Getting back to normal

Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes after my last post. I finally feel like I'm getting back to normal (read: I can turn my head all the way to the right without my neck/back seizing up, and I'm sleeping), so I think I'm going to try to hit the gym tonight.

On Saturday, while Mel and I were snowboarding and before the accident, we were talking about how we are actually starting to not feel young anymore. We're both 24, so we are definitely still YOUNG, but we were noticing how we don't bounce back from things as quickly as we used to; how two drinks can now lead to a hangover; how slight twinges and aches and pains aren't as easily ignored. We both realized that hey, we are getting older and we need to start taking care of ourselves.

And then we got into the accident. And when we woke up the next day, we were nowhere near as sore and stiff and pained as we thought we would be. We looked at each other, laughed, and realized that maybe our bodies are still young, we're still supple, we're still able to bounce back and recover and be OK.

That won't last long, though. As it stands I have early onset arthritis in my fingers and toes, I have no cartilage left in my right knee, a souvenier from my hectic field hockey glory. I need to start taking care of myself now, before those things get worse. I need to treat my body with respect and stop pouring alcohol into it three or four nights a week and poisoning it with crappy, fatty take-out.

Tonight I'm back at the gym. I'll probably skip the spin class and lifting, and just run to see how I can handle it. But I'm going back. And then maybe I'll hit the pool tomorrow morning before work.