Stumbling down the road to better health

I've had a minor setback on my quest for improved health...yesterday I strained a calf muscle in my right leg. Let me tell you how I got to this point...

Recently, a new Gold's Gym opened near our home. I joined before it was built and was eagerly awaiting the grand opening in late June. My initial goals are simple. I want to feel better. For me, I think, that means better eating, improving my cardiovascular condition and a little weight training. Along the way, I would like to get stronger and improve my endurance so I can do some good, quality hiking with Susan.

When we went to the preview open house, I decided to ask about personal training. Basically, I know nothing about weight training or conditioning. I knew I would need some help, but really felt weird about the personal trainer. I guess I just don't see myself as a person who has a 'personal trainer'. Susan went with me to the open house and we met with one of the PT Supervisors. Matt was very enthusiastic. We liked him, and as we were talking we found out he is a Marine who spent time in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Kuwait. In fact, he was in some of the same areas I was long ago in the 1991 Gulf War. He explained the packages and we decided on the one that met my training needs and our budget concerns. Personal Training ain't cheap!

So, I was set up for an orientation with Sean. The day of my appointment, we had a bad situation develop in our family. I called the gym to leave Sean a message that I would not be able to make the appointment. Three phone calls and I finally was able to leave a message. (Gold's really needs to work on the system for leaving messages - it was very frustrating.) The next day I went in to the gym to schedule another session with Sean. When I went back for the session, Sean was apparently already booked up - curios since my name was on the schedule. I gave them the benefit of the doubt - it was a new club, just opened, and everything seemed to be in a state of chaos. When I finally met with Sean, I was a little disappointed. He took my measurements, asked me about my goals (I mentioned wanting to hike with Susan and that seemed to be the thing everyone was focused on - they completely missed my main goal of just improving my overall health). When I told Sean I was interested in early morning sessions (6 AM), he told me he doesn't work that early. This was a bit of a surprise to me because I was pretty specific about that with Matt. Still, I appreciated Sean's directness and honesty. We both agreed he was not the trainer for me. So, back to Matt I went. They did a little scrambling and set me up with Brandon.

My first session with Brandon was an actual training session instead of an orientation. I liked Brandon right away. Shorter than me, a collegiate wrestler and BS in Exercise Physiology. Very easy going, good energy from him. The only small problem was that he read my file and saw that Sean had emphasized hiking. Brandon took this to mean I was preparing for a hike this fall and he built the exercises based on that assumption. We really worked legs. So much so that I couldn't hardly walk the next day. I don't mind muscle pain and discomfort - in fact, given my condition, I expect it. That said, I can't be in a state where I cannot function. So I called Brandon and expressed my concerns. We agreed that an orientation was needed.

We met for the orientation and I explained, again, my goal was improved health and gradual buildup to be able to hike/backpack with Susan in the fall of 2008! Aha he said. Since then, we have had 4 good sessions. I like the work we are doing. Not a lot of use of machines, mostly stuff I could do outside of the gym if needed. Things have been going well working with Brandon. As Susan says, sometimes the universe works things out like they are supposed to be.

I have been improving my cardio endurance on the days I don't work with Brandon. I really like the Cardio Cinema. Basically, this is a movie theatre with exercise equipment instead of seats. It really makes the time on the machines fly by.

This all brings us to yesterday morning. It was a non PT morning. I stretched, and then did my 30 minutes on the cardio machines. After that, I thought it would be fun to shoot some baskets. I moved to chase a ball and felt a 'pop' in my right leg. This was followed by a lot of pain. I limped out of the court and ran into Matt. He told me not to flex, hit the showers and then see Brandon before I left. Brandon and Andy (another trainer who focuses on rehab) looked at my leg. They were concerned that I had damaged my Achilles' tendon. Apparently, that is REALLY bad. Fortunately, that was not the case. I had just strained the calf muscle.

I worked from home yesterday and was very diligent about keeping ice on for 20, off for 20 and then repeating. Today, it is still sore, but nearly as sore. Also, there does not appear to be much swelling.

I haven't decided whether or not to keep my PT session for tomorrow. I don't want to be a wus, but on the other hand, I don't want to do something that will slow the healing process either. I'll call Brandon this afternoon and get his opinion before I decide.

The bottom line to all of this is that I am having fun. My muscles ache and I am tired, but I feel good. The environment in the gym is positive, and I know I am making good choices for myself.
Stuff like the calf sprains are opportunities for me to learn what I can and can't do, and how quickly my body can heal itself. Which in itself is pretty amazing.

So, I will limp back into the gym and get back to it. I can't wait to see where I am this time next year!