Broken Ankle...Pshhh - it's got nothing on me.

Today has been a really awesome day!

I...dealt it?

We meant to get up early to go to some garage sales, but we woke up late and decided to hit an auction. We actually went to two auctions and closed out a couple of garage sales. I was on with making some deals today.

As I’ve said before, I am a bargainer. What is a bargainer – Look it up in the dictionary and you'll see that my picture is right next to the word. When you don’t have a lot and don’t like to spend a lot, you learn to make deals. My wife walks away when I start to negotiate. We ended up getting a very nice island for our kitchen for $13. New, they sell for $119 at Walmart. Deal.

I grew up hunting and fishing and last week I bought a new fishing rod with a gift certificate I got for Christmas. This auction had a tackle box with about $100 worth of tackle. I got it for $25. Many of the things are still in the package – I don’t need that much…and I feel a little profit coming my way.

I know that this is a fitness blog and that is what I mean it to be, but I had to tell you all this because this was the beginning of what has turned out to be a great day. It had to start good to grow into such an awesome and productive day.

I Biked.

I got home and decided that my ankle was feeling really good and had no pain so far. I wanted to take advantage of that and thought that I would be able to ride my bike. It has been quite some time since I had a bike ride. I hooked up the bike carrier and went to the park to get a good ride in. I rode for 3.2 miles. If you have not ridden in a while and hop on…your bike will let you know that it’s not happy about the break you took. Ouch. It was a great ride and again my ankle experience no pain with the pedaling. I thought to myself,

“you know, I might be able to run a little. Let’s see how it feels.”

I Ran.

I put the bike back on the carrier and did some stretching which was blissfully followed by a run. I ran..well - I jogged. It felt great. I set out to jog 20 minutes w/no break (fully knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able too). I was right in my thinking. Don’t think that I didn’t try though. I reached 11 min 20 sec. and my body was telling me to stop. I told it, “NO!”; then proceeded to turn around and jog back to the car. I could’ve walked back, but what fun would that have been?

I ended it at 13 min and 20 sec which turned out to be 1.16 miles. I ran a 13 minute mile just three weeks after my busted ankle? Yes I did. I give credit to my workouts during my down cardio time b/c I felt as if I hadn't missed a step. My body felt good, my rhythm was though a little shaky,but my breathing felt great. I did kind of run with a limp at first; had to work out the rhythm of the run to fully support my body equally. I’m telling you – it really felt good to be back. As slow as it may be…I’m back. *insert big sigh of relief*

I pushed up.

I have still been pushing on with my goal for the month of April to reach 1,010 pushups. I have a pretty good start. I need roughly 33-34 a day and over the last ten days I have done 330. I have not done them each day but have allowed myself rest days so that I am not constantly tearing the muscles down but allowing them time to grow.

Quick lesson for you: As you do your strength training workouts – it is not when you are lifting that you are building muscle, but you are actually tearing your muscles. It is during the rest periods that your muscles are growing. It is VITAL to replenish yourself with proper nutrients so that you can grow yourself in the long run and not weaken yourself. END Lesson.

You guys are awesome!

I am all about encouragement because we all need it. What I want you to do is, if you leave a comment – leave an encouraging word for the person before you as well. Maybe visit their page and come back and comment lifting them up. They just might need that from you.

also - be sure to leave your opinion on the new layout here. I want this site to be Reader friendly. Opinions wanted.