Do I look swollen to you?

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The longer this day wears on, the more my body hurts.  It usually takes me about 24 hours for soreness to kick from strenuous exercise (or a bike wreck), and my 24 hours are most definitely up! My knee has a huge knot, my arm and leg are swollen, shoulder hurts, back, knees, pretty much everything but my head, which proves once again that the helmet policy works!

I did go for a road bike ride today, it wasn’t too bad but I was feeling it towards the end.  Some of you may wonder how or why this mama of four with a million things to do would go around riding and wrecking bikes like a kid.  This is because exercise is not an option for me anymore.  A few years back I changed some of my eating habits, incorporated working out, and lost weight. After the first year of exercising, I found I really enjoyed it.  Yes, I said the first YEAR.  I feel better, have more energy, and guess what – I don’t get depressed anymore.  That right there is enough motivation for any mother to keep it up!

I’m running a 10k in September.  I was to meet my running buddy in the morning but the way my knees are throbbing now, I think that’s a bad idea.  I hope I can recouperate quickly because I need to finish training! Having goals is great motivation to keep moving – and every middle aged woman knows that just sitting for 10 minutes can make your hips form a second set of saddlebags.

I worked in the fitness industry for a few years and got my personal training certification through ACE.  It was the best thing I could have done for not only myself, but my parents, because I had to learn so much about the human body and illnesses such as heart disease and stroke, both of which they have had in the past two years. Anyway, I work with a client twice a week in her home (today was one such day), and aside from the fact that I enjoy it immensely, just hearing her shriek and groan from the physical exertion is enough to make my day! Why anyone would pay a person to make them exercise so they can complain about it every second is beyond me, but I’m having fun so who cares? (Don’t worry about her reading the blog, I say this stuff to her face.)

My girls seem to be inspired by my exercise, as they have taken up biking and running as well.  All three of them are working towards running a 5k with me in October and I am super pumped about that!!! 

So now I’m going to take a couple of Tylenol, go to bed, and hope my body is a bit less swollen and achy tomorrow.  I read that blueberries were good for reducing inflamation so I’ve been popping those suckers all day long – good thing Sam’s sells them in the giant economy size!