I had a good day at the gym today. No, strike that. I had a GREAT day at the gym today. It would have only been better had GunShow been there to give me a hard time. I’ve really come to appreciate him there annoying pushing me. I just hope he doesn’t read this and think that I’ve become a softy.
My other friend, Smiles, was there though. He’s the gym manager. But more importantly, he’s the nice yin to the mean GunShow yang. Hence “Smiles”. He’s always quick with a friendly word of encouragement. Today he was almost sad when I told him I didn’t need help getting out of my car. That’s how friendly most everyone who works there is!
But here’s why today was so great: I didn’t have a very long time in the gym today as I had to get to the office for a client meeting. So, after court I decided to stop by and do a quick video boxing class. I hadn’t done one in a while since I started training with GS. No one was in the room (I still don’t get why that room is rarely used??) so I figured that I might as well. I tried not getting sweaty but that lasted like 3 seconds. I did the warm up and then the punches. Awesome awesome awesome. Then came the part for the kicks. It starts with a knee lift and then a kick while it’s lifted. I swear to God that I lifted my left knee as if I’d forgotten I was paralyzed. It came up a couple inches and then I was able to control it out in a flick. It wasn’t just completely flopping, it was actually controlled! If anyone looked in the room they would have wondered why there was a crazy smiling and laughing girl in a wheelchair. I almost wished GS had been there right then to see it cause he would have been stoked too. I wanted to record it, but every muscle was focused on my left leg. I worried if I moved a hand that I would have lost it in the leg department. By this point I was a sweaty mess and beyond exhausted. That takes everything out of me. But I was so beyond stoked. Any little change, improvement is huge!! That’s what keeps me going. Keeps me fighting!
I was going to tell Smiles, but he was busy with his boss and I didn’t want to interrupt. There was a ladder involved and it seemed stressful. I had just met her that morning but she seemed super nice too, so I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded the interruption. Besides, imagine the PR: miracle gym gets obnoxious paralyzed girl to walk again. Hey, it just may happen!