On My Feet

I feel like I spent all day on my feet today.

I still feel slightly timid about working out with my leg injury, but the meds are definitely helping. I feel much better though I do feel a slight pull sometimes. In any case, today was my cardio day. At first when I got on the cross-trainer I wondered - should I just do 45 minutes or should I go for 65. At this point, I really shouldn't be asking myself this question. I know the answer - go for 65 - always. If for some reason my leg starts to hurt, then I can stop ... however, setting a goal for 45 minutes means that I'll stop at 45 minutes even if I don't feel pain and could go on for longer. Setting a bigger goal means that I'll automatically work harder to achieve it -- I need to really keep that in mind. No fear. Keep pushing.

The 65 minutes went by without much of a problem. I usually workout on the setting that focuses on the glutes and quads, but since it's my main quadricep muscle that's sore, I adjusted the setting to include the calves and hamstrings - lower incline - I think it really made a difference. So, 8.5 km done and I was ready to get on with my day.

I headed to work - the first time this week as I took Monday and Tuesday off (and I don't teach on Wednesdays). I'm glad I had worn my Uggs to work because sometimes standing in front of the class for 2 hours in high heels, particularly after a long cardio workout, can be a bit painful. It's much better when I walk around. In any case, 2 hours of standing sucks.

I then met up with KD for round 2 of shopping (yesterday we engaged in some mega-retail therapy) -- we spent 5 hours walking around the mall. It may not be speed walking, but being on your feet and walking around at whatever pace for 5 hours is exhausting by the end of it all! Add the weight of the several bags in our hands and you've got yourself quite a bit of a workout :) I'm not one of those people who counts this type of walking/activity as part of my exercise/calorie burn of the day, but you can't deny that it does burn more calories than if I had been at home watching TV.

Anyway. It's definitely time for me to get back into the swing of things in terms of both my workouts and my work in general. I've been slacking, perhaps taking the whole post-PhD submission relaxation too far ... well maybe not too far. After all, it was 4.5 years of research. I guess I deserved a bit of rest. In any case, I'm glad it's the weekend! Time to get organized and get into a proper routine!