April 29th, 2020

You see before you evidence of my latest experiment.  No not the bad pedicure.  The ankle weights.  No, not ankle monitors  - wise guys - but ankle weights.

Tim surprised me with them recently.  It 's nothing I ever thought about one way or the other honestly.  I knew such a thing existed.  But it's not as if I ever said out loud (or even quietly inside my own head) that it would be nifty to own.   Just wasn't on my radar.  But somehow it was on Tim's and now here they are on my ankles.

They are not very heavy, just two pounds each, and if I wear them around the house while I'm getting things done, I barely notice that they are there.    But if I wear them on a long walk, it's a slightly more obvious. At least after the fact.  When I get home and I take the weights off, my legs almost float up to the ceiling.  The laws of Gravity have been repealed.  

I cannot honestly say how much good they are doing me while walking although I assume there must be some value attached.  Yes I know it's only a total of 4 extra pounds but it seems reasonable that walking with extra weight strapped to the ankle must mean working harder!  (It better be true!!!)

Thanks to excellent velcro fasteners, the weights can be worn by either Tim or myself which is very cool.  We can trade off.  Yesterday Tim wore them and he had that same floaty sensation in his legs when he took the weights off too.  Kind of cool.

Anyway, since I was wearing them anyway and not really noticing that I even had them on, a few days ago I had the "great" (please note the sarcasm there) idea that I would wear the weights while doing my Pilates workout.    Suffice it to say that I  noticed the difference.

I don't know how much you know about Pilates so I don't want to belabor this but one of the ideas with Pilates is to work all of your muscle groups, not just a few.  There is a lot of Core work (that would be torso)  but also arms, legs and butts.

So things are moving along just fine through my workout until I get to the part where I am doing things with my legs up off the ground. Holy Cats.   Never in my life have my legs felt so heavy.  Two pounds each?  It felt more like twenty!  Suddenly  moves I've been doing for a few years with ease now have become a real effort.  I was sweating, I was turning red, I was making noises and I was dang grateful when the workout was over.

But everything was fine.  I acknowledged to myself that it was an interesting experiment and completely different than doing house or yard work or taking a long walk. I took off the weights, put away my mat  and my bands and I resumed my day. Just picked up where I left off and continued doing what I usually do.

And then after dinner I had this "genius" (again bunny ears) idea to go for an after dinner walk.  The weather was extraordinary.  The sun doesn't set until around 8 pm!  Let's get out and enjoy it, Sez I.

Tim was agreeable (as he most always is) so I grabbed my camera and we headed out with no destination in mind.  First we walked over to the Intercoastal waterway, then through part of downtown.  Next we headed toward the Arboretum by way of a few other little pocket sized parks. Finally heading home via a stroll past the waterfront.  Me taking photos all the while:

I have the pictures posted here in the order that I took them beginning with the Woodpecker and ending with the sun nearly setting.  So you can see that we weren't very far along our walk when we reached the fishing boats on the intercoastal.  That is right about the time that I realized how very much my butt hurt.  Both cheeks.  Major ouchie.  

But bravely I just kept walking and said nothing.  I knew immediately that this was the result of my reckless decision to workout wearing the weights. This was my own fault.  By the time I took the photo of the flowers in the arborteum it was all I could do to keep from limping.  And still I said nothing.

When we got to the waterfront and I was happily snapping photos of the sanddunes and beach flowers Tim noticed that I was slowing down.  Slowing Way Down.  He asked if I wanted to sit a minute and indicated a nearby bench.  I shook my head no saying that I was afraid if I sat down I wouldn't be able to get back up!

Tim looked alarmed so I told him about doing my Pilates workout wearing ankle weights and oh my aching arse!!  At first he laughed but then offered to walk on home, get the car and come back for me.  But no I decided. I got myself into this, I will get myself back out and under my own power.

The beach is less than a mile from the house. Just a matter of blocks really.  But by the time we ever so slowly stepped onto our own driveway, my butt was numb.  Honestly I didn't even feel the muscle aches anymore. I was walking funny, but it no longer hurt.

So we know two things:  First of all, the ankle weights obviously are working.  Second of all, perhaps I shouldn't wear them for the full Pilate workout right away.  Oh I guess I learned a third thing, but I think I already knew it which is that, I'm stubborn enough to get through anything. Including a 4+ mile walk with screaming Gluteus Maximus muscles.

I look like a bunny rabbit of a girl, but clearly I am also a tough chick.