Believe. Persist. Achieve.

I'm getting stronger. I can feel it. I have an ass. And it feels great. Not my ass, getting fit, I mean. Although maybe my ass feels great too. You'll have to ask it yourself.

Cycling to work every day is amazing. The ducks along the canal, the cool, crisp air pumping into my lungs. I get to work feeling like a million bucks: smarter, leaner, faster. The question is, how to keep up the momentum?

I am (almost) a reformed gymophobe. My one-time blog "HELP, My Building Has a Gym", was a response to my Physiotherapists question about what kind of equipment was in the gym at work. It was my humorous way of letting her know there was more to it than just the back problem. She laughed along at the joke, and shared the blog with other people in the field - and took me to the gym, bless her heart.

But then, I couldn't do it. The gym was full of all those gymy people. Them. Not US. Until I met Alison. Her infectious enthusiasm, warmth, caring, and just plain common sense, got me into sneakers and into the gym. She showed me that I could exercise INDOORS. I had an epiphany. I could do this.

Then I met Marshall, with his gentle kind face and bulging biceps. I met him when I went over to help out with a painting party at the gym he was opening here in my community. I talked about beauty and painting, and how I thought that I could get to some answers by painting about it - and he talked to me about GYM. And somehow, after a few weeks of thinking about it, I could email him. He's going to work with me.

So what I've started with my bike to work, and a few classes at the work gym, will continue ... and I will heal my back and discover the meaning of beauty all at once.

Thanks Heather, and Alison, and Marshall. Thanks Dr. Kingwell, the surgeon who read me the riot act. Thank you to Lyrica and Celebrex for giving me a leg up so that I could start getting fit without mind bending pain.

Beleive. Persist. Achieve. It's Marshall's mantra. I'll try it out. I'll believe. I can do this. I've been fit before, and I can do it again. Persist. I can keep up the momentum, and keep feeding on the feel-goodness of it all. Less pain is a good thing, right? Achieve. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.