After dropping Sarah & Sharon at the airport this morning, I came home to a quiet and empty house as Dan and the kids have a long drive home today. I decided I wanted to surprise Dan and mow the lawn. Although I used to mow the lawn growing up as a child, I have RARELY mowed the lawn since being married. (Yes, Dan takes great care of me :). I put on my iPod and was feeling very excited about being outside, getting some exercise and accomplishing a task that would alleviate Dan's load this week. After about 10 minutes of mowing, my excitement diminished as my body began objecting to this whole idea. My muscles throughout my body began to ache and burn, I began getting more breathless, and each passing row felt like I was climbing a mountain. I am a determined person so I pushed through for as long as i possibly could. After doing less than half of our lawn, I couldn't do another square inch so I stopped to take a break. After drinking a sports drink and sitting for several minutes, I decided to take my blood pressure & pulse since I was still feeling very symptomatic. You can see my reading below (pic 2) . BP = 95/50 HR = 170.
This explains exactly how I was feeling. Weak & dizzy, yet feeling like I was running in a race. This was one of those moments when my mind tries to argue & reason with my body. My mind believes I am much to young and strong to limit my activity and be unable to mow a lawn. My body screams... Listen to me!!! Know your limits!!!
I managed to recover and stubbornly finish mowing the entire lawn by dividing it into 3 sections with breaks. I am so glad I did it, but it was another wake up moment for me about what the future may hold. I hope I do not pay for my stubbornness with a "crash" just as my family comes home! I can't wait to have them back and give them hugs!
No comments:
Post a Comment