but I could get through. But it would have possibly cost me an injury and missed Bulldog days.
So I completed the second round (in 23:50) and told Gio that I was calling it quits. It was actually very difficult to make myself stop. To not finish the workout. I felt like I let myself down and everyone else who was cheering me on. Funny, isn't it? I can go from having to be lured to the gym by a kettlebell workout, to having a hard time deciding to end a workout when I know it could lead to injury. My mind is a very tricky structure. But Gio understood my disappointment and pointed out what an accomplishment completing even two rounds is for me. He is right. Two out of three ain't bad! (You knew I had to get back there, right?)
By the time I got home, I was in some pretty bad pain, but happily some ibuprofen, coffee, and a good breakfast fixed me up. I have a surgery in my not-so-distant future, but I am so looking forward to not having this thing to worry about anymore.
It is not easy to learn the difference between pain that you can push through and pain that you should stop for. I am still working on this. I think it takes experience, intuition, and maybe even making a bad choice here and there and experiencing an injury.
I'll be back at Bulldog tomorrow a.m. or Friday at the latest. (Note: I could have taken the "Twisted Cyster" route for this blog, but chose Meatloaf as the more palatable choice. Get it?)
One more Meatloaf graphic that totally cracked me up:
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