Here Comes the Pain...

I took a week off from my exercise regimen last week because of all the preparing, last-minute shopping, candy making, and traveling for Christmas. I didn’t intend to take the week off; it just kind of happened.

So yesterday I got my mojo back and went to the gym after work. I did three miles (~5K) of running on the treadmill (plus my walking 5 min warm-up and 5 min cool-down), and included some speed drills to boost the heart rate. It was a good run; I felt great when I got home.

This morning, not so much.

My legs are already starting to get sore from last night. I can only imagine how sore they will be by this afternoon when I start to approach the 24-hour post workout mark. I’m supposed to do strength training tonight with Brittnee; I sure hope we concentrate on upper body.

It occurs to me that this may be my lot for the rest of my life if I want to stay fit and healthy. In order to build muscle, you have to tear muscle down so it will rebuild stronger; that causes soreness. Does this mean that I am going to be in pain pretty much my entire life?

Awesome.

Now, I will admit that sore muscle pain is much, much less unpleasant than the constant, crippling knee pain I endured while I was very heavy. It is wonderful to be able to rise from a seated position using my legs instead of having to pull up with my arms. It is a beautiful thing to be able to go up and down stairs without clutching the handrail for dear life to try to take some of the weight off my dysfunctional knees. I’ll take workout soreness over patella femoral pain syndrome any day.

So, I guess I can live with some muscle soreness. Maybe once I get to a good, fully-fit place, maintenance won’t be so difficult, and I won’t have so much soreness. Either way, it’s totally worth it.

Totally.