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Feb 25, 2008 6:04 pm US/Mountain
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For Greg Moody, Being Fit Faded Fast
Moody Starts His Fitness Training Again After Ankle Surgery
Written by CBS4 Critic at Large Greg Moody
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Somebody told me once that it takes twelve weeks to get into shape, and only five weeks to get out.
That saddened me, because I've been working on getting out of shape for five months now. How far behind the 8-ball can I possibly be?
In September, I had ankle surgery to stabilize a collapsing joint. That put me off my feet for a week, then, off the bike for about six. Naturally, as soon as I could get back to working out, that's exactly what I did. Except for the fact that I didn't do it at all. Oh, I got on the bike. I pedaled around. I did what I felt I had to do, but there was no passion, no drive, no commitment to doing what I knew I had to do.
There was no push to get it done or improve.
So, what happened?
Let's see. I gained 10 pounds, got easily winded, saw my blood pressure shoot up through the roof and generally lost any and all sense of fitness I was enjoying at the end of last summer.
Man, when it goes, it goes quickly.
And you don't necessarily feel it going. You breathe a little harder. You struggle to button your pants a little more. But it's quiet. Comfy. Insidious. And life is so warm and welcoming when your training table suddenly includes more stout Irish ales than it did before and a regular infusion of little chocolate donuts.
But then, reality strikes and it is time to get back to work.
Ride the Rockies is only 3 and a half months away, racing in Colorado Springs is only two and a half months away, and I'm not sure I can succeed at either if I'm dead. Yeah, dead. Like, physically, planted in the ground, dead.
Look, we've been over this territory how many times before? How many times have I put you through this? The bottom line is, I come from a long line of chest clutchers.
Hey, where's Aunt Sadie? Oh, she's out back, face down in the begonias. (She was alright, by the way. Even though she did lose her love of gardening.)
You live with stuff like that your entire life and it leaves a mark on you. You don't always pay attention to that mark, but every now and then, it gets your attention.
It's got mine.
So, I trooped back to Matrix Fitness and Spa at 9th and Lincoln, threw myself on the carpet, and pleaded for another chance to make a go at fitness.
Dan Linsacum, one of the trainers, feeling great pity for me and my predicament (mainly because my gut was blocking his way out of the cubicle) said sure -- and we set up another fitness evaluation.
What we learned was very interesting. My blood pressure was up. My weight was up. My VO2 Max was down. My body mass index was about 25%, which was certainly better than the 33% I sat at when I began all this two years before. But -- the numbers, whether 'okay' or just plain bad, were telling me that for whatever reason, I had let it go.
The fitness wasn't world class last summer by any stretch of the imagination, but it was certainly a start toward longer and better living. I had, essentially, thrown that all away.
It was time to get back on the horse.
And so, I set up a three times a week workout schedule with Dan, who also gave me some basic nutritional ideas to help get me to the goal faster and thinner.
The first workout is this week and I'm sweating just thinking about it.
It was a long road before, but now, it's long, winding and I creak a lot more than I did in the past.
Still, it is time to take that first step. And, once more, hope for more years, fewer heart scares, and the ability to climb Cottonwood and beyond.
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