Good day to blow off the workout...

Sunday, October 16, 2011
Normally, I’d head for the Metropark first thing in the morning to do the Survival Workout, but it was still raining that cold, miserable way that it can and I was in no hurry to splash through it again.  Instead,  I went into my office and began a process of gutting it so I could more easily work on converting some slides I’d found to digital.  I also needed more space for the bike and trainer…which I would likely be spending time on very soon.

I called Jason in the early afternoon and asked him to join me for the workout before dinner thinking this would inspire me to get there.  When he hadn’t made it by 4 p.m., I called to find that he wouldn’t arrive in time…and now I had the perfcct excuse to blow it off.  But I didn’t.  I arrived at the park and exited the car in a light, cold drizzle.  Before I had time to think about how lousy the conditions were, I started doing push-ups.  When I moved to my log lift, I found that it was too slippery to grasp and moved down the trail in search of drier things to heave.  I didn’t find any. 

I hit my second station and wondered again just what the hell I was doing in all this cold rain and mud.  My shoes were soaked through and I was cold and miserable.  I thought ‘quit…what’s one day?’ and almost did.  Maybe I’d go to one more station.

I reached Clear Creek thinking if I couldn’t cross, I’d turn around and call it a day.  The rocks were above the water just enough for a toe hold, so I crossed and finished the workout.  When I returned to the car with only a set of push-ups remaining, I almost blew them off…but didn’t and managed another 50.

I proved to myself again that I can make myself work out even when I don’t want to and the conditions are wretched.  Things will get worse before they get better and I have to make myself get out there and get through it.  It would have only been a day, but it would have also been a chink that could have led me back to unwanted pounds.  I wish it were easy and always fun…but it isn’t.  A warm family room in a recliner with football on the tube would have been much more comfortable.  I drove home happy with myself.  I had done something all my instincts were telling me to avoid and it had been so tempting.  Looking back…if I can make it through slop like that…I can work out in anything.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  600.