Normally, I am the queen of at-home exercise. I have a DVD library so that whatever mood I'm in, I can step with Cathe, get my groove on with Allison, find my zen with Sara, or practice pilates with Ellen. My daily exercise is a huge source of stress relief for me, and boy do I need stress relief, especially on days when the monster eczema rears its ugly head. I look forward to Daniel's nap time as my mini-vacation from the demands of daily life. I know, a lot of people probably can't relate, but I like exercising. Stephen and I used to make fun of a t-shirt created at Berry College with a list of natural highs, but exercising really does give me a wonderful, natural high.
So you can imagine my frustration at the onset of multiple exercise inhibiting issues. Some of the issues have been plaguing me off and on since Daniel's birth, such as a general feeling of instability in my pelvis and ongoing back pain from my little Daniel who loves to be toted. However, I know these stresses are part of the job description for mothers of small children, so I just worked through it. I actually decided, after trying an extended rest period that did NOT help, that I just needed to work all those areas and attempt to strengthen them. Anyways, I was not letting those aches and pains hold me back. But a few weeks ago, I started having nagging pain in the joint of my big toe, phantom pain that came and went with no obvious cause. A couple of days, the pain was so intense that I was hobbling around gingerly. I decided another rest was in order. After about ten days of no exercise, I was ready to start back. I did a couple of days of workouts; the toe wasn't worse, but wasn't all better, so I decided to employ the same, grit-my-teeth and get through it strategy I had used for my back.
Well, that same day I bashed my little toe into our kitchen step stool. I felt no pain for about two minutes, but soon discovered that was only because my toe had been completely numb. When the feeling came back, it HURT. I felt like I might have even broken it. Of course, the injury necessitated more rest, although I did go ahead with an upper body strength workout. Another week later, I have decided my toe was not broken, although it has turned a lovely shade of periwinkle violet.
Today, I finally attempted a full body, low impact workout. It went well. My toe was a tad sore, but not a major issue. However, when it was time for the relatively intense Pilates floorwork, Nathan (who was not sleeping) decided it was the perfect time to come lay on Mama, lean on my legs that were hovering in the air (making my major ab work more intense than I really wanted it to be), and generally sit or stand anywhere that would disrupt my good form. Ah well, life with small kids. I love 'em, but they are demanding, even the good ones like my two precious boys. And what little kid can resist the human jungle gym that is an adult laying on the floor with limbs splayed in all directions?
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