health

Health is a wonderful thing. I am lucky that despite a few weird things here and there, like an extra mini-stomach that died and the occasional bout of kidney stones, stitches, and the time I swallowed a pill as a kid, that I've been pretty healthy. The longest-lasting, most annoying problem I've ever had was plantar fasciitis, and for the most part, that's pretty much healed now after four years of misery.

Tonight I played table tennis for the second time in as many weeks, and it was awesome. I could once again feel the power in my legs, the weight of the muscle behind the slight layer of fat that had accumulated over the past few years. I could feel the adrenaline kicking in, feel my blood coursing through my veins and arteries, feel the endorphins as my brain swelled with oxygen and nutrients. My eyes got blurry for a while and I could barely see the ball, but I wasn't about to stop there. Every time I bent to pick up a flyaway, I could feel the heftiness of my thighs and calves working in unison. I especially loved to toss the ball under one leg before serving, proof of the increasing coordination and regained balance that I had thought I'd lost. I felt colour in my cheeks and a bit winded at times. It was indeed, awesome. And my foot didn't complain until Ron's speech, when we all stopped moving and I had to stand there, my back beginning to talk, my feet uncomfortable, the left foot beginning to seize up in mock agony. I eventually walked over to the benches and sat down with my mountain dew. Ron is very long-winded, even if he means well.

Further evidence of my foot's progress: A couple months ago, I went dancing with a friend for three hours and my foot barely noticed. Oh, it noticed once it was no longer moving, mind you, but the pain went away within two days. This was an incredible feat! I was ecstatic. Just prior to that, I had gone on a couple of trips that involved some walking. That was painful, but it didn't last long once I got off my feet.

Knowing that this foot thing isn't totally strong yet, though, I kept thinking that I should go swimming or something to at least get exercise while taking it "easy" otherwise. I went swimming a lot last winter and got pretty good at it. I finally ventured into deep water over my head and began to slowly drift away from the sides of the pool. I have yet to jump off a diving board or even off the edge, but I was really close to doing it a couple of times. Last summer, I swam at the pond many times and even ventured too far, but when I got spooked about it, I remembered not to panic. "I can do this," I thought to myself. "If I get tired, I simply fall over onto my side or my back and get back to shore. No biggie." And I did. But this winter, I haven't been once to the pool. I've kept myself busy with other things, I suppose, but mostly, I've made excuses. My hair's too long. I'm too busy. I don't feel like it. I don't have anyone to go with this time. Blah blah blah.

However, recently, Dale and I took up Yoga. I'd like to say we're good about doing it every single day, but in truth, we're not. We kept it up a solid week and then skipped a week and now it seems it's every few days. Better than nothing. What amazes me about that is how taxing it is, yet it seems so simple and easy. The nice thing about it is that we can do it at home, it's good for stretching, good for balance, good for flexibility, and believe it or not, good for some form of endurance. It's also relaxing even as it's energizing. Once it's over, I almost want to do another set. My back had been bothering me quite a bit, mostly when standing, and while standing is still a no-no after five minutes, the pain has greatly diminished since beginning yoga. Perhaps the best thing about yoga is that it doesn't hurt my foot whatsoever - provided I'm careful on certain poses, if I do them at all. It's a gooood thing.

Tonight I got home and after some photography, realized I was starving. I got out the salad greens and threw some shredded cheese and pepperoni sandwich things in there, and ate a lot of it. It's what I really wanted, not what I thought I should have. I wish I had more at the moment but it's getting late for food so I'll head upstairs to read instead.

Health is a good thing. Having my foot back, even in part, was good. Having it back 90% of the way is tremendously awesome. I had forgotten how much I like to simply be able to run about and feel my muscles contracting without having to worry about excruciating pain at every step and even after taking weight off things. It's A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

~w