Fit to Fat to Fit Blog: Day 1
Weight: 224 lbs.
The past is the past. What matters is what you do now.
OK, that’s a paraphrase of what Coach Paul said this morning, but I think I got the intent right. Bottom line, it gave me something to think about while I was trying not to puke. Today was my first day back after a long layoff.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Actually, I did better than I thought. So let’s review: I got a concussion. That caused me to have to dial back my exercise. Then I started a book tour (which had me sitting a lot). Then I taught in Oxford for two weeks. Oh yeah, and there was Christmas and all the good treats it brings.
So, I’m a little heavier and a little out of shape.
We warmed up by doing jumping jacks and high knees. A sure sign of my being out of shape was that my heart rate went really high. It was my body saying, “Um, WTH?!?” My line then went to the weight room. I benched 135 lbs. 10 times and then 155 lbs. 10 times. (I did one more set after that). We did some other exercises and then went out on the field. Paul had us do what is called “coach’s drills”. It was a combination of back pedaling and forward sprints. My heart rate bounced way up for that. But it also had a chance to recover. We then went to a station that featured an exercise called “Nipple Drills” (no nipples were harmed in the drill — it just describes the course.) There was a lot of short sprints with a few burpees (the Devil’s favorite exercise) thrown in. We then went to a 100-yard course where we pushed a sled, did sprints with a weight on our backs, pushed a tackling dummy, walked on our hands with our feet on plates and then pushed a board. Rinse and repeat.
That was when I though I was going to yak. I had to stand up a few times to catch my breath and swallow my stomach. But I got through it. We finished by running up and down the football field.
My heart rate zoomed. But it also recovered. I’ll be sore tomorrow — pain is just weakness leaving the body. Right? OK, soreness is just my body reminding me that I got out of shape.
But the past is the past. What matters is what I do now.