Indelible Adventures: The walk of 1000 daggers

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Ah - so you did notice my interesting style of walking this week?

We all take our health, and in most cases our fitness for granted. From an early age I was hooked on playing sport, but it wasn't until my mid 20’s that I realized that playing sport and being fit were two completely different things. This week has been a sharp reminder!

Growing up, each year I would front up to the first football training session of the new season in late February, which in Australia is at the height of summer heat. As I reflect back I'm aghast at what we put our bodies through in that torturous heat, oh, so young and foolish!

Initially training consisted of a timed run anywhere from 5 – 10 km which you had to complete within a set time, for the 5km distance it was always under 25 minutes and for the 10km it had to be under 50 minutes. Now, for those who had continued training over the summer or at least endeavored to keep fit between the end of the last season and the start of the new season they were generally okay but for those of us who assumed that because we were young that we were automatically fit then it was infinitely more painful.

I still remember the ease of the first run, feeling good and making decent time. However, the issue wasn't the run itself but the subsequent days after the run where every step was so incredibly painful that you sworn that your body had been stabbed a 1000 times with tiny daggers with every step you made.

And so this week was a painful reminder of those distant memories.

My physical “issues” all started for me on my road trip with Zach to take him to Washington DC via New York… It’s a nine-hour trek from Toronto to New York with a single pit stop around Binghamton in upstate New York to fill the car with gas and grabbing a quick bite so I was feeling a little stiff from the initial drive into the city. Then when we got into NY we decided to stretch our legs and go for a walk, which actually turned into a couple of hours – yes, feast or famine!

Next morning we were up early and literally walked most of Manhattan from the Guggenheim on 88^th street down to Canal Street and part of the way back to our hotel, and that’s not counting the weaving that you do when you're strolling in New York – nothing is direct!

Sunday saw us get back in the car for another four hours to Washington DC, with lots more sitting… To top it off the drive back from Washington to Toronto is another ten hours – so over the course of the four days I sat for 23 hours, now couple that with not working out and you have a recipe for disaster of the physical kind…

To illustrate my point, I had a meeting the day after I got back and was reaching into the back seat of the car when I twisted to grab my suit jacket, and my back tweaked and it immediately went into spasm. How is this possible I thought? I work out all the time, yet within a four-day stretch I felt like my entire fitness level had been completely compromised.

So for the remainder of last week I was walking rather gingerly, stretching when possible but all the while nursing my aching lower back. I think I walked like an old cowboy who'd seen too many years in the saddle if you know what I mean. ☺

By the time this week rolled around I was feeling a little better and so decided to begin my regular fitness routine. In a nutshell its eight sets of four exercise, each 25 seconds in duration with a 5 sec transition between. The intent is to undertake this continuously without a break for 16 minutes. I've been doing variations of this for a couple of years so my body SHOULD be accustom to this…

There is lots of different exercise combinations but I decided on an intermediate level routine given my recent back issue. It started with a five minute warm up followed by my first exercise, which was a dynamic squat/jumping jack combination, followed by push-ups, next burpees and finally mountain climbers...eight sets. Not an overly difficult program and after the first set everything felt good (yes, this is where my history should of told me to be careful!). The routine is then followed by 10 minutes of stretching to cool down and relax. I felt great afterwards and the best part was that I was pain free for the first time in almost a week.

That all came to an abrupt and screaming halt when I tried to get out of bed the next morning. Strangely it was the exact feeling that I had endured all those years ago in that every step I take feels like 1000 daggers shooting through my hamstrings and hips...

So tonight I had had enough, sick of feeling continuously stiff I laced up the runners and hobbled out the door for an all too rare neighborhood run. Everything was completely locked for the first kilometer, so less of a run and more of a shuffle (yes, quite a sight!) but then the legs started to loosen and run more freely finishing in a respectable 32 minutes for my six kilometers jog. Certainly not going to win any speed records, but I was just happy to be running again.

You'll be glad to know that I stretched for quite sometime after my run hoping above hope that tomorrow my "daggers" will have finally dissipated enough for me to begin walking normally once again.

Tiny victories my friends – tiny victories! ☺

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“Hanoi Posting”

A series of micro-stories by Terence Wallis

Episode 2: Obsessed

Now it was Lea’s turn to be pissed off. Her day had gone from bad to worse after the awful row they'd earlier that morning before work. She had always known deep down that she didn't want an overseas post, but he seemed obsessed by it, constantly prattling on about “I just want to take it to the next level”.

Well, clearly taking it the next level was going to be without her! She had finally found her groove and although her city beat and the mostly local stories were relatively mundane she enjoyed the freedom and felt that her writing was getting better. Hell, even last week her editor commented on the human interest story she'd written about the family of the high speed accident victims from the recent crash on Pentonville Road in London's inner north.

Instead of looking forward to their anniversary dinner, she was engulfed by a sense of foreboding and dread...

Just breath she thought to herself

Next week: Episode 3: I'm your best option

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This weeks photos are from my days in Washington DC - enjoy!