Ambivalence is not always a useful thing.

That’s an aside. Here’s the real story:

My oldest daughter is in Arizona visiting her dad. This can make running difficult because I also have a 4 year old. Usually I leave the 4 year old home with her sister while I run. But sister isn’t here, so if the 4 year old is not interested in going running with me in the jogging stroller, I don’t get to run. Yesterday, my 4 year old did not want to run with Mama, so I decided to do some of my strength training exercises instead. I went through the routine, then felt really pumped up and wanted to do more, so what did I choose? Squats. I used to do a lot of squats every other day. Then my dog died and the whole routine went out the window (and running too, for a bit there). Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that yesterday I decided to do squats.

Did I mention that when I do strength training I use a Tabata timer so I can do more? What’s a Tabata timer you say? It’s this handy device that measures time increments. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for a total of 8 intervals. The idea is that you work out really hard and fast during the 20 second interval, then rest 10 seconds, then another 20 second workout, then another rest, and on and on until the 8 are done. Doing this increases the overall total of really hard and fast exercise. It works great. I can knock out 100 situps in 4 minutes, as opposed to about 70 in that same amount of time without rests.

So…back to yesterday. I got the genius idea to add squats back in using the Tabata timer. I was pumped up. I was ready to go. It’s only been 3 months since I did some. What could a few squats hurt? I did at least 120 of them. I was doing 15 a set and felt great. A little wobbly at the end, but great.

I forgot something when I did this. I forgot that I was going to jump a horse over a fence today. When I got up this morning and felt my thighs give a little shriek, I wondered how this would go because riding horses over fences requires a bit of thigh work. Let’s just say I did not plan well in this. I should have thought things through and not been so caught up in the gungho minute. I should have realized the impact my actions would have on my overall body. I should have considered the feelings of my thighs. I did not do this, and here we are now, 8 hours later, and  my thighs are quite upset with me.  They are not allowing me to make simple movements, like sitting. They are telling me that I am a mean person and that what I did was cruel. I agree with them. I will never do this to them again. I promise.

I am going to take some Ibuprofen now. In the various classes of NSAIDs, Ibuprofen works best for me. For some it’s Aspirin, for others Naproxen. For me, Ibuprofen. I will be taking it and hopefully tomorrow my thighs will have forgiven me. I can certainly hope.