Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Something > Nothing

After yesterday's ankle debacle, I wondered what would happen at boot camp today. I had every intention of going - I just wondered if I could keep up. We started as we usually do, by walking around the gym. This wasn't a problem - after a round or two, I got into a limp-free cadence. When the group started jogging, I continued walking, not wanting to push the ankle. I didn't do the same jogging as everyone else, but I did what I could.

After warming up, we started what can best be described as "harness" exercises. This is where partners get a resistance band, one is the "holder", and one is the "do-er." The do-er runs, skips, lunges, and side shuffles down the court, then reverses roles with the holder. My partner was another boot camper with ankle problems.

We were doing pretty well until my partner needed a whiff of her asthma inhaler. While she was getting some stuff, I got to haul Josh across the gym floor. By the way, Josh is 10 feet tall and 900 pounds of pure muscle - at least it felt that way. But I did it. My partner returned and we moved on to skipping, after which my partner said her ankles were hurting too much. She decided to sit the rest out while again, I got to haul Josh across the floor. Miraculously, my heart held out and across the floor we went. Tough, but I did it.

Our final exercise was jumping rope, which I exchanged for the elliptical machine. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was exercise, and I did it.

I'm sure that some would say that I should have stayed home and iced or elevated or rested my ankle. Maybe I should have taken a few days off. Maybe I should have just waited until my ankle was back to normal.

But I didn't. I went back to boot camp, did what I could, and ended up doing more than I thought I would. I didn't do everything that the rest of the campers did, but I did do something.

So I guess the lesson is just to do something, because something is always better than nothing.
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Things that make today great: Boot-camping with a sore ankle; getting packages mailed; Molly cooking lunch and bringing it over; cornbread and black-eyed peas for dinner; cleaning upstairs

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