When the Straight and Narrow is Too Painful

You know it is going to be bad when you can feel your aching body before you even move!  I suspected the calf raises yesterday were going to cause some issues.  I don't know that I have used them with such repetition since my final basketball practice my junior year of high school, and that was .....well, more than a few years ago! 

I thought the best way to manage this morning was to do things slowly.  I moved my arms - a couple of tight spots, but nothing really noteworthy.  Fantastic - if all else fails, at least I will be able to wash my hair!  Now my "core" (otherwise known as my extremely padded/insulated middle) - - check!  No major pains!  Now it was time to gear myself up - - my legs hurt this morning without even moving.  This could get really bad.  I moved my right leg, and was sure I was getting a charlie-horse.  Nope - false alarm.  My muscles (or place where muscle should be, or place where muscle is trying to form) was so tight it felt like a cramp.  That is unpleasant!  Seriously - how dormant do you have to be that 4 sets (totaling 70) of calf raises can make you feel like your legs are in a constant cramped state?  And I was only getting started.  I stood up out of bed, or rather - I tried to stand up out of bed - and I couldn't straighten my legs!  The tops of my calf muscles (right under the back of your knee) were so tight and throbbing, that I trying to straighten my legs pulled on them too much!  Well this is just ridiculous!  I had to walk, looking like I jumped out of the evolutionary process a few steps before we got all the way to walking erect, to get to the bathroom.  The good news is that I am able to get down onto things with ease - the front of my legs are feeling fine and dandy.  Getting up is still an issue - who knew your calf muscles were tied to so many things?!?! 

I gave myself the biggest pep talk in recent weeks, and prayed for my legs to start working, and headed for the gym.  I did my 45 minutes on the elliptical.  At no point during this  process did I ever not have leg twinges.  I guess I should just be grateful my legs didn't completely buckle, and send me falling from my machine (which is something I have visualized many times, and feel is inevitable at some point.  I will fall off my machine at the gym one day - - just wondering when?).  I swear at certain points the clock on my machine stopped moving - it was the longest 45 minutes I have experienced lately.  Not even Sports Center could keep me completely distracted today - and it is my favorite time of year: Baseball/Football overlap! 

I survived my time at the WAC, and am now home safe and sound - showered and ready for the game tonight.  I am treating myself to a burger (93/7% lean beef, low fat pepperjack cheese, honey mustard, limited pickles and a sandwich thin) and baked cottage fries (the lowest sodium option I could find, and my fave - when does that ever happen?). 

Now all I need is a Vikings win, and the fact that my legs are almost unusable won't seem like such a big deal.  Well - not a big deal until tomorrow at 11am when I meet with YC, again.  I wonder if he was planning for the fact that I wouldn't be able to use the bottom half of my body?  Oh well - who doesn't like a surprise?

Go Vikes!!