I'm Back (in Shape) Baby!

I believe I shared in an earlier post that after my car accident in early November, I had lost a lot of strength.  For a frame of reference, I ran a physical fitness test in October and was able to crank out 10 pull-ups, plank for 3:45, and run 1.5 miles in 13:00, or run 3 miles in about 29:00.  By contrast, around this time last month, I was plateaued at 7 pull-ups and a 2:00 plank time.  My run time was back to normal.

I'm happy to share that I did a fitness test last week and I'm back up to speed.  In fact, I was just shy of hitting that ever-elusive 11th pull-up.  (My eyes were over the bar, but I couldn't quite get my chin there.)  I held my plank for the full 3:45, and I hit a personal best of 1.5 miles in 12:50.

I'm going to give some of the credit to creatine.  People have been telling me for years that it's worth looking into, but I may or may not have a bit of a stubborn streak.  I've gone my entire life without using fitness supplements, but I finally caved.  From my perspective, it came down to the (possibly false) choice of acknowledging that I might not be able to rebuild my strength after the accident, or agreeing to try a performance enhancer that's clinically proven safe and effective.

Creatine is everything the pundits claim.  Physically, I have more energy and stamina, and I seem to recover more quickly.  At the gym, I usually do three sets of a given exercise, and I find that I occasionally have the energy to do a fourth set.  I can usually crank out an extra rep or two in each set, and I'm ready to go more quickly between sets.  I've also noticed that I'm more mentally alert.  I take my creatine in the morning, and it provides about the same pep as a cup of coffee.

This time last month, I was resigning myself to the possibility that I'd never get back to pre-accident fitness.  Now I'm looking forward to achieving some of the fitness goals that have eluded me for years.  My stretch goals are to do 12 pull-ups, to run 1.5 miles in 12:30, and to run 3 miles in 28 minutes or less.