Day 121: What are the odds?

I have been nursing a bum knee.  Remember how I hurt it in November?  If not, read here.  Well I stayed off my knee (no cardio) for 3 weeks in December, hoping that would help.  Unfortunately, it didn’t.  In fact, I went to a sport medicine doctor to have him check my knee out.  He thought that perhaps I had a torn meniscus.  If I did it would be a simple surgery that would fix the problem.  On one hand I was hoping I did…so that could go in, fix it, and I could move on.  On the other hand I didn’t want that because I didn’t want to go through a surgery and the recovery that goes with it.

Right after my appointment I went in for an MRI on my knee.  The results—nothing.  Nothing was wrong.  Good news…nothing was torn.  Bad news…what the heck is wrong?!  My doctor just gave me some “heavy duty ibuprofen-like” pills and told me if it still hurt after a month or two come back in.  Uh….it has already hurt for a month or two.  I was bummed, but I have taken the pills twice a day and changed my cardio to spinning and the elliptical.  Have I ever told you I hate the elliptical?  I think it is cheating.  It just seems to easy to be exercise.  I never really break a sweat on it.  And the bike?  It is kind of cheating too.  I am sitting on my butt getting a workout….does that make sense?

Well I have pushed myself hard during my workouts to get the most out of these cheating exercises.  I know I could hop in the pool to get a different form of exercise, but honestly, there is no way in HELL that I am going swim suit shopping with this body.  NO WAY!  I know.  I know.  There is always someone bigger than me to be found doing water aerobics but #1 I would never feel comfortable in a bathing suit at this weight and #2 I go to a gym called “UNIVERSITY” Golds Gym.  That’s right.  There are college kids there.  The girls and the guys look WAY better than I ever did in college and I am not about to be the lady they look at and say “Well you have to give her props for at least having a gym membership.”  Long story short, I won’t be in a bathing suit until I am a “damn girl”.  You know, the girl that walks by and people say “Damn, girl!”

Okay, back on track.  I have been working hard.  I have been lifting weights and making the most of my cardio.  My knee starting feeling better so last week I went to Turbo Kickbox.  My all time favorite class at the gym.  It didn’t go so well.  I was in the “fat group” (The chicks in the back of the room so no one has to look at their jiggly butts in spandex.)  and my knee started to hurt in warmups.  I couldn’t hop.  I couldn’t do jumping jacks.  I couldn’t do burpees.  I was the “look at her if you need to see how to do the low impact version” girl.  (PS.  That is far from being the “damn girl”)  I was really bummed.  I decided that I wasn’t going to let that get me down though, so I finished the class.  I finished as hard and as bad ass as I could.

Two days later I did it again.  This time to my surprise, my knee didn’t hurt.  It didn’t hurt at all.  I did jumping jacks.  I did burpees.  I didn’t do tuck jumps but for the most part I did everything else.  WOOT! WOOT!  I was pretty proud of myself.  And the next day, I COULD WALK!  Go me!

I was on a roll.  So a few days later when I friend invited me to join her at Power Pump class I took the bait.  I went and gave it my all.  About half way through the class though, my shoulder started to hurt.  It felt like I had a little cramp.  So I stopped the push-ups and rested for a sec.  But after that any upper body movement I did, with or without weights, my shoulder killed.  What are the odds?  Just when my knee starts getting better my shoulder calls it quits.

That night I put Theragesic on it.  I had Adam give it a good deep massage.  I really tried to do everything I could to make it feel better.  This was not going to get me like my knee did.

Yesterday I went to Power Pump and it ached and so did my knee.  They didn’t kill, just a slight “um, excuse me…you might be pushing it a little too hard” reminder ache.  I tried my best.  I didn’t give up.  I just worked the same muscle with a lighter weight or in a different exercise.

I am determined to get past these injuries.  They will not get me down.  I am in too much of a groove to give up.  Back off Satan!  I am going to win!  No more reasons for why I am not getting in shape.  I am doing it.