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I have been completely lazy and uninspired lately. Nothing seems to excite me or make me feel strongly one way or the other. I also have had no desire to go to the gym. I actually lie in bed several days ago thinking I didn't care whether I was obese. I didn't want to worry about what I ate. I could just let myself get fat again and then hire a trainer for a third time and relose all the weight I have lost since 2000.
But I know that once you stop working out, it's that much harder to start up again. So I'm trying to suck it up and maybe it'll pass.
I also hurt my lower back at the gym this past Friday. I hadn't even started lifting weights yet. I had stooped over to adjust a machine, and bam, I couldn't stand back up. It's frustrating how once you have a bad back, you always have a bad back. It can give out doing the most unassuming, non-threatening things. The injury has given me a semi-valid excuse why I shouldn't step foot in the gym, which I'm milking for all its worth.
<aside>
I've always had a weak lower back, but an incident during a rowing practice in college -- it must have been 1991 -- did it in for good. The boats, which are quite heavy and require all of 7 or 8 women to lift, had to be carried about 30 feet from the boathouse to the water. I had -- er, have -- a bad habit of trying to lift as much of it as I possibly can, basically trying too hard, instead of relaxing and letting others shoulder some of the burden so to speak. I'm sure I must have used nothing but my back that particular morning to lift the boat off its rack, because I literally felt it pop. My back was tight all during practice, but it was the next morning when it was at its worst. I cried in pain. I couldn't bend, much less row, for two weeks.
In the meantime, the coach asked me if I would cox a few practices. I vividly remember during those two weeks having to wedge my fat ass into a seat in which a 110-pound girl normally sat. It was excrutiating. Not only did my hips chafe the sides of the shell with every stroke, I had to sit with my knees in my chest for two hours. I swear it was worse than having to row.
On top of the physical pain, coxing is a job best suited to extroverts. It requires shouting, calling out rowers who aren't in line and being mentally sharp and aggressive. I am none of those things. I think I mostly skulked in silence during those practices. I'm sure the other rowers appreciated that. I wasn't reprimanded for any of my coxing, but I was never again asked to cox, either.
</aside>
Still awake?
After dosing up on ibuprofen, I rowed on Sunday, but I'm sure I shouldn't have. My technique was terrible as I struggled to keep my back straight up and down. I slept on a heating pad last night, which felt great. My back has slowly gotten better since Friday, so I'm going to try to row again in the morning.
Current mood: Numb
Replies: 1 shoutout
Me too, minus the back pain.
Posted by ~ @ 06/04/2003 12:19 PM EST