i think i pulled something!

i was wondering how long it would take to feel the effects of exercise. i mean the positive effects. so far, i only feel like i've already accomplished something by the time i'm riding the bus into work.

how about the negative effects? well i have learned from my past. several times, i vowed to get into shape, and started working out in one form or another. the result? i either couldn't exercise the next day, or i couldn't move at all! you take a day or two off to recover, and you never get back into it.

this time i was careful. i took it easy, and so far so good. i mean i can certainly feel that some muscles have been used much more than they're used to. i must have done something right though, because it's not really pain. it's just an awareness.

as far as yesterday goes... my first day on the new treadmill... i hate running. (running is for escaping danger, or catching your children before they run into danger.) ok, sometimes it's for catching a bus. i have on occasion had to run over half a block to catch it! the result? i invariably feel shin splints coming on as i board the bus, and by the time i get off the bus and walk to my car, they're rather distracting.

i don't know if it was the extra time i took stretching out afterward, or that the shock-absorbing cushioning the treadmill claims to have is actually working, but i didn't get any yesterday. i was feeling pretty good.

as the day went on, however, i began having a pain in the side of my right foot. kind of unusual. it almost feels like i'm walking on a bruise. but only when i'm on it. when i feel it, or try to massage it, i can't find a pain source! i have no pain when i'm not walking on it. i have full function of all toes, without pain. it only hurts when i walk on it.

determined not to let that get me, i was back on the exercise bike this morning. which was fine, i had planned on rotating back and forth anyway. i may be on the bike more than i thought... hopefully it's not a big deal, and will heal quickly.

i didn't mean this to be any kind of pity-party, but it seems to have grown beyond a report on my progress. sorry. i guess if there is anything to this post, it's that in my very limited, three-day experience, exercise isn't as bad as i'd dreaded. yes getting up any earlier than absolutely necessary still sucks. yes i'm still tired at the end of (and often earlier) the day, but i don't know that i'm any more tired that i was before i started exercising. i'm hoping that at some point i'll get the benefits of "added energy" and all that stuff fitness gurus spout off about. for the time being, i'll just hope i am doing something to prolong, or at least not shorten my life, and that i can prevent my gut from needed a second area code.