A Weekend Off

Dearest Rachel –

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but only in passing, as I sort of assumed that it was a momentary thing, due to the stress of (relative) overwork and the effects of the early morning. The old slogan is “no pain, no gain,” after all, and the pain is merely supposed to indicate that you’re pushing your muscles to their limit; once they are rested and recovered, they will build back stronger than ever.

The thing is, this presumes that I give them sufficient opportunity to rest and recover; it’s entirely possible that by working out regularly every single day, they’re not getting enough time. And as a result, that nagging sensation in my right quadricep has been sticking around for the better part of the week, causing me to limp whenever I rise to my feet at this point. Up until now, I’ve tried to ignore it and power through, but I’m starting to wonder if that was a wise decision. Maybe taking a day off – or even a whole weekend – might not be a bad idea.

And so, I’ve spent the weekend off my feet, more or less, in the hopes that my leg might be feeling all the better for it once I wake up Monday morning. Thus far, however, it hasn’t produced much in terms of positive results. I still find myself pained enough to favor my right leg, while at the same time – since I’m not working the booth, and therefore aren’t fasting, either – I’m picking up a few pounds along the way. Thankfully, I’ve not come so far as to hit the ceiling I’ve set for myself, but it’s still unnerving to be back above the two-twenty mark, especially when I’ve basically determined not to go out and sweat the extra pounds off, since to do so would presumably aggravate whatever’s going on with my leg.

The thing is, if it doesn’t heal by Monday morning, I don’t know if I should continue resting it so much. I can already sense my resolve regarding my exercise regimen beginning to waver. I don’t want to get too comfortable with inactivity, or I’ll fall into the habit once again. If it still hurts by morning, I’m going to just have to ignore it and hope that pushing it once again will encourage it to heal itself. This weight isn’t going to drop if I just sit around and do nothing like I am here and now.

And I realize it’s not as if I’m doing nothing, exactly, but what activity I’m engaging in hardly counts toward burning calories. I’m talking about having to resume real physical activity, in spite of my leg’s objections. If my inactivity was what it needed, you’d think I’d sense a certain amount of improvement in it over this past weekend, but thus far, I haven’t sensed much in the way of progress. So it’ll be back to the grind, ready or not, in the morning; maybe not as early as some mornings, but soon enough.

And with that being said, honey, keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.