The Price of Recovery

Dearest Rachel –

Well, as much as I may have complained yesterday that it wasn’t instantaneous, my foot certainly feels much better this morning. I can still feel a slight nagging if I try to wiggle my big toe, and there’s a noticeable twinge if I put too much weight on the meaty part of my foot below the toe, but for the most part, everything seems to be back to normal. This also means, however, that I need to resume my normal workout routine, as I’m starting to see the effects of that indolence, as well.

You might recall me expressing some slight amazement about the fact that I not only hadn’t gained weight during my enforced down time, but that I was actually slightly lighter than I had been on previous days, weighing in at a couple of pounds under the two-fifteen line. Well, I suppose that it was too good to last; this morning saw me flipping the script, and tipping the scales at several pounds over the line instead.

At the risk of sounding like I’m passing the buck, I will point out that it’s Friday morning – or, more to the point, that last night was Thursday night. Mom continues to have us boys over every week to keep her cooking skills sharp, and dang if they aren’t; she knows what Daniel and I enjoy, and hasn’t lost her touch when it comes to preparing it. Daniel may have outpaced me with three helpings of taco bake, but I was no slouch with my two (plus a salad, which isn’t as healthy once you put a cream sauce atop it, but I’m not about to eat a salad naked). So between the complete lack of activity combined with last night’s feed, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’ve taken a few steps back in this whole weight loss journey, least of all me. I have to own what I’ve let myself become.

That means, however, that I need to do something about it, especially now that I’m able to walk more or less like I used to. If it seems like I’ve recovered from whatever it is that I’ve been dealing with for the last few days, now I have to pay the price of recovery, and get back on the treadmill to deal with that. It’s not fun – it never has been – but at least I can do it with a minimal amount of pain.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I can get crazy about it, either. Unlike the past few weeks previous, I can’t crank up the speed to a full five miles an hour or more while walking uphill. I have to ease myself back into the routine, lest I literally inflame my foot all over again, and set myself back even further than I’ve already fallen.  So while normally I would start at four miles an hour, and bring it up by a tenth of an mph with every hundred calories burned, This morning had me only ratcheting it up every two hundred calories instead.

The good news is that, up until I get to about 4.4 miles an hour, I’m burning calories at a faster clip; once I cross 4.5 mph, the machine seems to assume that I’ve switched from walking to running, and calculates a slower burn rate until I get to about 4.8 mph – not that I got anywhere near that rate until I hit the cooldown phase, and the machine automatically reduced the incline I was climbing, but I would crank up my walking speed that much higher to counter it.

Most of the time I wasn’t really paying attention to whether my foot was hurting or not, which strikes me as a good thing; if it had truly been painful, I’m sure I would have noticed it much more than all that. Occasionally, I would try and sense whether anything felt out of the ordinary (which is how I came to the conclusion that putting too much pressure on the meaty part of my left foot wasn’t the most optimal course of action, and tried to land in a slightly different manner to mitigate it), But for the most part, my attention was focused on the calorie count and the time I was making, which suggests that things have gotten pretty much back to normal, as far as my workout goes.

And, additionally, it seems to have been “back to normal” in terms of effect, as well. While I didn’t cover nearly the distance that I have been during the last few weeks, I still managed to bring my weight back down four pounds from my morning peak – and under the two-fifteen line that, while not my goal (that, at the moment, is still a good ten pounds distant), at least a benchmark I want to be on the right side of.  So that’s another bit of good news.

Still, I’m aware that I’m basically just on the mend as of yet; I’m not exactly in peak condition. I still have to take things relatively easily for now, and not over exert myself. Otherwise I’ll just wind up in this same situation all over again.

And with that being said, honey, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on me, as usual, and wish me luck. I’m sure I’m going to need it.