Time Out

No, not time out from blogging...although you might be forgiven for thinking that, given how infrequently I'm here!  No, I'm talking about time out from working out.  I'm currently on Day Four of a self-imposed five-day hiatus from working out.  No skating, no CrossFit, no running, no rowing.  I plan to serve most of my time-out (when I'm not at work) in my recliner.

Since I only have one day left after today, I think I'll make it.

Actually, since I chose to put myself in time-out rather than having a coach or a PT or someone else do it, it hasn't been so bad.  After all, I put myself in time-out for a reason: pain.  And the same pain that put me in my recliner makes it very easy to say "no" to workouts.

I'm not sure what to blame my increased pain on, but increased it definitely has been these past two weeks.  Ever since my surgery it has always hurt to walk, to sit, to drive, and to exercise...but I didn't expect that, at almost five months post-surgery, the pain would be increasing rather than decreasing.

I think skating is probably the main culprit.  Most exercises that I've done (once I got past the first few weeks of attempting to do anything more strenuous than walking to the kitchen) have been only mildly to moderately uncomfortable at the time; skating was actively painful from the very first right-foot push, and I'm still almost completely unable to do crossovers at all.  So skating is probably the main cause of the increased pain...but I can't forget that, in addition to the four skating sessions I've attempted in the past two weeks, I've also added several new things at CrossFit: cleans, weights in squats, and light deadlifts.

Or, well, supposedly light.  In my second deadlift session, I was planning to start at 50 pounds and work my way up to 70.  Unfortunately, I was thinking "50 pounds" as I approached the weights, and so of course I grabbed two 25 pound plates--completely forgetting about the weight of the 35 pound bar.  It wasn't until two more sets--and two more additions of weight--that I realized "hey...that's not 60 pounds on the bar...it's 95."  Apparently I need this shirt:

It's from Yakked Industries, which you can find on Facebook.

Anyway, between the skating and the new stuff in CrossFit, I've probably violated my PT's strict instructions to "not add too many new things at once."  And that's probably why I now find myself wearing sweatpants to work again, cussing my leg every time I walk or sit, and yes, feeling a bit sorry for myself once again.  Add up increased pain and absence of workouts, throw in a calorie deficit due to trying to lose the weight I've gained during my previous months of recliner-surfing, multiply by approximately 20 hot flashes per day, and it all adds up to one very cranky skater/CrossFitter.  That's some scary math right there.

So I'm trying some time off.  So far I don't notice much difference, but I'm hoping that will change by Monday, because I fully intend to go back to CrossFit on Monday, pain or no pain.  In the meantime, I'm also looking into a type of recovery therapy--ARP Wave Therapy (no, not AARP...although I am old enough to qualify for that)--that I stumbled upon at a CrossFit competition that I went to to watch last weekend.  It's an electrical-stim therapy that supposedly improves recovery time and reduces pain, (although Hubby Jim says that its main effect is probably to lighten the wallet), and since they offer a free consultation/trial I'm looking into it.  

In the meantime, I'll be in my recliner with visions of workouts dancing in my head.