Sweating . . .

This morning I caught my amazing trainer to take a picture with me. Now those who know me, know that I don’t do pictures. I especially don’t do selfies and I especially, like any girl, avoid sweaty nasty pictures. But something happened this morning that hasn’t in what feels like a lifetime. I got sweaty. The sign of a good workout right!?!

In this journey of health that I have been taking over the last two years, I have had one set back after another. Most recently I was in a boot with very limited activity for almost 9 weeks. A displaced fracture at the joint of the big toe. Eight weeks and 4 days to be exact. In those 9 weeks I went from being only 7 pounds from my end of year goal weight to weighing what I did at the beginning of the year. I reassured myself that I still maintained the previous years weight loss but it was hard. I felt different. I missed out on my second half marathon of the year, I felt like workouts were fairly useless. But I still worked out. And this is where the trainer comes in. I wanted to quit and give up. Im kind of an all or nothing kind of girl so sitting on the sidelines hurt. Not being able to run was depressing. Never imagines just a few years ago that I would say that! But my trainer at Camp Gladiator challenged me and pushed me and did not make me feel like a loser for not being able to do much. She did extra work to come up with workouts that I could do, she cheered me on and told me she was proud of me. All things that are not taken lightly and helped me to stay at least somewhat active. I cannot thank her enough.

So yesterday was Day 1 out of the boot. Still with significant restrictions but I could do a few more things than the cumbersome boot allowed. I went to work out at dark-thirty and lasted all of five minutes when the pain in my foot became intolerable and with head down I went back home. I was discouraged but as I woke up the next morning I decided to try again. I walk a fine line of pushing myself but staying safe. I could still rip that piece of bone out of place again since it is connected to a ligament but I knew that Jenny would help me with this. So again, I left my house ant dark-thirty and drove out to Camp Gladiator. I taped up my foot this time and had a little more success. There are still things I cant do but I could move. I did a little jogging but per doctors orders did not sprint (which is my favorite!). I noticed quickly that I was sweating. It felt good. I felt like I was getting a decent workout for the first time in almost 9 weeks. Jenny was encouraging and I am slowly working my way back to the road I want to be on. I know that journey back will be easier because of the work Jenny did to keep me as active as my foot would allow.

So I decided I needed a picture to document this day. Of course the picture is far from perfect . . . its still dark outside, I look gross and sweaty and you can see the weight that I have put back on. But today, with my amazing trainer by my side I took a huge step back in the right direction. I know she will be there and that the face you see in that picture will change. And that started today with slow jogging, lots of modifications and a sweaty face!