kaire

I lost a pound!  Woooooo hooooo!  I couldn’t believe it!  Well, I can, but all the same it was nice seeing a new, not been visited number.   I’m happy to see 277.  Sure, you may not think there is a lot of reason to celebrate that number, but it’s all the further from 300, which I did visit in the past year.  Lower 70s will be nice (sounds like a weather report doesn’t it?) and I’ll continue to happily dream of the day I’m in the 250s.

It’s not just a dream though.  I have been working so hard on this cardio triathlon.  I am shocked how much I sweat when I’m doing this.  The full fledged dripping off my face onto the treadmill kind of sweat and the shirt that makes me look like I was caught in the rain. Call me silly, but I like that part of it.  I’ve always noticed people at the gym that look like someone dumped a bucket of water on them and thought about how I wish I could work out that hard.  What a wish huh?  At least this one I’m making come true.

As I mentioned before I’m doing 26.2 miles on the treadmill, 50 miles on the stationary bike, and burning 1800 calories on the elliptical.  I have 19 miles left to walk and 25 days to walk them in.  I think I have about 38 miles to bike and I’ve knocked the elliptical down about 400 or 500.  The gym owner said I’m actually making good progress compared to other people.  Can you imagine how good it feels to know that I’m keeping up with “normal” folks?  When I went in to the gym yesterday I was thinking how I wish they had a handicapped class for this contest.  When I left I realized that finishing this will make me more of a winner than I ever could have imagined.

The treadmill is my nemesis though.  I have been fighting with that thing since I could first stand after the car crash.  Actually, I didn’t get to the treadmill for a long time after the crash.  I can completely remember standing for the first time after my legs healed enough.  I was so excited until I actually did it and my legs felt like someone had encased them in cement.  They felt so heavy it was like I was tethered with cinder blocks.  I think I stood for about 10 seconds, and then sat down exhausted, exhilarated, and discouraged all at the same time.  I was up and that was great, but I realized just how far I had to go.

I had countless therapy sessions that involved a therapist, a stop watch, and a bar to hold on to so I would be steady.  It was a big day when I could stand a minute.

Stand.

Just … stand.

Yesterday I did a mile and a half on the treadmill, biked 3 miles, burned a hundred on the elliptical, then went to Lowe’s and Walmart.  I also did dishes when I got home, ran to the store with my boyfriend, and cooked dinner.

This morning I looked at my legs and saw changes.  Not just good changes, great changes.  As I stared down at them I remembered what it felt like to have a goal, to have a dream, and to reach it with pure, intense work.

At least for today, I am my own super hero. 

Now you’ll have to excuse me while I go find a cape!