The Best Kind of Sore

My muscles have really been getting a workout this past week. Last Friday, Steve stayed with the kids while I tried to do my old walk/run route for the first time since the fall. The great news is that I could still run it, save for about the length of three mailboxes. I'm not sure the exact distance, but it took me exactly a half hour, and did I mention the two extremely large hills involved? Oh yes I did. I realized, though, after replacing the C25K training with the elliptical during the winter, that I just don't get as much out of the elliptical. My muscles are just not working as hard, I don't sweat as much, and my blood sugar doesn't come down like it does when I run. When I run, I actually feel like I could be losing weight as a result, not just toning/building muscle with the elliptical.

So, I was still tight from Friday's run when Steve came home from Tri-Rental with a de-thatcher. What's that, you say? Oh, just a big piece of equipment that turns over all the old, dead crap in the lawn. Which then needs to be removed from said lawn. Steve will be very disappointed in my description of de-thatching, and its benefits for the lawn. The point for this post, however, is that I used muscles I didn't even know I had in raking all of the "thatch." I owned it. For 2 hours straight. Then I took an Aleve.

It felt so good to work that hard. Empowering. And then I ran my route again today, and felt those muscles working all over again, only walking the length between 2 mailboxes, instead of 3.

One of my concerns when I start tightening up control of my numbers is the possibility of weight gain. If my numbers are lower, I run the risk of running low more often, thus eating more to feed the low. I have never really found a balance between good numbers and an exercise routine that works (with my schedule, with my diabetes, with holding my interest). It has always either been one or the other: focus on getting the numbers down without adding the variable of exercise, or get into an exercise routine without considering blood sugars every time because it would deter me if the numbers were "bad" and the exercise made it worse. Hope all that makes sense. This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I feel like I am really getting a handle on both, getting them to work together, and getting them to work for me. I am just trying to make it part of my daily routine, and not some big production. And it's working. It's working!

I'm including pictures of some playground adventures we had as a family this weekend. Inspiration to keep going, and an indication of what a little sunshine and warm weather can do...