One of the sucky things about exercise is not exercising and then exercising again

[xiphias]

So, I'd gotten up to 18 laps in the pool at the YMCA, in half an hour. That's not, like, IMPRESSIVE, or anything, but it's not EMBARRASSING. I'd gotten up to the point where I could consistently swim laps as if I actually belonged there swimming laps.

Then, one day a couple weeks ago, I couldn't. I just . . . stopped at six laps, and couldn't go further. I don't know what it was -- I'd given blood a couple days before, I'd had terrible nutrition, I was sick, I don't know. I've been having fatigue problems since.

I got back to swimming again, today, and managed twelve laps. Now, twelve is more than six, but it's less than eighteen.

Oh, well. I just have to keep at it, I guess. I don't know what went wrong; I don't know what my body's doing now. I don't know why it stopped working that one day, or how I can get it back, and get further. But I'm going to keep working on it.

Comments

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Give yourself time. You will get it back.

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

Even a little is better than none.
My disability worsens; I just qualified for a permanent Disabled Parking Pass:
Can't walk without a cane.

But, my mind is ok, so I hang in. You do the same!

Bye the way, did you talk to the Hat lady and Mom?

[redbird]

I used to spend a lot of time at the gym reminding myself that comparisons are odious: it doesn't matter how much weight the previous person was using, unless they left too many weight plates on the machine and I have to get them out of the way. But comparisons to what I/you did a month ago can also be problematic. Yes, you know you have been able to do this, and you will get it back, but the point isn't that 12 < 18; it's not even 12 > 6. It's that 12 is > 0. You're in there, and doing it. (Which does lead to the question of why I'm keeping all those notes about how many exercises and at what weight, given that I'm mostly doing body-weight stuff where I'm not grabbing free weights or setting machines, and that I don't take the notes with me to the gym for reference. Hmm. I'm doing it from habit, but does it still have value?)

[erik-j-meyer.livejournal.com]

I would echo what redbird said. For me it is not swimming of weights, it is jogging / running distance. I know that I managed to get somewhat comfortable at seven miles last Summer. Then after my second child was born in September things got scaled back. When my wife went back to work from maternity leave things stopped completely for awhile. After Arisia I was determined to start moving again. So about after Boskone I started up again. At that point one mile was effort. I can make it six miles now. I can chastise myself three ways to Sunday, but I know it will be slow going to get all the way back up to where I was. Even more work to get to where I want to be. As long as I keep getting up and getting out there, no matter how slow my pace or how small the distance I am doing so much better than if I did nothing at all. You are doing good. Do not let anyone, yourself included, tell you otherwise.