Back to the Gym

My illness last week was a period of enormous inactivity.  I'm not sure I've had that prolonged a fever for a few years.  It really took a lot out of me. My energy levels, never very high, are still even lower than normal.  But I know at my age, it's very much "use it or lose it".  So Sunday morning I dragged myself back into the gym.

I actually had had hopes of a more active Saturday. I felt pretty good in the morning, and it was supposed to be really warm.  I took the dog to the park (just over a mile) first thing, in what turned out to be the last few moments of sun.  It clouded up, and stayed that way the rest of the day.  It turned into a pooky day for me, no energy, no big projects, just hanging out and dissipating myself on trivial things.  I would hate to see the count of how many times I checked facebook. No naps, but not a lot of accomplishments to point to.

So Sunday, not as warm, and with the cloudiness ripened into rain, I took myself off to the gym for a short session.  Weights and TRX, arms and legs and back.  I was very quickly out of breath, and yet it felt so good to move.  Lots of stretching was worked into the mix.  Range of motion is also something that would be quickly lost if not specifically used often.

Oddly, my knees, a perennial source of pain, were not sore at all.  I think that may be a function of their finally having a chance to really rest up and recover.  My arthritic knees are always slightly irritated from use.  Ice and NSAIDs keep it manageable, but they probably never recover completely, since I use them all the time.  Except when I have a whole week of being sick.  How about that for finding a silver lining!

Recovery will take a while.  I'm just really glad I like going to the gym, so I'm willing to put in the work to get back to strong.