Missing Training!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was ill all of last week with bronchitis.  Having never suffered from an illness like this before I was not sure of what to expect, but I will say that it is the worst I have felt since I was 16 with a severe case of the chicken pox.  This completely knocked the stuffing out of me, had me feeling very lethargic and eating very little.  It was mostly due to this that I lost 4.3kgs last week. 

Now as the week continued and I started to feel better, my food intake increased and the lethargy disappeared mostly.  I was still not well enough to train on Saturday morning when I put the ladies through another circuit and boxing session at 7:30am and we were lucky enough to have a few extra Western Warriors join us.  It was great to have Bridie, Tracey and Dayna there for the morning and we hope to see them again.  I also hope they liked our little training session, which is designed for everyone with a small circuit and then our normal session of boxing afterwards to finish off with some serious arm DOMS.

As I said, I was not able to take part due to still recovering from my illness, but I was out there to encourage and mostly time the circuits and also make sure all the ladies were not talking too much and also that they were doing the exercises properly.  What I did take away from this was that I was actually missing the fact that I was not involved.  I wanted to get into my exercise gear and take part.  Not sure my lungs would have been happy with the idea or being able to function adequately enough to ensure I didn’t vomit, but the simple fact that I couldn’t be a part of it and wanted to be was an amazing turnaround for me.  I can’t honestly remember ever having felt that way, not being able to take part because I was ill but wanting to.  I know there have been plenty of times in the past where I have not taken part in something through knowing my limitations or for fear of being embarrassed because I was too fat and didn’t want to face the ridicule, but this was me knowing I can do it and smash it out harder than most there, but not able to purely due to being ill.  It got me thinking about how much I will be jumping back into it when I can this week for a huge session.

Having missed the weekend SSS, I woke up to some beautiful sunshine and Julie asking me if I wanted to go for a bike ride.  How could I pass that up?  I got changed and headed out on my bike.  This is my new found favourite form of exercise.  I had no idea how far I was going to go, probably for around 50kms (which is a 2 hour ride) but I also was not sure how I would be feeling.  After about 3kms I hit a head wind and the first big gust of wind nearly took my breath away and had me coughing.  I was not sure how far I was actually going to make it before I had to turn around, but I decided that I would do the small circuit and not push myself.  In the end I went for the longer ride and as I was riding with the wind I went out for 15kms and then turned back.  The tailwind lulled me into a false sense of security because it had me forgetting the head wind and the coughing.  I managed to take it easy on the way home and burnt 890 calories in 1 hour 10 minutes.  It was so nice to be back out on the bike again and even better that I didn’t have any visits from the dreaded magpies whilst out. 

What I have realised most over this last weekend is that the ability to exercise and be active is a privilege and something that we all take for granted.  When we are fat and lazy, we see it as a bore or a chore and something that only crazy people do because they have nothing better to do.  When you become and active person and you finally start to enjoy exercise in whatever form you choose, you soon become used to doing it 6 or so times a week and it becomes part of your regular routine the same as going to work or the shops.  If you get injured or sick and have this taken away from you it creates a loss for you and only then do you realise that you are in a fortunate position that you can exercise and be active.  What about those that are not as fortunate. 

This 12WBT program has given me the chance to realise that exercise is my way out of being the person I was. Add to this the nutrition and daily lessons I am learning about myself and I have been granted the second chance that not everyone gets.  I am even looking forward to putting my new found love of exercise into practise in a week’s time when I am in Bali.  We have planned our trip away so that we can do some form of exercise every morning prior to heading out for the day.  Obviously the rest of our days will include walking, cycling and swimming amongst other things (I hope to go jet skiing whilst I am away) which would never have been high on my holiday agenda 12 months ago.  I am now looking at all my day to day activities in a completely new light and this is due to the change in mindset and fitness that allow me to do this.  I can’t wait to get back to exercise as soon as I lose this cough.